For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 146

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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 146

About two weeks after the Grand Mage restored Tunchar to the sky.
The Alchemist watched Raina Hart as she approached him. His right hand, clutching the promissory note, trembled uncontrollably.

“Raina… Hart.”

Ever since the day Dinsper saw the name Raina Hart written on the creditor’s note, he had prayed every night that it was merely a coincidence—that perhaps the Emperor’s lackey shared the same name as this Raina Hart.
After all, the dead Raina Hart could not possibly be alive.
But.

“Dinsper.”

An expressionless face radiating cold, silver eyes like crystal quartz, hair the color of pale lavender—luminous as fairy dust.
There was no denying it was Raina Hart.
That vicious mage had even altered her appearance to catch me off guard, and in doing so, had burdened me with debt.

“Why… why have you come…?”

Gulp.
Dinsper swallowed hard. There was another reason for his tension.

“You restored Tunchar to the sky?!”
“You didn’t know? It’s been two weeks now, and everyone’s been talking about nothing else.”

It was a story he’d heard when he descended to the village to buy provisions, growing thinner by the day under the weight of possibly owing a debt to Raina Hart.
That Raina Hart was alive, had awakened a dragon and sent it flying, and had restored Tunchar—suspended in the sky—back to its place.
Before ten thousand eyes, no less! And she had undone the fourteen years of frozen time!

‘A mad mage!’

It was impossible for any alchemist or mage. Only Raina Hart could accomplish such a thing.
Whether Raina Hart had also frozen her own time for those fourteen years, her appearance remained utterly unchanged from the day she had stolen his masterwork.

“I came to ask you to take on a commission.”
“A, a commission?”

Raina pulled out a magic stone from her Subspace pouch. The brilliantly luminous gem was unmistakably a highest-grade magic stone.

“Yes. I’m commissioning an Elixir.”

Even skilled Alchemists and Mages would be fortunate to acquire a single highest-grade magic stone in a lifetime, yet she produced them without hesitation.
At this point, nothing surprised me anymore.

“Well…”

Dinsper opened his mouth awkwardly. Being in debt was a first for him in his lifetime, and he didn’t know how to treat a creditor.
Meanwhile, there was someone who had come with Raina.
A tall figure with shaggy hair falling to the bridge of his nose. He examined Dinsper this way and that, then broke into a suspicious grin.

“Oh my, so this must be my junior’s slave, is it?”
“What, what did you say?!”

Dinsper jumped at the word slave.
Hadn’t the Emperor’s decree come down just yesterday?

“You seem to be out of the loop, but as of yesterday, the slave system has been abolished…! By imperial decree!”
“Ah, y-yes. I understand. I misspoke—I meant to say debtor instead of slave.”

Daisy Director apologized to Dinsper while humming a tune. It was a sound that flowed out habitually from his recent good mood.
Ten years ago, he had finally caught the Auction House Director who had fled. The one who had absconded with the auction items, including Raina’s magic stones.
Though only one of the stolen highest-grade magic stones remained, that was something.

“Master, so you’re forgiving a debt equal to one highest-grade magic stone?”
“Understood.”

Raina waved her hand dismissively. She was already tired of hearing it dozens of times.

“Then, if I create the Elixir, will you forgive my debt?”

Dinsper asked Raina with an eager heart. This was his chance to attempt an escape from his slave—no, debtor status.
Raina looked at the hopeful Dinsper and considered.

‘I was anxious about entrusting him with the Elixir commission because he looked like he was falling apart.’

Would motivation spring forth if I erased the debt?
Since I had received something from the Gold Dragon, a single top-grade mana stone’s worth of money held little meaning for me anymore.
What I needed now was merely an Elixir to feed to Vivian.

“Very well.”
“R-really?”

At my ready agreement, the Alchemist jumped to his feet.
This foolish Raina Hart—strong in magic but utterly ignorant of calculations.

‘I owe a single top-grade mana stone, and Raina Hart brought mana stones to use as Elixir materials….’

If the Elixir creation succeeded, he would escape his debtor’s position without losing anything. Raina Hart would lose a single top-grade mana stone even after obtaining the Elixir.
Daisy Director spoke to the chuckling Dinsper.

“Ah, Alchemist. Then what is your plan for material procurement should you fail?”
“There is no chance of my failure.”
“Of course. But there is always the possibility of unforeseen circumstances. Top-grade mana stones are difficult to procure even at the Auction House. Our shop’s regular customer has entrusted two top-grade mana stones for sale—would you not consider reserving them? It is always good to have reserves. I shall not charge you a reservation fee or penalty, Alchemist.”
“W-well then.”

I narrowed my eyes as I watched Maverick.

‘What are you doing?’

In the safe of the Auction House Director that the victims had seized, there were two additional top-grade mana stones besides my own.
It was Maverick Marquis who had purchased those from their original owner.

“What are you scheming?”
“Is not the slave of a slave the master’s slave? Use one mana stone’s value to command two slaves.”

His brazen whisper was brimming with schemes to offload work onto Dinsper.
Meanwhile, Dinsper, enchanted by Daisy Director, was signing a contract adorned with a small daisy flower.

“Hmm, I apologize in advance. I shall have no need to purchase mana stones.”
“Of course. There is no chance of failure for you, Dinsper. Still, I look forward to working with you. Junior, or rather, valued customer?”

Beneath his shaggy hair, Maverick grinned wickedly.

