For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 144

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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 144

“Nothing unusual happened?”
“No, and you, Raina?”
“Same here.”

The Grimoire of Magic interrupted their peaceful reunion. Zikhard fluttered his pages and recounted to Kevenriak what Raina had done.

“Nothing unusual, you say? The master fed an entire bucket of blood to the shadow.”
“…Raina?”
“Well. At least it’s alive and well, so that’s what matters.”

Raina averted her gaze, feigning indifference.

***

Rewinding time to when Raina had been inside the shadow.
At Raina’s command, Zikhard had examined the shadow’s information.

“There’s a human soul trapped inside? The shadow was shaped into a vessel and the soul was anchored with dark magic. This must have required quite a bit of soul essence to create, wouldn’t you say?”
“Does the reading show a name?”
“Of course it does. For one as magnificent as myself, Zikhard! The name is Raphatel Heteroven.”
“…Raphatel, you say?”

Raina stared at the shadow with disbelieving eyes.
At the same time, Maverick’s account came to mind—how Simona Asperada’s shadow had devoured a maid.
Surely not. Even if Simona was consumed by vengeance enough to destroy the entire Continent, would she truly transform her own sister into a man-eating monster?

Crick. Crick.

The shadow stood motionless, emitting only that grinding sound. The way it faced toward me suggested it had something it wished to convey.

“Zikhard, can you see the names of the souls in the other shadows around here?”
“Hm? They’re all empty shells.”
“…So Raphatel is the only shadow whose name remains? If we’re fortunate, we might be able to communicate.”

The shadow had no facial features except for a mouth.
Raina Hart cut open her palm. At her subsequent action, Zikhard gasped in horror.

“Why are you giving your precious blood to such a lowly creature?!”
“You said dark magic fixed her soul in place.”

Raina Hart forced open the shadow’s mouth and let her blood flow inside.
If Raphael truly possessed a sense of self, then her mind might be rendered speechless by the toxins of dark magic.
Feeding her blood would reveal the truth.

“…U…ah….”

As Raina Hart’s blood entered to a certain degree, sounds other than grinding noises began to emerge from Raphael’s mouth.
Fortunately, it seemed the toxins were being purified.

“…It appears to be working.”
“Give more, please?!”

The Grimoire of Magic shrieked and leaped about, but Raina Hart paid it no mind and cut open her arm as well. Kevenriak would surely disapprove, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. Healing magic was good magic, after all.

“Eek! This mad transcendent is pouring out buckets of it! Does she not know how precious dragon blood is?!”

Even Raina Hart’s sturdy body grew dizzy from the amount of blood she poured out.
The deep toxins of Raphael, who had maintained her existence through dark magic for countless ages, were not easily purified. Yet her sense of self returned enough for her to speak simple words.

“My…a…pa….”

It was the first thing Raphael had ever said.
My heart sank, wondering if she was asking about Kevenriak. At her next words, I furrowed my brow. Otherwise, I feared I would weep.

“A…pa…?”

Was that why she had approached me—to ask this question?
Even in this wretched form, without ever having held her son in her arms, was she still worried about him?

“A…pa…?”

The shadow asked again. Her slow thoughts seemed to press for my answer as she continued.

‘Revenge against the Heteroven for killing my younger sister?’

What had made you this way?
If this was truly the result of Simona Asperada’s pursuit of revenge, then what was she even avenging?
I couldn’t comprehend it. Simultaneously, I couldn’t forgive it.
Raina Hart suppressed the fury rising within her toward Simona and spoke to her.

“No, Raphael.”
“N-no…?”
“Your son isn’t suffering. The entire Heteroven Royal Family has vanished—except for Kevenriak.”
“….”

The shadow fell silent, as if contemplating Raina Hart’s words, then smiled with her mouth-only face.

“Thank…good…ness….”

It looked less grotesque than like a mother’s smile thinking of her child. Sorrowful, pitiful, and heartbreaking.

“Don’t you want to stop?”

Raina Hart asked Raphael.
It would be possible to destroy the shadows and escape right now. But I couldn’t ignore what Simona Asperada had said about killing people to replenish the shadows.
Even in a short span of time, I couldn’t bear the thought of someone being sacrificed.

“Just one minute. If Raphael holds back Simona’s true body for that long and tells me her location, I can end this.”
“Ah, well then. That Dark Mage is no match for our master. Hey, human soul, shouldn’t you prove your worth after consuming dragon blood?”

The Grimoire of Magic chuckled with a sound between laughter and weeping.
Then suddenly, Raphael vanished from the space where Raina Hart stood. While I was deducing the reason for her disappearance, I felt Kevenriak’s heart surge violently.
Worry came first, followed by realization.

“That’s when I understood—Keri had met Raphael.”

Simona’s Room.
Kevenriak gazed at Raina Hart, who spoke while resting her face against his chest.

“…It hurts my heart.”
“Why?”
“Because Raina Hart bled.”
“Then you wouldn’t have met Raphael. Do you regret meeting Raphael, Keri?”
“No. That’s precisely why it hurts more. I think I’m beginning to feel gratitude toward Raina Hart. …But I shouldn’t.”
“Why shouldn’t you? Take this opportunity to feel grateful freely. Come to think of it, when was the last time I heard you say thank you?”

