I Possessed the Villain’s Childhood Friend – Chapter 27

Anna woke up and suddenly remembered the old days.

‘I am the eldest daughter of the Rozelia Duke House. No matter what happens, I must never show weakness.’

It was absurd to think that such words would come from a girl who could hardly be five years old back then.

Yet Reina acted as if those words were a vow to uphold at all costs.

Without uttering a single complaint, she endured the burdensome tasks that might seem unreasonable to a child.

That was the first meeting between Anna, who was once an assassin for Avatarara, and Reina.

At that time, Anna’s mission was to assassinate Reina, the eldest daughter of the Rozelia Duke House.

Assassinating Reina was a task that required a long time.

Being the eldest daughter meant she was always accompanied by guards.

Of course, if Anna put her heart into it, breaking through the guards to kill Reina wouldn’t be difficult.

But there was no guarantee she could escape afterward.

In order to prevent any unexpected situations, Anna decided to come up with a solid plan.

More than a year had passed since Anna was affiliated with the Rozelia Duke House.

Having been recognized for her various talents in Rozelia, she had even risen to the position of an official attendant.

Soon, she thought, she would be able to complete her mission and return.

And that day was approaching.

“Thank you for your hard work, Captain.”

“Oh, Mei. Has it already been that long?”

At that time, Anna was using the pseudonym Mei.

She had no real name.

Having grown up in Avatarara, she always used an alias.

“What about Reina?”

“She’s asleep. We need to keep her energy up for the next three hours.”

That day, Anna was assigned to be Reina’s early morning guard.

The attendant on early morning duty had to check on Reina’s condition once, just in case of any accidents.

While pretending to check her status, she would take Reina’s breath away.

Then, she would disguise the corpse she had prepared to look like hers.

After that, she would set fire to Reina’s room and escape, and that would be the end.

It was simple, but Anna lamented that the preparations took far too long as she stood in the empty hallway.

“…Shall we get started?”

The clock on the wall had already pointed to 3 AM.

It was time to execute the plan.

Creeeak.

With a faint sound, the door opened.

The dreamy moonlight illuminated the dark room.

And the target, Reina, was sitting on the bed, looking at Anna.

“Miss?”

“Is it already 3 AM?”

“…Isn’t it time for you to be sleeping?”

“Today, I found out you’re my early morning guard. I wanted to talk for a bit.”

Reina said so and smiled softly.

Receiving her murky violet gaze, Anna, for some reason, found herself unable to move.

“Am I… going to die now?”

At that question, Anna involuntarily knelt down.

★

On this early morning when the fog had yet to lift, the tavern was closed.

The one tidying up the tables was an old bartender.

“Excuse me.”

“We’re closed for business.”

“That’s not it; I’d like to make a request.”

“…Come in for a moment.”

The bartender paused his work for a moment, opened the door, and let Anna inside.

Feigning that she was following, Anna swiftly grabbed him by the neck with both hands.

“What the—!?”

Before his scream could echo, Anna immediately snapped his neck.

A repulsive sound and sensation resonated in her ears.

The bartender’s eyes widened in shock as life left his body.

Frowning, Anna tossed the corpse aside before opening the back door of the tavern.

There was a staircase leading down to the basement.

Fortunately, the basement was filled with places to hide.

It felt like a corridor she could escape through at any time.

Thanks to that, she could move on without easily running into anyone.

“…By the way, that guy. Isn’t he a bit scary?”

“A01?”

“Yeah.”

As she quietly searched for Anna, she heard a conversation and pricked up her ears.

“It’s already been over three years. How is it that he hasn’t said a word even once despite being tortured every day?”

“Just killing him would be easier.”

“You know that’s nonsense, right? He’s the boss’s finest masterpiece, cultivated from the start. We have to get him back somehow.”

“Still, requesting to stay away from the Rozelia Duke House is a bit much, don’t you think?”

“That’s true.”

She found them.

They were definitely talking about Anna.

…Considering they were saying he was being tortured, he was probably in the basement.

Typically, torture rooms are underground.

“But what about the rat?”

“…We should kill him.”

Damn it.

