For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 80

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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 80

Kevenriak Heteroven was the one who spirited away Raina Hart’s corpse.
I couldn’t deny Person’s implication.
Kevenriak was indeed the most likely suspect.

“It’s also strange that His Majesty didn’t react sensitively even when Raina Hart’s body disappeared. Do you also believe His Majesty took the corpse, Princess?”
“Yes.”

I nodded in agreement.
The Grand Cathedral also had barriers erected to guard against external intrusion.
Barriers managed by the Mage Association. Among the mages affiliated with the Association, the highest-ranked mages besides the Emperor were Sixth Circle.
If one were to name someone capable of penetrating those barriers and stealing a corpse, Kevenriak’s probability was extraordinarily high.

‘Had Keri conducted my funeral alone….’

Would he have held my funeral ceremony by himself?

Kevenriak Heteroven gazed upon Raina Hart within the coffin.
It seemed as though she might awaken at any moment and smile toward him.
“Master, I have….”

A translucent window suddenly materialized in his mind.

[I’m the one who made you die.]

Simultaneously, a sound reverberated through his skull accompanied by excruciating pain.

“Ugh.”

I let out a pained groan and clutched my head, and Person cried out in alarm.

“Rei, …Princess…! Are you alright?”
“I’m fine….”

I took a deep breath, then raised my hand toward the worried Person.
Then I naturally closed the window.

“The consort’s body is… frail.”

I had thought myself accustomed to the persistent headaches that plagued me constantly.
But this time, the pain was unbearable.

‘That voice again. Who is it?’

I recalled the voice that had surfaced alongside the translucent window.
Since it did not exist in my memories, could it belong to Vivian?
Or was it the same voice I had often heard when I was Raina Hart?
The humming distortion made it impossible to discern even the speaker’s gender.

‘The frequent voice is hardly a promising sign.’

A bitter expression crossed my features.
The frequency of tears that habitually streamed down my face was diminishing.
It signified that the collision between my soul and Vivian’s body was decreasing.
The collision had been the body’s defensive mechanism to protect the sleeping soul.
A reduction in collision meant the dormant soul was gaining strength.

‘Vivian will awaken soon.’

I clenched and unclenched my fists.
The woefully insufficient time weighed heavily upon me.
Before then, Keri, you must hear my voice.

“I shall have the Head Chef prepare nourishing food for when the body is depleted.”
“It’s fine, Person. Rather, about that emblem you mentioned earlier. The Second Empress Consort is the Emperor’s biological mother. If the Dark Mage is of that ethnicity and targeted the Heteroven Royal Family…”
“There may be a possibility of revenge.”

At Person’s words, my eyes narrowed.

“So you think the same.”

The Emperor-before-last, Cheinols, had confined the Second Empress Consort to the Imperial Palace through his temporary possessiveness.
The Imperial Palace, ruled by the Heteroven Royal Family, had killed her.
Just as they had tormented and abandoned Kevenriak back then.

‘Perhaps they had gnashed their teeth, thinking the Imperial Family deserved to be devoured as thoroughly as I would devour them.’

Yet I harbored no desire to feel kinship simply because we shared the same thoughts.

“They are my enemy.”

Person spoke with unwavering conviction, uttering her name—the one I could not voice aloud.

“Because they forced Raina Hart to turn back, and they manipulated Kin.”
“That’s right, Person. They are the enemy.”

I nodded in agreement.
An enemy indeed. They used my own disciple and caused her death, pierced my heart, and transformed Kevenriak into a tyrant.

‘The mastermind of the original story….’

I began to understand why the mastermind never appeared in the original narrative.
They had no need to act directly. Kevenriak, bound by contract to the Demon Grimoire, had consumed the Imperial Palace and slaughtered the entire Heteroven family.

‘Did that mastermind awaken the Demon Grimoire as well? Perhaps they orchestrated the Third Prince’s rebellion. Since the contract between Zikhard and Keri never materialized, they may have intervened directly when their plans fell apart.’

In the end, if the original story’s mastermind had always intended to sacrifice Kevenriak for their own purposes from the beginning,

‘then that mastermind is equally deserving of annihilation.’

I ground my teeth with barely contained fury.

***

Kevenriak regarded the man who had appeared in his chamber through instantaneous teleportation.

“Emperor, have you abandoned that absurd scheme?”

A low, menacing growl emanated toward Kevenriak.
Ban’s threatening cry pierced toward Kevenriak.

Ban spoke to the Emperor, opening her mouth to dissuade him from his plan with a plausible reason she and her sister had devised together.

“You cannot destroy the barrier. It is our Master’s legacy.”

