The Villain Can't Lose

The next morning when I woke up, Nari was still my priority but seeing Serenu greeting me with a warm smile made me think about something else.

"Good morning, Master." He bowed his head to me.

"Morning, Serenu." I sat up.

I stood up and went downstairs to have breakfast, 'the maids did a good job cleaning up the mansion since everything looked bright and shiny. It was still early, so there weren't many people around.

I walked towards the kitchen where Rowen's favourite cook, Dorian was busy making food.

"Good morning, Master," he greeted me with a smile.

I gave him a small bow as my greeting back to him.

I took a plate and placed it on the table, but then I noticed how nervous he was.

"Are you okay, Dorian?" I asked him, forgetting that it's not how Rowen talked to the servants.

He nodded and then he pointed towards the door, "please wait over there for a moment."

I sat down and waited for him to finish preparing the food.

"What's wrong?" I asked in a serious tone.

"I-It's nothing, Master," he stuttered.

I looked at him, "what is it?"

Dorian shook his head, "no, I just wanted to ask you if you could eat alone today."

"You don't need to worry about me, Dorian," I assured him, 'eat alone, Hector probably tried to poison my food.'

He looked relieved, "thank you, Master."

I wanted to laugh at his reaction, "you're welcome."

I finished my breakfast and cleaned up after myself, then I went back upstairs. I found a note from Mariabelle telling me to come to the garden, 'she couldn't write this, and she wouldn't.' My suspicion grew stronger.

Rowen was disliked by many and as he grew older, the number of people who hated him only increased.

When he was a kid, he would throw tantrums and when people tried to stop him, he would get violent. His nannies had no idea how to handle him, and after too many failed murder attempts, Rowen was sent to the academy.

"This fool doesn't learn," I whispered and then smirked.

Rowen's abilities were pretty impressive so far, and I actually wanted to see how well was his swordmanship developed, since I had his body, I 'will test it now.' I thought as I grabbed the sword and headed towards the garden.

I already knew where the garden was since Rowen spent most of his time in the area. Even though it was the middle of autumn, the garden wasn't completely barren. There were some flowers and plants that survived the cold weather.

When I reached the garden, I saw Mariabelle sitting on the bench and waiting for me. She looked away and turned back when she saw me coming, "brot-brother!"

She jumped off the bench and ran towards me, "I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to do that! Please don't kill me!" She was screaming while sniffing her nose in.

"Calm down," I said while I put my hand on her shoulder. Her behaviour was only clear to me that Hector was involved.

I led her to a spot in the garden where we could talk privately. Mariabelle's eyes were wide open, 'she must have been extremely scared.'

"Who told you to come here?" I asked straight.

She turned her round and chubby face to the side and looked at the ground. I leaned closer and placed my hand on her tiny shoulder.

Her sparkly blue dress with puffy sleeves made her look even cuter, especially since the light breeze blew the fabric around. "Look at me," I commanded her while I raised my tone and pulled her shoulders together.

Mariabelle complied and slowly raised her head, "it's okay, Mariabelle." I said and then noticed a red bruise right under her eye, "how did you get this bruise?"

"Carlo, he hit me." She whispered.

"What did he say to you, Mariabelle?"

Her eyes became sad, "he told me he was going to make sure I only have one brother and then told me to go to the garden." Her trembling skin and teary eyes convinced me that she was telling the truth.

"Did he threaten you?"

"No...but he threatened to hurt Kayden."

I clenched my fist, "did he tell you anything else?"

"No," she shook her head as water started pouring down her cheeks.

I hugged her tight, "take a deep breath."

Mariabelle sobbed into my chest, "I'll protect Kayden, don't worry."

While she was still in my arms, the sword that I had dropped on the ground in front of me to predict the attack shone, and a black shadow appeared in it.

I immediately pushed my sister away and grabbed the sword. It was a dark-brown longsword with a silver blade.

The sword began emitting light, and the shape of the sword changed again.

The handle became longer and the sword itself became bigger. The glowing blade was now a full-sized longsword.

*clink*

Zuri appeared on my shoulder.

[Rowen, I will become your sword] she spoke but my focus was on the man who appeared out of thin air. He was wearing a black robe and was carrying a staff.

'That's the guy who attacked Rowen in the academy,' I thought while the sword on my shoulder began to glow brighter.

The man walked towards us, "I know what you are planning, and I won't let you."

