For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 152

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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 Episode 5

What madman would divide his own life to resurrect the dead?
The Emperor wasn’t my preference as Master’s partner, but anyone else would be infinitely worse—of that I was certain.
‘At least that madman is trustworthy.’
As Ban lingered in the room rather than departing, Kevenriak Heteroven spoke.
“Do you have business with me?”
“Ah, well. It’s—”
“You must. You certainly didn’t come here just to boast like a child.”
Ban’s mouth fell open.
I’d barely acknowledged the mad Emperor as Master’s partner, and this is what I get in return—mockery. If he knew my thoughts, the Emperor should apologize to me.
The problem was I couldn’t voice those thoughts aloud. Rather than tell the Emperor I acknowledged him, I’d sooner do the Orphanage’s autumn cleaning alone a hundred times over.
When had it started, anyway? This antagonism toward the Emperor?
Just a few years ago, I had looked up to Kevenriak Heteroven’s back with reverence.
The first disciple who instilled pride in Master Raina Hart’s disciples. A member of the Imperial Family with noble blood, unlike us orphans.

“Bait? Are you trying to secure your absolution through such a cowardly method?”

I found the answer in words my past self had spoken to the Emperor.
Three years ago, I had condemned the Emperor for failing to protect Master even while in the same space. As time passed, the immense sorrow that had seemed eternal gradually faded, bit by bit.
Only then did I truly see the Emperor’s state. He was a wreck—worse than any of us disciples. His sorrow never faded with time. I understood why.
He had locked himself in a pit of darkness, endlessly pouring sorrow into it.
Fearing that sorrow might vanish, that the guilt for killing Master might disappear, he even placed a talking doll—a caged puppet—at his bedside to sleep.

“Do you have the shame to die?”

I feared following my Master into death. Yet I knew no way to pull the Emperor from that abyss. Gentle pleas for him to live never reached him.
So I seized him with sharp words, with accusations—begging him, please, not to abandon us as well. There were times I held that desperate prayer close to my heart for so long.
‘I need to change my approach now.’
Ban scratched the bridge of her nose, feeling awkward.
She had missed her chance. Not long after her Master returned, she learned the two had become lovers.
Once a demeanor took root, it was difficult to change.
Still, whether she liked it or not, they were her Master’s most prized first disciple.
‘The Emperor before me is precious. So we cannot fight. Precious, so precious….’
“What is it. State your business.”
“U-ugh-.”
Ban pressed her lips firmly shut and bounced on her feet. She writhed briefly in irritation, then delivered her message through trembling facial muscles.
“The disciples want you to come too.”
“Fine. You said you’d spend time with them.”
So she had not gone to Hibeiro. The disciples must have flocked to the Lord’s Castle, wanting to spend their final night with their Master.
Raina Hart held her disciples dear. Once she became Empress, the time they could spend together would diminish, so it was right that I yield.
“So the Emperor must come too.”
“Why?”
Ban spoke in an exasperated tone.
“You’re her first disciple.”

***

“Let’s get married.”

In the season between summer and autumn.
Vivian Asperada descended from the carriage at the Grand Temple and quickened her pace in the direction the priest indicated.
“Ah, Miss! You’re walking too fast!”
“Maya, I’m going ahead!”
“Is there a need to hurry? It’s not as though the bride is going anywhere today….”
Maya kept her eyes on Vivian’s upswept hair as she hurried after her, anxious with worry.
She fretted that the hairstyle her mistress had labored over since dawn might come undone. The dress, hastily reserved and fitted a month prior, fluttered with Vivian’s every movement. As she ascended the broad spiral staircase, Vivian resembled a butterfly gliding gracefully on the wing.
Truly, our young mistress is so beautiful.
“The doors are just open. It seems there aren’t many people yet.”
Vivian’s voice brimmed with excitement. Her gaze swept the quiet corridor and came to rest upon the arched entrance where two grand doors stood wide open.
How long she had waited for this day.

“The Grand Mage is marrying His Majesty the Emperor…?!”

