Chapter Text
The Death of a Villian
When the boy was young, his mother passed away. His only remaining family member was his father, who never stayed at home. The boy was on his own for as long as he could remember.
I want to see my father , he decided one day.
The boy, who yearned for the company of his only family member, secretly went to meet him. However, he received a cold response.
“Why did you come here?”
“I-I…”
With a thundering voice, the man scolded the boy on the verge of tears.
"Do not come here again," he had told me once.
The boy didn’t expect him to welcome him, for he was used to his cold indifference, but this sharp memory left a deep scar.
My father doesn't love me, he thought.
With a wounded heart, the boy grew older and debuted in high society.
He didn't come today either.
His grand debutante ball was held in the absence of his father. He eventually left the banquet hall, feeling miserable.
Did he not come because he's ashamed of me?
As he cried to himself, a man appeared in front of him.
“Why are you crying, my lord?”
His words were warm and his gaze attentive. For the man, it may have been a kindness that he could have given to anyone. But for the boy who had been starved of intimacy for so many years, it felt like he was his savior.
After that day, he started to follow the kind man like a shadow, begging for his love until he succeeded in becoming his lover.
“I’ll give you anything you want. All you have to do is love me.”
But reality strayed from his wishes.
“I don’t need your love anymore. Truthfully, I’ve fallen in love with the princess.”
The kind man said goodbye to the boy, whose only dream was to marry him. After their three-year relationship, the breakup left him devastated.
“Even you… abandoned me. I will never forgive you.”
After some time passes, the princess who had stolen his lover consumed poison at a banquet and fell into a coma. This posed a problem because many people had witnessed the person who gave the poisoned cup to the princess.
“You! Did you try to hurt her?”
The boy, who had now blossomed into a man, frantically shook his head. Although he hated the princess for stealing the man he loved, he never wanted to hurt her. He had simply handed the cup to the princess because she had asked for a drink to quench her thirst.
“No, it wasn’t me!”
But no one believed him. The circumstances surrounding this incident, as well as his usual conduct, marked him as the culprit.
When this became certain, the emperor ordered in anger, “Take that wicked boy to the underground prison. Now!”
But no one moved to receive his orders. Perhaps this was because standing behind the man was an even more fearful figure than the emperor himself.
Father.
Although he had always been indifferent towards him, they were still family. The man cried while latching onto his hand. Despite his father’s age, he looked like a young man.
“Father, I didn’t!”
He brushed his son off, and his eyes widened in astonishment.
Duke Fukuzawa stared at the emperor as he spoke. “I will personally arrest him.”
The emperor, who was wary of the transcendent man in front of him, sighed. “How can I trust you? I know you’re just going to cause trouble!”
Duke Fukuzawa opened his mouth to appease his anger. “You will have no choice but to trust me if I lock him up in the Room of Shadows.”
The Room of Shadows was a prison cell that confined the most unforgivable sinners. Neither magic nor weapons could break through it, making it notorious for being a place you could never escape from once you got in.
Only immediate members of the royal family could freely open and close its door, and in this situation, imprisoning him there meant that the duke was giving up on his son.
How could you do this to me?
Filled with despair, the man was led underground by his cold-hearted father. A fishy smell pervaded the cold, musty air. Entering a prison for the first time in his life was scary but the more than terrifying part was the Room of Shadows, which was shrouded in darkness.
The man decided to try his luck before entering the cell.
“Father, I really…”
“Go in.”
Although he had called out to him in distress, an icy voice met him. The man felt an indescribable amount of pain as his tears trickled down his cheeks and splattered onto the ground.
I've been abandoned.
At that moment, his father reached into his coat to secretly hand him something before pushing him into the cell.
“Endure.”
When the door closed, keeping out his stony voice, a bright light formed a circle and a geometric pattern appeared. It was a powerful enchantment used to block the entrance.
After confirming what his father had given him, the man was seized by misery and desperation.
Why did you give me this? Do you want me to kill myself?
As the cold air inside the cell settled on his skin, so did the reality of his abandonment. The man clutched the dagger his father had given him and cried silently.
After some time passed, a stranger approached the man, who was now fatigued by frustration and misery. As a direct descendant of the royal family, he could freely enter the cell. The prince, who was dressed in black armor, was renowned as a bloodthirsty war fanatic.
