For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 44

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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 44

“Oh, Imperial Prince. Did you arrive by teleportation?”

Kevenriak nodded at Kin’s question.
Though they were disciples under the same master, the hierarchical distinction between the first disciple and the others was unmistakable.
The Fourth Prince. The Emperor’s own son, no less.

“What brings you here…?”
“An errand from our master.”

Kevenriak extended the basket he had brought to Kin.
It was brimming with raspberries the villagers had given him.

“Ah, raspberries. The children will love these.”

With Kin’s comment upon receiving the basket, silence settled between them.
Despite having spent twelve years in the same castle, the atmosphere between the two remained awkward.
There was little opportunity for them to grow closer, especially after Kin had begun devoting herself so earnestly to caring for the children.

“…”
‘Why doesn’t he leave.’

And so Kin found the first disciple’s unwavering gaze upon her deeply unsettling.
Ordinarily, Kevenriak would return directly to where their master was the moment his task was complete.

“D-do you have something to say?”

Kin asked Kevenriak.

“Kin.”
“…?”
“Don’t strain yourself trying so hard.”

Even to Kevenriak, who cared for no one but Raina Hart, Kin’s devotion to the children seemed peculiarly intense.
It was only later, as he matured, that Kevenriak came to understand Kin even slightly.
She was like him. Kin too carried similar burdens and struggled beneath their weight.

“You are not the kind of master who abandons her disciples.”

It was not particularly welcome news to Kevenriak, but it was the truth.
Raina Hart was weak when it came to her disciples.
The proof lay in how, despite claiming to dislike crowds, she could never refuse the requests that came flooding in from them each time.
Raina, so kind.

‘That is why she picked me up.’

Unable to simply pass by when she saw someone pitiful.
But I had no intention of wearing the mask of a pitiful child forever, remaining by Raina’s side.
A pitiful child would only ever remain a child.

“And if there ever comes a disciple whom my master abandons… it will be me, not you, Kin.”

Kevenriak always assumed the worst.
That way, I could think ahead about what to do next.
So that Raina would never abandon me.
Kevenriak offered a faint smile to his second disciple, who had struggled along for twelve years just as he had.
Then, saying he would go, he vanished in an instant.

“…”

Kin gazed at the place where Kevenriak had disappeared for a long moment, then rose to his feet, basket in hand.
He didn’t need to hear his destination to know it—it would be the castle where his master was.

“The Imperial Prince has the ability to use instant teleportation freely.”

Kin murmured to himself.
He could not understand what Kevenriak had said.
If any disciple were to be abandoned by his master, it would surely be himself—the most useless and incompetent of them all.

“The lord wishes to take you on as a disciple.”

Twelve years ago, when Kin heard those words from the Village Chief, he had been deeply flustered.
That a great mage lord would choose someone as unremarkable as himself as a disciple.
The night before heading up to the castle, he had been so frightened that he suffered three nightmares in succession.
But contrary to his worries, the great mage who became his master was remarkably kind.

“Kin has no talent whatsoever for swordplay.”
“…Is that so? Then don’t push her too hard.”

I overheard Person reporting this to my master.
Nine-year-old Kin felt her heart sink at those words.
Hadn’t Person said so on the first day? That my master had personally requested to teach me swordplay himself. And yet—no talent.
If I couldn’t meet my master’s expectations, would I no longer be able to live here?

‘I have to work harder.’

But magic and swordplay, where talent mattered most, made no progress no matter how hard I tried.
Then one day, the Village Chief kept bringing children to my master, asking him to take them as disciples.

“This is troublesome…”

My master looked deeply troubled. Perhaps I could help her somehow.
Kin volunteered to care for the children.

“Kin, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Raina Hart often said such things, but I was truly fine with it.
Caring for the children suited my aptitude, and I had something I could do.
I was being helpful to my master.

‘This is where I belong.’

I spent twelve years this way.
But now, at last, the limits were beginning to show.
In a few more years, when the remaining disciples grew into adults, what would become of me, who had taken on the role of guardian?

“…”

Kin withdrew a wooden medicine bottle from her pocket.

“I need to give this to my master.”

The wind blew across Kin’s red hair as she held the basket.
The sky above, when I looked up, was clear.

***

“Hmm.”

Back in Hibeiro, Raina Hart was examining the materials she had received from Hazel.

“There’s truly nothing here.”

I could understand why the Emperor had reacted so coldly.
Eight years of investigation had yielded no substantive results whatsoever.

“I confess this only to you, Count Hart, but honestly, it feels like trying to catch a ghost with a net. There’s nothing to grasp.”

Hazel seemed equally frustrated by the lack of progress in the investigation.
Raina began cross-referencing the facts she had experienced thus far with her knowledge, inferring plausible scenarios.
First, the Traveling Troupe of the Old Woman who had handed the potion bottle to the Emperor.

‘The Old Woman could have used dark magic to control people and formed the troupe.’

Due to its nature of transgressing taboos, dark magic was typically wielded by individuals rather than organizations.

‘Above all, her skill is… exceptional.’

I disliked admitting it, but I had to.
Even accounting for the fact that dark magic incantations held greater potency than ordinary spells, she was formidable.
Vast magical reserves capable of controlling the minds of the Traveling Troupe and the Third Prince’s army alike.
The skill to leave no traces, or magic capable of transforming from an old woman into a young woman.
Her mind remains undominated even by poison. That suggested at least a Seventh Circle mage.