In an instant, the wall she was leaning against crumbled down, creating a huge cloud of dust that obscured her vision completely.

I immediately summoned my magical power and drew Neia, swinging it.

The sound of metal clashing resounded.

But it seemed I couldn’t completely block the attack, and I received shallow wounds all over my body.

Once the dust settled, numerous daggers were embedded in the surroundings.

“What shall we do?”

“Eliminate the intruder. There’s no need to spare them.”

When she heard the voices from beyond the wall, there were clearly two of them, but now, numerous masked goons had surrounded her.

“…Couldn’t I perhaps send someone I’m looking for?”

There was no reply to her request.

Things weren’t going as expected.

She thought they would go guerrilla-style.

Seeing daggers flying towards her from all directions, she couldn’t help but think that she would have to complain to Anna, who had left Reina.

With that thought, she quietly steeled her resolve.

“Haah, haah, haah.”

As she caught her breath and scanned her surroundings, the assassins had vanished.

“That’s quite a hassle.”

She had no intention of avoiding a frontal clash, yet the number of opponents was overwhelming.

More than 30 assassins moved in perfect synchronization, and she struggled to respond to them completely.

It seemed their daggers were coated with poison, as the left arm she was stabbed in throbbed painfully.

Even when she channeled magical power for first aid, it only eased the pain slightly.

There were still nearly 50 assassins left.

So she thought she should take a little break before making a move….

“What’s going on?”

A heavy voice that resonated through her bones reached her from behind.

“Did they all die? Useless bunch.”

Slowly turning around, she saw a massive man over 2 meters tall standing there.

He had a long scar on his right cheek and oddly wore a pitch-black suit that didn’t match the atmosphere.

“So what’s your purpose?”

He seemed utterly indifferent to the gore surrounding him.

The ones sprawled on the ground were clearly his subordinates.

“I’m just looking for someone by chance.”

His cold gaze met her response.

There was no hint of agitation in those eyes.

“So could you send them away, Mr. Black Wolf?”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

He slowly drew his sword from behind.

It was a greatsword that fit his massive frame.

“Die.”

Contrary to his size and the greatsword he wielded, he moved with remarkable agility.

In an instant, he was beside her, and she had to retreat from the upward slash aimed at her.

“…What’s your deal?”

A sigh escaped her lips.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing.”

The man standing before her was the Black Wolf, the boss of the assassins depicted in the original assassination episode.

Despite being an assassin, he wielded a greatsword, a twist that made him quite popular, even as an antagonist.

This just got troublesome.

Given her depleted stamina and the growing tingling in her left arm, she didn’t feel confident about winning easily.

So she had wanted to take a break and then move.

“Damn it.”

It seemed like nothing was going as planned, and a sigh naturally escaped her.

★

“Isn’t it easier to just die and let it all be over?”

“…What’s that supposed to mean?”

“After all, I’m someone who’s not even home. It wouldn’t matter if I disappeared.”

Anna couldn’t understand what Reina was saying at all.

What on Earth was this girl talking about?

Anna was, after all, standing there to kill Reina.

And she had already witnessed the deaths of numerous people.

Even so, Anna had never encountered a situation like this before.

People facing death become frantic. Some even fall into madness.

They beg for their lives.

They lose their minds, wishing to live.

Some even faint.

But she had never met someone so calm in the face of death, especially not a girl who wasn’t even seven yet.

Anna was gripped by fear at that realization.

She had to kill her.

If she stayed like this, her entire worldview would change.

Driven by that instinct, Anna rose again, gripping the knife in her right hand.

Then she took one step after another toward Reina.

“…”

Reina looked at Anna without any expression.

In that moment, Anna felt a coldness like ice.

Anna grabbed Reina by the collar and forcibly laid her down on the bed.

Just as she was about to slowly thrust the knife into her heart—

“In this way, there was someone who would look at me.”

Anna found herself gazing at Reina’s face as she smiled.

“Ah. Ahh, ahhh…!”

The fear that had just been in Anna’s heart slowly transformed into a different emotion.

Tears began to moisten Anna’s eyes as she looked at Reina’s face.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Life is irreplaceable once it flickers out.

