For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 49

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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 49

When I first opened my eyes, I thought I had survived.
What a relief. I could remain by my disciple’s side.
I felt as though I could make another effort for your happy ending.
But then.

‘Hm?’

My body felt far heavier than usual.
Skeletal arms, every muscle wasted away.
That was when I realized something had gone terribly wrong.

‘How much time has passed? Where am I?’

Not Hibei, not the Imperial Palace—an unfamiliar room.
A maidservant stood before me, tears streaming down her face.

“…H…a….”

I tried to ask where the Emperor was.
But no words emerged from my lips.
How much time had elapsed? My parched vocal cords burned as though scattered with glass shards.
As I gasped silently, my lips trembling in the shape of a question, the maidservant’s face flooded with emotion.

“You’ve awakened, Miss Vivian Asperada.”

What?
Upon hearing those words, I mustered every ounce of strength to rise from the bed, then stumbled out onto the floor.
Skeletal calves exposed beneath the chemise.
Joints and muscles unused for years cried out in protest at the sudden movement.
But there was no time to heed them.

‘A mirror, a mirror…!’

My gaze fell upon the mirror atop the vanity.
Leaning heavily on the dresser with both arms to steady my wavering body, I caught myself from falling.
And reflected in my eyes as I lifted my head was—

“….”

A beauty.
An extraordinarily radiant one at that.
Despite the skeletal thinness of her limbs, her visage shone with an almost luminous brilliance.
A woman with soft chestnut hair and hazel eyes like precious gems gazed back at me from within the mirror.
I had only ever seen her lying down before, yet I recognized that face.

‘What is this?’

Vivian Asperada.
The female protagonist of the novel, and the Imperial Princess of the Betuzhenia Empire.
As I placed my hand against the mirror, Vivian within it mirrored my gesture precisely.

‘A second possession? And into the heroine’s body, no less?’

A second possession.
Then where had the original Vivian gone?
When I first arrived, Raina Hart’s body had been vacant, but Vivian’s case was different.
She was not someone destined to die in the original story.
Yet what chilled my spine far more than this incomprehensible fact was something else entirely.
Vivian’s awakening meant the original narrative had begun.
It meant two years had passed since Kevenriak became Emperor.

“…Ah….”
“Miss?”

Maya, the maidservant, reacted to the hoarse cry that escaped my lips.
It seemed my lady had something to say.

“Ohhh…Ahhh….”

And my lady proceeded to shriek, hurling the vanity’s contents to the floor in a frenzy.
It took less than a month before the awakened Vivian came to be whispered about as the mad princess.

***

It had been three weeks since Duke Asperada locked Vivian in her room.

“Please, sit down and calm yourself. I’ll bring you something to drink.”

Maya led Vivian to the sofa and seated her.
Vivian, whose constitution was delicate, would pound frantically at the door calling for her father, only to collapse in exhaustion.
Once Vivian’s breathing steadied, the inevitable question spilled from her lips.

“Maya, who am I?”

It was a question she had asked for nearly a month now, yet Maya answered faithfully each time.

“You are Miss Vivian Asperada.”
“Yes. I’m Vivian…”

Hearing this, my mistress would murmur in a voice heavy with sorrow.
Truly, seeing that beautiful face twisted in such sadness tore at my heart.
She must believe that Duke Asperada had abandoned her.

‘Damn it.’

Contrary to Maya’s concerns, Raina Hart harbored darker thoughts.

‘And he still hasn’t come.’

I’ve kept her locked away for three weeks just for a little intimidation.
That coward Asperada.
Shouldn’t he at least show his face so we could talk?

‘…Send me to the Imperial Palace.’

Raina Hart sank once more into melancholy.
When I closed my eyes and opened them again, two years had simply vanished.
That alone made me feel as though the ground beneath my feet had crumbled away.

“Raina Hart, the Countess? The Archmage has passed away.”
“It happened the day after the coronation, so it caused quite a stir. People were saying the blood curse of Heteroven had reached the Archmage as well.”
“They say His Majesty the Emperor has been deeply… well, greatly grieved by it.”

Two years she couldn’t remember. And rumors swirling that Kevenriak had gone mad.
Raina Hart’s heart shattered.
I promised to stand beside my disciple. I swore I would never let him become a tyrant.
I promised to make him happy….

