I Will Fulfill the Role of the Villain-Chapter 161

It was well past midnight. Dawn was still a long way off in the dim, early hours of morning.

Behind the Welharun annex, Luke, with a robe drawn over his head, scanned his surroundings alertly. In the distance, the silhouettes of royal knights making their patrol rounds could be seen.

He waited until they passed completely, then began to move in earnest. Keeping his body low and minimizing his footsteps, he cautiously made his way toward the rear gate of the palace.

His hand slipped beneath his robe, groping for the object concealed inside as if to confirm its presence. For now, the first hurdle was to exit the palace grounds without being noticed. The goal was to board the carriage Cailern had prepared.

Soon enough, the rear gate of the palace came into view. Fortunately, there was no sign of the patrolling knights. The gate was firmly shut, but that wasn't a problem—Brett was supposed to be waiting to open it for him, just as they'd arranged.

Like an arrow slicing through the air, Luke dashed swiftly up to the rear gate. The breeze brushing past his face felt colder than usual tonight.

“......”

Standing before the grand rear gate of the palace—

Luke rolled his eyes busily, searching for Brett, but something felt off. Brett, who was supposed to meet him here, was nowhere to be seen. They had timed everything precisely.

Without panicking, Luke approached the gate. Even without Brett, he was determined to find another way to get through.

He looked up at the firmly shut gate, thinking through his options—when suddenly, Luke, standing perfectly still, sharpened his senses toward the direction behind him.

“......”

The rustling of leaves in the wind remained the same, and the surroundings were utterly still, silent as the grave. Nothing had changed since he'd left the annex, and yet—Luke sensed a subtle shift in the air currents. Slowly, he turned around.

“Going for a stroll at this early hour?”

A gentle yet smooth voice scattered through the air. His eyes, already adjusted to the dark, clearly captured the figure approaching him.

Heath Ferid.

He stood there, lips curled into a smooth smile.

“If you simply wanted some fresh air, wouldn’t it be better to wait until daybreak? Unless, of course, you had a reason why you just had to leave right now.”

“......”

“Ah... so you do have a reason to leave the palace at this hour, then?”

His voice hadn’t changed one bit from the mellow tone Luke remembered when they first met. Slowly, Luke raised a hand and pulled off his robe. In the moonless darkness, where even a hint of light was absent, his silver hair fluttered in the breeze.

“If you really insist on going out for a walk... I suppose I’ll need to assign you an escort. We wouldn’t want a delegate from an allied nation to get injured, now would we?”

No sooner had Heath’s eyes curled like crescent moons than a dull thud rang out. A body slumped to the ground.

Bound with rope, unconscious and groaning in pain—it was none other than Brett, the person Luke was supposed to meet here.

Luke’s gaze, locked on Brett, turned frigid.

“Don’t worry too much. I wouldn’t go so far as to kill someone my little brother cares about. But in that state, I doubt he’s in any shape to escort you.”

Luke clenched his fist. Judging by the fact that Brett was groaning, it seemed Heath was telling the truth—he hadn’t killed him.

“In that case, I’ll personally assign someone to accompany you.”

As Heath raised his right hand into the air to signal, footsteps echoed from all directions. Front, back, and both flanks—an overwhelming number of knights emerged, surrounding Luke.

“...Isn’t that a bit much for an escort?”

“Oh? But I hope you can appreciate my concern. Besides, you can’t properly use magic with your hand in that condition, can you?”

“Oh, so the head of NOX even tells you things like that, Your Highness?”

This time, it was Heath who went silent. He made no attempt to answer, instead striding forward, gradually closing the distance. With each step, the smile faded further from his face. The eyes that had once curled so gently now sharpened, and the lips that had been drawn in a smooth arc stiffened into a flat line.

The same inexplicable sense of revulsion Luke had felt upon first meeting Heath returned, crawling up his legs and wrapping around his whole body.

“You really did a good job of deceiving Cailern. I didn’t think even in my wildest dreams that a dog from Hainere would sneak in.”

“Well, considering Welharun was the first to stoop so low as to unleash reconnaissance beasts, it’s not like we were obligated to play fair.”

“I didn’t expect Cailern to spill everything. And you actually dared to sneak into that room? So then—what did you see?”

