For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 15

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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 15

“We’re not going to stay in Hibei forever, are we?”

Shukal’s voice emerged weakly.
Four years in the rural village of Hibei had drifted by at a leisurely pace.
Yet that didn’t mean our hearts had grown equally unhurried.

“The Imperial Knights administrative office barely responds to our inquiries anymore.”

They’d been told to wait in Hibei until a recall order came through.
Who could have predicted it would stretch into four years?
At least they hadn’t forgotten our salaries—the deposits appeared in our accounts like clockwork.

“Are we really fine? I haven’t even seen the face of the new commander who took office four years ago.”

In a place like this, advancement was effectively impossible.
For two men in their twenties at their prime and one in his early thirties, it was unbearably harsh.
Shukal spoke.

“Is there any chance Raina Hart might rise to prominence? If she did, we could use that as an excuse to move up with her.”
“Give up on Raina Hart, Shukal. Look at how many invitations and letters of cooperation she receives—and she ignores every single one. Unless the Emperor himself comes here, there’s no hope.”

But would His Majesty ever visit a remote village like this?
Fontepon shook his head, saying it was better to abandon such hopes quickly.
We needed another solution besides Raina Hart.

“Deputy Commander, you should lodge a strong protest with the higher-ups. What kind of knight order has its deputy commander absent from duty for four years? It’s absurd.”
“Mm.”

Though Fontepon spoke earnestly, Person’s reply was brief.
From the way he answered so perfunctorily, it seemed his mind was elsewhere.

“What are you staring at so intently… Oh, the Orphanage.”

Person was looking at the village entrance down the hillside.
A three-story building standing there prominently.
It was where the disciples that Raina Hart had taken under her wing resided.

“Vice-Commander, are you still amazed? Lady Raina Hart took on disciples.”

It was certainly astonishing enough.
That Raina Hart, who had taken on the Fourth Prince as a disciple, now had others.
More than ten people as disciples, no less.
The beginning traced back four years, after Raina brought Kin from the village.

“My Lord! This child has mana too!”
“My Lord! This one as well!”
“My Lord!”
….

In Hibei, children with mana were rare.
The Village Chief brought every child with mana he discovered among those with nowhere to go to the castle as if presenting them to Raina.
To make them her disciples—her subordinates.

“…For now, just leave them at the castle, and don’t bring any more from now on.”

It was the Village Chief’s way of repaying her kindness.
But for Raina, the recipient, it was hardly welcome.
She despised the castle being crowded.
She had accepted a few after hearing they were children with nowhere to go, and even told him to stop bringing more.
Yet the Village Chief’s gratitude knew no bounds.
Eventually, it reached a point where Raina could endure it no longer.

“Village Chief, take them all away.”
“But then, what should we do about where these children will stay? The village orphanage we built before is already at full capacity…. If things continue this way, they’ll end up on the streets….”

The Village Chief was even more persistent than those semi-transparent windows that appeared at inopportune moments.

‘Perhaps the Village Chief is a novelist. Watching my misfortune unfold beside me and enjoying it.’

Even as I thought this, I couldn’t abandon my conscience.
I built another orphanage at the foot of the hill where the castle stood.
I hired staff and had the Village Chief bring the children there to live.
I thought that would be the end of it.

“The Lord will teach you how to use the mana you possess. Listen well to what the Lord says. You are the Lord’s disciples, after all.”
“Yes, Village Chief!”

I found myself with thirteen disciples.
My greatest feeling was annoyance, though I also felt a sense of injustice.
I had never once said I would take the children as disciples.

“I don’t take disciples—”
“Yes, Master!”

The children’s eyes sparkled with hope.
I lost.
I occasionally descended to the orphanage below the hill to teach the children magic.
I hired teachers for other subjects as well.
I didn’t want to discriminate against the other orphanage in the village, so I allowed any children who wished to attend my lessons.
Only Kevenriak Heteroven and Kin, whom I had directly taken as disciples, remained at the castle.
The castle became quiet again, as it had been before.

“One of your disciples is coming out, it seems.”

Shukal pointed toward the building.
A young boy emerging from the orphanage and climbing the hill.
Even from a distance, his appearance was extraordinary.
Lustrous black hair, a well-defined nose, elegant brows, and brilliant blue eyes that gleamed with vitality.
As he drew closer, his refined features became ever more striking, naturally drawing admiration.
Person, Shukal, and Fontepon rose from where they had been sitting.

“Your Highness, you’ve arrived?”

Fontepon called out to Kevenriak Heteroven as he approached the castle gate.

….

Kevenriak Heteroven nodded.
At twelve years old this year, the Fourth Prince had grown increasingly taciturn.

