To Become a Villain, For the Happiness of One Woman

The day I had to leave the Duchy was fast approaching.

Waking up early in the morning and finishing my grooming, I sat alone on the terrace, admiring the dazzling dawn that was beginning to illuminate the garden. Sylvia felt a mix of emotions.

It was a social party that was long if you called it long, and short if you called it short, but it was more enjoyable than I thought.

Of course, there were still quite a few people who looked at her negatively, but I didn’t care much because I expected it anyway.

I was just satisfied with the time I was able to spend with Kyle.

Although I felt like my lid was about to blow when some women who resented her presence deliberately approached Kyle, my heart fluttered whenever Kyle embraced her and avoided the situation.

Anyway, how does he know women’s hearts so well, even though he’s so taciturn?

If he knows women’s hearts so well, why can’t he understand this heart of mine?

“Huu….”

She sighed, puffing out her cheeks as if she was sulking, and calmed her mind with warm tea.

Just as the light of dawn, which began to spread between the mountain ridges, covered the Duke’s castle, she felt a faint presence behind her.

“You’re up early.”

“Ah, Layard-gongja.”

There was Kyle, who had woken up looking somewhat disheveled.

Sylvia couldn’t help but burst into laughter when she noticed the hair sticking up at the back of his head, as if he hadn’t finished grooming yet.

“Puhut, are you thinking of adopting a magpie family or something?”

“I woke up late because I had trouble sleeping yesterday.”

“Huh? Why? Are you feeling unwell or….”

She was laughing playfully at first, but after hearing Kyle’s words, she immediately changed her expression and jumped up from her seat, looking up at him worriedly.

The distance was so close that Kyle, who had thrown the words out without much thought, unconsciously took a step back and made a gesture as if pushing away, raising both hands to his chest.

In fact, Kyle, who hadn’t had trouble sleeping, but had just stayed up late because he had things to discuss closely with Vermillion until yesterday, felt sorry for deceiving her.

“Ah, no. I just had something to think about.”

“Still, you should get enough sleep. If I had known, I would have sung you a lullaby.”

“I’m past the age of listening to lullabies.”

“Hehe, what does it matter?”

When she smiled playfully and offered him the seat next to her, Kyle finally realized that she had returned to the Sylvia he knew and sighed softly before taking a seat.

“Today is finally the day you go back.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Sylvia made a pouty face for a moment at his habit of saying that again, but she realized that it would only hurt her mouth to say anything, so she added the rest of her words.

“I feel a little sad for some reason. It was a very enjoyable time.”

“I didn’t enjoy it that much.”

“Hmph, it would be nice if you could at least say you enjoyed it.”

However, a blunt word popped out at his answer, which was just asking for a beating.

In response, Kyle waved his hand, appealing that he had no intention of doing so, and hurriedly added.

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just that I kept hearing things I didn’t want to hear, so it was quite annoying.”

“That…. Are you talking about me?”

“To put it bluntly, yes.”

“Ah….”

Only after hearing his explanation did Sylvia realize that the reason he was uncomfortable was not because he was with her, but because of the groups that were gossiping about her behind her back, and she exclaimed.

He’s really a cheapskate.

He only pretends to be in a relationship on the surface, but in reality, it’s just a contractual relationship, so he doesn’t have to be nice to me, he says as a habit.

But he says such sweet things without any hesitation, how can a woman’s heart not waver?

His attitude of always treating me indifferently, and even his cold demeanor towards others, is a problem.

If he were a kind person from the start, I would have accepted it as his personality, but he only treats her warmly occasionally, so if it were other women, most of them would have fallen for him.

“…Layard-gongja is such a cheapskate.”

“A cheapskate…. What do you mean?”

“Everything.”

“……?”

In the end, when she pouted her lips and muttered in a sulky manner, a question mark appeared above Kyle’s head.

He prides himself on knowing Sylvia well, but at times like this, he feels that he can’t understand women’s hearts at all.

“You were here. A secret meeting from the morning, you two are getting along well.”

“Ah, Drake-gongja.”

While the two were having a pleasant time, Sylvia’s eyes widened at the sudden appearance of Vermillion.

I try not to show it as much as possible, but as she is suspicious of the man Vermillion Drake, his appearance was honestly quite uncomfortable.

“What’s going on?”

“I was just taking a morning walk. I just came to say hello since I saw you two.”

“Then you’re done saying hello, so go now.”

“…….”

‘Were the two of them on such familiar terms?’

Meanwhile, Sylvia felt a strange sense of alienation as she watched Kyle speak to Vermillion quite comfortably.

Vermillion has always used polite language, so that’s fine, but it’s not easy for Kyle to speak so comfortably.

He only does that when dealing with Georg or the servants living in the castle, so what happened in that short amount of time?

‘Could it be that the two of them had a secret conversation separately?’

Suddenly, Sylvia felt a sense of unease and subtly pulled her chair to the side.

