For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 79

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 79

“I never expected to meet you at the checkpoint, Deputy Commander. If it weren’t for you, we’d have been camping out tonight.”

Fontepon grinned widely as he spoke.
Shukal and Fontepon, who had entered Jenia with Person’s assistance, had secured lodgings at an inn and were now conversing with Person in the tavern on the first floor.
Person leaned forward, addressing his former subordinates across from him.

“But tell me—how have you two been managing all this time?”

Since Raina Hart’s death, these two had been the most difficult to track down.
The funeral was the last time he’d seen them—had it really been two years?
Where they’d been and how they’d survived remained a mystery, and their appearance was decidedly disheveled.

“We were investigating.”
“Investigating?”
“Surely you understand, Deputy Commander.”

Shukal glanced cautiously around the tavern.
It was still early evening, so the spacious tavern wasn’t crowded. Yet Shukal lowered his voice to barely a whisper, as though no one must overhear.

“The disappearance of Lady Raina’s body.”
“…”

Person’s face went rigid in an instant. Indeed, Shukal’s caution was warranted.
This was something only three people and the Emperor knew.

Two years ago.
It was the second day of Raina Hart’s funeral.
Her coffin, as a war hero, had been placed in the Grand Cathedral, a thirty-minute carriage ride from Jenia, for one day.
The task of moving the coffin from the cathedral to the cemetery within its grounds had been entrusted to her only two knights, Fontepon and Shukal.
But then.

“…It was light.”
“Light…?”

It was when they temporarily moved the coffin from the chapel to the burial chamber for transport.
Raina Hart’s coffin, draped with the Betuzenia Empire flag, felt lighter than expected despite its considerable weight—as if nothing lay within.
A chilling emptiness crept through my sorrow, wedging itself between the grief.
With eyes swollen from weeping, the two Knights opened their lord’s coffin with the resolve to forfeit their lives.

“….”

Indeed, the coffin was empty.
The Emperor had to be informed.
This judgment was possible because the Emperor in their minds was still the Fourth Prince they knew.

“Your Majesty! No, Your Imperial Majesty! Raina…!”

Person, who was with the Emperor, heard this news.
However, the Emperor at that time responded indifferently to any stimulus—his very soul seemed hollow, a mere shell with thought suspended.
Needing to manage the situation, Person dared to silence the two men, though he hesitated, and consulted Kevenriak.

“Your Majesty, may we proceed with Raina’s funeral rites?”
“…Do as you wish.”

And so they buried the empty coffin without the Dark Mage.
After that day, Fontepon and Shukal vanished from sight. But everyone was consumed by grief, so no one sought to find where the two had gone.
Now, at last, they had emerged.

“Your disappearance—it was connected to what happened that day?”

Person lowered his voice and asked.
Shukal and Fontepon spoke.

“Yes, it was.”
“Certain it was someone’s doing, we thoroughly searched the chapel after the funeral.”
“And you found something there?”

Fontepon reached into the inner pocket of his robe.
What emerged from his possession was a small wooden box.
Opening the wooden box revealed a bloodletting needle no larger than a pinky finger.

“We found it rolling near where Dan had been placed. It seemed like it was trying to extract Raina Hart’s blood, but for some reason, it felt connected to dark magic.”
“There were symbols carved into the bottom of the wooden coffin. It was deeply unsettling.”
“Why did only you two know about this…?”

At Person’s question of why he hadn’t been informed, Shukal shrugged his shoulders.

“If I had told the Vice-Commander, I thought you would follow us. So we left quietly on our own. I wanted to ensure that at least one person who remembers Raina Hart remained by the Emperor’s side.”

The two of them spent two years searching for a single symbol.
Their savings depleted, and they became as ragged as stray dogs avoiding the neighborhood, but their efforts bore fruit.

“We only discovered it after traveling to the Opposite Continent. It was said to be the symbol of a nomadic people.”
“A nomadic people…?”

To Person, who murmured as if a realization was dawning, Shukal spoke carefully.

“The Second Empress Consort hails from that place.”

***

Perhaps it was because I couldn’t flaunt my magical knowledge.
Today, I couldn’t escape the sword training either.
After dinner, I moved to the Training Ground with Kevenriak.

“They say meat without a price is nothing but pork….”
“…Hold it properly, my lady. Your sword is wavering.”

I looked down at the hands Kevenriak had placed over mine.

“It’s not the sword that’s wavering—it’s my hands. Your Majesty’s touch is far too overwhelming.”
“You’ve certainly lost your fear, my lady.”

Kevenriak touched the bracelet I wore.

“It’s not bad. Better than cowering and running away.”
“Your Majesty.”