“You’ve returned from running errands for Raina Hart? She’s waiting for you in the Study.”
“Yes.”

He still cared only for Raina Hart.
At the Fourth Prince’s suddenly brightened demeanor, the three members of the Imperial Third Knights Order simply accepted it as natural.

***

Kevenriak hurried his steps toward the Study.
I wished I could teleport, but I had consumed far too much mana.
For someone with only three mana circles, it was an exhausting spell to use recklessly.

‘Master makes it look so effortless.’

I didn’t understand it when I was younger.
How remarkable it was that Raina Hart performed such feats as naturally as breathing.

‘When will I become strong enough?’

Creating mana circles up to the third circle—intermediate mage rank—wasn’t particularly difficult.
But the wall of the fourth circle, the threshold between intermediate and advanced, stretched endlessly before me.

“Becoming an advanced mage requires more than just training. From the third circle onward, each new mana circle demands a catalyst—a profound enlightenment, or an extraordinary experience beyond anything you’ve known before. Be patient. Your moment will come, Kevenriak.”

Those were the words Raina Hart had spoken to me when I felt discouraged.
Countless mages lived and died at the first or second circle their entire lives.
Yet at twelve, I had already reached the third circle.
Even compared to those called exceptional mages, I was clearly stronger.
The problem was that my standard for what made a great mage was Raina Hart herself.
The further my magical abilities advanced, the more distant my promise to provide her with a comfortable life seemed to become.

‘When will I become as remarkable a mage as Master?’

I opened the Study door.

“Master?”

Raina Hart was nowhere to be found.
Ordinarily, she would have been asleep on the sofa with a book in hand.

“Where could she be—”
“Keri.”

A hand suddenly rested upon Kevenriak Heteroven’s shoulder.
It was Raina Hart.

“So you found your master, did you?”

Kevenriak Heteroven turned around.
Raina Hart laughed playfully, her appearance no different from when they first met.
She had watched the doorknob turn from within the study and teleported behind her disciple the moment the door opened.

“What brings you to see your master?”

Raina Hart asked while embracing Kevenriak Heteroven’s shoulders.
My first disciple, now twelve years old, had already grown as tall as my chin.

“I heard you were looking for me.”

Kevenriak Heteroven allowed me to rest my head against him for a moment before pulling away and speaking.
I gazed forlornly at my empty arms.
Now that he had turned twelve, he no longer wished to remain in my embrace for long.

‘Since the year before last, he’s even refused to share a bed with me.’

Of course, as Kevenriak Heteroven continued to grow, he could not cling to me as he once did in childhood.

“Your master is lonely.”

I grumbled.

“Do not be lonely.”

And on top of that, he was even placating me.
It was clear that Kevenriak would consume the years I had left to live.
Moreover, since Raina Hart was a dragon quarter-blood, her physical growth stopped at eighteen when she reached adulthood.
It meant she hadn’t aged a day since entering the novel four years ago.

‘At this rate, won’t we soon look like friends rather than master and disciple? But I still have my dignity as a master. That would be troublesome.’

While I was preoccupied with thoughts of my authority as a master.
Kevenriak straightened the blanket scattered across the sofa and spoke to me.

“Master, mail has arrived.”
“Is that so?”

Looking at the table beside the sofa, I could see the mail Kevenriak had brought.
I walked over and picked up two letters.
One of them carried a subtle rose fragrance, so it was undoubtedly from Count William—another marriage proposal.

‘Count William never gives up.’

Count William was a man in his mid-twenties who had persistently proposed to me four years ago when I was briefly staying at the Imperial Palace.

“Lady Hart, have you given thought to the proposal I made before? I truly believe it would be beneficial for us both….”

Back then, I thought he was an unscrupulous man throwing himself at an eighteen-year-old Raina Hart.
Yet he had been sending marriage proposals to Hibei two or three times every year without fail.
Perhaps he was a devoted romantic after all.

‘He must have fallen for the previous version of Raina Hart.’

The butler had always brought them before, but this time it seemed Kevenriak had received the mail first.
I carefully opened the envelope and read it.
The opening was identical—something about Count William’s family possessing immense wealth and so forth.

‘There’s no need to read any further.’

I burned the letter in my hand with magic.

“Haven’t you read it?”
“No. It’s like a chain letter. Reading it brings misfortune.”
“A chain letter? What’s that?”
“Well, if you’re curious, I’ll send you one later through Kevenriak.”

A chain letter. At those words, Kevenriak smiled softly.

‘When he smiles so beautifully, my conscience pricks me.’

Berating myself for being such an inadequate mentor, I tore open the next letter.
And the first line of the letter I had just read.

「This letter originated in Loctem first…」

It seemed there were two letters that needed to be burned.

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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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