‘The Mage Association… she wouldn’t have registered. There’s a mandatory mana inspection every ten years.’

Even if one could wield dark magic freely, the poison mixed within one’s mana would be unavoidable.
A dark mage moving through the Betuzenia Empire while concealing her identity.
I could not make rash assumptions.
She seemed to frequent the appearance of a woman, but there was no way to know her true form.

‘Those who have been consumed by the poison of dark magic thus far….’

The Emperor, the Empress Consort, the Third Prince.
And those who perished entangled in it were the Empress, the Crown Prince, and the Imperial Princess.

‘They’re targeting Heteroven.’

Raina Hart furrowed her brow.
There was no way she could miss such an overt display of intent.

“Heh, but doesn’t the Betuzenia Empire have you?”

The foolish face that surfaced in my mind was grinning complacently.
According to the nobility, he was an Emperor who had made his name on the battlefield in his youth.
Why could I find no trace of that now?

“….”

Damn it.
Raina placed a glass orb displaying the Emperor’s whereabouts on the study desk.
Having it in sight seemed to ease my mind, if only slightly.

***

Cheinols Heteroven, Emperor of the Betuzenia Empire, had been in excellent spirits lately.
Though the pain of losing family members weighed upon him, he still had two sons to inherit the throne.

‘If those two prove inadequate, I can simply find an heir from another house.’

In truth, succession was not a particularly pressing concern for Cheinols.
The grand achievement of his life’s ambitions had concluded twelve years ago.
He had destroyed the Tunterra Empire and placed the Tan Continent beneath his feet.
After that, life had lost its flavor.
A life without purpose was tedious, dull, and unbearably monotonous.

‘Perhaps I should make Raina Hart mine.’

He needed a new goal—one difficult to achieve.
Cheinols desired to keep Raina Hart by his side.
Yet obtaining the loyalty of an Archmage proved far more challenging than anticipated.
His attempt to use a potion of servitude had backfired into blackmail, and the Empress Consort’s interference had barred Raina Hart from the Imperial Palace.
But recently, that goal seemed to have drawn considerably closer.

“Your Majesty, you seem to be in excellent spirits?”

Behind the Emperor, Maverick Marquis walked alongside the Prime Minister, addressing me with a rueful smile.
The handsome young marquis was a distant relative of Cheinols Heteroven.

“Ah.”

Cheinols rolled my shoulders in a circle without particular reason.

“I feel remarkably refreshed today.”

Thanks to Raina Hart’s magic, I felt as though I had been reborn.
The fact that she had woven such advanced magic for me left me exhilarated.
The way she repeatedly inquired after my well-being.
The way she cautioned me against the Imperial Palace mages.
Wasn’t all of this a process of her developing genuine loyalty toward me?

‘If I play this well, I can bring Raina Hart to the Imperial Palace. Once I return the Fourth Prince to the palace, his teacher Raina will follow as well.’

That was where Cheinols’s scheming lay.
The Fourth Prince had committed the audacity of refusing the Crown Prince position.
But considering he was bait to capture Raina Hart, it was something worth overlooking once.
Though not twice.

“Is that so? Now that you’re in good health, you’ll conquer the continent twice more, I imagine.”

At Maverick’s flattery, Cheinols laughed heartily.

“Then let’s see. I must grow even healthier.”

After that, I sent Maverick away and made my way to my office.
Not long after, a mage arrived.

“Greatest sun of the Betuzenia Empire—”
“The greeting is sufficient.”

Cheinols sat on the sofa to receive the mage.
Following Raina Hart’s advice to entrust mana supply to a trustworthy mage, I had specially invited him to the Imperial Palace.
He was the mage who had served alongside me since my days as Crown Prince, when I traversed the battlefields.
The mage approached me at my gesture.

“As you mentioned before, maintaining the chess piece that Raina Hart created requires a steady supply of mana. Can you manage it?”
“No problem.”

The unhesitating response satisfied him.
Cheinols grasped the mage’s outstretched hand.
Soon, mana flowed into his own body. Cheinols felt blood coursing from his head to his toes, a sensation of invigoration spreading through him.
Indeed. It felt weaker than Raina Hart’s mana, but with mana flowing through him, his entire body brimmed with vitality—

“Cough.”

The Emperor’s upper body convulsed as he spat blood.
Blood welled up from within and spilled outward, his throat constricting in agony.
The Emperor’s eyes, their capillaries burst, stared in disbelief at the one grasping his hand.

“…You….”
“….”

The Old Woman.
The Old Woman who had given me the potion bottle stood there.

***

“…!”

Raina Hart, who had been lying on the study’s sofa, lifted her head.

“Keri….”
“Yes?”

The disciple, who had been reading a book while offering his thigh to his master, looked at her.
Raina pointed seriously at a glass marble on the distant desk.
It wasn’t clearly visible from her position, but it was positioned where her disciple could see it well.

“What color does that look to you?”
“…Red, it seems.”

Damn it.
Raina Hart rose to her feet and moved closer to see the orb’s color more clearly.
Then she suddenly stopped. Her gaze fixed upon empty air.
Kevenriak Heteroven approached her side with concern.

“Master? What’s wrong?”

Cheinols Heteroven is a fool of a father.
…
The Emperor of Betuzenia Empire is incompetent.
…
Heteroven must pay the price.
…

I could not answer Kevenriak’s question.
Translucent blades erupted across my entire field of vision.

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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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