IATVWAMOLS 111

111. The Abandoned Villain,
and the Secret of Birth (1)

“Did you return safely?”

“As you can see.”

Cayenne shrugged his shoulders.

He had come straight to see me at the lodging without even changing his clothes.

His servant’s uniform still bore the marks of a fierce struggle.

I didn’t notice earlier because things were so hectic, but… he’s a mess.

Beneath the tattered lining of his shirt, bandages were wrapped thickly around his torso. The hem of his trousers was also noticeably frayed.

“What about Lady Seraphine?”

“She said she was tired and went to bed early. You didn’t see her?”

“Ah, we must have missed each other.”

【Unknown: (`꒳´)↝】
【Unknown: Stop wasting time with chit-chat. When are you going to use the item?】
【Unknown: Now that her favorability has gone up, you should strike while the iron is hot.】

“Ah.”

That damned Administrator. He came here just to nag.

I’m not using it right now. Even if I wanted to, I feel too uneasy with you watching.

And besides, if it’s an item that lets me enter dreams, shouldn’t it be used while the target is actually asleep?

While I was glaring at the message window, Cayenne suddenly leaned his face close to mine.

“Master, what are you staring at?”

“Huh?”

His sudden closeness made me instinctively lean back.

“Is there something in the air?”

“No, nothing…”

I trailed off vaguely, and he chuckled in a meaningful way.

“Didn’t you once ask if I was like a magician or a medium? Maybe you’re the medium, Master.”

I flinched.

Not a medium… but I am a possessor.

Come to think of it, I’m not that far removed from the supernatural.

“It’s nothing like that.”

“Suspicious. Just what is my Master hiding?”

His eyes curved slyly, and that look alone made my throat go dry.

This is all the Administrator’s fault.

His meddling only made me nervous.

I quickly changed the subject to cover the awkwardness.

“Anyway, what about the task I gave you?”

“Oh, that.”

Cayenne handed me a thick bundle of papers.

“Remember that girl who said she knew the lab’s location? If she suddenly demanded to be discharged, there had to be a reason. So I pulled her records and investigated.”

“The hospital actually gave you patient information?”

“I dropped your name a little.”

He winked.

“How proud of yourself.”

Just how far is my name being used, exactly?

“Turns out, her father wasn’t a miner at all.”

“Not a miner? Then what was he?”

“One of the researchers at the institute.”

“What?”

That was something I had never expected.

“A researcher… then that makes him complicit in human experiments.”

“Exactly.”

“Then wouldn’t he have been desperate to hide the research? Why would his daughter reveal the lab’s location to Seraphine? And why join the strike in the first place?”

As if reading my doubts, Cayenne answered clearly.

“Because her father was a whistleblower.”

“……!”

“He was still an active researcher, but tried to expose the institute’s corruption. He was caught, and then disappeared. Most likely, he was turned into a test subject himself.”

“Good heavens…”

A man who once experimented on others became an experiment himself? The thought was horrifying.

“His family must have tried everything to find him, but failed.”

“So they asked Lady Seraphine for help.”

“They were that desperate. Desperate enough to rely on the kindness of a stranger.”

But the real problem came afterward.

“Once the lab’s location was exposed, the executives must have tried to root out the traitor.”

Apparently, when I stormed into the research facility, a group had already forced the girl out of the hospital.

Later, when she was about to be taken by mysterious assailants, Cayenne had rescued her.

“Wait. That sounds way too abridged. How exactly did you save her? You said she was already gone when you got to the hospital. How did you even know where she was being taken?”

“Oh, that. I tracked the mana.”

“What?”

“If they were connected to the lab, they’d be using the same kind of magic. I just followed the flow of mana.”

“Magic can do that?”

Even for a skilled mage, that level of ability was terrifying. Honestly, it was almost frightening.

“Normally, no. But—”

“But?”

“The young lady who follows you around helped me.”

“Lady Seraphine?”

She got involved?

“How?”

“Don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me.”

Suddenly, I recalled the time we’d searched for Cayenne together.

[Wait, my lady. I’ve been sensing something strange around here.]
[Something strange?]
[Yes. A huge surge of magic. It’s definitely nearby… Here, I’m sure of it.]

Right. Seraphine was the one who discovered the protective barrier back then, too.

Even if she had been given a weapon, the fact that she had cleared out monsters single-handedly was suspicious.

From the moment her character profile had “#Hidden Power” in it, I had suspected it. But now I was certain: Seraphine possessed some special ability.

This is completely different from the original story I knew.

Uneasy, I mulled it over. Cayenne continued.

“They hadn’t gotten far. Just hiding in a nearby clearing.”

“And then?”

“Normally, I’d have tracked them all the way and captured them. But this time I just rescued the hostage and let them go. You told me not to do anything reckless, remember?”

“That was the right call.”

“Wasn’t it?”

When I sighed in relief, he leaned his head toward me.

“What?”

“Praise me. I behaved, didn’t I?”

“Good grief.”

I cautiously lifted my hand and placed it on his head.

Rustle, rustle.

His golden hair slipped softly between my fingers.

He accepted the gesture quietly, like a docile lamb.

Even while stroking his hair, my mind was churning.

“Hey.”

“Mm?”

“That institute… do you think it’s related to the experiments you went through as a child?”

He froze under my touch.

“Maybe.”

“Could you… tell me the full story? How you were dragged into those experiments, how your ‘daytime self’ came to exist—things like that.”

[If you want, I’ll tell you everything.]

“……!”

He answered telepathically.

At the same time, a system window appeared above his head.

【SYSTEM: You may view fragments of the Villain’s broken memories.】
[☞ View Now ☜]

I looked between Cayenne and the window.

“This is…”

[I’ll show you.]

Fwoosh—

As soon as he spoke, a white light engulfed my vision.

I didn’t even have time to press the system window.

The brilliance was so intense that I couldn’t keep my eyes open. It pulled me elsewhere.

Blink. Blink.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in an unfamiliar place.

“Your Majesty, it’s our baby. The noble child who carries the bloodline of the Imperial family.”

A frail woman’s voice.

Turning toward the sound, I saw a pale woman lying in bed.

That woman is…

I recognized her instantly.

Though her face was still unmarked by time, I knew her without a doubt.

“Shylo…”

The Emperor’s beautiful concubine.

Unlike the mature, sensual allure she carried now, in this memory she was strikingly pale and pure.

The Emperor stood by her bedside. He, too, was far younger than the man I knew.

The young Emperor clasped her hands desperately, as though trying to hold back slipping sand. His touch was full of sorrow.

“I’m so relieved you survived. I feared I would lose you to fever after childbirth.”

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. Even if I were gone, we would still have our child. Our precious child, worth more than anything in this world.”

“Don’t say that. I don’t need a child. I only need you…”

“Your Majesty.”

He embraced her tightly. She cradled his head, patting his shoulder tenderly.

……

The scene sped forward as though fast-forwarded.

Time passed.

Shylo, her health restored, moved to the Empress’s palace.

She stretched out her hand to the baby held in the nurse’s arms.

“My darling, my precious little one.”

The baby nestled into its mother’s chest.

Shylo gazed down with a face brimming with joy, as though she held the whole world in her arms.

A complete, unconditional love—something some people may never know in their lifetime.

That perfect peace shattered when soldiers stormed the palace.

“By order of the Empress! Seize that child at once!”

Guards rushed in, tearing the baby from Shylo’s grasp.

I watched from a distance.

But why… is this Cayenne’s memory?