For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 67

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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 67

Excluding Kevenriak and Kin, the eleven remaining disciples were still living at the Orphanage in Hibei.
It was their hometown and home.

“….”

Harp, the silver-haired tiger beastman.
Now eighteen years old, Din sat on the playground swing, gazing forward.
Beneath the bright sky, the Lord’s Castle stood solitary atop the hill.
It was the castle where her beloved master had lived.

“Oh ho, look at this. There were cubs, weren’t there? The little ones don’t know how to hide their ears and tails. The male one was human, so it must be Harp?”
“…Growl….”
“Keke. Money works better with young ones. I was feeling bitter about accidentally killing the mother, but fortune smiles on the wicked, doesn’t it?”

Fourteen years ago, Ban (age 5) and Din (age 4) lost their parents to bandits and were captured by them.
They didn’t remember the details clearly from being so young, but the feelings of indignation and fear remained vivid.
And one memory that remained crystal clear even now.

“R-R-Raina Hart!”
“Damn it! Run!”

The bandits fled in panic, swept skyward by a gust of wind.
The weapons the bandits had been brandishing shattered like twigs and fell to the ground.

“….”

The bandits flailed helplessly in the air.
And a woman standing alone on the ground.
Pale lavender hair swaying in the wind, eyes silver and clear as ice.

‘It was her.’
‘She fought alone.’

Ban and Din saw it clearly within us.
Strength.
The young beasts drawn by instinct began to admire her.
Since they knew nothing of the concept of debt, it was only later that they realized they owed a favor to Raina Hart.
Fortunately, the siblings possessed magical aptitude and became disciples of the Raina Hart they so admired.

‘My master was truly remarkable.’

She was strong and kind.
And yet… for such a person to be manipulated by a Dark Mage. Using Kin like that.

‘They knew we were our master’s weakness.’

Crunch.
Din gripped the rope tightly, baring her fangs.
Just then, she saw magical energy gathering in the empty air within her vision.

“You’re back?”

Din spoke to her older brother Ban, who had returned via teleportation.
It was right after he had finished fighting with Kevenriak.
Ban, still seething with anger, opened his mouth with a huff.

“That insane Emperor.”
“Ban, are you cursing? Actually, it’s not even an insult.”
“Today he was even more insane than usual.”

Thump, thump.
Angry footsteps. Ban sat on the swing beside his younger sister.
Then, frustrated, he scratched his head vigorously.

“What’s wrong?”
“The Emperor was spouting complete nonsense.”
“Nonsense?”

It had happened two days ago.
Kevenriak, a 7th Circle mage, had found the culprit in the Traveling Troupe leader’s memories.
The distinguishing mark was a mole beneath the eye.
The mirage-like criminal had finally taken shape.
But that was all.

“So? How are we supposed to find the Dark Mage with just a mole?”

We would need to find people with moles beneath their eyes, filter for those with magical power,
and then confirm they were unregistered mages with the Mage Association before we could identify them as suspects.
Even limiting the search to the Betuzhenia Empire, it was nearly impossible.

“What if we issued an Imperial decree to investigate everyone with a mole beneath their eye?”
“That would only reveal that we know about the mole. Besides, a mole can be altered with dark magic in an instant. It’s a witch hunt without a witch.”

We couldn’t allow innocent people to suffer.
Our disciples’ purpose was righteous vengeance for our master.
Eleven disciples put their heads together, but no brilliant strategy emerged.
There was nothing left but to consult the Emperor.
As always, Ban went to the Imperial Palace as the disciples’ representative.

“So do you know what he said?”
“What did he say?”

Ban spoke with indignation while Din asked calmly.
The Emperor had warned them not to tell the other disciples,
but there were no secrets between siblings.
Ban nervously rubbed the back of her neck.

“He’ll dissolve the master’s barrier that’s been activated in Jenia. Since the culprit is after Heteroven blood, he’ll use himself as bait.”
“I see. You’re angry because the Emperor seems intent on getting himself killed?”

Din saw through Ban’s true feelings.
It was absurd to worry about a 7th Circle mage.

….

Ban pressed her lips together firmly and nodded.
Her younger sister was right.
Whether she met her end alongside the culprit or killed the culprit and died alone.
Ban felt anger toward the Emperor for seeking a place to die by offering up such a plausible sacrifice like bait.
There had been times when she vented her grief over losing her master to her first disciple.
But she did not wish for his death.

“Bait? Are you trying to secure your absolution through such a cowardly method?”

Sharp reproach toward the Emperor spilled from Ban’s lips, born of fear at the loss she would face again.
Please don’t leave us behind.
There was a sentiment she could never convey to her first disciple.
That the disciples had truly adored him. That they took pride in his strength.

“Don’t worry, Ban.”

Din spoke to her dejected older brother.

“The Emperor cannot die even if the Dark Mage kills him.”
“…Are you certain? Do you know something?”

