TESWKM 2

chapter 2

Just like in my original world, this world also had monsters, and without attributes or other powers, survival would have been difficult. So, I felt relieved.

On top of that, my dark magic was the strongest in the world.
I was a prodigy, having earned the youngest-ever dark magic certificate with my genius intellect and endless mana.

Now, in this world, I had decided to twist the original story.
My goal? Destroy the brutal ending where I die for my favorite, stand by my favorite villainess unnie, and live happily ever after!

First, I needed to get close to my favorite villainess unnie…

The problem was that earlier, I had acted so strangely that the proud, world-looking-down villainess had taken a step back from me.

I cupped my face with both hands and recalled the sight of her retreating like she was escaping.
…Even her back was beautiful.
Exactly like I had imagined.
A sharp, elegant, beautiful red cat.

How could I possibly turn this sharp, catlike villainess unnie to my side?

I thought about what my villainess unnie liked in the original story and decided to use that to win her over.
Though she had a villain persona and could be terribly mean, she was genuinely kind to those she cared about.

The reason she became a villain was that people like Caroline and her hypocritical protectors constantly made her angry.
So, all I needed to do was stick by her side and remove, with my own hands, the people who would irritate her in the future.

I nodded and stretched my lips into a grin.
“Alright, mission to win over the villainess unnie who would kill me—begin!”

The carriage arrived at the Brenscia Viscount’s mansion.
It was even bigger and more extravagant than the previous, unnamed baron’s estate. My jaw dropped.

“Wow… I heard they were nouveau riche, but are they really this wealthy?”

Escorted by a guard, I stepped into the lobby, my mouth constantly agape at the interior’s beauty, even more stunning than the exterior.

“Our daughter is here!”

Viscount Brenscia ran toward me with arms open, and I stepped back with a forced smile.
Though the story hadn’t mentioned him being a doting father, I remembered that Ellinea had wanted to become a noble so badly that she had spent a fortune buying the viscount’s estate. So it made sense that he treated her like a precious gem.

The viscount noticed me stepping back and lowered his arms with a slightly disappointed look.

“Just last year, you used to let me hold you and even give me kisses, our daughter…”

Luckily, before I possessed her, Ellinea had stopped that overly sentimental habit.

“I’ve grown up now, Father. My debutante ball is coming soon.”

Words flowed from my mouth without my control, widening my eyes in surprise.

“Oh, I see. The debutante ball. The day our daughter has been waiting for so long is almost here.”

The debutante ball.
A ceremony where young nobles flaunted their attribute powers, solidifying their position in society, while noble sons (Yeong-sik) aimed for good positions in the knightly orders.

“In terms of your attribute power, don’t worry. I’ve arranged a very strong wind-attribute knight for you…”

In the original story, Ellinea had no attribute, so with her father’s help, she appeared with a fallen noble’s knight who did have an attribute, making her even more of a laughingstock.
Caroline tried to prevent this by interfering, but it only drew Perioze’s attention, resulting in an even more disastrous debutante ball.

Thinking back, Caroline had been unnecessarily meddlesome.
She intended to help others, but often caused trouble that benefited herself, which probably explains why Perioze disliked her.

“Father, could you give me money instead of a knight?”

I couldn’t let the debutante ball go badly like in the original story, so I asked the viscount for money.
Even though I didn’t immediately need it, I could use it as a pretense to make my dark magic appear like an attribute ability. Money was the easiest and best excuse.

“Money? Why would you need money…?”
“To… buy an attribute ability.”

If there’s money, anything is possible.

“Buy an attribute ability with money? Is that even possible?”
“It’s a secret.”

I whispered my plan into the viscount’s ear.
My dark magic resembled the Northern Duke’s darkness attribute in appearance.
Even the dorm kids had joked that the dark magic we studied was probably the Northern Duke’s power.

So I explained that someone had developed a way to trap a fragment of the Northern Duke’s darkness attribute in an item.
This mysterious person demanded an astronomical sum, but owning the item would make anyone look like they could wield a darkness attribute.
The viscount didn’t hesitate and signed several blank checks for me.

“Ah, nouveau riche really is convenient.”

With the blank checks in hand, I headed into the city.
The most important goal now was to get close to my villainess unnie and turn our mutual death ending into a happy one.

The first step: win her favor.
I booked the entire second floor of her favorite café and sent word to her mansion.
She loved the café’s cakes and coffee and usually had servants deliver them to her, preferring the view of the busy streets from there over eating at home, but avoided visiting in person to protect her reputation.

Her top priority now was her reputation in front of Crown Prince Lloyd.
Knowing this, I rented the second floor, ensuring she would come even if she was wary of me.

As expected, she arrived at the café after my first message.

“What is this?”
Removing her wide-brimmed hat, she sat across from me, looking stunning as always.

“It’s been a while, unnie Perioze.”

Her brows furrowed deeply at my greeting.
Gasp—so beautiful!
Even that frown looked divine, and I instinctively covered my burning cheeks with my hands.

“I don’t know your intentions, young lady.”
“I’m Ellinea. Please just call me Ellie, unnie.”

Her expression said ‘What is this?’
I smiled and addressed the approaching staff:

“Two iced lattes, extra syrup. Wouldn’t you like the same, unnie?”

“….”
“Your usual is fine, but on days like today, you need something sweet. Have you tried them with the salted bread here? It’s so good, you might die from it! Just trust me this once and try it.”

I pressed the point so that, before she could respond, the staff would feel I was insisting by force.

“Quickly, bring two iced lattes with extra syrup. The biggest cup size. Also, two salted breads and a lightly sweetened cheesecake—her favorite items.”

Her eyes began to sparkle noticeably.

Then, outside the window, I heard murmurs from below:

“Did you hear? Strange flowers have bloomed in the flower bed.”
“Black flowers? Are they just burnt?”

Their conversation caught my attention, and instinctively, I moved toward the window.

In one corner of the first-floor flower bed, black flowers were wilting in a strangely unnatural way.
Though not visible, a strange aura rose from them—like encountering a monster in my old world.

“Those aren’t just flowers…”

A chill ran down my spine, and my breath hitched.
I had felt something like this before, back in my world—mutant monsters.

At that moment, a child reached for the flowers.

“Danger!”

I shouted instinctively and reached toward the child.

Ziiing—
My dark magic formed a shield in front of the child.
At the same time, the black flowers revealed grotesque teeth and lunged.
The teeth shattered against my dark magic shield with a crack.
The black flowers withered and died instantly.

“Waaah!”
The frightened child fell backward, crying.
I reabsorbed the shield like a shadow.
Because I had made the shadowy mist defense visually subtle, no one except the child saw it clearly.

Still, I scanned the crowd just in case and called to the villainess unnie:

“Unnie, wait!”

Then I rushed down to the first floor and helped the child.
Nobody dared approach because of the black flowers, not even what seemed to be the child’s mother.

“Are you okay?”
I held the child’s hand and helped them up.
Tears streamed down the child’s face like tiny grapes as they nodded.