For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 126

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 126

Vivian’s control over my body had been brief. She’d fainted from the shock of the explosion.
I opened my eyes on the Alchemist’s sofa.

“The ceiling…?”
“Raina Hart.”

Kevenriak, who had been watching from beside me, recognized that it was I and helped me sit up.

“It seems Vivian woke up.”
“About thirty minutes ago.”
“That brief? Why…?”

I exchanged whispers with Kevenriak before lifting my gaze. Dinsper sat motionless before the experiment table as though he’d turned to stone.

‘Is he asleep?’

He’d stayed awake all night, it seemed, and had fallen asleep sitting down.
But what greeted me as I walked toward the experiment table was—

“…”

The sight before me was catastrophic.
Dinsper averted his gaze to the side, I stared silently at the experiment table, and Kevenriak watched me.
I opened my mouth slowly.

“A masterpiece, you said.”

At the low voice that escaped from me, Dinsper’s body flinched.

“A broken beaker is a masterpiece? There’s no trace of the mana stone solution. It must have scattered everywhere during the explosion.”
“W-well, you see…”

Though my words had become remarkably curt, Dinsper couldn’t bring himself to point it out.
The Emperor sitting on the sofa’s armrest, watching me with sharp eyes, was terrifying enough. But the atmosphere emanating from the servant I’d thought was harmless was far from ordinary.
Dinsper stammered excuses to the servant who seemed several years younger than himself.

“S-still, the one that exploded was just an ordinary supreme-grade mana stone.”

I had received two supreme-grade mana stones from the Emperor’s commission to create an elixir.
The one that exploded was the mana stone I originally possessed—the one Zikhard had retrieved from my Subspace pouch before we went to Lindraham Mine.
Dinsper hurriedly brought another beaker and showed it to me.

“Look. The elixir made from mana stones grown on dragon bone—it succeeded.”

The transparent liquid, a blend of blue and violet, emanated a soft, luminous glow. Serene yet mystical. As though it contained the very truths of the universe itself.

“No alchemist has ever created it, and none ever will. I, Dinsper, am the sole craftsman. Kekeke….”

It was an achievement no one else could accomplish.
Dinsper swelled with pride in his masterwork, his confidence surging in an instant.
Having created an elixir of this caliber, surely one failure was forgivable.

“You’re still young and don’t understand, but truly great achievements are built upon countless failures—”
“You summoned me by communication yesterday and took ten times the compensation.”

The subordinate’s eyes gleamed.

“Because both had a 100 percent success rate.”
“Unforeseen accidents always—”
“Yet one failed.”

Hearing my quiet murmur, the Emperor rose silently from his seat.
The alchemist, who had been brazenly heading for the exit, went pale. Panic seized him and his words faltered.

“W-what are you saying? Manufacturing failure isn’t grounds for refund—”
“You can’t claim only one now. Compensate me.”

Rather, it was the elixir.
Only Elixir, though.

“I’ll succeed in making both. So I’ll need to add extra compensation to the success fee.”

Yesterday, the moment she heard Dinsper’s words, Raina’s heart raced. Two elixirs would be created. That way, she could give one to Kevenriak Heteroven and the other to Vivian.

“I don’t need money.”

Now there was only one Elixir. It had to be used to extend Kevenriak’s lifespan. But to restore Vivian’s body to health, I needed one more.
And conveniently, hadn’t Dinsper just boasted that both would succeed, extorting money from us in the process?

“With the highest-grade mana stones or Elixir.”
“How could you possibly—”
“Compensation.”
“But—”

The Emperor, who had positioned himself behind me at some point, regarded him quietly. The pressure emanating from both of us was tremendous. Even the Alchemist, who had rolled through the world as he pleased, found himself accepting the promissory note extended by my subordinate and nodding in agreement.

“…I shall do it.”

The promissory note stated that compensation would be made either with Elixir or the highest-grade mana stones, or alternatively by providing labor equivalent to such value to the other party.
Dinsper wrote his name as the provider, signed, and handed over the promissory note.
And the one who would sign as the recipient was—

‘A subordinate is signing? Not the Emperor himself?’

Actually, this worked out better.
Surely this naive young fool, ignorant of how the world worked, was preferable to the mad Emperor who might kill me. Especially one with such a fragile constitution—collapsing from explosions no less.

‘Send a few puppets and within days he’ll be plagued by nightmares, then come crying to me begging to nullify the contract. Kekeke.’