Reina, this girl, understood that and was trying to accept her death.

But faced with death, the girl’s arms began to tremble slowly.

Anna witnessed that sight.

Finally, Anna realized her own sin.

How precious life truly is, she only understood that now.

Her apologies were a form of atonement for all the people she had killed before.

But even if Anna had been trained and brainwashed her entire life since birth,

That would remain a stain that would never disappear.

Realizing that fact, Anna buried her face in the chest of the much younger Reina and uttered words of repentance.

Until the other attendants entered Reina’s room, she continued endlessly.

“I will confess everything.”

Anna revealed everything.

That she belonged to the assassin organization, Avatarara.

That she had come to assassinate Reina under someone’s request.

She laid it all bare without hiding anything.

“Now, I want to live for Reina, as an atonement.”

Those words reflected Anna’s genuine feelings.

Of course, she thought it would be impossible.

But surprisingly, it was Duke Ricard, Reina’s father, who gave her a chance.

Having recognized Anna’s diverse skills, he decided to employ her.

Of course, it wasn’t without constraints.

She had to write an oath declaring that no matter what happened, she would remain loyal to the Rozelia Duke House.

If she broke this oath, Anna would die immediately, and her magical power would burn in the fires of hell for eternity.

But Anna had no hesitation.

She had already vowed to live with atonement for the rest of her life.

After that, Anna began special training.

She wasn’t allowed to go near Reina. She couldn’t even hear any news about her.

And night after night, she had to deal with the assassins from Avatarara.

It was a sufficiently arduous time, but Anna never once showed a complaint.

As three years passed, Anna was appointed as Reina’s exclusive maid.

“Why am I suddenly remembering that time…?”

Could it mean that she missed the Rozelia Duke House that much?

But now, there was no going back there.

Her body would slowly rot away, trapped in this prison for life.

Wouldn’t it be easier to just die?

Ironically, Anna found herself thinking the same thing Reina had said back then.

Realizing this, Anna smiled self-deprecatingly and slowly closed her eyes.

“Anna.”

“Reina, my lady?”

Then, at the sudden voice, she opened her eyes once more.

“I’m sorry, but Aike’s here. Quickly get up. We need to go back.”

“…Aike? How on earth…?”

As she gradually raised her gaze, there stood Aike, who looked horrendous.

His forehead was completely split open, and blood flowed so heavily that he couldn’t even open his left eye.

His left arm look limp, poisoned, turning a sickly blue.

A deep wound in his right thigh exposed some of the bone.

Aside from that, countless other injuries adorned his body.

He appeared in a state that wouldn’t be unusual for him to collapse at any moment.

“What on earth happened…?”

“Don’t ask for details. I feel like I’m going to faint soon as it is. Just let’s move quickly.”

His breathing seemed labored, making it clear he was speaking truthfully.

He would surely collapse in no time if he met the boss of the organization, the Black Wolf.

“F-first, hide, Aike. It’s almost time for that man to return…”

“‘That man’? You mean the Black Wolf? He’s stronger than you’d think. I almost got a fatal injury thinking it was just a joke. Somehow, I managed to take him down.”

As Aike spoke, he threw something to the ground.

It was the pocket watch that the Black Wolf always carried.

“It’s all over, Anna. So let’s hurry back. I’m really tired.”

“…How? Why?”

“I’m really tired, can’t you just ask that now? Your lady, Reina, said she was feeling lonely without you, her exclusive maid. So she annoyed me for no good reason. Hurry back to Heros and at least write a letter apologizing for not having news until now.”

Click, the sound of the prison door opening echoed.

Aike entered the prison and pulled Anna up with his right hand.

“I told you to protect Reina, no matter what, didn’t I?”

“Yes. That’s why I….”

“Of course, you should have been there beside her. What’s all this suffering for?”

Aike, who said this with a smile as if he felt no pain at all, seemed to be genuinely carrying them all.

“You and I are both suffering because of your lady, right? Isn’t that so?”

Hearing those words, Anna slowly smiled just like him.

“But I’m still on Lady Reina’s side.”

“And so am I.”

Then, supporting each other, they slowly left the prison.