For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 23

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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 23

Swallow the Imperial Palace whole. You’re a monster anyway.
That’s right. I am a monster.
Kevenriak was certain of it.

The moment we teleported from the Secret Vault to the Empress’s Palace, a translucent window materialized before us.
Raina Hart clicked her tongue.
Damn setting.

‘How dare he call my precious disciple a monster or anything of the sort?’

I wanted nothing more than to raise my middle finger to the heavens in satisfaction, but there was no time for such indulgences.
Raina Hart walked to Kevenriak’s side as he stood before the Empress, and gently stroked his dark hair.

“No, Keri.”

You are not a monster.
You are my pride and joy as a disciple.

“…Master?”

His round blue eyes widened in disbelief as he gazed upon his master standing beside him.
Raina Hart smiled warmly at her disciple.

“So you were here? I found you.”
“That is…”
“You’ve grown. I’m proud of you.”
“…Yes.”

Kevenriak nodded.
As expected of my master.
How did she recognize at a glance that I had ascended to the Fourth Circle?

‘Only my master ever notices the changes within me.’

At Raina Hart’s praise, a subtle smile bloomed across Kevenriak Heteroven’s lips.
He seemed to have momentarily forgotten what had just transpired.
Seeing her disciple’s composure restored to its usual state, Raina Hart felt her chest lighten with relief.

‘Fortunately, I wasn’t too late. That Grimoire of Magic may be insufferable, but it’s quite useful after all.’

Just moments before.
It had been when she was in the Secret Vault of the Imperial Library.

“Keri awakened to the Fourth Circle?”
“That’s what I’m telling you.”

Raina Hart’s brow furrowed.
An awakening from the Third Circle to the Fourth Circle meant something significant had happened to Kevenriak Heteroven.
Moreover, this was the Imperial Palace—the stage where Kevenriak Heteroven awakened as a tyrant.
Most importantly—

‘If those wretched Heteroven royals dared to torment our house cat…’

She would not let it slide.
Raina Hart immediately demanded that Zikhard, the Grimoire of Magic, reveal Kevenriak Heteroven’s location.

“Master? Before I tell you that, you must first contract with me—?”
“Give me the location.”
“Yes, ma’am.”

Zikhard, faced with Raina Hart’s half-closed eyes and the sealing magic swirling around her hands, readily revealed the location.
Before teleporting, Raina Hart withdrew a spatial pouch from her bosom.

“A spatial pouch? Why would you take that out…? Surely not, Master? I, Zikhard, such an exalted being, would never fit in something so—!”

She then wrapped Zikhard tightly with vines, preventing the book’s cover from opening, and sealed him inside the spatial pouch.
Since she had broken the barrier of the Secret Vault, she could not leave Zikhard behind in that place.

‘Though he calls me “Master” and acts obedient, the true nature of a Grimoire of Magic is destruction and malice.’

An entity that corrupts the soul and spirit of its contracted master with evil, urging them to destroy the world.
It was why the original Kevenriak Heteroven remained a tyrant even after successfully consuming the Imperial Palace and achieving his revenge.

‘For now, I’ve bound the cover so it can’t be opened, which means magic won’t be usable. I’ll need to attempt a re-sealing spell later when I retrieve it from my subspace pouch.’

I dismissed the translucent window.
And reflected in my silver eyes, cold and piercing, was—

“….”

The imperial family members seated in their chairs, their mouths gaping open toward me.

‘A monster…. She’s a monster.’
‘Raina Hart, please spare us!’
‘The Fourth Prince has gone mad!’

I couldn’t hear a single word they were saying.
It seemed a Silence spell had been cast, along with magic that controlled the movements below their faces.

“Raina Hart!”

The Empress screamed at me.
The only one whose Silence spell remained uncast.
She had realized that with the appearance of a Grand Mage, there was nothing she could do but cower.
This was not a secret intrusion like that night four years ago, unknown to anyone.
The Emperor knew Raina Hart was in the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Army knew.
She possessed the power and justification to suppress Raina Hart.

“I can explain what happened that day—!”
“Silence.”
“…”

Gape. Gape.
The Empress’s mouth opened and closed again like a fish.

“…Keri?”

I looked at Kevenriak in confusion.
Though I had clearly heard the incantation spoken aloud, Kevenriak feigned ignorance and avoided my gaze.

‘I have to protect Raina.’

The Empress would surely say something hurtful to Raina Hart.
My teacher must not hear what the Empress has to say.

“…?”

Raina Hart gazed at her taciturn disciple’s resolute profile with bewilderment, then moved her hand.
Whatever Kevenriak was thinking, using magic against the Empress would bring no good.
With Raina Hart’s silent incantation magic, the Empress regained her voice.

“I—!”
“Silence.”

Kevenriak’s magic followed. The Empress’s mouth gaped open once more.
Raina Hart dispelled the magic again, her expression clouded with confusion.

“Rai…wait…you….”

