For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 25
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 25
‘It would be better if Master didn’t go to the Imperial Palace.’
That’s what Kevenriak thought.
He didn’t mind how the people of the Imperial Palace treated him like an insect, calling him a bug.
Since he was a monster, he could accept such treatment.
But Raina Hart was different.
‘Those people insulted Master.’
They mocked her and made her the subject of ridicule.
Just like the servants and maids who came to the temple every night.
Raina Hart was someone who should never be treated the way I am.
“Are you envious of the power I possess? If you resent it, try to seize some for yourself.”
Even though I had finally become a 4-Circle mage as I’d long desired, and my original purpose for going to the Imperial Palace was achieved.
I still didn’t have enough power to truly protect Master.
‘So it’s better if Master doesn’t go to the Imperial Palace.’
Kevenriak called out to Raina Hart.
The two of them were still in the entrance hall of the Castle.
“Master.”
“Yes….”
Raina Hart’s weak voice as she leaned against Kevenriak with her left arm draped over his shoulder.
Even her vibrant periwinkle hair, which was always full of vitality, hung limply without energy.
“…?”
Kevenriak tilted his head at the sight of his Master looking so dejected.
It seemed that what happened at the Imperial Palace had indeed not been good for Raina Hart.
Emboldened by this realization, Kevenriak made a request of his Master.
“We’ve been exiled from Jenia anyway, so couldn’t you stop visiting the Imperial Palace and just stay with me in Hibei instead?”
I blinked at my disciple’s question.
My mind raced as I pondered the meaning behind those words.
Then, as my silver eyes met Keri’s blue gaze, they suddenly gleamed with life.
“Keri, you’d like to stay with your master in Hibei?”
“Yes. I would.”
Kevenriak nodded toward me, his expression brightening.
Of course he would. If I was there, location meant nothing to him.
“That’s what I thought.”
My heart melted all over again at my disciple’s unexpected words.
So when Keri said it would be better to be exiled from the Imperial Palace, he meant it because he wanted to be with me in Hibei.
‘It wasn’t rebellion—it was because he loved being in Hibei so much, wasn’t it?’
Unable to contain my warmth, my lips curved upward of their own accord.
I wondered if it was alright for a master to be so emotionally transparent, so eager at my disciple’s words.
“….”
“…?”
Kevenriak blinked as he met my silent gaze.
He’s adorable. Absolutely precious.
How can I help but treat him like my own child before he’s even my disciple?
I suddenly wrapped my arms around Kevenriak as he stared at me.
“Master…?!”
Kevenriak’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh my, what should I do? Keri, are you really going through adolescence? Even if you are, couldn’t you pretend not to notice for your master’s sake? I’m so hurt—”
Since he probably wouldn’t want me touching his cheeks anymore, I rubbed my face against his soft hair instead.
The silky strands felt wonderful against my skin. It’s been so long since I’ve felt this comforted.
“M-Master!”
From the open second-floor window came Kin’s urgent cry.
Raina Hart looked up while still holding Kevenriak Heteroven in her embrace.
Kevenriak followed his master’s gaze upward.
It was a display of affection Kin had witnessed since childhood. No one in Raina Hart’s castle found it unusual that the two remained so closely intertwined.
“Kin, what’s wrong?”
At Raina Hart’s question, Kin bounced excitedly and cried out.
“A talking book has appeared in the castle!”
A talking book? Such a monster didn’t exist in the original story—
“Ah.”
Raina Hart extended her hand.
A calling spell. At her summons, the spatial pouch from her chamber passed through the window Kin had opened and settled into Raina Hart’s palm.
Kevenriak Heteroven observed the leather pouch, no larger than a palm, and asked.
“Why did you summon the spatial pouch?”
“Well, I’m looking for something.”
Raina Hart released her hold on her disciple and reached into the spatial pouch.
The method was simple—think of what you placed inside, and it materializes in your hand.
Since only the registered owner could use it, no one else could retrieve items from within.
Which meant—
“….”
It had escaped on its own.
‘I don’t know how it managed to escape. But the Grimoire of Magic desires a contract with Keri.’
Raina Hart seized Kevenriak Heteroven’s hand firmly.
“Keri, from now until I say otherwise, stay glued to your master’s side like chewing gum.”
“…?”
I wasn’t sure why, but my mentor had grown solemn.
Kevenriak Heteroven nodded with equal gravity.
“Kin, where was the book?”
“I saw it in the hallway just now. It was singing….”
What a spectacle unfolding in my castle.
It seemed Kin, startled by the bizarre scene, had rushed to find me.
“Don’t worry. I’ll catch it soon enough.”
“But Master.”
Kin hesitated before speaking to me.
“Dan and Ban are visiting the castle right now.”
