The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 1

The First (1)

The room was filled with a mix of dust and the lingering scent of stale alcohol.

The windows were covered by thick curtains, making it difficult to even tell if it was day or night.

The only things filling the space were dim light and the dust motes floating in it.

Knock, knock.

A dry, uninteresting knock broke the silence and pierced his eardrums.

Lavin lay still on the bed, not moving a muscle.

He figured it was a phantom sound.

Because no one would ever come looking for him in this dreary place.

Then again, perhaps there was one person."Lavin! I know you're in there. Open the door."

A sharp, familiar voice.

The voice was no phantom sound.

Lavin slowly sat up.

His creaking joints produced a cacophony.

'Why is she here?'

When he opened the door, a bright light from the hallway poured in, accompanied by a gaze filled with contempt.

Having been confined to the darkness, he instinctively squinted at the sunlight streaming in.

It was his sister, Levina.

Her uniform, perfectly ironed without a single speck, and her neatly combed, snow-white hair.

Everything about her was like a mirror, reflecting Lavin's shabby appearance and miserable reality even more starkly.

Levina strode into the room, holding her nose.

Her shoes trod upon the floor, which hadn't been cleaned in days, her heels raised as if disgusted by its filth.

"What a state you're in. Even an animal would live in a cleaner place than you."

"Just state your business."

His voice was hoarse and cracked.

It was because it had been a long time since he'd opened his mouth.

Instead of replying, Levina pulled a thick envelope from her pocket and tossed it onto the table.

It was sealed with a clear red wax bearing the family crest.

That alone made the contents obvious.

"This is the family's final notice."

'...Final.'

That word echoed in his mind.

So, it really is the end now.

He'd expected something like this, though.

The feeling of everything ending, one by one, was not as familiar as he'd thought, yet it was somehow a sense of relief.

"We sent you to the Academy to get your act together, and all we hear is your ill repute, and now you've even caused trouble?

Father said... that the family no longer has a reason to bear your disgrace..."

"......"

"After this letter, you are no longer a part of our family.

Father has no intention of paying for your tuition, so you'll soon be expelled from the Academy. Find a place to stay on your own.

You must have plenty of money, either scattered around or stolen from the family, right?"

He said nothing.

He merely stared at the envelope on the table.

He had no energy left to make excuses. Explanations? He'd already given dozens, hundreds of them.

But all he received in return were looks of distrust and contempt.

All they believed were the malicious rumors surrounding Lavin Edelgard, and the notoriety and misdeeds that had accumulated over time.

And only a situation that seemed to have a predetermined outcome, that of 'the villain of the original story', had ever found him.

No one had cared whether his conduct changed or not.

'I tried. To escape somehow.'

He set aside his unpleasant past with the original story's male lead, that brilliant friend, approached him, smiled, and offered a handshake.

The male lead would simply shake his hand with a reluctant expression, but more often than not, he would avoid Lavin whenever he approached.

Given the sheer extent of the rumors, he wasn't particularly hurt, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of regret.

He even stopped approaching anyone at all after rumors began circulating that he was not only messing with women but men too.

To manage his social reputation, which had already plummeted to rock bottom, he wore a mask, sold smiles, and even tried to appease disgusting old men.

Though they merely whispered, 'What scheme is the Edelgard prodigal son up to now?'

He supposed he'd probably do the same if he were them.

If a fool who'd lived like a complete scoundrel suddenly pretended to be a decent human overnight, they'd probably think he was either about to die or had received a hint that he might be expelled from the family.

His fiancée, who hated him; no, that's not right.

He also tried to win back Seraphina's heart, though 'hate' wasn't a strong enough word for her feelings; 'detest' seemed more fitting.

He found the rare herb she'd mentioned offhandedly, enclosed it with a letter, and brought it to her, but she burned it right in front of him.

'My life intertwined with yours is disgusting, Lavin.'

'You still haven't changed at all.'

'The fact that we were childhood friends! That I once liked you!

And that I was even engaged to you! All of it is so horrible it's driving me mad!'

Well.

Even enduring her barking insults, he diligently pursued her, trying every foolish thing he could think of, but all that came of it was a huge fight a few days ago that ultimately led to talk of breaking off the engagement.

He'd been expecting it to come up at any moment, so he wasn't particularly surprised.

Anyway, while he mostly agreed with the sentiment that people don't change...

'I tried. I struggled to escape somehow.'