On this day when the Betuzhenia Empire welcomes its new Empress!
‘This is like a novel becoming reality!’
Is this what a reader invited to the final chapter of a romance novel feels? My heart trembled so much that I couldn’t sleep properly last night.
Vivian Asperada stepped forward with determination. But her feet could not quite cross the threshold.
“What should I do, Maya?”
“Why, why are you like this?”
“I can’t breathe.”
“Oh, Miss.”
Maya rushed to catch the swaying Vivian Asperada in alarm.
They say that when people witness something too beautiful, they cannot distinguish between reality and unreality—and I was experiencing exactly that.
In the spacious room, among the bustling priests and maidservants, I could see Raina Hart in her wedding dress.
It was a dress of white lace and silk fabric adorned with elaborate gold thread embroidery. The voluminous hem was elegantly layered with silk. The bodice had an off-shoulder design, and a necklace densely studded with jewels complemented her pale skin beautifully.
Vivian Asperada doubted whether this was truly the world she knew. Though countless floral decorations surrounded Raina Hart, none of them could capture her gaze. The Grand Mage looked like a pale violet flower blooming delicately above her eyes.
That description of being unable to distinguish between flowers and the female protagonist—and yet it was happening right before my eyes.
“Vivian.”
The Female Protagonist in her pristine white dress spoke to me.
Vivian Asperada nearly wept. In fact, tears were already forming. Maya quickly dabbed them away with a handkerchief, unable to let her makeup be ruined.
“Why do you look like you’re about to cry?”
“But—”
Vivian Asperada walked toward Raina Hart with trembling voice. She looked even more beautiful up close.
“The Grand Mage becoming Her Majesty the Empress… seeing the happy ending of the female protagonist I’ve been rooting for, the tears just come.”
“…What?”
At Vivian Asperada’s sincere words, Raina Hart burst out laughing. It was a light, genuine laugh.
At the sound of her laughter—she who had been expressionless until now—everyone in the room gazed at Raina Hart as if enchanted.
“Grand Mage, was what I said really that funny…?”
“No, Vivian.”
Raina Hart suppressed her remaining laughter and comforted the blushing Vivian Asperada.
“It’s because of me.”
After all, I had lived in this world for fourteen years regarding Vivian Asperada as the female protagonist from a novel, vowing to protect everyone’s happy endings.
To be called a female protagonist by her—it was enough to make me laugh.
“And the one who suits being the female protagonist is someone like you, Vivian. You look beautiful today.”
“Really? I’ve been preparing since dawn.”
“Since dawn? Same as me.”
Vivian Asperada and Raina Hart laughed together and shared a brief conversation. It was a time undisturbed by anyone.
This is why I came early.
Vivian Asperada looked around, feeling grateful that she had come without waiting for Tiernan Fargan, who was leading the congratulatory delegation from Tunchar.
The only familiar faces were Raina Hart’s knights, Fontepon and Shukal.
The groom couldn’t see the bride until the ceremony began, so excluding the former lodger—those who should have arrived early and been bustling about beside Raina Hart were nowhere to be seen.
“But I don’t see Din and the others?”
I thought they would be crowding around for the Master’s wedding.
“You must have slept in. You were asleep well past midnight.”

Yesterday.
Raina Hart had been confined to the Grand Temple for five days before the wedding ceremonies, only gaining her freedom when noon arrived.
The Emperor still had more procedures to complete and wouldn’t finish until late evening. Just then, Raina’s communication crystal chimed.
It was Rose calling, asking if she could come to Hibei—there was something she needed to discuss.
Raina teleported to Hibei without hesitation, only to be greeted by a surprise party thrown by her disciples. Though exhausted, spending this final night with them was something she welcomed, and she enjoyed it thoroughly. Later, even Kevenriak Heteroven attended, and Raina found herself swept up in memories as if she’d returned to the past.
Between laughter and chatter, she even managed to visit Kin’s grave without anyone noticing.
Afterward, she took a night walk with Kevenriak Heteroven, and the lights in the reception room where her disciples gathered remained on until she went to sleep.
Since there hadn’t even been a message from Fontepon or Shukal yet, they might still be sleeping.
“Really? But this is the Grand Mage’s and His Majesty’s wedding….”
Raina Hart offered a faint smile as she watched Vivian Asperada’s disappointed expression.
“He’ll come later.”
“Good heavens. Raina.”
Just then, Maverick entered the waiting room in formal attire, carrying an enormous bouquet of flowers.
Upon spotting Raina Hart, he covered his mouth with one hand as if shocked, then asked with a bewildered expression.
“I thought His Majesty was marrying another woman. Is it really you? What on earth have you done to your face? Magic?”
“…Want to see magic?”
“Oh my. I was so scattered that I forgot to greet His Majesty first. That’s the proper protocol, isn’t it? I mean, I do like you as a friend, but even in the Empire there’s hierarchy. Fontepon, take this bouquet, will you? I picked it carefully for my friend and future Empress. Ha, congratulations on your wedding, Raina.”
“….”
Maverick’s survival instincts kicked in, and he vanished like the wind.
Raina Hart shook her head slightly as she watched him flee, while Vivian Asperada turned pale.
‘Protocol….’
How could this be? She had become a duke’s heir who couldn’t even observe proper etiquette before the Emperor.

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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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