I Became the Master of the Villain

That night, after returning to Trillian’s villa, Kian lay in bed, tossing and turning.
I was late at night, and the world outside was quiet. Only the sound of waves crashing and receding, a steady swoosh, could be heard in the stillness. He got up and walked to the window. Beyond the open window, the sea looked calm, as if nothing had happened. It still didn’t feel real. He had thought he would never return to her side again...
He recalled the moment Olivia had burst through the door. He had never imagined she would come looking for him. That she would even leap onto a ship swarming with pirates to find him. Think about it—what kind of master would risk danger to rescue a mere slave? It was something he could never have imagined. But she had been like that from the moment they met. Fundamentally different from any other master. Maybe that was why. It had never bothered him when his master changed before, but when he thought about being separated from her, it became unbearable.

Without even realizing it, her presence had grown too big inside him. She looked at him as if he were the most precious thing in the world.
And sometimes, she had eyes that looked blindly devoted, as if she could do anything for his sake. There had been a time when he’d pondered the reason behind Olivia’s kindness. And he had also been curious about why she had bought him. But now, none of that mattered anymore.
He had grown used to her kindness, so much so that he couldn’t imagine living the way he used to. Once tasted, kindness was sweet like candy. Now that he knew it, it was impossible to return to the life he had before. He couldn’t go back to a dead life where he had only barely been breathing. He realized now, without a doubt, that she had added color to his once gray life.

***
The rattling and whirring of machinery echoed non-stop throughout the factory. Workers, all with tired expressions, stood at their spinning frames, drawing out white, fine threads.
Tom, a boy working at the Ashford spinning factory, had been running a high fever since the day before yesterday. But he had no money for hospital fees, so he had to endure his illness and keep working. That day too, his fever showed no signs of going down, and Tom’s hands turning the machine grew slower and slower.

"Why are you so damn slow?"
The one who barked at Tom was James Ashford, the owner of the factory.
"I-I’m sorry..."

Terrified, Tom shrank back. He begged for forgiveness, but James curled his lips into a sneer and said,
"I get furious when I see lazy brats like you trying to make easy money."
"Aaagh!"

The boy screamed in pain. James had struck him with the cane he was holding. He mercilessly beat Tom’s scrawny body. Blue bruises quickly spread across the boy’s thin limbs.
"Stop it!"
When no one else dared to stop James, the one who stood up bravely was a young woman. She was Anna, a worker at the Ashford spinning factory.

"Get out of my way!"
Ignoring James’s rage, Anna checked on the collapsed Tom. She recoiled in shock as the boy’s body burned like a kettle set over fire. She spoke urgently,
"He has a high fever. If he doesn’t see a doctor right away, his life is in danger."
But James had no interest in whether the boy lived or died. He only cared that the workers never wasted a second and kept earning him more money.

"There’s no shortage of labor. I don’t care what happens to that brat."
Even when a child’s life hung in the balance, James remained infinitely cold. Anna couldn’t understand how someone could say such a thing.
She held Tom’s tiny hand. The fingers, which should’ve been soft, were full of calluses from overwork.

The boy was only eight years old and worked fifteen hours a day. All for an absurdly low wage. He was worked like a slave, and James raked in huge profits from it—and yet, he didn’t care if the kid lived or died?
"What are you all doing! Who told you you could stop working?"
James screamed at the workers who had paused.

"You’re not humans, you’re machines! Work like you’re supposed to!"
"...!"
Anna clenched her fist. Her tightly balled fist trembled. Even if they lived like slaves, they were still human. Just because they were poor didn’t mean they deserved to be treated as less than human. They were not disposable.

She would make sure that trash of a boss knew that.
Avoiding the supervisor’s gaze, Anna pulled out a hammer she had hidden under the workbench. She struck the machine with all her strength.
Bang!

"What the hell are you doing?!"
James °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° screamed, his face pale. But Anna ignored his shouts and kept smashing the machine, yelling,
"Everyone, get your tools!"

