For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 54

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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 54

There was something I wanted to say when I met my disciple.
That I was Raina Hart. That my soul had entered a different body.

“….”
“Who are you.”

But at Kevenriak’s question, I could not speak those words.
The eerie blade my disciple pointed at me entered my field of vision.
His emotionless voice spurred me forward once more.

“Speak.”

I was not reflected in those hollow eyes.
Or perhaps I simply was not there. The void within those empty pupils ran far too deep.
Those blue eyes, whose depths could not be fathomed, now appeared pitch black. Cowering within them was not the Kevenriak I knew.
It seemed as though the soul of a mad Emperor lurked hidden inside.
Should I speak carelessly, he would strike with his blade without hesitation.

“….”

Ah.
I wanted to collapse right there and weep.
I wanted to fall to my knees and ask who had done this to you.

“The Emperor goes mad whenever he hears that word.”

Among those reckless words would surely be the taboo terms Tiernan Fargan had mentioned.
Raina Hart. Grand Mage. Master.
All of them were words that referred to me.
Had I done this to you?

“…I am Vivian Asperada, Your Majesty.”

But my body wasn’t mine to collapse with.
An apology wouldn’t reach you, whose mind has already shattered beyond redemption.
Rather than fabricate an alias, Raina Hart revealed Vivian Asperada’s true name.
It was for the future.
If Kevenriak Heteroven discovered that Vivian had used an alias after she departed, he would never let her go unscathed.

“Do not trust liars.”
The Grimoire of Magic whispered.
The Emperor’s magic first turned toward those who spoke falsehoods.

The translucent window hovering before my eyes conveyed exactly that.
Raina Hart let out a bitter laugh.

‘Was that it all along?’

Until now, the translucent window had displayed Kevenriak Heteroven’s narrative and circumstances far more frequently than any other character.
Raina Hart had assumed it was because Kevenriak Heteroven was the character closest to her.
But.
The window that hadn’t appeared even once since possessing Vivian Asperada—now it materialized before me.

‘Now I understand, at least a little.’

Raina Hart recalled the first voice she remembered upon entering this world.

[Please protect ….]

What the one who placed me in this novel truly desired.
It wasn’t the protagonists’ endings.

Why I was made to intervene in Kevenriak Heteroven’s childhood.
Why I was shown that Kevenriak Heteroven believed himself to be a monster.
Why I appeared so persistently, like a warning, in the year Kevenriak Heteroven became a tyrant.

‘Did you also wish for Keri to live?’

So that Kevenriak Heteroven wouldn’t endure an unhappy childhood.
So he wouldn’t become a monster. So he wouldn’t become a tyrant.
The window was pleading with me in that very way.

Raina Hart gazed quietly at the window.
But why.

‘Why didn’t he tell me about my death?’

My soul, robbed of its chance, wailed in anguish.
Now I could understand without anyone telling me.
My disciple had become a tyrant. In my absence, he had been pushing himself deeper into darkness.

‘Tiernan Fargan will kill Keri.’

In the original story, Kevenriak Heteroven dies at the hands of Tiernan Fargan, who leads the Rebel Forces.
It should never have come to this.
But where could I possibly begin again.

“….”

Kevenriak Heteroven held back a bitter laugh, then wore a sorrowful expression, then a serious one as he observed Raina Hart. Vivian Asperada. She must be a mad princess.
Then he felt something strange in his hand still gripping the sword.
It was a hand that would normally move without hesitation against an intruder.
It was a hand that would have moved without hesitation toward an intruder under normal circumstances.

“…That’s strange.”

That was when the woman looking at him twisted her face in despair.
That’s when it happened. The woman looking at me had a face twisted in despair.

“Keri! Watch out!”

Kevenriak Heteroven created distance and turned around.
He blocked the incoming blade with the sword in his hand.
He blocked the incoming sword with the sword he was holding in his hand.

Crash! Bang! Pow!

Had Kevenriak Heteroven reacted even a moment later, the blade would have cut across the Emperor’s back.
The silver-haired beauty. In Tiernan Fargan’s green eyes as he gazed upon the Emperor, killing intent burned.
A silver-haired beauty. Murderous intent gleamed in Tiernan Fargan’s green eyes as he gazed upon the Emperor.

***

“Thank you, Nox. Let’s meet again next time.”

My unease had begun the moment we dug that opening beneath the City Walls.
Vivian told me to go, but truthfully, I hadn’t accepted her request for the money.

‘It bothers me.’

Tiernan Fargan followed Raina Hart up the Mountain at a considerable distance.
He intended only to ensure her safety until any potential danger had passed, then he would withdraw.
Shortly after, Tiernan gazed at her with an expression of bewilderment.

“…Why is she climbing so desperately?”

From a distance, Vivian looked no different from a wild beast as she ascended the Mountain.
Never pausing once, climbing relentlessly.
She seemed to be muttering something to herself at intervals, but the distance made it inaudible.

‘This is dangerous.’

