For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 5

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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 5

Within the glass vial, emerald and crimson liquids swirled together, casting their light—much like the Emperor’s insatiable greed to seize the Grand Mage at any cost.
Did he truly regard his own children as mere tools to satisfy his desires?
They were all the same breed. The Emperor, the Empress, those humans who had tormented the child.
Raina Hart gazed quietly at that luminescence.
Reina quietly gazed at the light.

“Speak.”
“Speak.”

Kevenriak Heteroven severed the Emperor’s head first.
Kevenriak Heteroven was the first to behead the Emperor.

“I don’t drink.”

***

Kevenriak Heteroven sat at a sunlit desk—positioned precisely where the vases on the windowsill were most visible.
Kevenriak Heteroven was sitting on a desk where sunlight streamed in.
“Your Highness, you must feel so much better now that you’re clean?”

This early morning.

Just a little longer and I could return.
The beatings followed by bathing always left me more exhausted than usual.
Yet compared to the kindness I had received the day before, even this was nothing.
The child gazed at the moon rippling across the cold bathwater.
Recalling her gentle smile as she looked at that color—the same hue as Raina Hart’s eyes—I smiled tenderly.
Then it happened.
I recalled her gentle smile as she looked at the color that resembled Reina’s eyes.
“P-please… save me…!”

“Please… save me…!”

Something unbelievable had happened.
In this surreal moment, Kevenriak could not tear his gaze away from Raina Hart as she approached him.
With each step she took, the noise around them seemed to fade.
Raina Hart had done what I—a monster—had always believed I would eventually have to do myself.
She wept as I emerged from the bathhouse.
Silent tears streamed from her eyes, which resembled the serene moon.
Kevenriak recognized the emotion as sorrow, but his understanding ended there.

I wished she would not cry.

But I did not know how to make that happen.
Raina Hart embraced Kevenriak, who stood helpless and uncertain, and whispered.

“I will make it so.”

I could not comprehend what or how she meant to accomplish it, yet whatever Raina Hart did seemed destined to be right.
Kevenriak followed her out of the Fourth Prince’s Separate Palace at once.
The place they arrived at was here—where Kevenriak now stood. Raina Hart’s chamber.

We slept in the same bed and shared breakfast together.
After that, Raina Hart said she had matters to attend to and left the room.
Though left alone in the chamber, Kevenriak felt extraordinarily pleased.

‘The flowers I gave her….’

The flowers I had placed in the basket were here in Raina Hart’s chamber.
Not discarded, but arranged beautifully in a vase.
Kevenriak gazed at the flowers resting on the windowsill, his knees and palms pressed against the desk.

Near his Separate Palace stood a tree that bloomed in the shadows of early winter.
Since the Fourth Prince’s Separate Palace was the only place within the Imperial Palace that received no sunlight throughout the year, the tree flowered there without fail each season.
Kevenriak had counted the years by watching those blossoms.
The white flowers blooming in darkness seemed like the vision of something noble and pure.
So I only gazed upon them. I feared that if a monster like me were to touch them, they would wither in an instant.
Even when I plucked the flowers to give to Raina Hart, I carefully grasped only the stem with my cloth-wrapped hand and broke it away.

‘Will I be able to give flowers to Raina Hart again next year?’

Kevenriak withdrew his hand from the flower.
If a monster’s touch wilted the petals, Raina Hart would grieve.

Knock, knock.

Someone rapped against the door.
Kevenriak’s head snapped toward the sound, startled by the intrusion.
His reaction mingled wariness toward the visitor with the faint hope that it might be Raina Hart.

“…”

He stared fixedly at the closed door.
In the Fourth Prince’s Separate Palace, no one entered his chambers without permission, so he expected the door to open at once.
Yet after a long silence, it remained shut.

Knock, knock.

The knocking resumed instead.
Why wouldn’t they enter?

Could they not open the door?

Perhaps Raina Hart was unable to open it and sought his help.
He sprang from his desk and walked toward the door.
Carefully, he turned the handle and pulled it inward.

“Fourth Prince, Your Highness.”

An unfamiliar man’s voice. Behind him stood several adults.
Kevenriak froze, his hand still gripping the doorknob.
A man of evident rank gazed down at the child with an austere expression.

***

That afternoon.
Kevenriak’s world became unexpectedly turbulent.
Strange visitors had come seeking Raina Hart’s chambers.

“Fourth Prince, Your Highness. His Majesty the Emperor has sent us.”

The man who appeared to be of high status bowed respectfully to Kevenriak Heteroven.
Sent by the Emperor himself, he directed the servants who had accompanied him and began the restoration of the Fourth Prince’s Separate Palace.
Everything filthy was discarded, and pristine, costly furnishings were brought inside.
Furniture and bedding were replaced, and the musty stench that had permeated the palace gave way to fresh, invigorating air.
The unsightly outer walls were painted anew, and the wildly overgrown garden trees now displayed meticulous order.
All of this was accomplished in mere hours.

“His Majesty has instructed us to attend to the Prince’s appearance as well.”

The transformation extended to Kevenriak as well.
A bathtub filled with warm water awaited him.

“….”
“Your Highness, there’s nothing to fear.”

A Maidservant stood before the rigid boy and spoke to him gently.
Led by her hand, the child slowly dipped one foot into the bathwater.
The moment his toes touched the water, the unfamiliar warmth startled Kevenriak so violently that he bolted from the Bathhouse.

“…!”
“Ah! Your Highness, please come back!”

