The Baby Fairy Is A Villain [EN]: Chapter 78

It was a night of thunder and rain.

Serea, looking out the window, her eyes clouded with concern at the heavy downpour.

It had been raining relentlessly lately.

It would seem to pause momentarily, only to resume pouring, leaving the ground perpetually soaked.

‘The soil must be saturated; I wonder if the funeral went alright…’

Several days had passed, but there was still no news.

“Haa.”

She thought of her disciple.

Countess Basilian had passed away.

The Basilian family had closed ranks, holding the funeral with only immediate family present and without receiving any mourners.

‘Honestly, I thought he would call,’ but Kieren hadn’t even contacted Serea.

It wasn’t that she was upset.

She was simply worried, and the inability to see him fueled her anxiety.

He was so cold, it often seemed as though he had ice water running through his veins instead of hot blood.

Yet, this same Kieren had loved her with all his heart; she was the partner of his life.

She was frustrated with her disciple, who possessed talents that could shake the continent, yet confined himself to the Black Forest in the east, but she also understood his reasons.

Wealth, fame, power…

Such things paled in comparison to love.

At least, that was the case for Kieren.

Having lost his parents early, he came to Ivroyel County, learned magic, and then returned east to quietly inherit his duties as the Count of Basilian.

He couldn’t have been without loneliness during that time.

‘Such a guy finally found love, so I thought his future would be full of happiness…’

“…It’s too early.”

How could she leave so soon?

The one left behind had to live a lifetime relying on fleeting memories.

It was truly cruel.

Serea eventually closed the book she was reading.

The words blurred before her eyes.

Unable to concentrate, she rose from her chair and began to pace around the study.

Outside, thunder continued to crash.

That was why, she told herself.

She was so consumed by worry, anxiety, and the sound of thunder that she failed to notice the approaching presence.

Gradually, the air grew colder, and the sound of the rain outside seemed deafening.

*Clatter*, she heard the window shaking violently in the wind.

Serea turned towards the window and was startled.

A man in a hooded robe was collapsing into the study.

His body hit the floor with a heavy thud.

She hadn’t even seen his face, but she knew instinctively.

“Kieren!”

She rushed over and knelt down beside him.

She grabbed the shoulder of the slumped man.

The hood slid back, revealing a face soaked with rain.

Kieren’s face, his black hair plastered to his skin, was deathly pale.

He looked unusually young and vulnerable, almost like a boy.

Like the young boy who had stayed at Ivroyel County and learned magic.

Water droplets streamed down his face.

“Master.”

Kieren looked at Serea with broken eyes.

He moved his lips, which were blue with cold.

“Please help me.”

It was the first time that someone who had never shown weakness, not even when his parents died, was asking for help.

Serea stared at him blankly, then slowly lowered her gaze.

“…!”

Kieren’s shadow was writhing.

Black darkness flowed out of Kieren’s body, causing the shadow to grow larger and more menacing.

The way it writhed touched on a primal fear.

The sight was beyond ominous.

Goosebumps erupted on her arm.

Serea widened her eyes and urged.

“What… what have you done!”

The magic that should have been pure was completely twisted.

This was not the magic of an ordinary wizard.

It was the magic of a black magician [a practitioner of dark or forbidden magic].

Kieren trembled slightly.

“I can’t control it at will… If I leave it like this, I think I’ll obliterate the entire east.”

He raised his hand, which was resting on the floor.

From his palm, a dark miasma flowed endlessly.

Kieren raised the corner of his mouth in a weak, habitual smile.

“You should be able to suppress my power, Master.”

Kieren had corrupted his magic, transforming himself into a black magician.

However, his outstanding power meant that the backlash from the corruption was also severe.

Because of that, he had come to Serea in a state on the verge of losing control.

The black darkness was like a wild beast straining to break free.

She had to suppress the power and restrain the rampage.

It was an urgent situation, but Serea was speechless.

She stared at him blankly and muttered as if spitting out blood.

“You… you’re crazy. You’re out of your mind…”

Her precious disciple, who was more intelligent than anyone else and possessed the most brilliant, jewel-like talent.

He had plunged his future into the abyss.

Now, Kieren would never be able to use magic in front of others again.

Because he chose darkness instead of light, he would have to hide in the shadows for the rest of his life, avoiding the eyes of the Inquisitors [an organization dedicated to hunting down heretics and practitioners of dark magic].

However, the moment she confirmed Kieren’s choice.

Serea was not afraid of any of that.

It was because she realized what Kieren had fallen into darkness for.

She had been watching him by his side for a long time, so she could tell.

He was trying to revive his dead wife.

Serea had to choose.

The moment she helped Kieren here, she was also rebelling against God.

The most just and right thing to do was to let the black magician, who was trying to commit an act against providence [defying the natural order or divine will], die here and now.

However, even while clearly recognizing all reason and logic, Serea could not choose her disciple’s death.

She was Kieren’s teacher, and she had to embrace her disciple’s faults.

“Damn it. You cunning viper.”

Serea gnashed her teeth and summoned her magic power.

Kieren gasped and smiled faintly at the sight of the purple magic power blooming brightly.

He knew the internal conflict Serea had faced before making her decision.

“Master, haa, I’ll repay your grace…”

“Shut up and concentrate. It’s going to hurt so much that tears will come out.”

Quickly drawing a magic circle, Serea shouted.

“I’ll make sure you don’t even think about doing this kind of thing again.”

***

Kieren, finishing the story, smiled and said.

“Thanks to the Duchess, Dad became a black magician safely.”

He casually added that he almost died because his magic was twisted while becoming a black magician, and if he had gone berserk, the east would have been wiped off the map.

“Maybe the Duchess knows what Dad wants to do. But she has never mentioned it once.”

Even though she knows that he wants to revive the dead, she is pretending not to know and helping him.

It was the best choice for her.

She doesn’t approve of Kieren’s attempt to revive the dead, but she doesn’t want to stop him from doing what he desperately wants…

Kieren, who says that she is helping him by pretending not to know, truly has affection for Serea and is truly grateful.

She is one of the few people that the suspicious Kieren trusts.

“So Dad repaid the favor a few years later.”

“…….”

He said he repaid the favor, but why does it sound like he repaid an enemy?

Chesha laughed inwardly.

Anyway, if they were on such terms as to cover up such flaws, they would have no choice but to be close.

Kieren took a flower out of the vase and handed it to Chesha.

It was a white dahlia flower.

“So if something happens to Dad, you can go to the Duchess. She’s also Chesha’s godmother. Got it?”

Kieren smiled quietly and whispered.

“No matter what situation arises, I will protect Chesha.”

However, even if Kieren protects Chesha, he will lightly discard his own life like falling petals.

From the moment he chose to become a black magician.

He was always prepared to die…