Dinsper chuckled inwardly as he watched my subordinate sign.

“I’m taking this.”

I picked up the beaker containing the Elixir and turned to leave.
Such insolence from a mere child.
Tsk tsk. Dinsper clicked his tongue internally as he watched my subordinate continue speaking informally to him.

“Farewell, Your Imperial Majesty.”

My upper body bowed so deeply that it nearly touched my thighs.
But the moment the sound of the two of us leaving reached his ears, Dinsper straightened up and unfolded the promissory note.

“Let me just see the name of that insolent brat… AAAAHHHHH?!!”

The name written on the signature line of the contract.
The Alchemist let out a scream, then froze solid.
This, this, this person is….

「Raina Hart」

***

Hazel of the Special Investigation Bureau had returned to the imperial capital after a long absence.
He had come to report to Maverick, the bureau director, on the findings regarding the ethnic origins of Raphatel Heteroven, the Emperor’s mother, which he had been ordered to investigate.

“You’re here?”

Maverick, seated at his desk, gestured with his hand as Hazel entered the director’s office.
Hazel bowed respectfully and spoke to Maverick.

“The atmosphere outside seems quite turbulent.”
“Ah, yes.”

Maverick nodded. He understood what Hazel was referring to.

“His Majesty issued an order yesterday to leave no civilians in Jenia.”

The Imperial First Knights had taken action, evacuating people outside of Jenia.

“Is this preparation for war?”
“A rebellion. You’ve heard, haven’t you? The Imperial Prince of Tunterra is leading it, and they’re apparently recruiting nobles as we speak. We’re already receiving reports from lords saying they can’t send reinforcements to the Imperial Palace. What a mess. And this happens when His Majesty is bedridden.”

The Emperor who had issued the evacuation order still hadn’t shown his face outside the Emperor’s Palace. It was the second day since the rebel forces moved. It was a strange rebellion—not a drop of blood spilled—with lords presenting oaths wherever they went.
Maverick spoke with a casual tone.

“If we fight, we’ll lose. What if Betuzhenia falls? Should I defect to Tunterra right now? Would they accept me?”
“Director, your neck seems to be hanging by a thread based on that remark alone.”
“Hazel, you don’t understand jokes, do you? I’m saying this out of concern for you. If you’re afraid of Tunterra, you can pretend to be a civilian and leave Jenia. I’ll turn a blind eye to one person like you.”
“That won’t be necessary.”

Hazel responded with a rigid demeanor.
Submitting his mission report took priority.

“As you commanded, I visited the homeland of the Shaaten Tribe, the ethnic group of the Empress Consort. It turned out to be part of the old Tunterra Empire’s territory. The Shaaten were also citizens of the Tunterra Empire.”
“Hmm. Continue.”
“However, since they are wandering mages by nature, very few of them remain in their homeland. Instead, they hold a ceremony once every five years. It’s a traditional ritual that all members of the tribe must attend without fail—”
“But?”
“Twenty-one years ago, the Tunterra Imperial Army completely annihilated the entire tribe during that ceremony.”
“The Imperial Army?”

Maverick’s brow furrowed.

“What could the reason have been? To massacre an ethnic group that were citizens of the Tunterra Empire, there would need to be a justifiable cause, wouldn’t there?”
“It was wartime, wasn’t it?”

This had happened twenty-one years ago.
The era when the Betuzhenia Empire and the Tunterra Empire tore at each other’s throats, each claiming to be the master of the continent.

“The leader of the Traveling Troupe to which the Empress Consort belonged reported them to the Tunterra Imperial Army, or so I’ve heard.”

Hazel recalled the land of the Shaaten Tribe he had visited.
A forgotten land that no one sought out. Grass grown so thick it reached up to his waist. When he pushed through it, he found dozens of graves.
The soil covering them was of uneven depth, as though buried by someone unfamiliar with grave-making.

“Reported?”
“That the wandering mages of Shaaten would betray their homeland and side with the Betuzhenia Empire.”
“I see.”

Maverick tapped his fingertips against the armrest of his chair as he spoke.

“So the maternal family of our Emperor disappeared through false accusations?”

***

“Simona, are you really going to leave your younger sister in Jenia and depart? You acted as though you couldn’t live without at least one of you.”

Spring, twenty-one years ago.
At twenty-one years old, Simona looked at the troupe leader who addressed her.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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