I Became the Master of the Villain

The carriage sped smoothly through the capital’s night streets. Sitting across from me was Kian, the protagonist of the novel I had searched for so desperately. A genius mage of the century, and the man who would bring the Empire to ruin. The very one who had brutally murdered the original Olivia. I introduced myself to Kian formally.
“I’m your new master, Olivia Ashford. I’m the daughter of the Ashford Duchy and currently acting as duke in place of my bedridden father. I look forward to working with you.”
With both hands neatly resting on his knees, Kian spoke politely.

“Kian. I will serve you with sincerity, my lady.”
He was calm and submissive. They said he’d been incredibly kind before his blackening, so this wasn’t likely an act. But that didn’t mean I could let my guard down. The blackened Kian in the original story was truly cruel. He despised the Empire and slaughtered the entire royal family and upper nobility without mercy. So thoroughly, in fact, that he hunted down and killed even those nobles who had survived by sheer luck outside the capital. Running away wasn’t a good option. Better to be a kind master and tame him instead.
For now, I needed to treat Kian well. I had to show him that I wasn’t like all the terrible masters he had known.

As I continued thinking, the carriage passed through the wide garden and stopped in front of the mansion.
“Welcome back, my lady.”
The servants who had been waiting for my return bowed one by one. They looked at Kian, who got out of the carriage behind me, with curious eyes. Upon seeing his beautiful appearance and provocative clothing, they began to whisper among themselves.

“This is Kian. He’s a new member of this household starting today. Be kind to him. If anyone mistreats him just because he’s a slave, I won’t forgive it.”
Their expressions briefly showed confusion upon learning of Kian’s status. Understandable. Being told to treat a slave well out of nowhere must’ve been baffling. But they were employees. Instead of questioning me, they simply bowed.
“Yes, my lady.”

Kian closed his robe and followed behind me quietly. The butler led us to a spacious, old-fashioned room with a private bath.
“Please talk in comfort.”
Once Albert left, only Kian and I remained in the room. I looked over at Kian’s face from a few steps away, where he was quietly awaiting my orders. His pale blue eyes beneath long, delicate lashes were as clear as the sky reflected on water. His facial lines were elegant, his nose straight, and his lips, though bare, were a vivid red. His skin was white and smooth like fine porcelain.

He truly was beautiful. In the original story, his looks had often been a source of misery. For a slave like him, beauty had been more of a curse than a blessing. The burn scar on his right shoulder was a result of that.
Since my life depended on it, I felt the need to confirm once more whether things matched the story. I spoke cautiously.
“Kian, could you lower your robe just a little?”

He hesitated briefly, then gently lowered the robe he was wearing. I stepped closer to check for the scar, but just then, Kian let go of the robe and slowly knelt in front of me. The robe slid off his shoulders, revealing his pale skin. Kneeling in front of me like an obedient dog, he lowered his eyes silently.
I was quite startled by his sudden action.
“W-What are you doing?”
Kian looked up at me with a puzzled expression.

“Didn’t you purchase me… to serve you at night, my lady?”
His flat voice pierced right through me. I hadn’t expected that checking a scar would cause such a misunderstanding. I quickly helped him to his feet.
“That’s not why I brought you here.”

“Then why…”
To check if you were the protagonist of the novel. But I couldn’t say that, so I made up a vague excuse. As I helped him back into his robe, I said,
“You just need to eat well, rest, and live comfortably in this house. That’s all I want from you.”

Kian didn’t seem to understand, but perhaps because of his slave status, he didn’t question me further. Paying a massive sum for a slave only to not make him do anything… of course he found it strange. I felt a twinge of guilt for not being able to explain properly.
I told him to rest well and left his room.
As I walked through the quiet halls of the mansion, I recalled what I had just seen. Kian’s right shoulder bore the burn scar described in the novel. A scar made by branding his skin with heated metal. It had been done by the vile noble who had once owned him.

That noble had grown jealous of his wife treating Kian kindly and tried to ruin his face. His wife had intervened, so he stopped at burning Kian’s shoulder—but even after that, he continued to torment him. Whenever he was angry, he’d call for Kian and lash him to vent his temper.
I had seen the countless scars on his back. Reading about it in the novel had been painful—but seeing it for myself was even worse.
If Kian hadn’t gone through such horrific things…
If just one person had shown him genuine kindness…
Maybe he wouldn’t have blackened.
Maybe he could have loved and smiled like an ordinary person.

Now that I had taken him in, wasn’t I being given the chance to find out? To stop Kian’s descent into darkness, and to extend my own life—
I was prepared to endure anything.
***
I said I’d endure anything, but… I didn’t expect things to blow up like this. Just moments ago, the butler Albert had brought me today’s paper. Right there, on the front page, was a photo of Kian—accompanied by the headline:

[The Man Sold for 100 Billion Gallons]
The highest bid in slave auction history… Buyer is a lady from a wealthy noble house
Sold for five times the price of Allen Servie’s final work “Lady of Twilight”
The photo had been taken last night in front of the opera house. Someone must’ve snapped the picture just before Kian got into the carriage. I continued reading the article.
[Last night, a beautiful young male slave was sold for 100 billion gallons at a secret auction held at the XX Opera House. The buyer is believed to be Lady O of a wealthy noble family…]

Lady O obviously referred {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} to me. At secret auctions, participants wore masks to conceal their identities. But journalists—well, they’d do anything for a scoop. They must’ve secretly followed me and uncovered who I was.
I glanced at the name of the newspaper. The Daily Gossip. As the name suggested, it specialized in gossip and sensational stories. The public, always hungry for scandal, read it for fun, and it had decent sales because of that. Its influence was nothing compared to the major newspapers, but still, I couldn’t just let this slide.
Albert asked cautiously,

“My lady, how should we proceed?”
“They should pay for running their mouths.”
They were just gossip reporters. Not people with noble convictions. Scaring them into silence wouldn’t be hard.

“Don’t go too hard. Just teach them a light lesson.”
“Understood.”
Albert answered with utmost loyalty. He likely served me so faithfully because he believed I had prophetic dreams. Maybe it was because I used knowledge of the original novel to make a bit of money as soon as I possessed this body. Well… Calling it a prophetic dream wasn’t completely wrong. I couldn’t explain the truth anyway. Best to just let it be.

As I folded the newspaper, my eyes caught the photo of Kian on the front page. He was still wearing that dangerously revealing outfit from the auction.
Now that I think about it… he doesn’t have anything to wear. There were no young noblemen living in this mansion. But I didn’t want to dress him in servant’s clothes either.
I rose from my seat in the study and said to the butler,

“I need to go shopping.”
The ever-faithful butler responded immediately.
“I’ll have the carriage prepared.”

“Yes, thank you.”
To properly care for Kian until the day he awakened as a mage—my first task was now clear.