Then, she stuck close to Kyle’s side, covered his hand on the table with her own, and said to Vermillion.

“I’m sorry, Drake-gongja. We were in the middle of a close conversation…. Could you please leave us alone for a moment?”

“…Milady?”

At that, Kyle looked at her with surprised eyes, and Vermillion also looked dumbfounded, as if he didn’t expect her to issue such a direct eviction order.

However, since he had already mentioned that he had only come to say hello for a moment, there was no justification for standing there even after hearing her words.

“…I understand. I’m sorry for disturbing you.”

As he bowed his head, turned around, and left the terrace, Sylvia made a stern expression towards Kyle, who was still staring at her with wide eyes.

“Layard-gongja, you shouldn’t be too close to that person. Got it?”

“…….”

Kyle blinked for a moment, stunned by the action of a mother scolding her son for associating with a person who is not fit to be, and then nodded.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell her that they were already in the same boat.

＊＊＊

Finally, the time for the carriage to depart was approaching, but before that, Kyle had to move his steps after receiving a call from Wilhelm, the owner of the castle.

“I’m sorry for calling a busy person.”

“It’s okay. Esfelt-gong.”

Wilhelm said to him, who was bowing his head, to be comfortable and offered him the seat opposite him.

When Kyle sat down obediently, even though he had a slightly sullen expression, Wilhelm’s narrowly opened eyes sharply pierced Kyle.

“I watched the sparring match that day. To achieve that much at that age, it’s amazing.”

“You flatter me.”

Kyle already knew that he hadn’t called him to give him friendly compliments, so he just bowed his head and tried to read the atmosphere.

On the one hand, I was quite surprised.

Because on that day when unilateral violence occurred under the name of sparring, Kyle didn’t even realize that Wilhelm was there.

‘Is he not an ordinary person after all?’

On the surface, he pretends to be a generous and open-minded person, but is he really one of the top players in the Empire?

From the beginning, he was the one who transformed this Esfelt Duchy, which was teeming with all kinds of monsters, into its current form, so Wilhelm Esfelt’s martial prowess is already beyond words.

As if to prove this, even the aura he is emitting faintly right now is quite sharp enough to prick Kyle’s skin.

Even Kyle couldn’t guess what kind of aspect this man would show if he showed his true colors.

“But…. From what I’ve seen, your power doesn’t seem to have been obtained through a normal process.”

“May I ask what you mean?”

“Don’t you know that well? No matter how much you use white magic and pretend not to, you can’t escape my discerning eye.”

‘Indeed, I didn’t know he would notice that far.’

Kyle exclaimed inwardly.

Even his father couldn’t detect the power, but he accurately identified the source.

“Yes, you’re right. At least it’s not power obtained through normal methods, as the world says.”

“You’re quite honest.”

“There’s no point in trying to cover my eyes and act like an ostrich when you’ve already noticed.”

“I see.”

Wilhelm, who nodded his head, saying, ‘Is that so?’, still turned his gaze to Kyle.

Realizing that it was an act of silently demanding a detailed answer, he paused for a moment, took a sip of the bottled water in front of him, and then opened his mouth.

“But even if it’s not a normal method, it’s not power obtained through a wrong method.”

“Not to the extent of righteousness, but not an apostle either?”

“That’s right.”

“It’s difficult. I don’t know how to judge you.”

Kyle felt as if he was lying in a forest of swords as he was scanned from top to bottom with his eyes narrowed.

Even though Wilhelm is not armed with anything right now, not even a single dagger.

His aura was as cold and sharp as a honed sword, to the point where it gave the illusion that an invisible sword was hanging from his waist.

“Of course, even if you go down the wrong path, I don’t have the right to punish you. However, if I judge that it will be harmful to the world, I was going to cut you down from this spot nonetheless.”

“But why didn’t you cut me down?”

“It’s because you’re the first person like you.”

Tok. Tok.

Wilhelm was organizing his evaluation of Kyle in his head, tapping the table slightly with his index finger in time with a regular beat.

He’s a truly strange man.

He doesn’t feel like a good person, but he doesn’t look like a villain either.

I can’t read his inner thoughts, but I don’t get a suspicious feeling.

“You don’t have to worry too much. I have no intention of using this power in the wrong place.”

It’s usually a typical line that villains say superficially to hide their inner thoughts, but for some reason, Wilhelm felt sincerity in Kyle’s words.

“Then let me ask you just one thing. Did you want to obtain that power to benefit the world? Or to benefit yourself?”

Nevertheless, Wilhelm wanted to hear Kyle’s inner thoughts frankly from him one last time.

It was a somewhat vague question, but it was also the most direct content.

In short, he was asking whether he chose that power because he had a great purpose, or whether he chose that power solely for his own interests and desires.

In response, Kyle paused for a moment, then raised his head, which had been lowered halfway, and looked into Wilhelm’s eyes as he replied.

“Just, for the happiness of one woman.”