For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 149

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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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Side Story 2

Yesterday.
After finishing the morning meeting with the bureaucrats, a magical messenger bird from Raina Hart landed on Kevenriak Heteroven’s shoulder.

I’ll just take a week’s rest and come back.

It was something I had anticipated.
Though she didn’t show it, Raina Hart seemed to have reached her limit lately from the stress accumulated over several months.
‘Raina Hart dislikes clashing with people, after all.’
Though I had made it clear that people should not bother the Grand Mage with trivial matters, they were desperate to speak with her.
Whenever Raina Hart caught their attention, six out of every ten nobles would greet her with inquiries about her condition, whether she had eaten—the same pleasantries repeated endlessly. For them it was once, but Raina Hart received such greetings dozens, hundreds of times over.
So Hibei would be better than the Imperial Palace for rest.

I’ll be back, so don’t worry and take care of yourself.

At first, I had intended to follow her words.
Now, being apart for just a day or two no longer filled me with unease.
A fate so strong that we shared life itself had woven us together. Our steadfast feelings for each other had become a solid foundation. The certainty that the ground beneath my feet would not crumble banished my anxiety.
But—.
‘I miss her.’
That certainty and my longing for Raina Hart were separate matters entirely.
‘Not seeing Raina Hart for a whole week is cruel.’
Tomorrow, the day after. Even if I endured the desire to see her, she would not come.
I gazed up at the dark night sky.
And then I teleported to Hibeiro.

***

“…Then you could have just come inside the castle. Why were you hiding in a tree?”
Raina Hart cradled Kevenriak’s cheeks in both her hands.
Though spring had arrived, the air outside remained crisp and cool.
The pleasant warmth of his skin touched her palms, yet the lingering chill on his cheeks troubled her.
“You’ve been out here since last night? It’s already daytime.”
“I didn’t want to disturb your rest.”
“Disturb? Keri coming to me could never be a disturbance.”
“Is that so?”
Kevenriak smiled languidly and nuzzled his face against her hands. Watching Raina Hart stroll through the garden had been pleasant, but nothing compared to this—being close to her like this.
“By the way, what do you think about the Emperor running away, Keri?”
A pang of guilt.
At Raina Hart’s pointed remark, the smile faded from Kevenriak’s lips. Instead of answering, he gazed at her with eyes as blue as those of an abandoned cat.
I didn’t love Kevenriak for his face, but his beauty was undeniably a formidable weapon. My resolve was already weakening, and I found myself wanting to accept whatever excuse he offered without question.
Raina Hart decided to yield gracefully and asked him softly.
“Were you worried I wouldn’t return to the Imperial Palace?”
“No.”
Kevenriak wrapped his arms around Raina Hart’s waist and drew her onto his lap.
“I simply missed you.”
“Then you could have used the communication device…”
“I’ve simply come back to you.”
I couldn’t miss the subtle curve of my lover’s lips as they rose. I felt my heart begin to race with a delightful rhythm.
Kevenriak’s long fingers brushed lightly against the nape of Raina Hart’s neck. With practiced skill, he coaxed her closer.
“I’ll stay at the Imperial Palace during the day. May I come to Hibeiro at night?”
There was no reason to refuse.
Raina Hart too had felt the emptiness of her lover’s absence last night. At her nod, Kevenriak kissed her tenderly.
“I’m home, Raina Hart.”
“Welcome back.”
The two exchanged glances and smiled. Though they had been apart for barely a day and a half, they had so much to share. As they sat in the tree, reminiscing about the time that had passed, Kevenriak gazed at Raina Hart’s temple.
“By the way, Raina Hart, that hair ornament.”
“Hair ornament?”
Raina Hart reached up to touch her hair. She was about to say she didn’t remember putting anything on, when her fingers brushed against something woven into her locks.
Cold, solid metal, with something smooth carved upon its surface.
Ah, now that I think about it.

“It’s an expensive hair ornament from overseas. The Director of the Daisy Detective Agency said to give it to you.”

Maverick had said something earlier and stuck something in my hair. I’d been too preoccupied to pay it much attention.
“….”
While Raina Hart silently searched her memory, Kevenriak’s sharp gaze landed on the hair ornament. It had caught his attention from the start. The unfamiliar accessory felt as though it had been chosen with meticulous care for its wearer.
Raina Hart disliked jewelry and rarely purchased or wore any. Moreover, this piece looked exquisite—far too fine to be found in the countryside of Hibei.
An expensive ornament adorning the hair of Raina Hart, who had come to Hibei seeking rest—
“Raina.”
Kevenriak gazed into her silver eyes that reflected him. A man with the face of an affectionate lover. Yet within him lurked a tyrant—one determined to uncover every insignificant creature that dared approach Raina Hart.
“Who gave it to you?”
His blue eyes, smiling, turned merciless.