Vivian fell and tumbled several times, yet each time she rose again.
At some point, without realizing it, I found myself earnestly cheering for that desperate figure.

‘Vivian, why do you climb this Mountain?’

She who had slumbered for seven long years.
What could drive her with such desperate urgency?
Why do you climb as though burning your very life away?
Do you too possess something you wish to reclaim, as I do my homeland?

‘It resembles an ember that refuses to extinguish.’

She no longer appeared as a wild beast.
Vivian was a flame stronger than any other.
When she finally reached level ground.
Tiernan felt an overwhelming surge of emotion beyond words.

“….”

I was curious.
What expression would she wear upon reaching her destination.
So I finished climbing the mountain as well.
And what I saw was—.

“The Emperor…!”

The Emperor, dressed in a black uniform, stood before Vivian Asperada.
When I witnessed the Emperor’s blade aimed at her delicate throat.
Tiernan Fargan drew his sword and rushed toward the Emperor without thinking.

***

“Damn it.”

Tiernan Fargan inwardly clicked his tongue at the Emperor’s skill—blocking his blade with only one arm.
How could a mage block the sword of a Sword Master?
Moreover, the Emperor was an enemy of the Rebel Forces. Exposing his own face as their leader was hardly appealing.

“I didn’t even think to wear a mask.”

But contrary to Tiernan Fargan’s concern, the Emperor was not watching him carefully.
What the Emperor was watching intently was the limp princess tucked against his side.
The unconscious princess—Kevenriak had caught her with his left arm while evading Tiernan Fargan’s blade moments before.
Without even realizing it.

“….”

Kevenriak Heteroven questioned it then.
Why?
His black hair brushed against his eyelashes as he tilted his head slightly downward.
His sharp jawline moved as his crimson lips uttered a murmur.

“…I should have killed her.”

Tiernan Fargan ground his teeth as he watched the Emperor’s profile.
What sane man looks at someone other than his opponent while crossing blades?
Observing the Emperor’s unfocused gaze, Tiernan came to a conclusion.
He truly wasn’t in his right mind.
The Emperor was indeed driven mad by the phantom of his dead master.

“Your Majesty, I’ve learned when the Emperor’s madness intensifies.”
“When?”
“Whenever he hears words that remind him of his master, or so I’ve heard.”

Intelligence that had reached me through the Rebel Forces’ network.
And the words Vivian Asperada had cried out.

“Keri!”

The affectionate name that witch Raina Hart had used to call her disciple.
Though it wasn’t classified information, quite a few nobles knew of it.

‘I didn’t expect Vivian to know….’

When revealing the forbidden words, she would surely have mentioned the name Keri as well.
Tiernan Fargan narrowed his eyes at this unfavorable turn of events.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of two blades clashing without a hint of mercy pierced sharply through my eardrums.
A supreme mage whose swordsmanship was equally exceptional.
Frustratingly, the Emperor was far too formidable to defeat in a one-on-one duel.

‘Damn it.’

If I continued trading blows with the Emperor like this, Vivian Asperada would be injured.
Tiernan Fargan released the tension in his sword hand and retreated, shifting into a defensive stance.
Even in that brief moment, the Emperor’s blade pursued him with two more strikes.

“Hand over Vivian Asperada.”
“….”

Though Tiernan Fargan spoke in a sharp tone, the Emperor didn’t even glance his way.

And.
Raina Hart, feigning unconsciousness with her body limp, was mortified at the effort of ignoring Kevenriak’s gaze.
The problem was her mouth.

‘Why did it have to be there…’

To have cried out something like “Keri! It’s dangerous!”
Kevenriak must have sensed something was amiss.
His judgment didn’t seem to have clouded just because he’d gone mad.
The fact that he was effortlessly parrying Tiernan’s blade proved it.

‘…Would Keri really save me.’

It was absurd to harbor such thoughts about one’s own disciple.
Perhaps she should be grateful if he merely cut out her tongue for daring to speak the pet name only his master used.
After all, her very life hung in Kevenriak’s hands.
Raina recalled the contents of the translucent window that had entered her vision when she’d cracked her eyes open just moments ago.

Kevenriak was deliberating whether to devour Vivian Asperada.

It was ridiculous how the translucent window rushed at him excitedly upon meeting Kevenriak.

‘I must stay still now.’

If she did something reckless and happened to trigger the Emperor’s madness button,
she could lose even Vivian Asperada’s body.

‘Do nothing.’

She was already a spirit who had lost her body, but Vivian hadn’t even properly begun her life yet.
It would be shameless to end another’s life here.
To act rashly in hopes that Vivian might possess the Female Protagonist buff—
this novel had already lost her trust multiple times.

For now, she mustn’t provoke Kevenriak.
Tiernan seemed to share the same thought, remaining silent.

“…That’s what I’ll do.”

At last, Kevenriak Heteroven opened his mouth.
Tiernan Fargan, noticing the magical light enveloping the Emperor’s body, hastily moved to strike him down.
Yet his blade merely cleaved through empty air where the Emperor and Vivian Asperada had vanished.

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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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