“Their actions were… far too cruel. I tried to enjoy it somehow, but it was no good. How could anyone smile while beating defenseless women and children to death with all their might?”
“That’s impossible.”
“Yes, it’s impossible. …But a group of people who could do that was exactly what the mercenary organization [Hell Wolf] was.”
In the end, Ashley realized there that he was merely a [petty villain].
“However, it was then that I awakened to [Gift]. And it was the ‘ability-killing ability’ at that. Naturally, I was celebrated by the organization.”
——Gift was said to be the power given by [Goddess Alicephia] to a hundred warriors to save humanity suffering from monsters.
The hundred warriors wielded supernatural abilities and successfully expanded humanity’s living space.
Such people were naturally appointed as nobles and royalty, and as a result, [noble bloodlines], their descendants, were considered more likely to manifest Gifts.
“Ashley, if you awakened to Gift, then your origins are…”
“I’m probably a noble. An illegitimate child born between a maid and a prostitute, I’d say.”
The butler shrugged as if it was a complete bother.
Thanks to that, he was abandoned in the slums, and awakening to Gift caused very troublesome things to happen.
“My ability is extremely useful for killing ability users who are the enemy army’s trump cards. So I became very dear to Zax-Roa—to Zax-san. The pay was also the best, and being born in the slums with a poor person’s mentality, I ended up working there for years.”
As a result, Ashley couldn’t bring himself to decide to escape from the organization.
It was natural.
Being a precious ability user, the organization treated him with excessive care, and for the orphan Ashley, starved of love and desire, that favorable treatment was exactly what he yearned for.
“Zax-san was skillful. Right when my disgust for the organization would rekindle, he’d come with expensive alcohol saying [Let’s have a drink!] and treat me warmly like an older brother or father…”
Like pouring lukewarm water on a cold body.
Or like giving a highly addictive drug to a patient trying to recover.
Thus Ashley continued to be held in a place unsuited to his temperament, until suddenly his limit came.
“But when I saw Zax-san trying to kill an orphan like me, I finally got truly angry… It was far too late a rebellion. Even though I myself had taken many lives on the battlefield.”
“So that’s how you ended up fleeing to this territory.”
“Yeah. Half-dead from Zax-san’s beating, barely escaping with my life.”
Come to think of it, I smile bitterly.
The prince before me and I are comrades who were nearly killed by that man.
“Naturally, the people of this land left me there to die. After all, they had no spare resources, and at the time I had the face of a textbook villain. ‘We don’t want to get close and get involved in trouble,’ so everyone pretended not to see me as they hurried past.”
And so Ashley lay in the shadows, quietly preparing to breathe his last.
“It was just like returning to my slum days. Whether I was weak or wounded, everyone ignored me and hurried past without a glance… It was so sad and painful.”
What had his life even been for?
Killing pointlessly, fleeing pointlessly, and dying meaninglessly in the end.
And so, in that empty despair, even as evening fell, no one came to save him, and the clock struck midnight.
The sound of the great clock’s bell echoing through the town.
The end of the day and the finale of the [Great Masquerade Festival]—and simultaneously, the moment Ashley’s life was about to end.
“And then, just as I was about to close my eyelids—”
To the man about to end his gray life,
“The [Vilainess] appeared.”
A proud smile plays at his lips.
Ashley declares without shame to the prince:
He was born to meet that queen—to meet Reite-Hungaria.
“I see, so that’s when Reite-jou came along.”
“Yeah… Though she was a bit different from how she is now. The [gothic dress of an evil woman] that she now wears naturally—she seemed completely unused to wearing it back then.”
“What do you mean?”
“She was a beginner at being evil.”
Ashley explains.
That Reite at the time was not composed at all.
Rather, she was trembling in fear at his own vicious expression.
“I thought ‘what is this brat’ and told her ‘Kid, stay away.’ …I didn’t want a child to see a corpse. I glared at her sharply.”
However,
“That child approached while half-crying. No matter how much I shouted, it was useless. Every time I told her to leave, to disappear, she flinched, but that was all. Finally she came right up to me.”
And then—
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
“She said: [All the lives of the people in this territory belong to the Vilainess Reite-sama. You’re not allowed to die without my permission.] I was completely dumbfounded. On top of that, without caring about getting covered in blood, she even started treating my wounds!”
He chuckles as he looks back on those times.
What was this child? And at the same time,
“I burst out laughing, thinking there’s no way such kind [evil] could exist in this world. But she barked back with a serious face: [I’m not kind! I’m incredibly evil!] While I was laughing at such a girl, I lost consciousness—and when I came to, I was lying in the mansion. And beside me was that young girl who had apparently been watching over me the whole time, now sleeping.”
Ah, that was the moment.
Ashley confesses that it was all when he saw that sleeping face.
“I found her incredibly precious.”
That was the beginning of his new life.
“For some reason, I wanted to keep watching this girl who called herself a villain. From then on I was completely smitten. The moment I learned she was the lord, I immediately applied for employment, and that’s how I became a butler.”
“I see.”
The prince nods briefly.
Though his reaction is subdued, inside it’s quite the opposite.
“Good for you, Ashley. And at the same time, I’m a bit jealous.”
What fills his chest is celebration for his saved friend.
And simultaneously, a rare feeling of jealousy for Weiss.
“You’ve been watching Reite-jou for six years that I don’t know about.”
“Fuhaha, that’s right, aren’t you envious! Ah, and Reite-ojou-sama’s achievements have been remarkable, revitalizing the territory day by day…!”
At Weiss’s jealous words, Ashley is delighted.
Recently, having his beloved Reite monopolized has been causing him various headaches.
He’s trying to show off and gain superiority by boasting about his [history with ojou-sama].
“Now I could continue with [【Shocking】Reite-ojou-sama finds a unicorn during a walk and gets its horn edition【As expected of Reite!】], but unfortunately it’s getting late. Aren’t you getting sleepy?”
“No, hearing about Reite-jou actually has me wide awake.”
“Of course, of course! Ah, but sharing any more precious memories with ojou-sama… what should I do~?”
Ashley grins with a disgusting smile.
He’s certainly not virtuous. He was hoping to see Prince Weiss driven mad with jealousy.
But,
“I’d definitely like to hear more. Not only am I curious about the story and can’t sleep, but because I napped a bit during the day, my body feels strangely excited.”
“Hmm…? You were… allowed to nap…?”
Something about that phrasing catches his attention.
In response to such Ashley, Weiss says matter-of-factly with a straight face—
“Ah, actually Reite-jou gave me a [lap pillow] while stroking my stomach.”
“WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!”
In an instant, the butler’s brain completely breaks…!
The scales of superiority instantly drop Ashley to the ground, and he collapses on the spot.
“Well, Ashley has been with her for six years, so surely he’s experienced that before.”
“LIKE HELL I HAVE, YOU IDIOT?!”
And he receives a follow-up attack, no less.
And so, as the butler sheds tears of blood, the ice prince looks at him with a puzzled expression.
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