Luke simply smiled. Even with knights surrounding him, and even after being caught sneaking out, he remained composed. Heath furrowed his brow in irritation without realizing it.

“A summoning magic circle.”

“......”

“A circle capable of summoning and controlling a large number of high-class monsters. I also saw that it’s not complete yet. And based on what I read... here’s my guess.”

Luke stroked his chin and paused.

“I think the unfinished part is related to teleportation magic. In other words—the real purpose of the magic circle is not just to summon monsters, but to warp them somewhere else. Isn’t that right?”

Some parts of the circle he’d seen in that room were clearly for controlling monsters. The remaining unfinished sections had been hard to decipher at first. But the letter he’d found offered enough hints to piece it together.

“They’ve probably placed a corresponding magic circle at the border with Hainere. Meaning: your real plan was to summon high-class monsters, then teleport them to the Hainere border.”

The sheer mana packed into that magic circle had been overwhelming. Even someone not well-versed in summoning magic like himself could feel it—an unimaginable number of powerful monsters could be summoned.

If those monsters were released near the border, the outcome was obvious. They would tear through the barrier and launch an invasion into Hainere. Just like the war with Memburn.

The difference was, Memburn had only attacked ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) with mid-tier monsters. That had been manageable. But this—this was a different story.

This was Welharun’s true intention. Having allied with NOX, they first tried to extract Hainere’s military intel using Benzie and those reconnaissance monsters.

And even as they did that, they were secretly preparing the summoning circle. If they unleashed high-class monsters using the intel Benzie stole, even a strong military nation would be helpless.

But even after Benzie’s mission was thwarted by Theo and himself, Welharun hadn’t abandoned the plan. Seeing that magic circle, Luke realized they’d decided to go through with the invasion even without the intel.

“So, Hainere’s soldiers are all this competent?”

“I should correct you on one thing. I’m not a soldier.”

Heath’s brow twitched. It seemed he’d assumed Luke had to be military, since he was a spy from Hainere. And sure, Luke was temporarily attached to the military—but this wasn’t the time to explain every detail.

“You’re right about everything. Well done figuring it out. Now, would you kindly hand over what you’ve hidden in your robe? And after that, I think it would be best if you quietly returned to your quarters.”

Heath’s eyes dropped downward. He must’ve realized Luke was hiding something in his cloak.

“That magic circle—it’s still incomplete, right?”

“Yes. But not for long. So until then, I need your delegation to stay quietly in this palace.” ƒreewebɳovel.com

“Are you saying you plan to imprison the entire delegation? Hainere won’t stay silent when they realize their foreign minister hasn’t returned.”

Even if the foreign minister was a rather pitiful man, he was still a high-ranking official. Detaining someone like that on a whim amounted to grabbing a nation by the collar and throwing the first punch.

“I told you, didn’t I? It’ll all be over soon. Your delegation was supposed to return in three days, right?”

“Which means... you plan to invade Hainere in three days.”

Heath’s smile returned—fresh and bright. If judged by appearance alone, he looked nothing like someone preparing for war.

Luke looked around. The knights stationed nearby hadn’t made any moves yet, but if the prince gave the order, they’d all draw their swords and rush at him. There were probably around a hundred of them.

“Give it up. Who do you think is guarding the foreign minister’s room right now?”

So Heath had posted knights there as well. He was clearly implying that if Luke resisted, the minister wouldn’t be safe.

“That old man isn’t exactly someone I feel obligated to protect... but now I’m curious. If you give the order, will these knights here really cut me down without hesitation?”

“Of course. The Royal Guard was given their swords to protect the bloodline of the imperial family.”

Luke muttered, “Just as I thought,” under his breath, prompting Heath to click his tongue in irritation. He looked like he couldn’t understand why Luke remained so calm.

“So do the knights know?”

“Know what?”

“That you’re not a real prince—but just a son of a bitch pretending to be one?”

The knights exchanged shocked glances.

“Hey, since you seemed to be having so much fun playing prince, I figured I’d humor you a little...”

Luke rolled up his sleeves. Veins stood out on the back of his clenched fist—and then, he slammed that fist straight into Heath’s face.

The force of the blow sent Heath flying and crashing to the ground.

“I’m getting real tired of this. So take off the damn mask, bastard.”