“I came to interrogate the sinner who harmed my sister. Get out of my way,” he commanded the guards.
Although he had a bad relationship with his half-sister, it was unlikely that this man was here to save him. He probably wanted to torture him, as he enjoyed torturing people.
The appearance of the prince who was clad head to toe in black armor, as the rumors described him to be, made the locked-up man even more afraid.
As he trembled in fear, the guards spoke cautiously. “Y-Your Highness. We apologize, but the emperor, His Majesty, has not yet approved interrogations.”
The prince laughed abruptly. The sound was so terrifying that even the guards trembled.
“Why, do you think I will kill him?”
There was a brief silence. It was a wordless affirmation.
Eventually, the prince spoke again. “Shall I chop off your heads first before interrogating him?”
When the guards pressed their lips into a thin line, he laughed. “The prisoner will only tell the truth if he suffers extreme pain on the verge of death.”
He turned to the trembling man. “Well, don’t worry. I won’t kill you.”
His calm voice, which uttered such cruel words, heightened the man’s fears.
Will he torture me until I die?
It was rumored that the prince had not only slaughtered numerous enemy soldiers at the border but had also killed many enemy retainers. He was truly an insane tyrant in the making. It was terrifying that such a man came to interrogate him.
It might be better to die than be tortured by someone like him .
As his rationality became paralyzed by frustration and fear, his last memory with his father came to mind. He wanted to be loved but was handed a dagger.
It’s rather good that this happened. Someone like me…
The man replayed the countless insults he had received until now: The only disgrace of Duke Fukuzawa, the good-for-nothing that everyone avoided…
He picked up the dagger and laughed hollowly.
It’s better for me to just disappear.
The Prince noticed something strange was happening and hurriedly reached out.
“Stop!”
But it was too late: He had already plunged the dagger into his chest. Just like that, the man took his own life.
This was the point where the online novel stopped updating.
Ah, it would’ve been nice if there was an ending to the story …
After all, the real culprit was never uncovered. I sighed with frustration.
“Atsushi.”
Atsushi Nakajima Fukuzawa was the name of the villain in the novel; The unadaptable villain who always frustrated me.
“Why did you call me here?”
It was shameless of the man to speak without a hint of remorse.
I can’t believe that’s the only thing he has to say after making someone wait for so long .
A voice likewise scolded the man. “I see that you’re three hours late.”
His face reddened with embarrassment before cooling down.
“Atsushi.” He called the name again with a lower voice.
This was a natural reaction. It must have been the first time he had spoken against him.
“Did I say something wrong?”
From being a reader of the novel… I somehow became the villain Atsushi, who died after being abandoned by the male lead.
Successful Breakup?
In my previous life, I was an ordinary college student who suffered from a lack of job opportunities.
I admit that I read novels in my spare time, but I lived rather diligently: I worked at a part-time job, gained relevant experience for my dream career, and obtained various certificates for programming, as well as for random things that would have qualified me to become a tea sommelier or bakery technician.
However, all of this was in vain. If I had known that I would be hit by a car (thanks Truck-kun) on my way to my part-time job, I would have invested a little more time for myself.
I often daydreamed about being reincarnated into a character of the upper class. But I never thought I would be a villain, especially one destined to have a short life like Atsushi.
Usually, reincarnated people I have read about try to avoid their untimely death. However, my behavior so far has been faithful to the original work.
It would have been nice if I realized I was in this novel earlier.
This was because I only remembered the details of Atsushi’s life later on. On my second anniversary of dating Ace, three days ago, I suddenly remembered that he, being Atsushi, used to harass him. I also remembered that other people’s accusations, which led to his death, were corroborated by such behavior.
I used to persistently harass anyone who approached Ace .
In the past, Atsushi threw tantrums and cursed at people who simply tried to strike up a conversation with him. There have also been numerous instances where threats were made under my family name.
This definitely wasn’t normal.
Because of these events, Atsushi, who was now me, had many enemies.
Fortunately, I was at the point in the novel where I had not yet collided with other important characters, such as the princess and the crown prince.
I need to fix my behavior now .
I sighed at the face of my grim future.
At that moment, I heard a deep voice speak with an annoyed tone. “Are you angry because I’m late?”