***

A chill ran down his spine.
Deyel Maverick, who appeared carefree as an indolent marquis, possessed one remarkable ability: he could sense danger to his own life with uncanny precision.
‘This is….’
His nape prickled. He turned to glance behind him, but reflected in his amber eyes was only Raina Hart’s castle, standing quietly upon the hill.
Then a woman’s voice called out to him.
“Sir.”
The blunt word choice made Maverick’s eyes grow sorrowful as he regarded the girl across from him. It was Rose, Raina Hart’s youngest disciple.
Rose stood atop a rock, gripping the edges of a blanket firmly in both hands. With a fresh expression, she spoke to Maverick.
“Stop getting distracted and hold this blanket properly. It’s not even level as it is.”
Rose’s complaint was entirely justified.
Maverick, standing over 190 centimeters tall, and Rose, barely over 150 centimeters, made for a thoroughly mismatched blanket-shaking pair.
Had there not been a rock in the orphanage garden tall enough for Rose to stand upon, Maverick would have been abandoned as a partner long ago.
“Ah, my apologies. But Miss Rose, don’t mages handle housework with magic?”
Maverick shook the blanket with a sharp snap, matching Rose’s rhythm.
“If you rely only on magic, you won’t become a good adult, she says.”
That was surely Raina Hart’s teaching.

“Everything is best solved with magic.”

It was not the sort of thing a Grand Mage who even washed her face with magic would say. But if he mocked Raina Hart, that spirited girl would surely glare at him with daggers in her eyes.
Instead, Maverick continued with his earlier explanation.
“Miss Rose, you’re all under a grave misunderstanding—I’m not idle enough to help with the orphanage’s spring cleaning.”
An hour ago.
Maverick had pursued Raina Hart, who had teleported away, down to the orphanage below the hill. And by misfortune, he had been spotted.
By Jasmine, the orphanage’s eldest, who was directing the other disciples while searching for cleaning help.

“You came to Hibei looking for His Majesty the Emperor?”
“Yes, but then Raina Hart vanished in an instant teleportation. Of all things. Now I have to find Raina Hart too.”
“Your Master? Rose! Wait a moment! The blanket is dragging everywhere!”
“…This is too long. I’d rather do something else.”
“Then who’s going to wring out the blanket? The other disciples are all cleaning too. With empty hands….”
“Hmm? Ah, don’t worry about me and just go about your work. I’ll find His Majesty and Raina Hart myself-.”
“Duke, your hands are free. And you’re quite tall.”
“Ha ha. Miss Jasmine, what’s with that remarkably gleaming look in your eyes? I’m feeling a bit anxious right now…?”
“Would you like to help with cleaning if you have nothing to do? We’re in the middle of spring cleaning and we’re short on hands.”

Nothing to do? I’m in the middle of performing a critical mission to find the runaway Emperor.
Of course, I have a strong feeling that the Emperor will be found by the disappeared Raina Hart. But still-.
“Give up. No one can escape from Jasmine’s surveillance network.”
Maverick turned his head following Rose’s gaze.
His middle-aged knight was wringing out wet sheets, proudly displaying his bulging forearms. And in front of the wooden tub beside him sat a blonde man silently scrubbing laundry.
It was Stale, who had come to the Daisy Detective Agency last year with other disciples and threatened the Director with lightning.
Just then, Jasmine brought over a white shirt and handed it to Stale.
“Stale, sorry, but there’s still a stain here?”
“…Yes. I’ll wash it again.”
Maverick’s enhanced senses revealed it. That it was merely a speck of a stain. But Stale accepted the shirt without objection and tossed it into the wooden tub.
Maverick realized something watching this.
This was the behavior of someone who had failed countless times to resist and accepted his fate as the laundry handler.
“Stale is a high-ranking mage. Fifth Circle.”
“That’s right.”
Maverick was Fourth Circle.
Could it be that the eerie feeling I had earlier was because my impure thoughts of escape were caught in Jasmine’s surveillance network?
‘Life is more important than the mission.’
My status, which commanded respect anywhere in the Betuzhenia Empire, was worth less than a meatball here in the presence of the Grand Mage.
“…Do you at least provide dinner in between?”
“Yes.”
Thank goodness.
Maverick obediently shook out the blanket and muttered to himself.

***

That night.
Raina’s darkened bedroom, unlike the silence of the previous evening, now brimmed with warmth and faint gasps of pleasure.
“Keri, the Imperial Palace is….”
Just hours earlier, the Emperor of the Betuzhenia Empire had returned to the Imperial Palace after disappearing for only half a day.
The bureaucrats carefully inquired about the Emperor’s whereabouts during his absence, but instead received a question from the Emperor himself—where was the absent Maverick?
But how could they explain? That His Majesty had run away chasing after the Grand Mage, so they had sent the Hibeiro Director in pursuit.

“The Director is conducting a special investigation….”
“Tell the Director he has a private audience with me tomorrow.”

Beyond the incident that had earned Maverick the sympathy of the nobility, various other matters had occurred—but.
“We can discuss such things later.”
A ragged voice mingled with shallow breaths. Kevenriak wetted his lips with his tongue as though quenching a thirst.
‘Crimson….’
In the darkness, Raina beheld her lover’s bare form bathed in moonlight. His muscular frame, honed by swordcraft, was so breathtakingly beautiful that her eyes could not look away.
Raising his upper body, he left a deep mark with his lips on the inside of the ankle he held in his hand. His blue eyes, raw with desire, turned toward the pillows. Disheveled periwinkle hair.
Her beloved, flushed cheeks burning with warmth, regarding him with silver eyes glistening with moisture—so utterly lovely.
“The Imperial Palace is hardly important right now.”
Soft black hair brushed past Raina’s leg.
Moments later, from between Raina’s lips, which had turned to the side, came a gasp far more intense than before.

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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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