For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 56

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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 56

After Raina Hart’s death, her disciples fell into profound grief.
As that sorrow transformed into despair, and despair kindled into burning rage, the disciples devoted themselves to hunting down the culprit.
The one who had murdered their beloved master and, in doing so, used Kin and caused her death as well.

‘The enemy.’

At first, everything seemed hopeless.
Dark magic was utterly foreign to them.
But vengeance bred obsession. It forged an unwavering persistence that refused to yield.

For two years, they grasped at phantom traces only to watch them slip through their fingers again and again.
Then, finally, they stepped on a tail.

“If the Emperor hadn’t gone mad and slaughtered all those nobles that day, we would have found the witness far sooner.”

Lightning crackled with every step against the floor.
It was Stale, one of Raina’s disciples—a young man of twenty.
A woman seated nearby struck her fist against her palm repeatedly as she spoke to him.

“I understand. If the Emperor hadn’t killed him, I would have.”

The atmosphere around them stirred.
Ten mages gathered in the abandoned building—all of Raina’s remaining disciples, save Kevenriak and Ban, who had gone to retrieve him.

“Mmph…! Mmmph…!”

And on the cold floor, bound and writhing, was a man.
The tail they had stepped on. The leader of the Traveling Troupe.
Harp, a tiger-kin with silver hair, crouched before him as eighteen-year-old Din lifted the Silence spell that had been cast upon the man.

“I-I know nothing about that day you’re asking about!”

The man cried out immediately. He sensed that if he did not defend himself now, these mages would kill him.

“The Betuzhenia Imperial Palace!”

A performance at the Betuzhenia Imperial Palace under the Emperor’s command. And the Old Woman who had followed them to the palace.
Questions the mages who had captured me asked repeatedly.
But I had nothing to tell them.
Because I truly knew nothing.

“I wasn’t even in the Betuzhenia Empire that year!”

Not just absent—I was on the opposite continent entirely.
There were times when the memories of my troupe members and I went missing for a couple of days, but I attributed it to heavy drinking. Such things happened often enough.
A chilling cold emanated from Din’s hands, wrapping around the man.
It was a unique ability born from tiger-human blood.
The icy aura flowing down his spine jolted the man’s mind awake.

“You don’t need to know anything. It’s coming soon.”
“What is…?”
“Seventh Circle.”

Before the words even finished, magical light bloomed at the center.
Then, through instantaneous teleportation, the dark Emperor materialized.

“…”

Blue eyes reflecting the scattering azure mana gleamed like a beast’s.
The noble visage combined with the chilling aura he exuded possessed a dangerously captivating allure.
My disciple, who handled intelligence gathering, murmured upon seeing him.
No wonder he attracts followers even when he’s mad.
My disciple, my intelligence network, raised his voice toward the Emperor.

“A criminal. He ran a brothel operation within the traveling troupe. He forced the members into massive debt, then used it as leverage to make them unable to defy his orders.”

My disciples had always spoken with formal respect only to the Fourth Prince.
But much changed after my death.

“If the Emperor hadn’t summoned my master to the Imperial Palace, my master would have lived.”

When their sorrow had sunk deepest, arrows of resentment were once directed at Kevenriak.
Sharp accusations seeking only an outlet.
Most unwelcome to the Emperor.
Kevenriak laughed each time he heard his disciples’ reproaches.

Please, more.

“Resent me.”

It was his disciples who grew weary first.
The despair carved deep within the Emperor could not be filled by their accusations.
Within the laughing madman, a monster that craved suffering let out a wail.

“…This is enough. Master won’t return no matter what you do.”

The disciples ceased their condemnation.
The tone merely lingered like a habit.

“…I, am….”

The man who had been crying out his innocence to his disciples froze at the sight of the mage approaching him, unable to speak properly.
What manner of oppressive force was this.
The mage was a beautiful reaper. One who would devour me.

“…Gasp!”

The man’s body arched like a bow. His head snapped backward, the whites of his eyes exposed. His breath constricted, and he gasped in agony.
Every cell of his being was pierced by the mage’s countless, delicate threads of mana.
A 7th-circle mage’s mana began to trace through all of his memories.

***

“….”

No wonder things were going so smoothly.
Raina Hart gazed upon my old dwelling with sorrowful eyes.

Thud.
My palm halted in empty air as if blocked by a transparent wall.
The Separate Palace where I had died was sealed with a barrier that prevented entry.

‘Keri must have cast it.’

Only Kevenriak, the master of the Imperial Palace, could have woven such a barrier.
There was no one else who could cast a spell in this tomb-like place.

“…Raina Hart.”

I spoke my own name aloud.
It came so easily when no one was listening.
But how could I reveal my true identity to Person?