Dan and Ban.
Among my more than ten disciples brought by the Village Chief, they were a brother and sister—nine and eight years old respectively.
I let out an exasperated sigh.
Both were adorable children, but the problem was.
‘They’re far too spirited and energetic.’
I couldn’t even imagine how delighted they would be at the sight of a talking book.
I shook my head and opened the Castle Gate.
***
“Eeeek!”
Zikhard, the Grimoire of Magic, tore through the corridor of the Separate Palace connected to the main residence.
The vines that the merciless mage Raina Hart had wound tightly around his body.
Because of them, he couldn’t open his covers.
Unable to cast a single spell, all he could do was run.
“Stop right there!”
“We’re going to catch you!”
Small children chasing after me like hunters from behind. The Grimoire of Magic fleeing in desperation.
The bottom of the leather cover that Zikhard had proudly cherished and maintained was mercilessly scraped against the floor.
‘My corners! All my corners are getting damaged!’
How had things come to this?
Just a minute ago, I was happy.
“Hehehehe. Even the Arch Mage looks down on me.”
One minute earlier. Zikhard had emerged from Raina Hart’s dimensional pouch and was savoring freedom.
Joy brought song to my lips naturally.
“Trying to confine me in some tool created by mere mages like that.”
For one who knew everything in this world, escaping such a dimensional pouch was child’s play.
Though I remained bound by vines—physical restraints—which I couldn’t resolve.
“So this is Raina Hart’s castle, then?”
It was an unremarkable provincial castle.
The cozy atmosphere was hardly to my liking. It would be better if it were filled with screams.
Perhaps I should decorate it that way myself.
Two shadows fell across Zikhard’s leather cover.
“A moving book?”
“I told you.”
They were young siblings.
Both with golden eyes—a boy with orange hair and a girl with white hair.
Zikhard habitually scanned their information and smirked.
Fire-type and ice-type tiger beastkin. More precisely, half-breeds.
How rare.
“You wretches.”
Being young creatures, they seemed unfamiliar with distinguishing between humanoid and beastkin forms.
Thick, fluffy crescent-shaped ears peeked through their hair.
“I have beast-kin ancestors—”
“So I speak.”
“Right?”
Dan and Ban’s yellow eyes gleamed as they nodded to each other.
And then the two children rushed forward as if to seize Zikhard.
Crash! Thud! Crackle! Clang!
The chase between a thousand-year-old Grimoire of Magic and nine and eight-year-old children was deafening.
The corridors of the Separate Palace in Hibei that Raina Hart loved were transforming into a pitiful state—decorations shattered, wallpaper torn, lights fallen, and floors cracked.
‘Damn it, if I were only nine hundred years younger~~!’
A book’s running speed, even without magic, was no match for them.
Zikhard was caught in the end.
The children gripped the vines binding Zikhard tightly. The strength was extraordinary, perhaps because beast-kin blood flowed through them.
“You brats! To the great Grimoire of Magic, Zikhard!”
“Grimoire of Magic? Magic?”
“We can do something similar! Our teacher taught us.”
“Want to see?”
“Since you’re great too, can you block our abilities?”
Then flames and cold air appeared in the siblings’ hands.
It was not magic, but the unique ability inherent to tiger beast-kin.
Zikhard gazed at the children’s hands approaching me.
The scars left by the Grand Mage had not yet fully healed.
“Sniff. Sniff.”
At the Grimoire of Magic’s sudden cry, the children stopped their actions.
A pathetic voice flowed out.
“I cannot block such things. I am merely a book made of paper and ink, you see. How weak I am—I cannot even walk properly bound in these vines. It is quite difficult, but if I live like this, perhaps I might meet kindhearted apprentice mages. Will you not free this poor book from these vines?”
Zikhard pretended to wipe away tears that a book could never shed, using a red bookmark.
A book is crying. How pitiful. So pitiful.
“…Should I let you go?”
The siblings, their resolve weakened, nodded their heads.
The orange-haired boy—Ban’s hand transformed into a tiger’s broad, thick front paw.
Sharp claws severed the vines.
Ssshhk.
“Foolish brats.”
Zikhard flipped through the book’s pages, rising into the air.
The pages rustled as they turned.
‘Great Grimoire of Magic, let me show these brats the terror of Zikhard.’
The first scream to fill this castle would be theirs—!
Splash!
Someone had flung liquid that drenched Zikhard’s pages.
A mixture of green and crimson dripped downward.
How dare they.
Zikhard slowly turned around.
A woman with eyes like violets gazed back at him, and beside her clung a boy resembling a black cat.
“….”
“…Master, you’ve arrived?”
Zikhard greeted Raina Hart while wiping the bookmark he’d folded in half.
I didn’t do anything, you see.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————