Before the Villains’ Ending

The guard stiffened with a choking sound as the knife was pointed at his throat. Taylor warned in a voice he had never heard before.

“So don’t ever put Mel’s name in your mouth like that again.”

The dagger was right at the tip of his neck in the gap between the bars. Taylor opened his red eyes coolly and took a deep breath. The humid air in the basement smelled disgusting. There was a bloody smell.

The stench he had always smelled was even worse after the seizures stopped. Unexpectedly, Taylor trembled and laughed at the realization that Margaret Eilish, who was only a noblewoman, had to endure a very unpleasant environment to see him.

‘That’s why I can’t let you leave.’

He remembered the day he had first met her, with remarkable detail and accuracy, and the dagger in his hand glittered with jewels of the same color as his eyes. At that time, Margaret bowed down with her characteristic emotionless face and greeted him skillfully. Until then, Taylor had been thinking about what attitude to show her. At that time, he thought that the young lady in front of him had come because of sympathy, or because she needed someone to make fun of.

“Hi. “

But unexpectedly, she merely greeted him in a relaxed tone, so casually that he didn’t even notice that the knife had been pushed in silently.

“…”

The scarlet eyes seen from the front captured him completely. He thought something was twisting inside him.

Margaret realized that he was staring at her, and lowered her gaze so that he could find the dagger that had fallen on the floor.

The knife that slid smoothly through the iron bars, which were manufactured to conduct electricity, was obviously an expensive item at first glance. As for the complicatedly elaborate craftsmanship, in fact, it was possible to estimate the value of such a thing just by looking at the jewel in the middle. Above all, it was very well-groomed. It was too much for a simple decorative dagger possessed by a noble lady.

Taylor realized that it was clearly a lethal weapon. It was hard to imagine that it was something that a woman, who was smiling with a serene expression, could be holding out.

‘Where have I seen this before?’

Taylor felt that this object was quite familiar. It was a little different from what was paid in the guild, but it was definitely familiar to the eye anyway.

In the midst of that, Margaret whispered as if she wasn’t interested in his attitude.

“Use it when you really need it.”

It was a bonus to urge him not to accept it. Immediately, she took another dagger of the same shape from her sleeve and laid it down on the floor with a dry cough.

Taylor was embarrassed by the hand technique often used in gambling. She skillfully shook the newly pulled dagger to show it to the guard and closed her eyes.

“Look. It’s not that I have a lack of safety concern.”

He quietly lowered his eyes and pulled the bedding over himself. The white cloth he had been clutching was clear enough to conceal the knife, and Taylor pushed it deep into the corner of the bed. Perhaps he had not thought that there would be two daggers, the guard had allowed him and Margaret’s visit to go on since that day.

Afterward, whenever Taylor got bored, he got into the habit of looking away from where he had hidden the dagger, wondering why Margaret had given it to him. And when he finally realized why, he didn’t know how to feel about it. He didn’t look at the dagger after that. Not even once.

“The guild will abandon me. It must be because I am no longer useful. They will not kill me. I probably…”

Taylor confessed in a choked voice in front of Margaret, who came a few days later. Inside, He thought he was ugly and blamed himself, but at least he didn’t feel as he did back then. It was because of the great emptiness of the time without her, but also because he was afraid. When it was really necessary, he recalled the words and fixed his bright red eyes on the side where the dagger was hidden. There was a piece of metal trimmed to be suitable for killing someone.

He would be isolated. His voice trembled as he said that. Really, he was all alone in this damn prison. Unless he killed himself. So he begged

“So, like now, can you come and see me?”

Kind Mel looked at him like that and smiled. There was an unknown emotion on her languid face. It was a kind of sympathy, heavy on sympathy. She whispered. He guessed he didn’t want to die. Yes, the people who abandoned him were harsh. He was hurt like this, but the people who abandoned her didn’t seem like nice people either.

“Do as you please.”

Afterward, Margaret kept her promise to him.

“I did.”

If she did, and now she may leave, he had no choice.

He didn’t know what he wanted from the guild, but at least there was nothing he couldn’t let go of at least once if he wanted himself enough to cover his escape. Especially if that’s the only way to reverse the ending, Margaret said.

Taylor closed his eyes and smirked. Then he commanded as if it was just a thought in his mind.

“The key.”

Assassins did not usually make loud noises. The guard, paralyzed with fear, could not move his body. Taylor didn’t let him buy time. He had prepared the white sheet, torn it into a rope-like shape, and held it like a noose while he continued to threaten with the dagger. The following events were surprisingly fast, so the guard didn’t even have time to fully comprehend what was happening. Taylor dropped the dagger and used the hand that was holding it to grab the end of the sheet and tie it to a metal bar around the guard’s neck. He strangled the guard with the sheet. He didn’t even care about the burn on the other arm caused by electricity during the process. Sparks immediately flew up, and the body that directly touched the iron bars with electricity was writhing in suffocation and the pain of electrocution.

