Only Tragic Endings Await the Villain.

Perhaps those four days were the slowest of my life.

Whether it was because the day I had so longed for was finally arriving, or for some other reason, I couldn’t say.

“Wow, what a beautiful place.”

Unaware of the future that awaited her, Sylvia Eleanor appeared alone at the appointed place, right on schedule.

Then, with her arms wide open, she admired the beautifully blooming flowers and greenery around her.

“To think that Layard-gongja knew about a place like this… It’s a little surprising, perhaps.”

As I silently followed her, she turned around, put her hands behind her back, and spoke to me.

It might sound like a compliment at first glance, but anyone could tell that she meant I wasn’t the kind of emotional guy who would know about such a romantic place.

Honestly, she wasn’t wrong, so I would have usually ignored it, but not today.

As if to hide the sound of my heart pounding with tension, I put on a slightly grumpy voice and replied.

“…There’s a barb in that statement, isn’t there?”

“Hehe, I’m just kidding. I apologize if it sounded offensive.”

She covered her mouth as usual, gave a demure smile, and then stretched with a small, ‘Kkeueung.’

“Anyway, it’s a really nice place. It’s a bit smaller than other fields, but it seems more beautiful instead.”

“You’re right. I didn’t know it would be a place like this.”

“Ne? Is Layard-gongja visiting for the first time too?”

Ah, shit.

When she asked, sounding puzzled by my unintentional slip of the tongue, I quickly racked my brain.

Damn it, if that damn bum hadn’t called me out to a place like this that’s way out of my league, I wouldn’t have made a mistake.

“Well, yes. Actually, I heard by chance that there was a perfect place for an outing recently.”

“I see…! So, as soon as you heard about this place, you thought of coming here with me. I’m happy.”

“…Yeah.”

She was lost in her usual world of delusions and imagination, but I couldn’t bring myself to argue with her today.

Even death row inmates awaiting execution are allowed to eat their last meal as they please, as a minimum of mercy.

In that sense, I thought it was only right to indulge her, at least for today, so that’s what I did.

“By the way, it’s a bit of a shame we don’t have a mat. It would be nice to sit on the ground and relax.”

“It’s okay. Even without a mat… Here I go!”

I was about to rush over, startled by her sudden action of lying straight back without even attempting a landing roll, but I stopped in my tracks.

Why did I reflexively try to catch her just now?

Frankly, even if her head cracked open and she died right now, I wouldn’t lose anything. No, it would actually be beneficial since I wouldn’t have to get my hands dirty.

I was confused by my own inexplicable behavior, but then I heard her innocent laughter, which snapped me out of it.

“Puhuhu, I’m sorry for startling you. I’ve always wanted to lie down in a flower field and use it as a bed at least once when I come to a place like this.”

“So, all you wanted to do was something like this? You must have lived a pretty boring life.”

Seeing her laughing alone, oblivious to my inner turmoil, I felt a surge of anger, and a grumpy voice blurted out, even though it wasn’t something I needed to react to so sensitively.

However, despite my attitude, she simply raised her upper body, gave her usual bright smile, and nodded nonchalantly.

“That’s true. I might have lived a somewhat boring life. After all, it’s only been a little over five years since I’ve been able to walk outside freely.”

“Five years…? What does that mean?”

I widened my eyes and asked back, taken aback by the rather shocking story, as if my ears were malfunctioning.

What does it even mean to walk outside freely?

Unless you’re a dog tied up at home, that’s a natural right for a human being.

Even when I was only seven years old, I was only required to have a servant accompany me. There were no restrictions on going outside.

But she’s only been living like that for five years?

Seeing my questioning expression, she gave a faint bitter smile and continued.

“Well, I’m a witch, after all. Although they don’t openly show their aversion like others, my parents always strictly controlled me. Not only was I not allowed to leave the castle, but I always had to eat alone in my room with the food brought by the servants.”

“…A prison, then.”

“Hehe, a prison with a view of the garden. It’s a good treatment, I suppose. I even had someone to wash me.”

She’s trying to laugh it off, but considering she’s the same age as me, she’s spent nearly 16 years of her life like that.

That’s just raising livestock.

No, even cows and sheep raised in fields, while basically following their owners, are guaranteed some freedom.

They graze on the grass they want, sometimes meet other individuals and mate, and roam the meadows while enjoying the fresh breeze.