“Master.”

The image of my disciple’s face, smiling warmly toward me, flickered before my eyes.
Though my heart ached and I tried to conjure a different expression, none would come.
Kevenriak had always worn that face when looking at me.

‘Keri.’

Do you believe I’m dead?
Did my death affect you?
I want to know if you’re all right, but no one tells me of your circumstances.

“My, Miss. You’re crying again.”

Maya withdrew a handkerchief with practiced ease.
Since awakening, the young lady would sometimes weep like a doll, utterly detached.
The physician said this too was a symptom of her mental affliction.
Reflexive tears that flowed whenever specific memories surfaced in her mind.

“I was told it was an emotionless condition, like yawning…. But you shed tears dozens of times a day. What am I to do? At this rate, your cheeks won’t survive.”

Maya spoke as she wiped Vivian Asperada’s cheeks.
Raina Hart remained lost in thought.

‘I need to reach the Imperial Palace. But this body is far too powerless.’

I had been careless—believing the Archmage’s magic would forever be mine.
Vivian Asperada was an ‘ordinary person’ incapable of manifesting a Mana Heart.
And why was her physical strength so frail?
After seven years of slumber, her body felt perpetually heavy as waterlogged cotton.
The slightest exertion left her breathless and dizzy. The headaches never truly departed, varying only in intensity.
Readers of the original work had called Vivian the ‘sunfish heroine’ in their comments, and her actual body lived up to the name.

‘Duke Asperada viewing Vivian as merely a tool is also problematic.’

After Vivian Asperada awoke.
Duke Asperada had not sought out his daughter again, save for that single visit.
Yet to reach the Imperial Palace in her unrecovered state, she needed the Duke’s assistance.
Raina Hart went to find Duke Asperada herself.

“The Imperial Palace is out of the question.”

The Duke refused adamantly.
No matter how much she pleaded, reasoned, or raged, he merely waved his hand with an air of annoyance, commanding his subordinates to escort her out time and again.
At last, Raina Hart played her final card.

“What were you doing two years ago during the Heteroven Rebellion, Father?”

She spoke with the knowledge that Duke Asperada had approached Maverick, claiming his support for the Third Prince.
The fact that he still lived so lavishly in this magnificent estate meant that no one knew of his treachery.

“You’ve lost your mind. Attempting to blackmail your own father with delusions.”

And so Vivian Asperada found herself unable to take a single step beyond her chamber.

I hadn’t realized he was such a coward, unwilling even to discuss it.

I should have been more cautious.
I should have remembered that I was his daughter, and that this was his domain.
My position was hopelessly disadvantageous for negotiation through threats.

I had to keep in mind that this body was different from Raina Hart’s. Vivian Asperada could not use magic.

Yet I could not simply remain confined to this room, waiting indefinitely for Duke Asperada to relent.
Whenever Vivian’s stamina recovered, I caused a disturbance.
Perhaps through such chaos, I would eventually see Pialtis Arperada again.

“It seems we have a visitor.”

Maya informed me after hearing voices murmuring outside the door.
She was the only one who entered this chamber.
Anyone else coming to see the imprisoned Vivian Asperada would be….
The doorknob turned with a soft click.

“Vivian.”

Simona Asperada.
Her deep violet hair was swept up in an elegant updo, and beneath her sharply angled eyes lay a beauty mark that was undeniably alluring.
It seemed my earlier outburst had reached Simona’s ears.
She settled onto the sofa beside Vivian.

“Poor Vivian.”

Her gracefully extended fingers caressed Vivian’s cheek.

“Your father’s anger shows no signs of abating.”
“….”
“Do not lose heart. I am always on your side.”

I watched Simona and fell into contemplation.
I had been planning to persuade Duke Asperada to send Vivian to the Imperial Palace.
But if my memory serves, the first episode is about to unfold.
The two protagonists reunite at the Duchess’s tea party.

‘And Vivian is the Female Protagonist.’

Perhaps there was a method beyond simply knocking on a door.

“I had hoped to introduce you to the ladies attending this gathering, but it seems that will not come to pass.”
“Mother.”

I called out to Simona.
I was changing my target of conquest.

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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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