If You Are Suited for the Villain's Secretary - Chapter 1
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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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If the Villain’s Secretary Suits Me
Chapter 1
0. Prologue
[La Mar: The Empire’s most promising emerging Merchant Guild]
[“There’s nothing you can’t obtain through that guild!” “And they say even the Imperial Prince uses their services?!”]
[The veiled guild master… will they appear at this Imperial Palace banquet?]
My day always begins with organizing the newspapers.
After neatly folding the papers and tucking them into my arms along with the documents, I picked up a coffee cup brimming with sugar and knocked on the door.
“Director, it’s Iliana.”
“Come in.”
I am the personal secretary to the master of La Mar.
That is my role—Iliana Grecia.
I set the documents on the desk with practiced ease and spoke.
“This is the contract with the Imperial Knights. The knights’ side requested revisions on certain clauses, so I’ve marked them for your review.”
“I’ll examine it. What’s next?”
“This is an expenditure approval form. It only needs your signature.”
“I’ll check it later. Next.”
“This is next week’s schedule. I’ve adjusted it to include external appointments, so please let me know if there are any changes needed.”
“Very well. Place the newspapers next to the schedule. What else?”
It was an ordinary day, no different from any other.
The dark office, the dry conversation, the faint aroma of coffee drifting through the air.
[Aden]
Even watching Aden, the guild master who continued his work without sparing a glance at the person who had entered, was routine.
Which is precisely why I could speak so casually. Just as I always did.
“And this is my resignation letter.”
“….”
“I’m quitting.”
Scratch—
Aden’s pen, which had been gliding across the paper, came to an abrupt halt, then slowly resumed its movement.
“I didn’t hear that.”
“Then let me say it again. I’m quitting….”
Once more, his pen stopped, and Aden finally lifted his head slowly.
Truly, he was devastatingly handsome, just as everyone said.
The theory that La Mar’s excellent performance stemmed from people stamping approval documents while mesmerized by the guild master’s face held considerable merit.
However,
“If it’s a matter of money, I’ll pay you more.”
What meaning could that possibly have for someone about to resign?
“It’s not about money.”
“That’s rather difficult to understand. Wasn’t your greatest problem money? You’re drowning in debt—debt inherited from your father, no less.”
“Are you really bringing up my personal affairs?”
“I only mention it because I must. The debt remains unresolved, does it not?”
“That’s true. Though it’s hardly a matter that should concern you, sir.”
“….”
“In any case, it’s not about money. La Marche’s salary and benefits are top-tier in the industry, after all.”
Yet the reason I’m determined to resign is….
“Then what is the problem?”
‘You are the problem!’
Because you, Aden, are the final mastermind and villain of this entire world!
And as a villain destined to meet a particularly tragic end, if I stay by your side, I’ll inevitably be caught in the crossfire as your secretary!
“What is the problem, I asked.”
…But unable to voice that truth, I burned with frustration and drained the coffee I’d been holding in one desperate gulp.
I’d brought it for myself anyway. I’m allowed to drink coffee too, aren’t I?
After gulping down the coffee, I gathered every ounce of composure and formality I possessed before answering.
“One doesn’t need a problem to resign. I simply wish to leave now. That is all.”
“….”
“Please process my resignation. Goodbye.”
As I turned to leave, Aden said nothing.
Of course he wouldn’t. That’s the kind of man he is.
He treats guild employees as disposable commodities, judging others solely by their utility to him.
‘Someone like me means nothing to Aden.’
Just as always, he’d likely return his attention to his documents as if nothing had happened.
However, it was the moment I reached for the door handle.
“Iliana.”
This time, it was different.
Aden stopped me.
“…I’ll do better for you.”
His voice was so quiet I thought I’d misheard at first.
“Isn’t that enough?”
But I hadn’t.
His usually cold, crystalline voice trembled slightly as he held me back with unmistakable desperation.
I’d never seen him like this before.
I turned slowly. My eyes met his violet gaze.
“…What?”
Then that single syllable, added so softly, was truly strange.
It sounded like a plea, like a question, like a desperate entreaty—that one word was so unlike Aden that….
For a moment, my mind reeled, and I bit my lip hard.
‘Get a grip, Iliana. This man is that ‘Calix Arden Blight’. The villain destined to destroy the Empire.’
That’s who this person is, resorting to cheap emotional manipulation right now. He’s the number one man you should never get entangled with.
Then why did Aden and I become connected in the first place?
I need to go back to that day, several months ago, when I had my interview.
So that’s it….
‘The day I realized this world was inside a novel.’
1. An Apprenticeship, You See
There exists a work titled “The Legacy of the Black Tide.”
As the gloomy title suggests, it is a novel where the antagonist ‘Calix Arden Blight’—also known as ‘Aden’—plays an exceptionally prominent role.
Aden, who established the information guild La Mar under the guise of a merchant organization to seize control of the Empire,
“H-how can such a law exist! The contract I made with you clearly stated…!”
“In exchange for saving your house from ruin, you transfer all your assets to me. Yes, of course I remember.”
“But why! Why is my title being stripped and I’m being exiled!”
“There is nothing amiss with the contract. I merely considered whether your family members would truly protect someone with not a single coin to their name. Wouldn’t you agree?”
He struck people down with contracts so ruthless even demons would weep,
“No! I knew nothing, nothing at all!”
“Ignorance too is a sin. At least you shall learn that truth today, Baron.”
“Aaaahhhhh!”
and he did not hesitate to personally ‘dispose of’ anyone who became an inconvenience,
“Why such an expression? Your abandoned son has grown so well and returned—surely you can smile.”
“U-ugh….”
“Soon you’ll find it difficult to smile.”
He even weaponized his own family, committing only the most heinous acts until finally the protagonist caught him in his web.
In the ending, after all his misdeeds are exposed, Aden meets a gruesome death through magical runaway.
The employees of La Mar likewise pay the price for their complicity with him, meeting their end together as a matter of course.
***
The lesson to be drawn from this story is simple.
One must never brush shoulders with such a villain.
“Miss Iliana Grecia.”
But what if, by misfortune, I had encountered one?
The first method for survival: conceal my name and personal information as thoroughly as possible.
“I heard your self-introduction well—that you are currently twenty years old, have seven years of experience working at the Merchant Guild, and live nearby, so you could start work tomorrow without delay.”
The second method: if even that were exposed, at least keep my mouth shut.
“I also heard the story of how you single-handedly resolved the so-called ‘Airen Flower Incident.'”
The third method: if even that failed, avoid drawing attention to myself at all costs.
Yet I had failed at all three.
Because right now, I was—
“However, if Miss Grecia’s explanation of how she resolved that matter were to be interrupted in such a manner…”
“…cough.”
“Then I would have no choice but to harbor doubts about the aspirations and experience you mentioned earlier.”
I had come to understand all of this in the middle of an interview for the secretary position at La Mare’s trading company!
‘Why must my past life surface now of all times?’
Cold sweat trickled down my back unbidden.
I forced my trembling head upward.
[Aden]
Beyond the gleaming nameplate, Aden’s violet eyes glimmered with an unsettling light.
“So, what is your answer?”
If the Villain’s Secretary Suits Me
Author: Hwang Huin
Publisher: Pilyeon Management
E-mail: [email protected]
Price: Serialization
UCI: G720:N+A038-20260417074
* This work is protected by copyright law. Any reuse of all or part of this book’s contents requires the explicit consent of the copyright holder.
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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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