“The barrier contains our Master’s magical power…?”

That was when I noticed the Emperor’s Chamber was different from usual.

“What? Why is it so bright?”
….

I hadn’t realized it upon arriving directly from the Orphanage’s well-lit living room.
The Emperor’s Chamber had its lights on.

“Have I lost my mind?”

Ah, I’ve already lost it anyway. Right.
Ban watched the Emperor staring at her in silence, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck.

“Is that all you came for?”

Kevenriak opened his mouth.
There had to be a reason for this sudden late-night visit.

“Well….”

Ban took her time answering, observing the Emperor intently.
I wondered what change of heart had prompted him to turn on the lights, but nothing seemed different.
His face was as inscrutable as always, his expression as hollow as ever. One wouldn’t be surprised if he abandoned life itself this very moment. …I didn’t like it.
The only thing that caught my eye in the brighter light was that he was devastatingly handsome.
Detecting subtle emotional shifts had never been my specialty anyway. I decided to simply state my business for coming.

“Unfortunately, today’s matter isn’t about the Dark Mage.”
….

I could almost hear the words “you’ve wasted my time on something trivial” in the Emperor’s expressionless face. Ban let out a scoff.

“Would I come squander your time on something pointless? Apparently, the Rebel Forces centered around Tunterra survivors are beginning serious preparations. Word is they’re planning to stage their rebellion around next year.”

It was information my disciple, who served as my intelligence network, had brought to me.
They were a group with grand ambitions—to topple the Betuzenia Empire’s flag and plant the banner of their lost homeland in its place.

“I’m aware.”
“You’re aware?”

Ban’s eyes widened with astonishment.
What could an Emperor who spent all his days confined to the Imperial Palace, wandering about as if cursed by nightmares, possibly know?

“How did you find out?”
“Merchants and provincial cities have been purchasing weapons and provisions.”

It must have been conducted subtly across all of Betuzhenia, leaving no trace.
Yet Kevenriak’s eyes, which surveyed comprehensive intelligence from the Imperial Palace, could not be deceived.
Of course, this assumed he examined every document and possessed an almost supernatural instinct to discern information obscured by cunning manipulation.

‘Our seventh circle, rapid document analysis was my specialty. Yet this sense—detecting suspicion from mere paperwork—is almost bestial.’

Even I, bearing the blood of a tiger-human hybrid, could not muster such an instinct.

“Will you help us?”
“With what?”
“Crushing the Tuntera Rebellion Army. The Emperor has no allies besides his knights.”

Hours earlier, at the Orphanage in Hibei.
When my disciples heard news of the rebellion, their first concern was precisely this.

“If war breaks out, will the nobles send their private forces to the Emperor?”
“Won’t they see this as their chance to side with Tuntera?”

Our seventh circle has no natural allies. What if we perish like other emperors before us?
If I die like the other emperors…

“That won’t work. We agreed that none of us would die until the revenge is complete.”

My disciples decided to present their unified opinion to the Emperor.
The disciples decided to convey their unified opinion to the Emperor.

“If you need forces to crush the Rebel Forces, just say the word. We’re all intermediate-level mages or higher. Stale was promoted to 5th Circle not long ago.”

Stale, who was among the older disciples, had turned twenty this year.
Of course, he could not compare to the Fourth Prince, who had reached the sixth circle by twenty.
Yet Stale’s achievements were nothing short of genius when measured against ordinary mages.
There were three more advanced mages starting from the fourth circle, so the disciples alone would become formidable assets to the Emperor’s power.
But the Emperor remained silent. He had no intention of hearing an answer today anyway.
Ban, having fulfilled her role as representative of the disciples today, posed a personal question to Kevenriak Heteroven.

“Who was that woman from last time?”
“Woman?”

When Kevenriak Heteroven did not immediately understand, Ban scratched her cheek.
It was the embarrassment of bringing up the past incident where she had fought the Emperor.

“The woman who shielded you from my claws.”

Had it not been for Kevenriak Heteroven’s barrier, her claws would have torn through the woman then and there.
The momentum had been too great to stop her strike.
The woman had shielded the Emperor knowing she would be wounded, and the Emperor—who cared nothing whether others lived or died—had even cast a barrier for her sake.
And he had allowed the woman to embrace him.

“Do you like her?”

Ban’s nose twitched.
If he dared say he liked her, she would kick his rear with her hind legs.
Both the Emperor and themselves.
This was hardly the time for idle talk of love and romance.

“….”

At Ban’s question, Kevenriak Heteroven closed his mouth for a moment, then let out a soft chuckle.

“That could never be.”

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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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