This cycle repeated roughly three times.
The Empress’s voice stuttered on and off like a broken automaton.
After dispelling the magic, Raina Hart gently patted Kevenriak’s shoulder in a soothing gesture.

“Kevenriak, you shouldn’t do such things even to an elder.”
“Argh!”

The Empress, Tratscha, could no longer contain her fury and shrieked.
They were mocking her!

“How dare you mock Tratscha!”

Her body’s movement restrictions had not yet been lifted.
The Empress remained seated in her chair, gnashing her teeth and shaking her head wildly like a madwoman.
Raina Hart covered Kevenriak’s eyes.

“Teacher, I cannot see.”
“That is fine. It would not be good for your education otherwise.”

Our child must grow up seeing only good things.
Tratscha observed the two whispering to each other.
What caught her eye was Raina Hart’s bare wrist—the one covering the Fourth Prince’s eyes.
Beneath the disheveled strands of hair that had fallen across her face, the Empress’s gaze settled with quiet composure.

“You two.”
“…?”
“Neither of you is wearing a bracelet.”

Clink. Clink.
The sound of shackles that the Knight had been mimicking seemed to echo in Raina’s ears.

***

“That’s exactly why I told you so.”

At the Checkpoint.
The Knight who had taken custody of Raina Hart and Kevenriak Heteroven from the Imperial Army spoke with a regretful expression.
In the end, the Archmage and her cousin had returned as criminals in half a day.
The sun, still blazing brightly in the middle of the sky, cast its light upon the two criminals.

“If you fail to keep the bracelet safe, you become a criminal. But why is your cousin wearing shackles? You said he couldn’t use magic—”
“Enough.”

Raina Hart held out both wrists, the shackles binding them.
It was her way of saying they should remove them now that they had left Jenia.

“Raina Hart and Kevenriak Heteroven. You two shall never set foot upon the soil of Jenia again without my permission.”

This was the punishment that came from the Empress’s lips.
Effectively, permanent banishment from Jenia.
I had thought Kevenriak would be thrown into the Imperial Palace dungeons, especially since he had used magic.
But the Empress chose instead to remove them from her sight forever.
The fact that there was no prison capable of holding an Archmage had also unsettled the Empress.

“Raina Hart is being banished?”

When the Emperor learned of this news and visited the Empress’s Palace, the Empress had already rendered her judgment upon the two.
The Emperor showed resistance to the news that Raina Hart was being banished, but—

“Did you not entrust me with all matters concerning entry and exit to Jenia four years ago?”

I nodded, forcing myself to understand what transaction had passed between the Empress and the Emperor.
I decided to have a trustworthy messenger deliver the antidote to the poison that I had promised to give the Emperor.

‘Not bad at all.’

In fact, this worked perfectly in my favor.
The Emperor would have no further reason to summon me.
And Kevenriak would be kept far from the Imperial Palace.
The Empress’s punishment was as satisfying as acquiring ownership of Lindraham Mine from the Emperor.

“It is done.”

The shackles fell from my wrists at the Knight’s hand.
Next, Kevenriak’s wrists—silent until now—were freed from their restraints as well.
His blue eyes gazed down at his empty hands.

“….”

Unlike me, satisfied with how this had unfolded, Kevenriak was disappointed in himself once more.

‘I failed to protect her again.’

I had thought that awakening to the Fourth Circle would allow me to protect Raina Hart.
But this time was no different.
Even as the Imperial Army fastened the mana-sealing shackles around her wrists, I could do nothing.

“What are you doing to my Master!”
“Fourth Prince, please remain calm. This is the Empress’s command.”

Several Imperial soldiers subdued Kevenriak as he thrashed against his restraints.
The Empress looked down at him, pinned to the ground and straining against his bonds.

“How fitting—you squirm like a worm.”

At the command of that yellow poison frog of an Empress, the shackles were fastened around my wrists.

“And who are you?”

What’s with the way you’re treating Raina? That’s pathetic.
Tratscha leaned forward and whispered, ensuring Raina—standing at a distance—couldn’t hear.

“Are you envious of the power I possess? If you’re so resentful, go seize some for yourself.”

The Empress’s provocation.

“Listen well, Fourth Prince. Do you truly believe the Heteroven name you carry is yours? Don’t even entertain the thought that it belongs to you. You have been given nothing.”

Her warning followed.

“The Emperor’s crown will never rest upon your fingertips.”
“…The Emperor’s crown?”
“Yes. It will shine upon my son’s head.”

Kevenriak recalled the Empress’s words, clenching and unclenching his empty hands.

‘The Emperor’s crown…’

If I possessed that, could I seize the power the Empress holds?

“Brother… No, Keri. What are you thinking so hard about?”

Raina Hart approached Kevenriak and asked.
At a distance from the checkpoint queue, their conversation remained unheard by those around them.
Kevenriak lifted his head, blinking at Raina Hart’s gentle face as he opened his mouth.

“Master, I—”
“R-Raina Hart!”

A voice hastily interrupted Kevenriak’s words.

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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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