I Became the Master of the Villain

As I stepped out of the carriage, the thick stench of blood pierced my nose.
Outside was a scene of carnage. Blood and flesh everywhere. Knights lay collapsed, drenched in gore, impaled by spears of ice. The tortured howls of dying horses filled the air.
A horrifying sight that made bile rise in my throat was illuminated by the cold, detached light of a jagged fragment of moon.

The once-tranquil forest road had turned into a hell reeking of death. But the slaughter wasn’t over yet.
The surviving knights were still battling an assassin in a mask.
I stared in disbelief at the lone assassin who was fending off all the knights.

His movements were far beyond human.
He swung his sword at a speed nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye. Every time the mercilessly honed blade drew a line through the air, a scream followed, and blood splattered.
One by one, the knights collapsed before the insurmountable gap in power. Cutting down those who stood in his path, he drew closer and closer. The hand gripping the hem of my dress trembled.

"My lady!"
It was Kian’s voice that snapped me out of my petrified state. He pulled me into his arms and rolled us into the underbrush.
A pillar of ice slammed into the spot where I had just been standing. Shards of ice flew up and slashed across my skin.

Feeling a sharp sting on my cheek, I lifted my head.
A black-robed mage, hidden in the darkness, finally entered my line of sight. Magic gathered in his palm, and a chunk of ice began to form.
The protective necklace I wore suddenly came to mind like a lightning bolt.

The mage stretched his arm to launch the ice spear. Just as I reached for the necklace, the mage suddenly screamed.
"Kgh!"
A dagger flew like a bullet and pierced the mage’s right hand. The ice spear meant for me veered off and embedded itself in a tree trunk.

The dagger had come from Sir Hans. Clashing swords with the masked assassin, he shouted,
"My lady! Run!"
He blocked the assassin’s sword and shouted again,
"Go! I’ll take care of him and follow after!"

Sir Hans didn’t look back.
He was among the most skilled knights of House Ashford. And yet, I couldn’t be sure he would survive.
But there was no time to hesitate. I knew better than anyone that I couldn’t waste the time he had bought for us.

"My lady, quickly! Get on!"
Kian shouted, leading a surviving horse that had miraculously endured a blow from the ice spear. He lifted me into the saddle, then climbed up behind me.
The sound of hooves thundered through the forest path, now deserted.

If we kept going like this, we would reach the capital. Once there, we could ask the city guard for help. As I urged the horse forward, I kept repeating it to myself like a mantra.
Kian must not die. He has to live.
This was all happening because I had changed the original story. If he were to die before awakening...

If he died because of me… the very thought made my chest tighten unbearably.
That was when I felt the temperature around us drop drastically.
I looked up at the sky. Countless ice spears with razor-sharp tips hung suspended in the air.

The black-robed mage hovering above raised his hand, then swept it downward.
The long ice spears fell like a meteor shower. Clutching the necklace engraved with protection magic, I shouted,
"Kian, hold on tight!"

I felt his arm wrap tightly around my waist.
A blizzard of piercing ice slammed into the earth. White shards exploded before my eyes, painting the world in blinding whiteness.
In the foggy haze that followed, I gripped the reins as tightly as I could. The horse galloped nonstop through the storm of ice.

Finally, when the hail-like ice rain ceased—at the far end of the straight road, I saw the towering walls of the capital.
We were almost there. We just had to make it a little farther—
And then, a searing pain burst through my chest.

I instinctively brought my hand to the spot where the pain throbbed, and blood gushed out in waves. Looking down at my crimson-stained palm, I understood—too late—what had happened.
From above, the mage spoke in a flat voice.
"It seems your artifact has reached its limit."

A dagger-length icicle had pierced my chest. The gemstone in the necklace that once shimmered with protective magic had long since lost its light and crumbled to dust.
The mage launched another spell. The horse, shredded by ice, collapsed with a scream. Kian caught me as we fell off together.
We rolled across the ground several times. Oddly, instead of pain, I felt the warmth of Kian’s arms around me more clearly than anything.

Kian struggled to sit up. With trembling hands, he grasped mine. His once-pale and beautiful face was now torn and bloodied.
"My lady, my lady…!"
His glassy eyes, like shattered marbles, desperately searched mine. He rubbed my cooling hand against his cheek.

Poor boy.
I forced a smile for him and squeezed out the last of my strength.
"Run… away…"

Kian’s expression twisted in anguish, as if he were about to cry. He shook his head.
"That’s… an order I cannot obey."
He refused to leave my side, no matter what. Through my dimming vision, I saw magic gathering in the mage’s hands again. His voice pronounced a sentence of death.

