chapter 05
Leaning back into a soft chair, I checked the appearance of today’s target through the screen.
A handsome man with black hair and black eyes was looking around the room, his beauty practically glowing.
A dazzlingly handsome face. An extraordinary aura.
Just looking at a face that seemed to scream, “I’m the main character,” made me feel oddly at ease.
‘Black hair and black eyes… he’d totally fit as the male lead of a dark, tragic story too.’
Thinking that this target might be the male protagonist I’d been searching for—Kallis von Agrian—made my expectations swell.
‘All that’s left is to observe his behavior.’
In the original story, Kallis possessed a special power.
An ability that only rarely manifested in those who inherited the imperial bloodline.
He could freely control his own shadow.
‘It was basically a cheat ability. Not just for combat—you could eavesdrop, manipulate it like limbs…’
The important thing was, if that man really was Kallis, he would eventually use that power.
And then—
“Huh?”
I had been casually watching the screen when his sudden movement made me rub my eyes in surprise.
The handsome man, who had been curiously examining the room, suddenly stopped in front of the door and reached out into the air.
Dark mana gathered instantly, forming the shape of a sword.
“W-what is that…?”
Before I could even process it, he swung the sword hard toward the door.
Boom!
A powerful vibration shook the hideout, reaching all the way to me.
The thick iron door—easily a palm’s width—shattered like glass.
“Holy shit.”
The curse slipped out of my mouth at the shocking sight.
It wasn’t just because he broke the iron door.
‘The problem is how he did it.’
Forming a sword out of mana and attacking—this was the unique combat style of a magic swordsman.
And in this world, magic swordsmen came only from one place: the Belvedus Ducal House, the heroine’s family.
‘And if it’s a young, handsome man from Belvedus… there’s only one person it could be.’
The main villain of the original story.
The madman who would kill his own parents in a few months.
The man I had unknowingly kidnapped was undoubtedly Dietrich Belvedus.
And that cruel villain, as if intending to capture and punish me, was already heading straight toward where I was.
* * *
He had only opened and closed his eyes.
But the nagging Nils beside him, and the chaotic city scenery, had vanished in an instant.
Instead, a luxurious room filled his vision.
Brought to an unfamiliar place before he even realized it, Dietrich calmly began assessing the situation.
‘The door is completely locked.’
He tried to open the door leading outside, but something blocked it—it wouldn’t budge.
He then slowly scanned the room.
A splendid bed with a silk canopy, a wide desk made of dark wood, and a mat beneath it made of fabric that was clearly expensive at a glance.
The astonishingly luxurious room matched exactly what had been described in the newspaper interviews.
‘At this point, there’s no denying it.’
He had been kidnapped.
Not just anyone—
Him.
By that infamous serial kidnapper who abducted handsome men.
Lost briefly in thought, Dietrich suddenly let out a low chuckle.
A reaction that didn’t suit a kidnapping victim at all.
With his head slightly lowered as he laughed, his face was filled with a rare sense of amusement.
Yes—he had gone to Hildes Street intending to be kidnapped in the first place.
There was no way he would wander around with his face uncovered, knowing it could attract attention, without a reason.
Everything had been intentional.
Planned.
Or at least, it had been.
…Except for being taken so helplessly like this.
Honestly, when victims and witnesses claimed they hadn’t even glimpsed the kidnapper, he had thought it was exaggerated.
When he heard that Princess Veronica von Agrian had assembled an investigation unit but still hadn’t caught them after months, he assumed it was incompetence.
But now that he had been captured himself, he understood.
It was only natural they couldn’t catch them.
The method itself was ridiculously simple.
One hand covered the target’s eyes, while the other lifted and carried them away.
But everything happened so fast that it was difficult to even realize you were being kidnapped.
He only noticed this much because it was him—others must have felt like they woke up in a completely different world.
‘Where on earth was someone like this hiding?’
And this person wasn’t just skilled at kidnapping—they had a good eye for furniture too.
Still smiling, Dietrich continued examining the room before eventually stopping.
Comparing it to the newspaper descriptions had been entertaining, but the novelty quickly wore off.
‘I had a different reason for coming here in the first place…’
He extended his arm into the air.
A dark, ominous mana began gathering around him, condensing in his hand.
Soon, it formed into the shape of a sword.
A blade as dark as obsidian.
Dietrich swung the ominous sword toward the door.
Boom!
The tightly sealed iron door shattered instantly, unable to withstand the pure mass of mana.
With a faint smile, Dietrich stepped calmly through the broken doorway.
* * *
“Why… why are you coming out from there…?”
Watching the target secretly through the surveillance orb, I muttered in shock.
This wasn’t right. This couldn’t be happening. There’s no way.
I had suspected it from the moment I heard the target had black hair and black eyes.
That maybe—just maybe—he was Dietrich.
‘But for it to actually be him!’
A hollow laugh escaped me in disbelief. How did this even happen?
All I wanted was to find the male lead.
But instead of anyone else—
I had kidnapped the villain of the original story.
Not some minor thug, but Dietrich Belvedus himself.
The reaper who chopped off the heads of anyone he disliked without hesitation.
In the original story, Dietrich regarded human lives as worth less than flies.
There was a reason he was the main antagonist of Part 1.
There were too many characters he had killed to even count.
‘That’s why I swore I’d never get involved with him…’
And yet, instead of just getting involved, I had straight-up kidnapped him.
It was obvious how this would end for me.
‘Should I run?’
For a moment, I wanted to abandon everything and escape—but I forced myself to hold back.
There were other handsome men imprisoned in this hideout. I couldn’t just leave them behind.
And more importantly, the only exit had already been blocked by Dietrich.
If I tried to run, I’d probably end up walking straight into him.
‘Am I an idiot? I should’ve made at least one more escape route.’
I cursed my past self for being so careless when building the hideout.
But I couldn’t just despair.
Even though my mind had long gone blank, I tried desperately to think of a solution.
‘Should I just grab him like before and throw him outside?’
But after looking at him through the screen, I quickly shook my head.
He had no openings whatsoever.
I had never kidnapped someone so alert before.
‘What about fighting him? Knock him out and throw him out while he’s unconscious.’
…Yeah. Even I knew that was completely ridiculous.
No matter what kind of ability I had, there was no way I could go head-to-head with the empire’s greatest magic swordsman.
Winning wasn’t even worth considering.
I kept trying to come up with ways out of the situation.
But nothing came to mind.
It seemed my death was inevitable.
‘What a short, crappy life.’
If I had known I’d die like this, I would’ve at least taken revenge on the Schmidt family.
At least one consolation was that Ren wasn’t here right now.
‘The Gerald Information Guild’s headquarters is pretty far. It’ll take him a while to get back.’
It was a relief that Ren had gone to meet the master in my place today.
If that kind-hearted guy got caught up in this, I wouldn’t be able to die in peace.
At that moment—
Crunch.
The locked door was split clean in two by a jet-black sword.
With just one swing, a sinister wind filled with mana swept over me.
Killing intent that I could feel on my skin.
Overwhelmed by the pressure, my legs gave out and I collapsed.
Soon, a figure stepped through the shattered doorway.
Step. Step.
The sound of shoes crushing the broken debris sent chills down my spine.
I held my breath.
And then—
I met the eyes of the original story’s villain.
Dietrich.