Raina Hart laughed lightly and spoke in jest. I already knew he harbored no resentment toward his meeting with Raphael.

“How did you know I’d met my mother… by listening to my heartbeat?”

The words still felt strange on my tongue.
At the bewilderment in Kevenriak’s voice, Raina Hart spoke while listening to his heartbeat.

“Affection.”

Kevenriak might not have realized it, but I could perceive it.

“Your heart races the same way when you look at me.”
“…That seems somewhat different.”

Kevenriak immediately denied it. It was true that he felt an indefinable emotion toward Raphael, but it was certainly not the same as what he felt when looking at Raina Hart.
Raina Hart tilted her head slightly upward. In the blue eyes that had been fixed upon me, a hint of displeasure flickered.

“My heart isn’t so shallow as that, Raina Hart.”
“Affection is still affection-.”

Raina Hart stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening in surprise. She hadn’t stopped herself—rather, the lips of someone petulant had silenced her words and then withdrew.

“Wh-what is this…?”

Raina Hart stammered at the sudden kiss. It was fortunate that she had already ordered Zikhard to help Vivian search for people.
Kevenriak’s lower lashes brushed against Raina Hart’s lower lashes. When she glanced downward, he tilted his face slightly, persistently following her gaze.

“Simply.”

Kevenriak moved his crimson lips.

“Because you don’t seem to understand my heart, Raina Hart.”

At a distance where their lips nearly touched, Kevenriak spoke. That ticklish sensation—whether from the warmth of his breath or the brush of his lips, I couldn’t tell. My cheeks flushed a delicate shade of crimson.

“…Let’s stick to one thing at a time….”
“…yes.”

I tried to deflect with embarrassment, but my words were gently silenced by his lips meeting mine. A soft laugh followed. For a long while, no words were spoken.

***

The missing people from the Duke’s Castle had been trapped within Simona’s Subspace.
In the past, the wall—which served as a medium—had been destroyed by Kevenriak, but in the meantime, the Subspace had repaired it through self-healing incantations, becoming Simona’s secure aquarium once more.
Vivian provided the hint, Zikhard discovered it, and surprisingly, Tiernan Fargan broke through the wall.

“Oh, human. I’d forgotten you were a Sword Master.”

Tiernan Fargan sheathed his sword and glanced sideways at the Grimoire of Magic. So the owner of the monster he’d missed in the Mercenary City was Raina Hart.

‘This grows more incomprehensible by the moment.’

I thought she was an enemy, yet she turned out to be a benefactor. A philanthropist masquerading as an extortionist. Her allegiance remains unclear, and she commands such peculiar subordinates….

“Thank you so much!”

As Tiernan Fargan pondered Raina Hart’s oddities, a maid suddenly appeared before him, snapping him back to attention. It was Maya, Vivian’s personal attendant.
After emerging from the Subspace and speaking with Vivian, she had come to find Tiernan Fargan.

“That monster who came back with my lady to the Duke’s Castle locked us in here! And my lady said she would turn us into shadows….”

Maya’s voice wavered before she broke into tears. Her eyes were red, whether from crying in the Subspace or from this moment. The corridor had quickly filled with people from the Duke’s Castle who had escaped the Subspace. Dozens had been trapped, so the hallway was now crowded. Everyone was rejoicing in their survival, cheering and sighing with relief.
Before long, the corridor was crowded with people from the Duke’s Castle who had emerged from the Subspace. Since dozens of them had been trapped, the hallway was packed with people. They were all cheering and sighing with relief, rejoicing in their survival.
Tiernan Fargan offered awkward consolation to the tears of a maid he’d never met before.

“Ah… you must have been very worried.”
“*sniffles* I wanted to thank the mercenary for saving us. After all, you’re also the young lady’s prospective fiancé….”

At Maya’s final words, the room suddenly fell silent.

‘The young lady’s… fiancé-to-be?’
‘…That handsome man?!’
‘…Then who’s the dark-haired handsome one?!’

Everyone’s ears perked up despite their pretense of indifference, turning toward Tiernan Fargan. Yet he was no different from them—he knew absolutely nothing.
Tiernan Fargan slowly turned his head. Vivian stood among the crowd. The moment their eyes met, it felt as though the world contained only the two of them.

Vivian, however, was somewhat different.

“But young lady, isn’t that man the mercenary? The one who left the Castle with you? Why did he come together with you? Back then you said he was a friend—.”
“Maya, scratch the friend part.”
“Pardon? Then what is he?”
“…My fiancé-to-be?”

That wasn’t what I meant to say. I never expected Maya to blurt it out like that.
Vivian gasped, swallowing hard, then slowly opened her mouth with a pained expression. If I didn’t clarify now, this would spiral into an awkward mess….

‘I… like… you.’
…!”

Tiernan Fargan’s face flushed crimson as he read the exact shape of Vivian’s lips. He looked like a snow-capped mountain ablaze with autumn colors.

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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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