"I’ll send you to join your master."
The spell flew at Kian.
"Kh…!"

He groaned, spitting blood.
In the pouring rain of ice, he used his body as a shield and took the full brunt of the attack.
In an instant, his body was torn to shreds. Bloodied and beaten, he called out to me.

"M… lady…"
Seeing him like that, tears streamed down my face.
No…

You mustn’t die here.
I tried to speak, but all that came out was the sound of blood gurgling in my throat. Breathing grew harder, my vision dimmed.
I had promised to make him happy, but now I couldn’t keep that promise.

If only I hadn’t tried to change the original story.
Then, at least, this ending could have been avoided.
Even if he lost his lover and became a cold-blooded killer in despair—

Following the original plot might have been better.
At least he wouldn’t have died.
Because of a selfish, calculating woman like me who tried to rewrite the story—

You…
This is all my fault. I’m sorry…
With those final words I couldn’t say, my vision went black.

***
In the beginning, he had misunderstood her.
Kind mistresses always wanted something in return. So he assumed she was no different.

But Olivia…
She had run to him with eyes full of worry, saving him from danger. Her cold hands had shared their warmth. She punished the servant who had hurled cruel words at him, and applied ointment herself to his unsightly scars.
Maybe those gestures meant nothing to her.

But to him, they had been unbearably kind.
He thought it didn’t matter if he lived the rest of his life as a slave, to be thrown away like trash once he was too old to be useful.
Because he had no expectations from this life. No hope.

And yet…
Why did the sunlight glimmering on the lake’s surface look so beautiful?
Why did it warm a corner of his heart whenever she smiled at him?

Only then did Kian realize he had been gravely mistaken.
He thought he had given up on everything. But that wasn’t true.
Even if it had worn thin and dulled, it was still there—the desire to live, to be happy—as a person.

It was the truth he had discovered after meeting her.
"Run… away…"
That was why he couldn’t abandon her and flee. It didn’t take long to decide—he would die by her side if he had to.

A sharp sensation stabbed his back, accompanied by excruciating pain.
As blood flowed from him, his vision spun.
Through the haze caused by blood loss, he saw her face, drained of all color.

She was crying. He tried to wipe her tears, but she didn’t stop crying.
He wanted to save her. Just as she had always done for him.
If he left her like this, she would die.

He had to get her somewhere safe—now.
Whipping his uncooperative body into motion, Kian picked Olivia up.
The mage sneered at the sight.

"Such stubbornness from a slave."
Kian glared at the mage like he would kill him.
He growled through clenched teeth.

"Don’t interfere."
He had finally realized it.
He had finally decided not to give up on this life.

He had to save her—the one who reached out to someone like him, who was alive but as good as dead.
But then, Olivia’s head fell limp in his arms, like a puppet with its strings cut.
His eyes widened, disbelief and denial written across his face.

"No…"
His mind went blank. He bit his lip so hard it bled.
Why? Why…?

What did she do wrong to deserve this? He had only just found happiness. Why was it being stolen from him?
"My lady…"
He called her ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) name, full of desperate hope. But no answer came.

"…"
Rage—an emotion he had long forgotten.
As a slave, if you let every injustice make you angry, it would only destroy you.

Eventually, all he could feel was helplessness and resignation.
Even murderous intent had been buried and forgotten.
Once, when he was young, he had tried to escape from his master.

After that, he never tried again.
The slaves who killed their masters and ran were executed in the most horrific ways. His master had dragged him to the plaza and made him watch, beginning to end.
That day, a fear etched into his very bones smothered any will to resist. It cut it off at the root. He was trained not to even imagine another life beyond slavery.

What remained was absolute obedience.
No matter how much he hated his masters—no matter how much he wanted to kill them—he had consciously buried those feelings.
Because without the power to act on them, those emotions were nothing but garbage. They only hurt him more. So he pretended they didn’t exist. Pretended not to see them.

But now… there was no need to hold back.
No need to endure.
If this was to be the end of his life anyway—

Kian let the rage and bloodlust completely consume him.
And then, a killing intent so massive even he could not believe it began to surge inside him—mad with fury toward those who had done this to Olivia.
Uncontrollable, overwhelming fury devoured his rationality.

He would tear them apart—leave nothing behind.
Every last one of them.
"I’ll kill you all."

The moment those words left his mouth—
A force as fierce and blazing as wildfire erupted from deep within him.