"What are you talking about?" I asked while Zuri stood next to me.

She then flew next to the sword and sank inside it.

The man smiled, "I'm talking about stopping your little game."

"My games?" I was confused.

Before he could answer, he raised his staff and pointed it at me, "hail, master!"

A dark green mist surrounded me and I felt a wave of pain all over my body. I tried to resist it, but I couldn't.

[Rowen, use me] Zuri spoke.

I nodded without a clear thought and then I saw the man in front of me go flying backwards. I quickly got up and swung my sword once again.

"Ngahaha!" I heard him laughing, "this is worth a bonus, so easy to kill," he spoke loudly.

"Easy to kill, you say," I grinned, 'I'm not going to die so suddenly.' I lifted the sword as Zuri said, "use me,"

I then saw the man in front of me raise his staff again.

Before he could do anything, I punched the ground with my left hand and created an energy shield around me, "so I can use Rowen's magic even if I'm not him," remember Rowen having this power but not knowing until he turned seventeen? 'Thank God, his part was more interesting to read than Dante's.' I focused.

[Create the mirror effect with a sword] Zuri ordered me sounding like a robot as if it wasn't her own voice.

I took a step forward, 'oh yeah, that's it, but how did she know?'

I swung my sword like a meteor, and the blade shattered the barrier of the shield. It caused a glass-like mirror effect to be scattered everywhere. But the man was too fast, and before I knew it, he had already raised his staff.

I was barely able to dodge the spell that was shot at me, but thanks to Zuri's fast in-and-out movements, the man was unable to get a solid hit at me.

He was so mad that he even cursed me, "you're dead! I'm going to make sure you never see your family again!"

His sentence made it sound as if he was in some kind of cartoon, I cringed at the voice. He then charged towards me again, but this time, I used the mirror effect.

I jumped off the ground and swung my sword downwards. I sliced the man's leg as he passed by me. He fell down and yelled, "you son of a bitch!"

I then ran towards the man and kicked him once, twice, three times. I didn't stop until he was unconscious.

I turned to Mariabelle, "are you okay?" I asked loudly.

"Yes," she answered. Her frozen face made it look like she was scared to death.

I looked at the man who was still unconscious and gritted my teeth. The blood began to boil as my veins popped up. I knew I was gonna have to kill someone here, but not in front of a child.

"Mariabelle, go back to the mansion," I ordered her while my full focus was on the man's body.

"Okay," she nodded and ran towards the mansion.

I then lifted my sword and moved towards the man, "get up, I know you're awake."

The man slowly sat up, "what are you going to do? Kill me?"

I then realized that he wasn't paying attention to me, but his eyes were focused on the ground where the glass shards of the mirror effect had been. The more he was avoiding my questions the more he annoyed me.

I had no other choice but to finish him off now. I then swung my sword, "let's end this."

I sliced the man's throat and watched him fall down. The blood sprayed out like a fountain, covering me in a thin layer of red. I could see the life go out of his eyes as he looked at me with fear and awe.

I tossed my sword to the ground beside me and then pulled out a stone I picked from Rowen's drawer and threw it into the air.

These stones had different effects depending on how many times you throw them. I was able to create a barrier that would be able to block any attack.

In case another one appears, this stone would be able to protect me for a while.

I then lifted my sword and stared at the man's corpse. "Zuri, can you give me details about this person?" I hoped that she would, considering how much she knew about me.

[Hmm, his name is Mark, he was a servant here.] She spoke.

"Why would a servant want to kill me?" I asked confused.

[Because he wants to take a place as the leader of the Ebon Blades.]

This name was familiar because it belonged to the organisation where my father bought Nari from.

"But why? What did I have to do with it?" I questioned, "anyway, thanks Zuri for helping me."

[No problem,] Zuri replied as her voice vanished and the sword I held in my hand got smaller.

After a few minutes, the adrenaline that was rushing through my veins slowly started fading, making me realise what I just did, and unable to hold it anymore, I coughed, vomiting out the breakfast I had in the morning.

*huuurgeeh*

It left a soar feeling inside my throat, but I had no time to care about this now, I turned around and looked down, "what to do with you?" I whispered as I kicked the corpse with my left foot.

A petty side of me wanted to bring his corpse and leave it next to the office, but I decided to let it rot inside the garden since the windows from Hector's chambers were pointed out straight to this spot.

He was watching.