For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 45

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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 45

‘What on earth is this?’

My pupils trembled as I beheld the translucent windows obscuring my vision.
Never before had so many windows appeared simultaneously.
What in the world was happening?

“Raina!”

Kevenriak seized my arm as confusion threatened to overwhelm me.
Only then did I meet the gaze of my student’s azure eyes.
Kevenriak’s expression was far from ordinary.
His face had gone pale as if startled by something, and the hand gripping my arm trembled visibly.

“Keri, what’s wrong? Has something happened?”

I hastily examined my student’s condition, concern etched across my features.
Kevenriak spoke to me, his hands cradling my cheeks.

“No.”

It seems something has happened to you, Master.
The desperate expression belonged not to him, but to me.
Who was causing you such distress?

“Master, are you…?”

My student’s question steadied my racing mind.
This was not the time for panic.
I hastily dismissed the windows brushing against my fingertips one by one as I spoke urgently.

“Keri, I must return to the Imperial Palace.”
“Is His Majesty the Emperor in critical condition?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll come with you.”

Raina Hart shook her head.
The Emperor’s critical condition could be the work of someone targeting the Heteroven Royal Family.
She couldn’t bring Kevenriak there.

“It’s dangerous, Keri. This could be the doing of someone after the Heteroven Royal Family.”

Kevenriak’s heart sank at his master’s words.
Raina Hart knew.
That there was someone targeting Heteroven.
Kevenriak seized his master’s arm as she prepared to teleport.

“Master, I’m also a Sixth Circle mage.”

Sixth Circle. It meant Kevenriak possessed enough skill to teleport to the Imperial Palace alone.
Even if I refused, my disciple would follow me regardless.

‘It would be better to go to the same coordinates.’

It would be safer than teleporting separately and missing each other in the Imperial Palace.
Raina Hart reluctantly teleported to the Imperial Palace with Kevenriak.
And the Imperial Palace they arrived at was—

“Your Majesty!”
“Physician! No, the Imperial Palace mage!”
“He’s not breathing!”
“…”

A corridor near the Emperor’s office.
In the suddenly transformed landscape, Raina Hart saw people moving in urgent chaos.
Among them was a familiar face that caught her eye.
Person.
He, who had been running to summon the Imperial Palace mage, spotted Raina Hart and Kevenriak standing in the corridor.

“Lady Raina Hart! Fourth Prince!”

Light returned to Person’s face, which had turned ashen pale unlike usual.
The expression of someone who had found hope in Raina Hart.

“Raina Hart! His Majesty the Emperor is not breathing! Please, could you come and take a look?”
“….”
“Raina Hart?”

Person, who had been about to hurry forward and guide her, called out to her in an anxious voice as she stood motionless.
Raina Hart responded.

“It’s impossible.”

I bit the inside of my lip.

“Magic cannot revive the dead.”

The Emperor was dead.
Leaving behind that time bomb of a crown.

***

I watched the procession approaching Hibeiro.
The magnificent procession led by the High Priest had finally reached this remote corner.

“Your Majesty.”

At last, that crown had come before Kevenriak Heteroven.
I watched the people kneeling before Kevenriak Heteroven at the Castle Gate, then entered the castle.
A month had passed since the Emperor’s death.
I had revealed the cause of his death—the toxic miasma of dark magic injected along with magical power into his body.
The Emperor had died from internal injuries beyond recovery.

‘The Imperial Prince who had inherited the throne, and even the First Imperial Princess, both fell victim to dark magic and died.’

Now Kevenriak Heteroven was the only remaining direct member of the Imperial Family.
My footsteps, having no clear destination, found their way to a familiar place.
The Study.
I paced before the desk. My mind was in turmoil.

‘Just as Hazel said, it feels like hunting a ghost.’

The one hunting down Heteroven was a character never mentioned even once in the original work.
This meant I possessed no information whatsoever about that person.

‘Is this someone who appears at the end of the novel?’

The original work I knew extended to the latter half, but not the ending.
It was shortly after the main villain Kevenriak Heteroven’s death.

‘So there’s another dark mastermind wielding black magic…. Since Keri didn’t become a villain, that mastermind began to move.’

The mastermind left no traces as they moved about.
I couldn’t tell where they appeared from or where they disappeared to.
They even did something to me—whether it was a warning or a provocation, I couldn’t say.