“What are you doing? That place is dangerous.”

A man’s voice reached my ears as I pressed my head against the transparent barrier in anguish.

‘That voice…!’

It was a voice I recognized.
I spun around quickly. A tall, refined handsome man stood beyond a low flowerbed, watching me.
Beneath his exposed forehead lay a pair of eyes of different colors.

‘Maverick?’

I wondered why Maverick was here, but I quickly understood.
This was the Imperial Palace.
Other nobles could enter. Of course, only someone with exceptional nerve would wander the Imperial Palace so freely like this.
In fact, I had seen only the Gardener on my way here.

“A maidservant?”

Maverick asked, observing my clothes.
My original outfit had been soiled, so I had sent it for washing and borrowed a more practical dress from the Wardrobe.
The long, plain one-piece made me look like a maidservant.

“That can’t be right.”

Maverick spoke to himself and then contradicted his own words.
His amber eyes reacted to this beauty. She couldn’t possibly be just a maidservant.
And why was she in front of Raina Hart’s Separate Palace?
His eccentric nature, which loved peculiar things, swallowed hard. His interest was piqued.

“I am Deyel Maverick. If you don’t mind, might I ask your name?”
“….”

I studied him carefully, lost in thought.
Unlike the transparent Person, Maverick was an enigma—impossible to read.
When I was Raina Hart, the detective agency contract and our debt entanglement made him trustworthy.

But Vivian Asperada and Maverick were meeting for the first time.
Without any official documentation binding us, I could not guarantee that Maverick would become my ally.
And more than that….

‘Because of the oath Keri placed upon me, I cannot directly reveal that I am Raina Hart.’

I lacked the confidence to fully convince Maverick.

‘It is too soon to attempt revealing my identity.’

I spoke to Maverick.

“I am Vivian Asperada.”

For now, I would share only what was prudent.
Since I could not leave the Imperial Palace immediately, I had to keep Vivian’s body here. In that case, it seemed wise for someone of Maverick’s station to know where Vivian was.
A man of his rank knowing her location would not be a disadvantage.

“Oh, a lady of noble birth?”

Maverick’s voice carried surprise at this unexpected revelation.
Duke Asperada’s daughter had awakened—he had heard the rumors—but he never imagined she would be in the Imperial Palace.

‘Did Duke Asperada send his daughter to the Imperial Palace?’

Though the last he’d heard, the Duke was considering arranging a strategic marriage for his daughter with some royal house.

‘The man is as inscrutable as a bat. I cannot fathom his intentions.’

It appeared the Duke had not even assigned a maidservant to her. Judging by how she moved about unattended.
Maverick smiled faintly at the lady who met his gaze directly.
Now that he knew her identity, the intrigue deflated somewhat. Perhaps it was Duke Asperada’s doing.

‘Things were more fun when Raina Hart was around.’

Now the entire empire felt like walking on thin ice. What a mess.
Maverick exchanged brief pleasantries before announcing his departure, leaving behind a warning.

“It would be best to avoid that Separate Palace if possible. His Majesty the Emperor becomes displeased otherwise.”

He was about to leave when the young lady called out to stop him.

“Wait…!”
“Yes?”
“Do you…, do you….”
“…?”
“Do you like…lemons?”

A bland question.
Maverick let out a soft hum and answered lightly.

“I dislike them.”

***

After that, I heard from Person about the barrier surrounding the Separate Palace.

“You discovered something strange in the Imperial Palace?”
“There was a path visible, but I couldn’t move forward. It seemed to be a place like the Separate Palace.”
“Ah, that place has a barrier on it. His Majesty only lowers the barrier when he enters.”
“Why only then…?”
“Otherwise, urgent matters would arise where we couldn’t report to His Majesty.”

When night arrived, the barrier around the Separate Palace suddenly dissolved.
Raina Hart, who had been leaning her back against the barrier until then, fell backward and passed through the barrier into the Separate Palace.

‘Did Keri enter the Separate Palace?’

I entered the Separate Palace as well.
I planned to hide somewhere, and once Kevenriak left, I would slip into my own quarters to investigate.

“….”

Raina Hart walked through the cold corridor, lost in thought.
When she had walked with Kevenriak, the palace had been bright and warm, but now it was a space devoid of all warmth.
Like the Fourth Prince’s palace from long ago.

“Ugh….”

As she wandered searching for a place to hide, she heard someone’s groan.

“Help me….”

Who else could it be but Keri?
The familiar words reached Raina Hart’s ears again, making her flinch.

“The Fourth Prince is a monster.”
“Raina Hart.”

…?
Raina Hart stared down the darkened corridor.

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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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