For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 134

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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 134

The time was yesterday afternoon.
The two Prophets were in the midst of their rounds through the Lord’s Territories of the Betuzhenia Empire.

“Ahhh…!”
“You’ve seen another premonition…!”

With each repetition, their acting prowess ripened and deepened.
Fontepon and Shukal were utterly absorbed in their own performance. With only a few sheets of the oath papers provided by the Daisy Detective Agency remaining, they poured their entire souls into each act.

“I too… shall offer you a premonition….”

The Lord, who had been trembling at the mention of the Emperor’s command and drafting that peculiar oath swearing not to mobilize his forces, suddenly muttered in a darkened tone.

“Everything will soon… perish….”
“Hmm? My Lord?”
“What did you just say?”

His eyes were vacant, as though his mind had departed his body. Fontepon and Shukal called out to the Lord, but received no response. They waved their hands before his face, even mentioning the Emperor’s command again to reiterate the oath’s contents.

“It’s no use. He keeps repeating the same thing. That everything will perish.”
“We can’t waste time here. Let’s move to the next territory.”

They assumed the Lord was spouting nonsense, unable to overcome his fear of the Emperor. Fontepon and Shukal tore up the scrolls they had brought from the Imperial Palace vault and moved to the next location. Yet the same phenomenon occurred in the next Lord’s Territory, and the one after that.

“Perish….”
“Everything will….”

Though “the same” might not be entirely accurate—the symptoms were not limited to the Lords alone. Lords, Knights, and the inhabitants of those places as well.

“The closer we draw to the location of the vanished Tunchar, the more people exhibit these symptoms.”

And this morning.
Fontepon had been reporting to the communication device what they had witnessed, when at some point he felt as though he were speaking to himself alone. He checked the device and found the connection severed.
He gazed at Shukal, who sat crouched across from him on the opposite side of the communication device, much as I did.

“When did I start talking to myself?”
“….”

I was about to ask when the communication had been cut off, but Shukal was staring at something behind Fontepon with eyes as if entranced.

“Shukal, what are you looking at so—”

Fontepon, who turned to look behind him, was equally at a loss for words. Two self-proclaimed Prophets, their robes pulled over their heads, slowly rose from their hunched postures.
Where their gazes converged, magical light was gathering. And the one who appeared was—.

“Raina…”
“Raina Hart…”

Raina Hart, lifting her head, locked eyes with her knights. She had just changed clothes and instantly teleported from the Emperor’s Chamber to the location of the communication device.
A reunion after two years. Just as the knights, overwhelmed with emotion, were about to dash forward—.

“Don’t rush forward.”
“Yes, ma’am.”

The cold voice snapped them to attention. Right. Our Grand Mage was that kind of person. The Prophets had already transformed back into knights, their feet planted firmly on the ground, standing at attention to greet their master. Beside the Grand Mage who had returned was, as always, the Emperor—.
As always, beside the returning Grand Mage stood His Majesty the Emperor.

‘…What?!’
“…Huh?!”

They doubted whether the man smiling brightly beside Raina Hart was truly the Kevenriak Heteroven they knew.
They doubted whether the person smiling brightly beside Raina Hart was really the Kevenriak Heteroven they knew.

“Fontepon, Shukal. How have you been?”

Fontepon and Shukal felt their hearts breaking. What on earth had happened to the Emperor that he remained in this mad state even with Raina Hart’s return?
The two men, who had spent two years rolling across the continent like beggars trying to uncover the truth of the mark, had seen the mad Kevenriak so rarely that it could be counted on one hand.
So—.
So then-.

“I see the sun of Heteroven!”

Fontepon and Shukal braced themselves and bowed at right angles to Kevenriak Heteroven. They had heard from Liam, the information specialist among Raina Hart’s disciples, that crawling was the best strategy when dealing with the mad Emperor.

“Your voice is too loud.”

Raina Hart cautioned the two of them.
The four of us were in a village within the Lord’s Territory. As we surveyed the quiet settlement, I spotted a figure stumbling in the distance.
His gait was suspicious. The moment Raina Hart seemed to notice, Kevenriak Heteroven teleported and brought him here, then erected a barrier between us to prevent his approach to Raina Hart.

“Ruin is… coming….”

The man, dressed as a knight of the lord, repeated the same words endlessly with vacant eyes.
It matched the symptoms Fontepon and Shukal had described.
Raina Hart gazed at the shadow of the man outside the barrier, then poured her magical power into it. Faint black smoke rippled along the shadow’s outline.

“…It’s dark magic.”

Since it involved shadows, it had to be Simona’s magic.
It was somewhat expected. The Emperor’s eyes gleamed with a cold light as he observed the man.

“It’s weak brainwashing. At this level, it should naturally break in a few days.”

Raina Hart nodded and questioned Fontepon and Shukal.

“Besides muttering, have there been any others showing different behaviors? Any signs of aggression?”
“None, ma’am.”
“What do the brainwashed have in common besides the lord?”
“It varied each time. Elderly, knights, farmers…. Oh, and beggars too.”