“M-Master. An outsider who came to the Orphanage asked me to deliver this to you.”

A month ago, Kin brought me a medicine bottle, saying an outsider had asked her to do so.
It was identical to the one the Emperor had received from the Old Woman of the Traveling Troupe.

“Kin, do you remember the person who gave you this?”
“I’m not sure, Master. For some reason, I can’t remember that person’s appearance well. I just… all I could think was that I needed to deliver this medicine bottle to you…. Huh…?”
“It’s alright. You don’t need to force yourself to remember.”

Kin had been placed under weak brainwashing.

‘Damn it.’

I ground my teeth.
They had crossed the line. Daring to touch my disciple and Hibei itself.
The information Zikhard had reviewed contained the source of the medicine bottle.
I went to that place, but it was merely a wooden bottle sold at an ordinary general store.

“It’s so common that it’s difficult to remember who buys them. Dozens are sold every day.”

As I recalled the past, I struck the desk.
I couldn’t calm my indignation without hitting something.
The fact that this mastermind had come all the way to Hibei and left a medicine bottle meant
that Kevenriak Heteroven was included among those they were targeting.

“Master.”

Kevenriak Heteroven entered the Study searching for Raina, gently lifting her clenched fist from the desk.
The reddened skin returned to its normal state through his magic.

“Your hand is injured.”
“….”

Raina gazed at Kevenriak Heteroven.
His blue eyes, meeting hers, crinkled slightly with amusement.

“Keri, the High Priest….”
“He’s still here. He says he won’t leave until I receive the Imperial Crown.”

Raina looked down at the hand her student held, then asked him.

“Keri, do you… want to become Emperor?”
“I’m not sure.”

Neither a denial nor an affirmation.
My student had always been decisive when expressing his intentions—his answers were always a clear yes or no.
Does he harbor different thoughts now?

“Keri, I….”

I couldn’t finish my words. I didn’t know what to do.
All this time, I had hoped the Imperial Crown would never rest upon Kevenriak’s head—to prevent him from becoming a tyrant.
This current situation didn’t exist in the original work.

‘If only the original had given me some hint. If it was written in the novel, it should have told me something.’

I had no information at all.
The future I could once discern from the written word was now like impenetrable darkness where I couldn’t see a single step ahead.
Can he endure without suffering until I uncover the mastermind?
Kevenriak wrapped his arms around his troubled master’s shoulders.

“What are you afraid of, Master?”
“I—.”

I was afraid you would become the villain.
That you would take on the role of being sacrificed for the protagonists’ happy ending.
But now, I’m simply terrified of losing you.

“Keri, if you become Emperor, you might die.”
“It would be the same even in Hibei. The blood of Heteroven still flows within me.”
….

Above the silent master’s head, the disciple’s tender voice flowed softly as he rested his cheek there.

“I don’t want your precious things to be destroyed because of me.”
“Keri is someone precious to me.”
“Aren’t I too?”
“No. I—”

No, that’s not it.
I would do anything for you….

‘For you?’

Raina Hart felt a strange sense of déjà vu at the thought that surfaced in her mind and stopped speaking.
Kevenriak, believing this was his master’s answer, lifted his face from where it had been resting.
I had anticipated this. There were far too many precious things in Hibei for Raina Hart.

“Master, I will leave.”

At Kevenriak’s words, Raina Hart lifted her head.
The disciple wore a loneliness she had never seen before.
So much so that I even considered making a shameless request.

“But would you visit me often at the Imperial Palace?”

Don’t forget me as I leave to protect your precious things.

“Often?”
“Yes. I wish you would come whenever you think of me. I will think of you every day…. Could you do the same for me?”

Don’t pretend you haven’t seen me—this lonely, pitiful version of myself.
That was the conclusion Kevenriak had reached.
I, who carry Heteroven blood, must leave my teacher’s precious Hibei.
But I cannot lose Raina Hart.

“The only precious person I have is Raina Hart.”

Kevenriak’s gaze toward Raina Hart was laden with supplication.
Please don’t abandon me, Raina Hart.

“Keri, what are you saying?”

Raina Hart furrowed her brow at Kevenriak.

“I cannot let Keri go alone.”

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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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