I struggled to steady my blurring vision as dizziness crept in, speaking to Kevenriak.

“I don’t want to become an assassin of the Emperor.”
“I’ll tell the High Priest to declare the Lady innocent.”
“That’s fine.”

I let Kevenriak’s nonsense go in one ear and out the other, responding halfheartedly.
My attention was drawn elsewhere.
To the wrist adorned with the bracelet.

‘Since I’ve already given Person the method to remove the bracelet, there shouldn’t be a problem even if Vivian returns….’

I had marked the exact location of the spell and handed it over to him.
I’d even told him to ask Maverick Marquis if the removal proved difficult, so the bracelet wouldn’t become an obstacle to Vivian’s escape.

“….”

In truth, the problem now wasn’t the bracelet, but the Emperor’s fingertips touching my wrist.
Judging by the complete absence of expression on my face, it didn’t even seem like a trap this time.
Yet I couldn’t understand why that spot grew so warm, as if all my body heat were concentrating there.
This was, undoubtedly.

‘A matter of stamina.’

Vivian’s stamina issue. That much was certain.
Usually, when my vision blurred to this degree, it signaled that Vivian’s body was about to collapse.
Kevenriak must have felt my accelerating pulse, for he asked me.

“Shall I heal you?”
“…That would be appreciated.”

Raina Hart readily accepted the Emperor’s offer.
With seventh-circle magic, Vivian’s physical condition improved, yet the warmth lingering on my wrist seemed reluctant to fade.

That night.
Kevenriak sent Raina Hart back to her quarters, then teleported to his own chambers. He turned on the lights first.

“I’ll ask the one with the pale purple hair if she could visit His Majesty tonight.”

The noblewoman’s words were correct.
The Emperor’s face broke into a radiant smile as he spotted the envelope slipped through the gap in the door.
Kevenriak opened the envelope and examined the letter inside.

“Hello. You didn’t seem to be in your room, so I left this letter.”

Ah. It appeared she had visited while I was teaching Vivian Asperada.
I would need to schedule our lessons earlier.
Kevenriak carefully read through the letter bearing Raina’s traces.
The contents were merely a simple greeting, but it was written in my Master’s hand.
Each character was infinitely precious to me.

‘The noblewoman has been wearing the bracelet all along.’
‘She couldn’t have sent a letter.’

As always, voices descended upon the Emperor’s mind.
The unconscious whispers of the shattered Kevenriak.

‘Vivian Asperada is not your Master.’

Kevenriak must not notice traces of Raina in the noblewoman.

‘She came to devour you.’

Kevenriak, we are.

‘You, who wielded dark magic against Raina.’

Monsters beyond forgiveness in my Master’s eyes.

***

“The Second Empress Consort’s ethnic emblem?”
“Yes.”

Though it was late at night, the hour was suitable for avoiding prying eyes.
Raina was discreetly receiving a report from Person about the day’s events in her quarters.
Far more information had been gathered than expected.

1. Duke Asperada was in Jenia when the previous Emperor died and the Fourth Prince fled through the escape tunnel.
2. Simona Asperada fell gravely ill two years ago and became unable to travel long distances.
3. Raina Hart’s corpse has vanished.
4. Fontepon and Shukal discovered blood-drawing instruments at the location where the coffin had been, and identified the pattern on the box containing them.

“…Someone attempted to extract blood, it seems.”
“Do you have any suspicions, Your Majesty?”

Of course I did.
Raina Hart’s blood was that of a Dragon Quarter.

‘If it was a Dark Mage who intended to use the blood-drawing instruments, it would actually make sense. The stronger the poison, the more limited the antidotes they can produce become. They would have needed dragon’s blood.’

Had the Dark Mage targeting Heteroven appeared?
The Grand Cathedral was located in a small fortified city outside Jenia.
So the Dark Mage could have approached regardless of my barrier.

‘Did that Dark Mage steal the corpse?’

I corrected my own thinking.
Had the Dark Mage succeeded in stealing the corpse, they would not have made the mistake of leaving behind a box bearing a specific pattern at the scene of the crime.
They were meticulous, having left not a single trace related to me until now.
An accident had occurred. They were not given time to retrieve the dropped box.
Someone else had stolen the corpse.

‘The culprit who attempted to extract blood would have been restricted in their movements for several days after failing. Fontepon and Shukal said they found the box containing the blood-drawing instruments the day after the funeral ended.’

My fist clenched.
As the outline became clear, the hunger for vengeance stirred within me. Even though this body belonged to Vivian.

“Miss Asperada.”

Person cautiously addressed me, lost in thought.

“…Did His Majesty perhaps take the corpse after all?”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————