All his efforts crumbled amidst misunderstandings, crossed paths, and misdeeds that had already piled up beyond his control, as if the world insisted on following a predetermined scenario.

To the point where he simply couldn't understand why he'd been thrown into this world in the first place.

Perhaps it would have been better if he'd been born Hans, a farmer in some modest countryside, instead of the scoundrel of a prominent family.

Now, he wasn't even sure if it was 'misunderstandings and crossed paths' anymore.

It felt as though, no matter how he twisted and turned, he was simply being forced towards a predetermined outcome.

[Collect the Ending!]

[Reward: Return to your original world.]

The system message shimmering before his eyes seemed to mock him.

'Ending.' He couldn't fathom what kind of ending it was referring to.

In this wretched game, wasn't the ending he was meant to meet simply the tragic demise of a fallen villain?

The hope of being able to return.

That had been the last lifeline supporting his heart, but it was now rotting away, beyond his grasp.

"Don't even think about showing your face again. You're a disgrace to the family."

Levina's voice pulled him back to reality from his budding paranoia, or perhaps just delusions, he wasn't sure.

Her face held not just contempt, but outright revulsion.

Her eyes were like those looking at filth in the street.

If he was cast out like this, could he truly return?

He wished that if he closed his eyes and opened them again, he'd be in his small, 6-pyeong studio apartment right now.

What had he been doing all this time?

Hadn't he thought that if he reformed and became decent, everything would be solved just by him approaching?

There's not supposed to be nothing working out, not to this extent.

It's not like they're actively wishing death upon him...

"Yeah, that's right. I'm not supposed to show my face."

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

Perhaps if he just died like this, he would return.

"So get lost, Levina."

"What...?"

"Your business is done, isn't it? You said I'm no longer part of your family.

So if you're done, you can leave now.

No matter what I say, you won't listen anyway."

He wondered why she looked so dumbfounded, then realized this might be the first time he'd ever truly rebelled.

Thinking about it, Lavin truly seemed like a clumsy person in some ways.

Because this utter scoundrel had, in fact, always been a pushover who'd just laugh off whatever his own family did to him.

Now, it wasn't his problem anymore.

Ignoring the shimmering system message before his eyes, what if he just died like this?

His mind was a chaotic mess, a dizzying jumble of feelings. Turning his back on his sister, who was staring at him with contempt, he picked up the liquor bottle from the table.

His head felt like it would split open.

A feeling that he simply wished to vanish.

The thought of wanting to die pursued him relentlessly, one idea chasing another.

To the point where he utterly lost track of what he was doing.

"When was it, that I heard someone say I should just die if I was going to live like such a good-for-nothing...?"

He deliberately avoided his sister's gaze, which was filled with revulsion, and muttered his words while drinking directly from the bottle.

He wasn't sure if he should even call her 'sister'.

Since they had different mothers.

He'd often been told he'd be killed if he dared to call her 'older sister' since childhood.

Of course, this wasn't something he himself had experienced, but rather a residual memory from Lavin's past.

But was there any other word to describe her besides 'sister'?

"It was probably when I was seventeen, on my birthday."

The 'Lavin' who wasn't him retrieved a revolver he'd acquired long ago from a drawer and pointed it at his sister.

Even though these weren't his memories, his and Lavin's memories were jumbled together, and he felt a transfer of resentful emotions.

"What did she say on the day Mother died? I can't quite remember."

He watched as his sister's face, which had been regarding him with an expression of 'how pathetic,' twisted in horror, before he pressed the muzzle of the gun against his own temple.

"Just for one day, she could have refrained from bringing up 'illegitimate child' and such."

The cold touch of the metal was so distinct, it made him momentarily forget his throbbing headache.

He saw Levina's lips move.

She seemed to be saying something, but all he could hear was the ringing in his ears.

He didn't know if she was still speaking or had finished, but in any case, he squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the trigger.

Ever since he'd fallen into this world, he'd always wanted to do this, but he'd been too afraid to see anything.

His consciousness blurred with a sound more like an explosion than a 'bang'.

****

[Collect the Ending. 1/?]

[Reward: Return to your original world.]

"Ha, damn it. You've got to be kidding me."

He didn't even think to check the time.

He pulled a cheap cigarette from his pocket, clenched it between his teeth, and lit it.

No matter how much he inhaled and exhaled the smoke, his mind didn't calm down much.

Just then, a letter caught his eye.

The very kindling that had burned before his eyes.