The brainwashing was shallow and sloppy, and the targets showed no clear pattern.

“It’s a message. Probably left for us.”

Raina Hart’s silver eyes grew cold and distant.
The closer we drew to Tunchar, the more victims of dark magic appeared.
The voice speaking of ruin grew louder in the direction of Tunchar. Was this an invitation to pursue?

“…Keri, you said the Shaaten Tribe was annihilated by the Tunterra Imperial Army?”
“Yes, that’s what Maverick reported.”

Raina Hart recalled the ending of the original work she remembered.
Kevenriak Heteroven’s death. And the dragon awakened by the two protagonists.

“…I think I understand Simona’s purpose now.”

Raina Hart murmured to herself.
Simona’s purpose was revenge—against Heteroven, who killed her younger sister, and against the Tunterra Empire, which annihilated her people.
In the original story, it was clear that after killing Kevenriak Heteroven, the last of the Heterovenians, her plan was to use Vivian and Tiernan Fargan to awaken the Dragon and destroy the entire continent.

“She intends to annihilate the continent.”

[That’s right, Ando Hwa.]

“…!”

In that instant, someone spoke to me in a clear voice.
Raina Hart startled and glanced around, only to find Kevenriak Heteroven and two Knights calling out to her.

“Raina Hart?”
“Raina Hart?”
“…Just now, did you not hear something?”

The three shook their heads at my question.
No one else had heard it, yet I hadn’t imagined it. Someone had definitely called my name—a name no one in this world should know.
I looked up at the sky.
The clear autumn sky, with clouds drifting peacefully, was utterly serene.

***

“Your Highness.”

At the Officer’s call as he walked between the tents, a handsome man resembling a snow-capped mountain turned his head. Tiernan Fargan had been standing outside his tent, gazing at the azure sky.

“The soldiers are growing restless. It’s been three days since you ordered the assembly, yet everything remains too peaceful, they say.”
“I suppose so.”

According to the plan, they should have been charging toward the Betuzhenia Imperial Palace by now. After enduring for over a decade, with their thirst for vengeance against the Betuzhenia Empire at its peak, being ordered to wait felt unnatural.

“Will you truly not raise a rebellion?”

The Officer flinched as he posed the question to Tiernan Fargan.
An old wound itched—a large slave brand seared into the center of his back by a heated iron. It had been marked when a Betuzhenia nobleman purchased him as a slave. The Officer had endured three years of servitude like livestock before escaping, and the nobleman who had owned him died two years ago by the blade of a mad Emperor.

“Why refuse when she returns Tunterra’s land without spilling a single drop of blood?”
“…Do you truly believe the Witch will honor that promise, Your Highness?”
“….”

Tiernan Fargan’s lips parted toward the Officer, then closed. My expression remained composed, yet my chest churned at the word “Witch” that fell from his lips.
That Witch saved Tunchar. That Witch saved me.
She offers Tunterra freely—a kindness, a grace—and he calls it coercion. She positions herself as a villain to save Tunterra.

Raina Hart is no Witch.
Yet Tunterra sees her as one. Must I soothe the rage of my former subjects who lost their homeland while turning a blind eye to the truth? Must I strike at those who stand in the heights of Betuzhenia?

“If you want to return Tunchar safely, then take only your own lands and disappear.”

Yesterday, after Raina Hart departed.
I summoned the Officers in confusion and relayed her threat. They were astonished that Raina Hart lived, but upon hearing her terms, they fell into deep deliberation.

“Honestly… the conditions are so favorable it makes one question her sanity.”
“Ha, a mad Emperor and a mad Master. If we believe the words of madmen and face betrayal, won’t we destroy Tunterra twice over?”
“But this is Raina Hart we speak of. She lifted Tunchar into the sky in a single night. With two of Betuzhenia’s highest-ranking Mages, how could we possibly defeat them without casualties? This rebellion is doomed to failure.”
“Don’t speak such weak words already!”

Opinion was deadlocked. Unable to narrow the gap, we proceeded to a vote.
Half voted in favor, half against.

“Now only Your Highness’s choice remains.”

When only my final decision was left, I deliberated long before raising my hand in favor of accepting the coercion. A choice made not as the Imperial Prince who should have lived for the vengeance of a fallen empire, but following the flame burning within the heart of Tiernan Fargan.
Even after that, I questioned endlessly whether it was the right choice. I lost sleep through the night and came outside at dawn, waiting for the Grand Mage’s answer.
Even after that, I endlessly agonized over whether it was the right choice. I had been losing sleep at night, and I came out early in the morning to wait for the Grand Mage’s answer.

…I’ll know once I verify it myself.
You’ll find out once you check it yourself.

“Your Highness, where are you going?”

Tiernan Fargan, who had been standing silently, moved forward. When the Officer asked him in confusion about his destination, Tiernan Fargan answered.

“Let me check.”

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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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