The approximately 16 years of her life may have been less than the lives of those livestock.

Just because food is provided and there’s a place to sleep doesn’t mean you’re being treated humanely.

Rather, if I think they’re only taking away those minimum rights and comforting themselves by saying they’re giving her some kind of treatment, it makes me even more disgusted.

“But recently, thanks to devising some countermeasures for this mana eye, I’ve been able to come out like this. In that sense, the past five years may have been the happiest moments of my life. I’m even curious to see how many more brilliant days will follow.”

“……”

Even I feel uncomfortable listening to this. Nevertheless, Sylvia Eleanor’s eyes sparkled, believing that only hope awaited her.

Her appearance was so pathetic that I couldn’t help but feel a sense of futility, and I clenched my fist so hard that my hand trembled.

“Come to think of it, Layard-gongja, you said you had something you wanted to tell me. What is it…”

“…Sylvia.”

“Yes, yes…?!”

Then, as she raised only her upper body and spoke cheerfully, I cut her off by calling her name quietly.

Her face turned red when I suddenly called her name, which I had always referred to as ‘you’ or ‘dangsin’, but I didn’t have time to worry about that.

Because there’s something I need to do before my mind changes.

“I’ll explain later, so run. Right now.”

“Ne? What do you mean…”

“There’s no time. Run over there right now. No matter what happens behind you, don’t ever look back.”

If possible, it would be fastest to teleport her with magic, but that would take too much time.

The fact that that bastard called me here means there’s a high chance he’s watching this situation right now.

It means he’ll quickly notice if I try to do anything reckless.

Of course, he’ll notice if she tries to run away too.

But then I just need to buy time.

I didn’t learn this power with this in mind, but it’ll be useful in its own way.

“J-Just a moment…! Layard-gongja! I-I don’t understand what you’re saying at all…”

Kuung.

It wasn’t me who cut off her words, as she tried to ask for an explanation with a voice full of bewilderment.

The feeling of pressure weighing down on my whole body and the thin purple curtain spreading around me.

I instinctively knew it was a barrier, and I suppressed the urge to curse and drew up my mana.

Did he already notice?

“…It’s a pity, Kyle Layard. To think you would betray us. It’s quite shocking.”

Soon after, the guy who appeared from under the ground through a magic circle shook his head, pretending to be distressed, but it didn’t look that way to me at all.

He never intended to trust me in the first place. That’s a good thing, actually.

“Betrayal? That’s absurd. I recall that I wasn’t even a comrade yet.”

“Have you forgotten the favor of lending you power? Truly, you’re worthy of being called the Layard family’s failure. Even your brain is less than that of a beast.”

“Say whatever you want.”

If he thought I would fall for such provocation so easily, he was sorely mistaken.

I lived in that disgusting castle, hearing even worse things day in and day out.

It’s not something to be proud of, but after reaching this point, I realized it had some effect.

“L-Layard-gongja. Just who is that man…?”

“From what I hear, he belongs to a group called the Eyes of Dawn.”

“Ne? The Eyes of Dawn…? You mean the rumored group of rebels?”

“Hey, it’s not a good hobby to talk about other people’s identities as you please, Kyle Layard.”

As I opened my mouth to explain to Sylvia, who was asking me for an explanation, the guy who was eavesdropping took a step forward and unleashed his mana.

I tried to release my mana again as if to respond.

At that moment.

Ttaak.

“Eugh…?!”

Suddenly, as the guy snapped his fingers, my whole body stiffened with a sensation like an electric current running through it.

My body wouldn’t move, as if I had turned into a stone statue, and I instinctively realized that something was seriously wrong.

My consciousness is still intact, so is it perhaps body manipulation magic?

No, even so, the guy seemed to be emitting mana, but he didn’t seem to be using magic. He hadn’t even cast a spell for magic.

And to cast such a high-level magic without a chant or even a multitude of catalysts? That doesn’t make sense either.

Could it be.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

“I see you’ve noticed. You’re quick to grasp the situation.”

“From the beginning…!”

When I widened my eyes, realizing that the area from my dantian, which is the core of mana, to my solar plexus had been excessively hot, the guy clapped with exaggerated gestures, as if he were watching a play.

Although he was covering his mouth, I could easily tell that there was a sneer behind it.

I knew it.

The book about black magic that guy gave me back then, that must have been the problem.

