I Became the Master of the Villain

As expected of a Sword Master, Alexis’s blade carved through the air with a graceful arc.
“Wow, that was amazing!”
The children were utterly mesmerized by the swordsmanship performed by a true master.

“Let’s go watch too!”
Curious as ever, the kids squirmed in excitement at the new spectacle.
They rushed over to Alexis in a wave.

When his impressive display came to an end, the children clapped with their tiny hands.
One boy, completely awestruck, declared,
“When I grow up, I want to be a swordsman like this hyung!”

One after another, the children proclaimed they wanted to become swordsmen just like Alexis.
Spinning the toy sword in one hand, Alexis turned to Kian and said,
“Sir Kian, it seems the children like me better. Don’t you think?”

His tone was unmistakably provoking, as ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) if challenging him.
Kian responded with a cold smile.
“Is that so?”

As soon as he finished speaking, a gentle breeze swept through the room.
And in the next moment, a sweet fragrance drifted down with a shower of flower petals.
Delicate pink petals fluttered down, landing gently atop the children’s heads.

“Waaah! Wow!”
The children bounced with excitement, marveling at Kian’s magic.
Kian knelt down and met one child’s eyes.
With a smile as kind and angelic as ever, he asked,

“Do you like it?”
The child shyly fidgeted with their fingers and nodded enthusiastically.
Kian blinked his long lashes and asked sweetly,

“Tell me, who do you like more?”
The child looked back and forth between Alexis and Kian.
It didn’t take long to decide.

“The pretty oppa!”
Receiving the child’s vote, Kian turned to Alexis with a triumphant smile.
Silently, Alexis drew another toy sword from his belt.

Now golden aura flared from both blades.
Watching the two men play with the children like they were locked in a competition, I smiled faintly.
'Someone please stop these men!'

***
The sky beyond the window had begun to glow with the colors of sunset.
A rewarding day was coming to an end, and it was time to part with the children.

“Noona, hyungs—when are you coming back?”
“Can’t you come again tomorrow?”
Maybe they’d grown attached already—some of the children began to cry, not wanting to say goodbye.

Kian and Alexis comforted the sobbing children who begged them not to leave.
“We’ll come back next time. So no more tears.”
“I promise we’ll be back. So, please…”

It seemed both men had formed a deep attachment to the kids after spending the day playing with them.
Watching with a strangely affectionate gaze, Headmistress Carolyn spoke.
“Thank you again for coming today, Lady Olivia.”

“Oh, not at all. I had fun too.”
“Today will be… a memory the children never forget.”
She sounded so regretful that I made a promise.

“We’ll come again, so don’t be too sad.”
Then, with a strangely dark expression, she replied,
“Thank you for saying so. But next time…”

Just then, the child in Kian’s arms burst into a loud sob. Because of that, I couldn’t hear the rest of what she said.
“Excuse me, Headmistress—what did you say?”
Feeling a little guilty, I asked again. She answered,

“I was going to say we’d be happy to have you again…”
Was it just me? She looked like someone weighed down by a worry she couldn’t speak aloud.
“Bye-bye! You have to come again!”

The kids pressed up against the windows, waving us off.
As Alexis waved his large hand back at them, he said,
“My Lady, when do you plan to return?”

“Your Highness… it hasn’t even been five minutes since we said goodbye.”
“…I suppose I was being hasty.”
Hearing our exchange, Kian spoke with clear discontent.

“If you miss the children, Your Highness is welcome to visit them—‘alone.’”
“What are you saying? If the Lady doesn’t come, won’t the children be disappointed?”
Their eyes clashed in midair again.

At this point, I really needed to sit them both down and figure out why they were always at odds…
I shook my head, thinking that I should definitely avoid putting the two together again.
That’s when I saw them—men walking through the orphanage’s iron gate.

There was only one path leading to the building, so we naturally crossed paths.
Flanked by knights, a well-groomed blond nobleman approached. His face looked familiar.
And he recognized me too.

“Isn’t this Lady Olivia Ashford?”
“Lord Selton.”
“Oh my, I’m honored that you remember me, My Lady.”

He smiled with his thin lips curled upward.
He was Count Selton, the owner of this orphanage.
Is he here to inspect the orphanage’s operations?

But the timing felt too late for that.
Rumor had it he was busy launching several business ventures lately… Maybe that had something to do with it?
Meanwhile, Count Selton noticed Kian and Alexis and gave them a shallow nod.

“To think such esteemed guests would come all the way here. What brings you?”
“We came along with the Lady for her donation,” Alexis answered.
Count Selton turned to me with a gentlemanly smile.

“My, you should’ve contacted us through our charitable foundation.”
“There was no need. I just brought toys and bread for the children.”
“I’m sure they loved it. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.”

I had expected him to be disappointed that I hadn’t made a large donation, but he bowed his head in gratitude instead.
“Well then, I look forward to seeing you again.”
After a polite bow, Count Selton walked away.