Ban questioned her younger sister, whose tone suggested she knew something.
Din answered while gently swinging on the swing.

“It’s just intuition.”

***

Even Vivian Asperada had left the Separate Palace.
Left alone, Kevenriak used magic to restore the room, which had been devastated by his battle with Ban.
In no time, it looked pristine, as though no battle had ever taken place.

“…”

Then, with familiar steps, he found his way to Raina Hart’s room.
As he leaned against the wall and sank to the floor, the reproach he had heard from Ban surfaced in his mind.

“Bait? Or are you just pretending to sacrifice everything because you want to let it all go?”
“You know as well as I do that once the Master’s barrier is dispelled, it cannot be reactivated. Not unless you’re a mage of the eighth circle or higher.”
“Do not think your death will serve as absolution to the Master, Emperor.”

Absolution.
If such a thing were possible, I would have driven a blade through my own heart countless times.
But Ban.

‘The Master could never forgive me.’

After the hollow laughter subsided, emptiness descended upon me.
Within that void, the silhouette of a single person materialized.
Vivian Asperada. Yes, she existed. She who would drive the blade into my heart.

“Your Majesty.”

Person, who had come to the Separate Palace, gazed upon his emperor with a heavy heart.
There stood a noble beast with hollow eyes, bereft of its master.
Just this morning when he had instructed the lady’s meal preparations, the Emperor had seemed unusually pleased.

“The lady has completed her breakfast well.”

Person reported Vivian’s morning routine to the Emperor.
Then Kevenriak suddenly rose from his seat and walked toward the door.

“Your Majesty, where are you going?”

Person had grown accustomed to gauging Kevenriak’s condition by the responses he received.
When his state was sound, answers revealing his destination would return.

“….”

But today, no answer came.
Had his condition worsened again?
Person watched the empty space where the Emperor had vanished through teleportation with eyes full of concern.

***

Upon leaving the Separate Palace, Raina Hart made her way directly to the Imperial Library.
She had anticipated that breaching the security of a library reserved exclusively for the Imperial Family would prove considerably challenging.

Yet there were no soldiers guarding the entrance. With only Keri remaining among the Imperial Family, it seemed they had ceased to care about security altogether.

Entering had been remarkably effortless.

How quiet it was.

Raina Hart stepped into the Imperial Library and glanced around her surroundings.
In the distance, near the library’s entrance, she spotted a librarian nodding off in his chair.
Beyond that, she neither saw another soul nor heard any sign of life.
It appeared the librarian was the sole staff member on duty.

Best not to wake him.

Raina Hart slipped past the librarian’s line of sight and ventured deeper into the library.
The interior was elegant and imposing, with countless books—their sheer number impossible to estimate—lining the walls and filling towering shelves that served as pillars themselves.
The polished wooden floor of the Imperial Library absorbed the sound of her footsteps completely.
Beyond the shelves, as she reached the far wall, a junction appeared leading to other chambers.
Without hesitation, Raina Hart took the left passage.
A moderately sized room emerged before her—a chamber where portraits of successive Emperors hung upon the walls.
As Raina Hart surveyed the portraits in a circle, her gaze came to rest upon the portrait of the Emperor hanging at the very end.

Keri was here too.

Dressed in coronation regalia. Whether the painter had sketched the preliminary drawing on the very day of the coronation, those blue eyes overflowed with vitality.
After gazing upon her disciple’s visage for a moment, Raina Hart composed herself, reminding herself this was not the time for such sentiments.

I need to reach the Secret Vault where Zikhard had been.

The Secret Vault where I first encountered Zikhard lay deep within the Imperial Library.
Last time, I had teleported directly to its entrance and shattered the vault’s barrier.
Yet I was not unfamiliar with the path to reach it.
Since this was the scene where the main antagonist contracted with the Grimoire of Magic, the method had been detailed even in my recollections.

Let me recall the sequence. The ring of the Fifth Emperor, the quill of the Third Emperor, the goblet of the Sixth Emperor….

Raina Hart recalled the original story’s contents she had been memorizing steadily for the past fourteen years to never forget.
To reach the passage leading to the Secret Vault, one had to press the objects within the portrait in sequence, but the ten-year-old Kevenriak, being short in stature, had brought books from the Imperial Library….

Kevenriak moved the books one by one and stacked them in front of the portrait.
His height was insufficient to press the portrait as the voice calling out the numbers had suggested.

‘…I know. How delightful.’

Raina closed the translucent window that had appeared before her eyes, as if I had read my own thoughts.
Perhaps because my intention to save Kevenriak had been exposed, the window now displayed only Kevenriak-related information even more blatantly.

“Keri’s happy ending, that is….”

Thud.
As Raina pressed all the objects in the portrait she remembered in their correct sequence, the sound of a massive stone moving echoed through the chamber.
Raina lifted away the carpet that had been laid on the floor.
Where the wooden floor had been was now a staircase descending downward.
Raina stepped toward the stairs.

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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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