Days later, a tearful message arrived from the Alchemist announcing the successful creation of the Elixir—after I had incurred a debt of two top-grade mana stones to Maverick Marquis.

***

That afternoon, at Asperada Duke’s Castle.

“What do you think? Vivian?”
“It’s definitely different!”
“Zikhard.”
“Yes. The elixir’s effects have eliminated the physical deterioration. That pathetic…, mmph!!”

I ignored the Grimoire of Magic protesting with my entire body against the silence spell, offering Vivian a warm smile.

“Good. Stay healthy from now on.”
“…Yes.”

Vivian nodded slowly. My heart raced at the mature charm that radiated from my youthful appearance.
What if I end up falling for her?

‘Tiernan…! I think I’m in danger…!’

At that same moment, Tiernan Fargan, walking through the corridors of the Imperial Palace in Tunchar, suddenly stopped and turned around. The Prime Minister walking beside him called out to him.

“Your Highness?”
“…No. I must have been mistaken.”

***

On a day when the autumn breeze blew gently.
Kevenriak and I stood in a sunny spot in Hibei.

Raphatel
Kin Setric

Two graves and tombstones lined up side by side beneath the earth.
I opened my mouth quietly.

“I’m glad we found the remains of both of them.”

Far from the Shaaten Tribe’s burial grounds, I discovered a grave with a name carved into rotted wooden planks. Within it lay Raphael’s remains.
Person revealed the location of Kin’s remains. Two years prior, he had defied the Emperor’s orders, spirited away Kin’s body, and buried it in secret.
Neither grave was proper, so I had them relocated to Hibeiro for a modest funeral service.

“Keri, is it truly alright to leave Raphael in such a remote countryside?”

Raphatel Heteroven held a belated funeral service for the Empress Consort.
Her name was inscribed in the tombs used by the Imperial Family, though it remained an empty grave—bearing only a stone monument.

“Mother would have preferred Hibeiro to the Imperial Palace anyway.”

The word “mother” flowed from Kevenriak’s lips with surprising naturalness.
Raina Hart grasped Kevenriak’s hand.

“Keri, thank you for creating a grave for Kin as well.”
“….”

Kevenriak answered by clasping Raina Hart’s hand in return. Thoughts of Kin stirred conflicting emotions within him. In his earliest years, he had regarded her as a rival of sorts, and as he grew older, he came to think of her as a fellow disciple of Raina Hart’s—not close, but connected by that bond.

“Kin must have been manipulated by Simona.”

Raina Hart spoke those words, yet even after regaining his sanity, Kevenriak could not forgive Kin.
Whether Simona had manipulated Kin or not was irrelevant—the undeniable truth remained that Kin had pierced Raina Hart’s heart.
Yet it was equally true that over twelve years, Kin had strived as Raina Hart’s second disciple.

“Would she have been happy if she had not lived as my disciple?”

Raina Hart’s gaze fixed upon Kin’s name carved into the stone monument.
I had not forced her, yet circumstances had shaped everything. Magic, swordsmanship—those around her overflowed with talent, but Kin did not possess such gifts.
If only I had retained my memories from my previous life in their entirety. If only, when I first met you in Hibeiro, I had not sought to intervene in your life.

‘Would you have been happy then?’

Since my memories returned, thoughts of Kin always weighed heavily upon my heart.
I sometimes wondered if the years she spent as my disciple had been nothing but suffering for that child.

“Perhaps if I had not taken her as my disciple, Kin could have lived an ordinary life. Pursuing things she loved, savoring delicious meals, befriending kindred spirits….”

Did I steal the everyday joys that should have been yours? When such thoughts consumed me, even breathing felt like an indulgence I did not deserve.

“Kin wanted to leave Hibei, but I wonder if I failed to notice her wishes?”

Kevenriak gazed at Raina, who appeared sorrowful, and spoke with measured calm.

“Kin was happy.”

I thought his words were meant to console me. Raina smiled bitterly, but after seeing the two documents he presented like evidence, I could no longer even manage that.

A childcare teacher certification.
An application to teach at another orphanage within Hibei.

“….”
“She received her certification a few days before the coronation and boasted about it to Din. She said that one day, she too would become a teacher like her Master.”
“Like… her Master…?”
“Yes, a teacher who loves and supports her disciples with genuine heart.”
“….”
“She said quite happily that she hoped to fulfill that dream in Hibei, where everyone she cares for resides.”

My shy disciple smiled happily within my blurred vision. It was a hallucination.
A tear fell onto the gravestone with a soft sound.

“I… I failed to protect Kin….”

Raina wept uncontrollably.
A small crimson bird perched on a nearby branch, chirped briefly, then soared into the sky.

***

The Disciples gathered in the living room, huddling together.
Word that their Master had wept before the second Disciple’s grave had already spread throughout the small village of Hibei, and so the Disciples themselves had shed tears as well.
But what troubled them now was an entirely different matter.
A gravely serious problem that Liam, their information broker, had brought to light.

“Our Master is….”

Jasmine, holding the voting results, voiced the question once more.

“The Emperor’s lover…?”

Three votes in favor. Seven votes against.

“One abstention.”

Every Disciple’s gaze converged on a single point.
Ban, crouched in the corner of the living room with her back turned. Next to her.

“Isn’t this supposed to be a secret ballot?”

To Rose, the youngest.
Rose protested with a pouty expression.

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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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