I Became the Master of the Villain

The attempt to kill Olivia had failed.

Upon hearing that report from the hunter, Crown Prince Harrison let out a hollow laugh.
“Mission failure…?”
It felt like hearing a bad joke.

Failure? That was something he hadn’t even considered from the beginning.
Two would have been more than enough to deal with the duchy’s escort knights.
Or so he had believed.

His judgment had never been wrong.
It was simply a matter of killing an ordinary human being—not a knight, not a mage.
And yet, to have failed at even such a simple task… Just how useless were his subordinates?

“…Haa.”
Crown Prince Harrison pressed his forehead and let out a low sigh.
After a brief silence, he grabbed the statue on the table.

Thud.
With a dull thud, blood began to drip from the forehead of the hunter bowing before him.
Drops of blood splattered across the pristine marble floor, leaving scattered stains.

A voice filled with contempt fell upon the hunter’s head.
“Useless bastard…”
Without even trying to wipe the blood streaming down, the hunter silently endured the rebuke.

Kill Olivia Ashford.
That was the command the hunter had received.
And as ordered, he had indeed slaughtered the duchy’s escort knights.
The last one had put up a slight nuisance, but was no real match.

At the moment he had driven his sword cleanly into the man’s chest—
For an instant, he felt as if the night had vanished.
Raising his head, the hunter saw a massive pillar of light slicing through the night sky.

It had come from the direction the escaped Lady Ashford had fled. Sensing that something unusual had occurred, the hunter headed straight there.
And then, he witnessed a sight he could not believe.
“Graaagh!”

Hellfire-red flames were devouring the mage.
The savage blaze, as if determined to burn down the entire area, had originated from one man.
Lady Ashford’s slave.

That man had clearly been an ordinary human being.
How could this be…?
While the hunter was frozen in confusion, Imperial knights had arrived.

While the knights were confronting the silver-haired man, the woman believed to be dead had opened her eyes.
Immediately after, the silver-haired man vanished from the scene, holding her in his arms.
“If you’re going to make excuses, at least make them believable.”

Harrison spoke with a voice that trembled with suppressed anger.
“Olivia’s slave was a mage? Don’t spout nonsense!”
“You may not believe it, but… it’s the truth. I saw with my own eyes as he burned Gray to death.”

“So you’re saying that slave bastard was hiding the fact that he was a mage from Olivia?”
“I can’t say for sure. But it’s true that he was overwhelmingly stronger than Gray. What I felt from him… his aura was so vicious it couldn’t even be compared to Gray’s.”
The hunter’s instincts—at least when it came to judging an opponent’s strength—were accurate.

Harrison was well aware of that fact.
Suppressing his rising fury, Harrison tried to think rationally.
“Stronger than Gray… If this absurd story is true—”

Then that man was no ordinary mage.
A mage of that strength would soon be revealed to the world.
Harrison looked down at the hunter, still bowing, bleeding profusely.

Click.
He clicked his tongue and spoke.
“Lay low for the time being. And until I summon you, don’t dare show your worthless face before me again.”

The hunter bowed his head and silently withdrew.
Harrison summoned a servant to clean the bloodstains from the floor.
Since childhood, Harrison had detested when his plans went awry.

While life rarely unfolded as planned, Harrison had been different.
He was the Crown Prince of the Empire.
With power and status that ordinary people didn’t possess, he had easily accomplished whatever he set out to do.

And yet lately, everything had been irritating.
The Second Prince, sent to die, was not only still alive but had awakened as a Sword Master.
To prevent the Second Prince from entertaining any ambitions, Harrison had tried to solidify his position as successor by bringing the Ashford Duchy to his side.

But Olivia Ashford, who refused to obey as he wished—what was to be done about her?
Up to now, Harrison had always removed whatever interfered with his goals, which was how he had succeeded.
Harrison tapped the table with his finger.

Just because the assassination had failed didn’t mean he intended to let Olivia live.
There were still ways to do it without dirtying his own hands.
“I’ll need a new piece for the board.”

A twisted smile curled at the corner of Harrison’s lips as he said that.
***
I blinked slowly.

As my vision gradually brightened, the familiar pattern on the ceiling of my room came into view.
The moment I realized where I was, sensation returned to my body.
I reached out and touched the area where I had been wounded.

The gruesome wound that had pierced through me with ice had, as if by magic, completely healed.
It was the kind of injury that shouldn’t have allowed me to survive…
I couldn’t believe that I was alive.

I slowly lifted my heavy body.
Leaning back against the headboard of the bed, I drew in a soft breath.
There had been no sign of presence, so I hadn’t noticed—but Kian was asleep, his head resting against the bed.

I quietly observed him.
The wounds he had sustained from being savagely attacked by ice had completely vanished.
Kian was alive. It wasn’t a hallucination—he really was.

A wave of relief surged over me, and I let out a breath.
At the faint sound, Kian’s long, thick eyelashes fluttered, as if his senses had returned.
His eyelids opened, revealing clear eyes like the autumn sky.