'They say he’s ambitious and greedy when it comes to business…'
His demeanor felt different from what I’d heard, and that contrast lingered in my thoughts as I watched him go.
***

I parted ways with Alexis in front of the orphanage. Kian used teleportation to bring us directly back to the mansion.
“Thank you for seeing me home, Kian. You worked hard today.”
“Not at all.”

Kian’s eyes curved into crescent moons. He lowered his gaze slightly and added,
“Please take me with you next time as well.”
The way he said it made it clear—Kian, too, had grown fond of the children.

It had been a long and eventful day, and fatigue caught up with me.
Just as I was about to say goodbye and head inside—
“Lady Olivia, one moment.”

Kian stopped me.
He looked at me steadily, then reached out.
He tucked my hair behind my ear and said,

“You lost an earring.”
“…Huh?”
At his words, I quickly reached for my left earlobe.

It was bare.
A sinking feeling washed over me.
I was certain I’d been wearing both earrings while handing out the bread to the kids…

Did I drop it at the orphanage?
That earring had been a gift from my father on my twentieth birthday.
Though he was usually strict and cold, Butler Albert had once told me my father had agonized over what to get me.

Which is why the earring meant even more to me…
Seeing my distress, Kian offered gentle reassurance.
“We should go back and look for it.”

There was no way I could wait until tomorrow, so I nodded right away.
Together, Kian and I returned to the orphanage.
If one of the children had found the earring, there was a good chance they’d handed it to the headmistress.

We went to her office—but the door was firmly shut.
Instead, we ran into a young teacher who had been filling out paperwork in the adjacent room.
“Oh… What brings you two back?”

She looked puzzled by our return, so I briefly explained.
Suddenly remembering something, she let out a small “Ah!”
“Now that you mention it, Evan said he found something earlier. He said he was taking it straight to the headmistress, but I didn’t see what it was.”

Evan. The cheerful boy with the prominent canine tooth—we’d met him earlier at the orphanage. I still remembered his face.
“Where is Evan now?”
“He went to find the headmistress, so he’s probably in the records room.”

She told us the records room was on the first floor of the east wing.
Kian and I headed there at once.
But when we arrived, an unexpected obstacle blocked our way.

“I don’t know what your business is, but you’ll need to leave.”
Two knights were stationed in front of the records room door.
That was strange.

There was no reason to post guards over a place like this—not unless forbidden texts were kept there.
At that moment, I heard faint voices beyond the door.
Two people. A conversation.

That’s when I knew—I had to find out what was going on.
“It’ll only take a moment.”
“Apologies, but we must ask you to leave. We’re simply following our master’s orders.”

As the knights blocked my path, Kian stepped forward.
“Loyal servants to your master… Then you won’t mind what comes next.”
Blue mana bloomed from Kian’s hands.

The knights instinctively drew their swords—but didn’t get the chance to use them.
Their eyes fluttered shut, and the swords slipped from their hands.
Kian had subdued them in an instant.

With a smile, he turned to me and said,
“I’m simply obeying my master’s orders as well.”
***

It had been a while since I’d considered myself Kian’s master, but now wasn’t the time to argue.
Because from inside the records room came a cold, domineering voice.
“How long are you going to keep playing hard to get?”

We couldn’t see him yet, but there was no mistaking who it was.
Count Selton.
The room was lined wall-to-wall with towering bookshelves.

Thanks to that, he hadn’t yet noticed Kian and me.
The conversation continued.
“I’m reaching my limit. Don’t test my patience any further.”

Then came a woman’s voice, trembling and tearful.
“Okay… I’ll do what you want. Just please, don’t talk about shutting down the orphanage. If it disappears, the children will have nowhere to go…”
It was Headmistress Carolyn.

Then came Selton’s slimy voice.
“If you don’t want your precious little orphans tossed into the streets… of course you’ll obey.”
So that’s what was behind Carolyn’s guarded demeanor.

And that—that was the true face of Count Selton.
He had been using the children as leverage to blackmail the headmistress.
So filthy. So vile.

He stroked Carolyn’s pale cheek.
His hand slid lower.
I was about to shout for him to stop—but someone else beat me to it.

“Stop it!”
Leaping in like a cat through the window came a boy.
Evan—the same boy we’d met earlier.

“Don’t hurt the headmistress, you villain!”
With fierce determination, Evan hurled himself at Count Selton.
A scream followed.

“Argh!”
It was Selton who cried out—Evan had sunk his teeth into the man’s hand with all his might.
He bit so hard that blood dripped from the back of Selton’s hand.

Twisting his face into a demonic scowl, Selton roared,
“You little brat! Ungrateful vermin!”
He raised his hand high, ready to strike Evan—

“What the—?!”
But his arm froze in place, like something was holding it back.
Selton tried to thrash and curse, but Kian’s mana had bound him in place.

I looked at him with icy eyes and said coldly,
“I think the vermin here… is you, Lord Selton.”