It was then that he collided with Raina Hart, who had just arrived at the Separate Palace.

“My, do be careful.”
“…Raina!”

The child’s face brightened upon recognizing who he had bumped into.
Raina glanced between the open Bathhouse and Kevenriak, who wore only cloth wrapped around his waist, then gently patted his head.

“It seems you were bathing. Once you’re finished, shall we dine together?”
“…!”

Kevenriak’s eyes sparkled with delight.
He nodded vigorously and scurried back into the Bathhouse.

‘A little kitten….’

Raina Hart watched the child sink into the bathhouse with visible wariness, then turned to leave.
I needed solitude to gather my thoughts.
It concerned the conversation I’d had with the Emperor this morning.

‘According to Raina Hart’s memories, the subjugation potion’s effect meant surrendering one’s heart to the master to whom the oath of loyalty was sworn.’

So the Emperor had demanded loyalty backed by my very heart as collateral.

‘Where does he get such audacity.’

I’d decided it was best not to provoke the Emperor unnecessarily, but I had no intention of acquiescing to such an outrageous demand like a fool.
Instead of accepting his proposal, I’d played my own hand.

“In twelve years, though I pray it need not come to pass—Your Majesty will meet your end.”
“…What are you saying?”

The Emperor’s smile vanished, his expression hardening into something sinister.

“You need not believe me. But I know when, where, and how Your Majesty will depart this world.”
“Raina Hart, are you announcing an assassination attempt on me? How dare you!”
“It is not I who will commit regicide.”

I met the Emperor’s furious gaze.

“If Your Majesty desires my loyalty, then demand nothing by force. Should you grant me this, I will protect you on that day I have foreseen.”

The original work states that Kevenriak Heteroven commits regicide against his own father, the Emperor.
But I had no intention of raising the child to become a tyrant.

‘I will never raise him as a villain. So you must not die by that child’s blade.’

I would protect him on that day. As for the days beyond—I could make no promises.

The Emperor’s brow furrowed at my words.
Raina Hart’s foresight was not something to dismiss lightly.
The Grand Mage’s prophetic ability was renowned throughout the Empire.

“…Are you asking for the Fourth Prince in exchange for my life?”
“If you would grant it, I would not refuse.”

In the suffocating silence, the Emperor remained quiet.
He seemed to be weighing whether to retreat as she suggested, or whether it would be better to pressure Raina Hart again using the Fourth Prince as leverage.

‘And here I thought someone was threatening a child.’

After a moment, the Emperor ordered Raina Hart to leave, saying he would consider the matter.
Raina Hart rose from her seat and spoke to him.

“I would like to request that the reward Your Majesty offered be used to improve the Fourth Prince’s treatment—to a level comparable to that of Your Majesty’s other children.”

I swallowed the unspoken words: ‘Since you don’t seem inclined to grant me the position of tutor as a reward, I’ll accept it separately as payment for Your Majesty’s life.’ But the Emperor must have understood regardless.
Just before I left the room, I heard the sound of him grinding his teeth.

‘So that’s why he was so angry. I thought he’d ignore me.’

The fact that he immediately sent servants suggested that my mention of death had struck a nerve.
Raina Hart let out a soft laugh as she observed the now-pristine corridor.
After basking in the sun on the Terrace, I took a leisurely stroll around the Separate Palace.
Then I went to the Dining Hall and found Kevenriak sitting at the table, waiting for me.

“Your Highness?”

Raina Hart’s face showed surprise at the sight of the transformed child.
The shaggy hair that had hung down to the bridge of his nose had been neatly trimmed.
Now that he was clean and dressed in royal garments, his appearance was radiant.
Beneath his raven-black hair, his bright blue eyes sparkled as they found me, gleaming with joy.

“Raina Hart!”

Raina Hart pulled out the chair across from Kevenriak and spoke to him.

“My, who is this?”
“I… I…”

Did he think I didn’t recognize him? Kevenriak fumbled and pressed his bangs down with his hand.
He seemed to be trying to show me how his hair used to look when it was shaggy.
How adorable. Raina Hart smiled warmly.

“I’m only joking. How could I not recognize Your Highness? I was just amazed at how handsome you’ve become.”

It wasn’t mere flattery—Kevenriak Heteroven, now cleaned up, was genuinely beautiful.
It made sense that the novels mentioned how the Second Empress Consort had bequeathed him nothing but her beauty.
Raina Hart watched the boy awkwardly fumble with his utensils, her expression warm and satisfied.
She didn’t know who would claim him later, but the child was certainly blessed.

“Your Highness, Lord Hart. We shall prepare the meal.”

In the meantime, the prepared dishes filled the table.
Succulent foods glistening with sheen spread before their eyes.
Raina Hart cut the meat into appropriate portions and placed them on the boy’s plate.

“Please use the fork to eat.”
“Yes.”

It was a consideration for Kevenriak Heteroven, who might be experiencing such a dining setting for the first time.
She had even imagined him eating like a beast with his bare hands, but fortunately, the boy managed to bring the food to his mouth with clumsy fork work.

Now it was my turn to enjoy the meal.

I turned my gaze to the table before me.
Kevenriak Heteroven was eating something delicious too—no translucent window would appear.
For the first time in a long while, I could savor a meal without worry.

How long had it been since I’d eaten without guilt?

Just as I reached for the golden-brown roasted wing with eager anticipation.

The boy had been eating sand-mixed rice balls.

Cough.
I sputtered involuntarily.

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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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