For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 59

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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 59

I hurried back to my quarters in the Emperor’s Palace, my steps quickening with urgency.
My entire body ached as though it had been beaten, the consequence of spending the night outdoors.

‘A bed would be most welcome right now.’

Vivian’s fragile constitution seemed to cry out to me that it had reached its limit.
Since Kevenriak had only instructed Vivian to remain within the Imperial Palace, I had no mandatory duties to fulfill.
I returned to my quarters, washed, and settled into bed.

Even in such circumstances, my heart quickened at the thought of the bed’s plush quilts.
Humans are truly deceitful creatures.

A familiar knight entered my field of vision.
The commander of the Imperial First Knights, dressed immaculately in his white uniform since morning.

“Person?”

As I called out to him, Person stopped in his tracks before me.

“Your Highness.”

Person’s gaze drifted toward the black jacket draped across my shoulders.
It was a remarkably familiar jacket, embroidered with golden thread.
The Emperor’s garment, which I saw constantly.

“…?”

Thirty minutes prior.
When I had sought out the Emperor and gone to the Grand Mage’s Separate Palace.
Person had witnessed an extraordinary sight there.
Outside the Separate Palace, the princess sleeping suspended in midair, and before her, the Emperor sitting and gazing upon her.

“Your… Your Majesty.”

Person approached the Emperor’s side, bewildered.
He had no idea why the Lady Asperada was in the Imperial Palace.
The Emperor would never have told him, and the Lady had said nothing except that she had “run away.”
Yet he did not press the matter.
He simply assumed there was a story between these two that he knew nothing of.

But then.
Person caught the Emperor’s blue eyes growing distant and fading, and turned to Kevenriak with a lowered voice, asking if this was truly acceptable—the Lady sleeping out here like this, suspended in empty air.
Though it did seem to be within His Majesty’s barrier.
…though it does seem to be within Your Majesty’s barrier.

“Do not touch her.”
Don’t touch it.

Person wanted to remain and watch over the Lady, but he could not disobey the Emperor’s command to follow.
As Person glanced back repeatedly, the Emperor’s jacket draped over the Lady came into view.
Person’s eyes, which had turned back several times, caught sight of the Emperor’s jacket draped over the princess.

“Perhaps…”

But now he had become an Emperor in whom such tenderness could scarcely be found.
Now he has become an Emperor in whom one cannot find even a trace of such tenderness.

“The princess is the Emperor’s…”

Person recalled the Emperor’s recent actions he could not comprehend.
Bringing an unknown Lady to the palace, allowing her to stay in the Imperial Palace, watching over her as she slept.
He brought a concubine he’d never seen before, had her stay at the Imperial Palace, or watched over her while she slept.

It was a hope that the Emperor’s knight had harbored of his own accord.
It was a hope that the Emperor’s Knight had harbored on his own.

Twenty-two years old. Kevenriak’s age was still so full of promise.
If the Emperor showed even the faintest glimmer of hope in finding himself, Person wished to support that path unconditionally.
If the Emperor showed even the slightest hope of finding himself, Person wanted to support him unconditionally on that path.

“Are you feeling alright? I’m worried about how you slept.”

That must be why.
I keep wanting to accommodate the princess’s comfort, and I find myself drawn to her presence.

“Ah, it’s fine. The bed is quite soft, so I slept well.”

Person smiled at the princess’s glib response.
Though he had seen her sleeping on the floor near the Separate Palace, Person chose not to mention it and continued.

“I’m relieved to hear that. Should you experience any discomfort during your stay, please inform me. I shall arrange a dedicated maidservant for you shortly. It would be ideal to assign a Maidservant to attend you, but unfortunately….”

There were no noble ladies who would volunteer as a Maidservant and come to the Imperial Palace.
Person laughed awkwardly and posed a question to the princess.

“Is there anything you wish to know about the Imperial Palace? Regarding His Majesty, I can share information that is publicly known.”
“I want to know about His Majesty.”

Raina Hart forgot all about the soft bed and immediately bit at the bait Person had cast.
This was a favorable situation for her as well. She had been deliberating how to broach the subject with Person, yet here he was offering the opportunity first.

‘Perfect.’

A subtle smile played at the corners of Raina Hart’s lips.
Person felt a rare sense of excitement at the princess’s eagerness.
If he could serve as a bridge between the Emperor and the princess, it seemed he could accomplish anything.

“Excellent. Shall I begin with his childhood?”

From there?
Hearing about Kevenriak’s childhood from Person would certainly be entertaining.
But what Raina Hart most wanted to know about now was the two years when I was absent.
Raina Hart attempted to stop him before he went to unnecessary trouble.

“His Majesty’s childhood is, Hi-.”
“That, Hi-.”

But the moment Hibei came up as a topic, neither could speak.
Person was bound by an oath that prevented him from discussing those four years in Hibei.
Raina Hart could not speak of Hibei, where Raina Hart had served as its lord.