At that signal, the other workers also pulled out the tools they had secretly hidden. As hundreds of enraged workers began smashing the machines, the factory quickly descended into chaos. The workers at the Ashford factory had long been filled with resentment over their slave-like conditions. Tonight had already been planned as the night they would destroy the machines and go on strike, but Anna had acted a few hours early. No one complained about that. Everyone had already been burning with fury after witnessing James beat young Tom.
"Stop those lunatics!"
James shouted at the knights guarding him. The knights drew their swords at once, but the number of armed workers was overwhelming. Just two knights couldn’t stop them. Workers with hammers quickly surrounded James.

"Don’t come any closer!"
He pulled out the sword he always carried for self-defense and swung it wildly. The workers hesitated for a moment. Then Anna stepped forward with her hammer.
"Drop the sword. Or I’ll smash your skull open with this."

James froze at the violent threat. His voice trembled pitifully.
"If... if you harm me, you won’t get away with it!"
It was a threat that they’d suffer consequences. But Anna didn’t back down. She swung the hammer in the air and said,

"Who was it who said workers have nothing to lose but their chains?"
James staggered backward. Looking into Anna’s eyes, he thought:
That’s the look of someone who’s ready to die with me.

"We may not have much to lose, but you do, don’t you?"
Just as she said, James had far too much to lose. And he hadn’t even achieved his ambition of ousting his niece Olivia and inheriting the dukedom... He couldn’t die in a place like this.
In despair, James looked around. His knights and the factory supervisor had long since been subdued by the workers. There was no one left on his side. His sword slipped from his hand.

"Good, smart choice."
Anna ordered the strongest men among them to tie James up tightly with rope. Then she made sure the children were moved to a safe place and instructed others to take the sick Tom to a doctor.
"We’ve done well to take the boss hostage according to plan, but... now what?"

The other workers gathered around Anna and asked. Anna slammed her hammer down onto the ground and said,
"What do you mean, now what? We call in someone from the top and start negotiations."
"But... will the nobles even listen to people like us?"

"We’ll have to try."
Looking at her comrades with determined eyes, Anna said,
"If it’s Olivia Ashford, maybe she’ll actually listen."

***
The gray smoke puffed out by the steam locomotive left a long trail across the clear sky. The train was heading to Lancaster after departing the capital.
The reason I suddenly set off for Lancaster was a telegram I received just a few hours ago. It had been sent by my uncle James’s secretary. The contents of the telegram were as follows:

–The factory workers have resorted to violence. They’ve taken Sir James hostage and want to negotiate directly with you, Miss. Please come to Lancaster as soon as possible.
When I heard that my uncle had been taken hostage, my first thought was: Serves him right.
I knew full well that he had been exploiting the workers just to line his own pockets. I had repeatedly told him he needed to raise the workers’ wages, but my uncle completely ignored me.

The Ashford spinning factory’s management was under his control. Because of that, I had limited ability to intervene.
And now, this was the result. Even if he had opposed me, I should have forced it through somehow... I felt responsible for the situation as I stepped off the train.
At the station, my uncle’s secretary was waiting to greet me. He seemed in a great hurry and led me straight to the negotiation site. To be honest, I wasn’t in any rush to save my uncle. I was hoping this would finally knock some sense into him. To hide that sentiment, I pretended to be a concerned and dutiful niece.

"What were the dukedom’s knights doing? Why didn’t they rescue my uncle sooner?"
When I asked harshly, the secretary stammered out an excuse.
"Well... they said if we made a wrong move, Sir James would be killed. Those cunning workers threatened us, so... we couldn’t act rashly..."

"Enough excuses. Just take me to where my uncle is."
"Y-yes, Miss."
The location chosen by the workers for the negotiations was an old, abandoned warehouse in the factory’s backyard. The large men guarding the door asked,

"Are you the Ashford Duke’s acting head?"
When I confirmed, they stepped aside. But when my escort knights tried to follow, they blocked the way.
"From here, you must enter alone."

"What...! It’s dangerous for the lady to go alone!"
Sir Hans, my escort knight, reached for his sword. I calmed him and ordered him to wait outside, then confidently stepped inside.