To think he would pull off such a trick from the moment he handed me that book.

Even the offer to become a comrade was bullshit. He needed a puppet, not a comrade, damn it.

“We don’t have the bad habit of letting loose untrained dogs. But since I saw a pretty fun play, I’ll give you an unforgettable memory as a farewell gift.”

As the guy snapped his fingers again, my body spun around in place without being able to resist.

Sylvia, whom I had been protecting by hiding her behind me, naturally came into view.

She didn’t seem to have noticed that I was being controlled yet, and her eyes were filled with questions.

In that moment of encroaching anxiety, I barely managed to open my mouth and speak to Sylvia.

“Sylvia, run…”

Kwaak!

“Keheuk…?!”

But I couldn’t.

Before I could even finish the word, my hand, ignoring its owner’s resistance, grabbed her slender neck as if to break it.

Only then did I realize the nature of the anxiety I had just felt, but there was nothing I could do.

I couldn’t even move my lips anymore, so it was impossible to even utter words of resistance to the guy.

No.

Stop.

Quit it.

Please.

The voices echoing only in my head reverberated like a pathetic echo, and all sorts of thoughts swirled around in my head like jumbled letters.

Am I going to end up killing her with this hand?

Am I going to extinguish the only ray of light she’s seen in her miserable life with this hand?

Am I going to have to say goodbye to you without even giving you any explanation or story?

Will I never be able to see your smile, which was so dazzlingly beautiful, again?

Sylvia.

Kwadeudeuk.

“Keuk…!”

The moment I called out the name of the jewel I had found for the first and last time, it felt as if an unknown power was dwelling within me.

The burden on my body is relieved a little.

I don’t care how much I bit my lip, and the blood dripping at my feet doesn’t matter.

I release the strength from the hand that was crushing her neck, even if only a little, and somehow move it away from her neck little by little.

“…Amazing. You’re resisting it?”

There was a slight hint of astonishment in the guy’s voice coming from behind.

I barely managed to take my hand off, and just when I was about to see a glimmer of hope that I could save her.

Puuk!

“Keo, heok…!”

My consciousness was dyed red.

“It was fun to see you squeezing out your last bit of strength for the woman you love. Kyle Layard. It’s not much of a reward, but I’ll kindly bury you here together.”

The guy’s voice and clapping sound are faintly cut off.

Somehow fixing the circuits in my brain that have been burned and disappeared as if struck by a strong electric current, I lower my gaze.

There was a huge silver spear that had pierced through me and Sylvia at the same time.

Only then did I realize that death was imminent, and I gave up even the last hope for life, released the strength in my body, and dropped my head.

Pulseok.

The spear that had pierced us disappeared, and Sylvia’s and my bodies fell onto the flower field she loved so much.

So, a loser like me is just a loser, no matter how hard I struggle until the end.

I had turned my back on my family and decided to become a villain, thinking I would abandon the world.

In reality, I was just an ordinary man who couldn’t even give up the woman I loved for the first and last time in my life.

What a ridiculous story.

“Ka, il…”

Just as I was about to close my eyes and humbly accept death, I reflexively opened my eyes at the voice that miraculously reached me faintly.

There, I saw Sylvia, dragging her bloodied body towards me even as she crawled on her arms.

Just as I called her name for the first time today, she is also calling me by my name for the first time.

“I… I…”

Her movements and voice, as she barely reached out her hand and approached, stopped at the same time.

She died with her eyes open, as if she wanted to leave me so many words at the end.

What did she want to say?

‘I believed in you’?

‘I will curse you even in death’?

I instinctively knew that neither would be a good thing to hear, and I also barely reached out and took her hand.

This is probably the first time I’ve held her hand like this.

Even though it was already cold, and I couldn’t even feel her body temperature, I stroked it as if caressing the most precious jewel in the world.

Sylvia.

I won’t make a futile request for you to love me again.

I won’t make a reckless wish for you to give me a chance to love you again.

Only, only if I am given one last chance… Then I want to see your smile again.

I don’t mind living my whole life as someone who has nothing to do with you.

I just want to see you living in this world with that brilliant smile, even from afar.

Just as I was about to close my eyes, praying for that last wish in my heart.

Jiing.

Beyond my half-closed eyelids, I saw her right eye emitting a more intense light than usual.

That was the last of my memories.