“….”
“….”

A brief silence hung between them.
Person and I exchanged an awkward glance, both caught off guard.
I spoke first.

“Tell me about your childhood another time.”
“Is that so?”

Person brightened at my words.

“I’m sure you were adorable back then.”
“…Pardon?”

I was momentarily stunned by what followed.
Though muttered as if to myself, the princess’s voice came through clearly.
It seemed my hopes were becoming reality.
Vivian Asperada was clearly giving her heart to His Majesty.
What could possibly appeal to her about the dangerous Emperor?

‘His Majesty’s appearance, perhaps.’

I ventured to guess.
While Person had admired Vivian’s beauty,
the Emperor I served possessed an outward charm no less captivating than hers.
If anything, the decadent aura that clung to him harmonized beautifully with his handsome features….
But still.

‘What am I thinking.’

I banished the irreverent thought that had crept unbidden into my mind.
Yet the Emperor was undeniably a captivating beauty. Had anyone not known of his madness, they would have been enchanted by him regardless of age or gender.
Raina Hart spoke to me.

“Rather, I want to know about the past two years. I’ve been asleep all this time and know nothing of what’s happened in the world.”
“The past two years, you say….”
“I wish to hear what occurred after His Majesty’s ascension to the throne.”

Questions that excluded Raina Hart flowed from Person’s lips without hesitation.
Raina exulted inwardly, but Person’s expression darkened in contrast to hers.
The events of the past two years had been far from pleasant.

“It is not a particularly pleasant story.”

Ah, so that was why the princess did not fear the Emperor so greatly.
She simply did not know the details. She was unaware of what had transpired.
Person worried that the princess might flee upon hearing the tale.
This was the first glimmer of hope that the Emperor’s life might change.

“Still, do you wish to hear it? Your Highness, the story may be too harsh for your ears.”

Yet contrary to Person’s hopes, Vivian Asperada nodded.

“I want to hear it.”

***

Kevenriak was a tyrant, or perhaps mad—yet he remained Emperor.
His fractured mind, strangely enough, grew sharp whenever matters of state were discussed.
His rule was autocratic, yet his judgments were more precise than anyone’s.
For this reason, none dared to rise in rebellion.
When petty power struggles erupted, those who grasped for authority perished, so no one harbored foolish ambitions.
This was why the Betuzhenia Empire flourished far more than it had before the Emperor’s ascension.

“….”

Though the Imperial Palace felt like a place shrouded in death.

Morning council.
In the usual frozen atmosphere, the ministers brought forth agenda items one by one.
Kevenriak sat upon the throne with his chin resting in his palm, lost in thought.

“Accept me as your disciple, Your Majesty.”

The princess who spoke such mad words.
He had left her behind and departed. Chasing phantoms through nightmares, he had awakened in the early morning.

“…I forgot to set up the barrier.”

It had never happened before.
When I left yesterday, I forgot to cast the barrier around the Separate Palace.

“I am supposed to be excellent….”

Kevenriak grasped the birdcage and teleported to the Separate Palace.
The room where the birdcage had been.
The woman who had been prostrate on the floor last night, weeping, was nowhere to be seen.
She must have left.
Kevenriak exited the room and moved forward.
My familiar footsteps led me to where I always went.

“…Raina Hart?”

But it was not the sight I always beheld.
Kevenriak hurried into the Grand Mage’s chamber.
Raina Hart, I think I must still be dreaming.
Otherwise.
Why are you still here—.

“Keri.”

Above the woman lying on the floor, my master’s voice echoed in my ears.
Kevenriak stretched out a hand toward the woman that dared not touch her, prostrating myself before her.

“Raina Hart, I was wrong…. My greed consumed you. I….”

The Emperor’s face, growing pallid, froze as the long hair sprawled across the floor entered my field of vision.
It was not Raina Hart.
It was not the violet-tinged hair that had always stolen my gaze.

Brown hair.
A princess sleeping atop the traces of my master.
How dare she.
That thought came first. How dare she.

Kevenriak Heteroven teleported out of the Separate Palace with Vivian Asperada in tow.
The premonition I’d felt last night had not been wrong.
The princess was undoubtedly the one who would destroy the traces of my master.
Cold blue eyes gazed upon her sleeping form. It was the moment my beautiful lips were about to utter a merciless incantation.

“I’m sorry…”

A sobbing murmur spilled from the princess’s lips.
In that instant, a crushing sensation seized my heart, and I closed my lips.
You—what apology could be so profound that even in unconsciousness, you weep so miserably for it?
What burden weighs so heavily upon your soul?

“….”

I sat down on the ground.
When she shivered from the cold, I removed my outer robe and draped it over her.
The memory of Raina doing the same during her night walks lingered in my mind, so I wove a protective barrier around her as well.
I observed her in silence, murmuring softly.

“The princess is…truly fortunate.”

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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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