“Master…?”
He called out to me in a cracked voice and lifted his body.
Kian’s pale blue eyes trembled faintly, as if ripples were forming.

With an expression that seemed like ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) he might laugh or cry, he said,
“You’ve awakened.”
His tone sounded as though he were speaking to someone who had awakened from a long sleep.

How long had I been lying here…?
I couldn’t guess.
Even so, the events of that urgent night were still vivid, as if they had just happened.

Thinking of the way he had been so terribly wounded trying to save me, my heart ached.
Holding back a tightening voice, I spoke.
“I’m sorry for worrying you, Kian.”

Kian gently shook his head. With a worried expression, he looked at me and said,
“Are you all right? Is there any pain anywhere?”
“I’m okay now.”

It was strange all over again, realizing that I was still alive.
Was it some kind of miracle?
At that moment, Kian said,

“There’s something I must tell you, Master.”
He looked like someone with something important to say.
After hesitating for a moment, his lips moved, and he looked down as he spoke.

“The truth is… I became a mage that day.”
He had believed for twenty years that he was an ordinary human.
He seemed confused by the realization that he was, in fact, a mage.
On the other hand, because I knew the future where he would awaken as a mage, I wasn’t surprised by this situation.

But I couldn’t say that I knew.
I had no way to explain why I knew everything and make him accept it.
“Do you… know how it happened?”
Kian shook his head.

“I don’t really know. All I can say is that the mana suddenly exploded from within me…”
He looked completely overwhelmed as he explained how he had become a mage.
There was a complicated reason why Kian hadn’t been able to use magic until now.

If I could explain the whole situation to him, it would be good. But if that led to his blackening…
There would be nothing more foolish than being the one to drive him toward that.
My head was so full I didn’t know what to say.

As I remained silent, Kian smiled as if to reassure me and said,
“But because I had that power, I was able to protect you, Master.”
At those words, a forgotten memory suddenly flashed through my mind.

That warm and dazzling light that had wrapped around me as my consciousness sank into endless darkness.
When I had been balancing on the edge between life and death, light had poured endlessly into me.
That memory, hard to distinguish as dream or reality, resurfaced—and along with it, realization struck like lightning.

“Was it you… who healed me?”
He quietly nodded, confirming that he had saved my life.
At his answer, I felt an indescribable sensation.

Yes, it was him after all…
Originally, I was supposed to exit the story after helping Kian awaken.
But Kian had changed my fate.

His will had twisted the narrative and ultimately brought me back from death.
Facing Kian, I said,
“Thank you, Kian.”

Words alone couldn’t fully express how I felt, but still.
“I should be the one thanking you. Thank you… for staying alive, Master.”
Kian spoke with a gentle smile.

Seeing that smile, my chest twinged suddenly.
Am I still not fully recovered…?
Just as I placed a hand on the stinging pain in my chest, the sound of footsteps rang out, and the door burst open.

The visitors were the butler and my father, whom he was supporting.
Relief swept across their faces like a tidal wave when they saw me.
“Young Lady!”

“Olivia!”
My father rushed forward and wrapped his arms tightly around me.
In a choked voice, he said,

“Thank you… for waking up.”
The body that held me was thin and frail.
Seeing that my father had grown even weaker than when I first possessed this body four years ago made my heart tighten.

Just how much had he worried after hearing I’d been attacked?
Even if I wasn’t the real Olivia, I was still his one and only daughter.
With a voice that trembled faintly, I said,

“I’m sorry for making you worry.”
“What… It’s enough that you’re safe.”
My father didn’t say much.

But even so, I could feel the weight of the sincerity he was holding in.
After slowly releasing the hug, he turned his head and looked at Kian.
“Thank you. You saved my daughter.”

My father spoke to Kian in a respectful tone.
“You’re the benefactor who gave my daughter her life. If there’s anything you want, speak it—I will grant it if I can.”
Kian thought for a moment, then gently shook his head.

“There is nothing I desire. I only did what I had to.”
“Truly, there’s nothing you want?”
Kian looked briefly toward me and gave a short answer.

“No.”
“If that’s your wish, I’ll respect it. But if your mind ever changes, tell me anytime.”
The conversation between the two ended there.

Because I couldn’t ignore how both my father and the butler were dressed in all-black formalwear, I changed the subject.
“What happened to the escort knights?”
At that question, my father’s expression darkened. He spoke in a somber voice.

“Actually, I just returned from the knights’ funerals.”
Even though I had expected it, facing the reality was still gut-wrenching.
As if to comfort me, my father said,

“While you were unconscious, we recovered the knights’ bodies. We held their funerals and provided compensation to their families. Of course… nothing could truly ease their pain, but…”
His words trailed off. A heavy silence fell.
“Is there anyone who survived?”

“Sir Hans barely escaped with his life. But his injuries are so severe, he hasn’t regained consciousness yet.”
Sir Hans was alive—that was unexpected good news.
But even before I could feel joy, the fact that he was the only survivor weighed heavily on me.

Shifting his posture, my father spoke again.
“By the way, Olivia. Do you have any idea who might have sent the assassins after you?”