Taylor asked, “Don’t you want to live?”

The guard couldn’t even scream and frantically searched his pockets. Taylor drew strength from the cloth that he was holding onto and matched the guard’s movements. It would have been nice if there was a paralysis-inducing poison. He gritted his teeth and looked down at the guard with bloodshot eyes, who were panting and shivering. “Turn around and open it.”

The cloth-made noose was still in his hand. The guard gasped for breath and obeyed his command with a trembling voice. The cloth was still wrapped around his neck, and Taylor glanced at the long iron bar and piles of stones at the entrance of the cell, which were used by the prison guards to beat the prisoners. He threw them into the cell and manipulated the scene by using his knife to draw blood. As the prison guards’ beating of inmates was commonplace, and if anyone who discovered the scene were to witness it, it could create an outcry that the abusive guard had gone too far. Perhaps this could even give some legitimacy to an escape attempt.

If, hypothetically, the replacement of the guard occurred due to this incident, there was no way to exclude the possibility of Glacies’ people being involved in manipulating the placement. Either way, there was nothing to lose. Taylor smiled contentedly, handing the dagger to the gasping guard as though he were about to pass out. In the kindest voice he could muster, he advised him, “I heard they punish guards who didn’t keep an eye on at least one inmate severely on the prince’s side.”

If they needed him, he would be there. Taylor’s footsteps leaving the prison were light.

“I knew you’d come out.”

“I received my first mission order today. It’s a command from the master to pass on.”

The man handed over a scroll-shaped command with a polite tone.

And when he opened it, Taylor Knight was so happy that he could almost jump for joy when he saw the familiar star-shaped emblem.

“We’ve agreed to cooperate with the Crown. Complete the request below within two weeks and return to the guild. There’s no need to kill the monitor. I believe you’ll do well, my son.”

It was such a ridiculous postscript that Taylor could easily ignore it.

“Taylor? Where are you going?”

The man asked. Taylor stared at the guild member who had recently been promoted with round eyes and answered bluntly.

“To see Mel.”

“I’ll go meet the client before meeting the master. Even a bastard like my brother can be kind at times.”

Yes, at least their master was someone who knew how to reward properly. Taylor decided to be satisfied with that for now. The man looked at him and closed his mouth. Under his pure white hair, his eyes behind the smiling face glowed a dark red, not just from the joy of reunion, but from some other emotion, yet he looked happier than anyone else.

***

She stood there, dumbfounded at the news of the consecutive jailbreaks. It was almost ridiculous. Just because I didn’t come to see them…

“So…”

No. she bit my lip.

‘Margaret Eilish, you’re just a supporting character.’

…Just a supporting character? Really? The method chosen by Calix and Taylor was more than enough to confirm their obsession. It would be more accurate to say that it was too overwhelming. It was too much to say that it was simply pouring out love for a supporting character.

She had to admit it. She had more options than the protagonist Beatrice, who was already at her limit. More people wanted her than Beatrice. Their personality settings remained the same, but the target had clearly changed.

“I…”

So, was she the villain now? Useless worries filled her with slight fatigue. Outside, rumors were circulating about the suicide of a guard at Alcatraz, and the possibility of bribery was suspected, given the sword in his hand appeared to have been magically crafted.

It was the first time she had ever experienced the actions of those who were described in novels as simply crazy or obsessed. Florencia had never acted maliciously in front of her, so there was no need to be worried. The sword that had been given to her was not meant for killing others.

She scratched her head.

“…a villainess.”

The whispers of the soldiers and maids were not loud, but they constantly reached her ears, making them ache. Like the protagonist in the original work, Beatrice tried to control the servants’ mouths, but it was not an easy task.

Prince Damon was originally a cruel and cold-hearted person. Of course, being born into the royal family and having the right of succession meant he had to bear some responsibility, but he also had a villainous side. She wondered how he would punish those involved in this incident.

Here’s the translation of the original Korean text:

“History is written from the perspective of the victors,” they say. The Crown Prince ruthlessly dealt with the officials who were not faithful to their duties. There was no need for me to make any additional predictions. It seems that Kestiel Reload would be the one to suffer. It was not surprising to hear that he was subjected to a grueling interrogation before the chief interrogator, Clark, died.

All of it became romanticized as the crime of not protecting Beatrice, which happened in a moment.

Of course, Beatrice herself was to blame.

“…cruelly…”

“Scared, then… You are…”

“Maybe we should…”

The intermittent whispers were from the ladies of the court. I leaned back on the bed and listened intently to the sound of the swings approaching. They were causing turmoil within Happy Endings, little by little.

“— Shh.”

The whispers stopped at the door, with a warning from one of them.