WHTVT C4

Chapter 4

Noel hurriedly pulled the bell-cord hanging on the wall and called a servant.

Knock- knock-

“Come in.”

The servants who entered at his word went ashen the moment they saw his blood-smeared face and made a fuss.

“Y-Young Master Noel! Are you all right! Y-your face is all……!”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Bathwater.”

“B-but the blood……!”

“Did you not hear me say I’m fine? Use this time to draw the water. How long do you mean to make me wait.”

His head was already a mess; the people in front of him making a commotion with long faces made it throb.

Noel waved them off, sent them away roughly, and soon sank his exhausted body into the prepared tub.

“Hmm……”

The warm water loosened him, but his head was still complicated. Staring blankly at the steaming surface, Noel thought.

Why did the previous-life memories even come back. Completely useless.

Usually when you possess a novel or realize a previous life, aren’t you supposed to use modern knowledge to make a fortune, or find some hidden opportunity and rise?

But the previous-life memories Noel had were only “debts collected every month,” “fatigue soaked in overtime and side jobs,” and “the paltry morals of modern society.”

If he had still been the original Noel, a villain to the bone, he would have starved a kid or taken his food with a snort and not a shred of guilt.

Waking those damned previous-life memories at this timing meant a thin modern person’s common sense was tackling a quest his life depended on.

The memories weren’t a gain. They were poison pushing him toward death.

And what’s with this body? Is looking decent enough?

Noel twisted his face into something ugly. On the outside he was a fairly handsome, arrogant young master. The reality was different.

In this fantasy world where people used magic like breathing, he was a half-wit who couldn’t even properly feel mana. If he hadn’t been born a young master, he would obviously have ended up a servant waiting on a master.

“Haa……. Why is my life like this in both the last one and this one.”

Of all things, not even a protagonist—an awakening shuttle for a villain. And if he failed the quest he died immediately, which in a way made him terminally ill. He couldn’t die unjustly like this. This luxurious life hadn’t come easy!

In his previous life hadn’t he struggled under monthly debt notices, worked himself to the bone, and collapsed emptily? He would not repeat that wretched death.

He had to survive no matter what and enjoy this sweet noble comfort to the end. To do that he had no choice but to follow that damned system’s orders.

But did that mean he really had to go find that kid and do something nasty?

Even if it was a quest, it felt like becoming a genuinely bad person. No—not a feeling. It really was a nasty thing.

“Aaaagh! Still! Am I going to die like this?”

He couldn’t. If the memories he’d recalled were true, he couldn’t give this life up. Wealth and comfort he’d barely gotten.

Die because he couldn’t clear one quest? Better to clear it than die emptily like that. He wasn’t even driving the kid to his death. Calmly thought through, this was a world inside a novel.

Was it that bad an idea. It was the instinctive will to live any human had. This.

“Ah! I don’t know!”

Noel lifted his hand and slapped the water hard. Then he raked his black hair into a mess.

If work couldn’t be avoided, finishing it fast without overthinking had been his motto for surviving the last life. So this childish villain act could just be cleaned up to keep himself alive.

His deep sigh scattered heavily through the warm steam.

He brooded in the water a long time and only climbed out when his fingertips were swollen and wrinkled.

Ah, I’m hungry. Once his body warmed and loosened, the emptiness in his stomach was clearer. Starving while he worried wouldn’t produce a sharp answer anyway.

Now was the time to fill the hunger and get his brain turning. Noel clutched his empty stomach and pulled the bell-cord.

A servant waiting outside stepped carefully in front of him.

“Yes, Young Master Noel. You called.”

“Prepare a meal.”

“Yes. I’ll have it made at once.”

Soon the meal was ready and Noel headed for the dining room. What met him the moment he entered was a banquet laid on a long table so lavish it made the eyes spin.

Yes. This is a noble’s life. A different dimension from the days he’d lived on triangle kimbap in his previous life.

Give this up and die? That didn’t make sense.

Noel sat in a hurry and filled his empty stomach until it was solid. Once he was full he finally felt a little like living.

After the meal, as he wiped his mouth with a napkin, an elderly butler approached with a worried face.

“Young Master Noel, did you enjoy your meal.”

“What is the butler doing here?”

“I came because I was worried about you. How is your body. I heard from the servants and was truly concerned.”

“Hm? What did you hear?”

A man who was usually indifferent no matter what Noel did, suddenly worrying. Showing up when he hadn’t even been called.

The fake concern was obvious and Noel grew annoyed; he propped his chin and answered roughly.

“I heard you bled last night.”

“…Ah. I spilled wine and they made a fuss. It was nothing.”

So they’d already heard he’d locked himself in his room after coughing blood last night.

Gossip in this estate moved disgustingly fast. Noel tried to sound casual and brushed it off.

“I’m glad. You locked the door tightly and slept, so I spent the night anxious in case something had happened.”

The butler let out a deep sigh of relief and still kept checking Noel’s complexion.

Talks well. Obviously he was watching in case Noel caused another incident. When the duke was away from the estate, this was the one who stuck close and nagged about every little thing.

Ignoring the butler’s continued gaze, Noel asked what he was curious about.

“Aa, anyway, butler. Do you know about the one called Chase?”

“…Yes? Lord Chase?”

The butler carefully echoed the sudden question, looking puzzled.

“Yeah. I know Father brought him, but I’m curious what kind of kid he is. Father’s away for a bit, and in a way he’s a guest, so I as the young master should pay attention.”

The butler seemed puzzled by Noel showing gentle interest unlike usual. Then he composed his face.

“I wasn’t told the details by His Grace either, but His Grace said he would stand as the boy’s guardian and have him stay at the estate for the time being.”

“Guardian? Why would Father? Didn’t they say he picked him up—no, brought him—while out on a subjugation?”

“That is so. He said the boy was as good as an orphan.”

Was it something to even volunteer as guardian for a child abandoned on the road. Was this because of that narrative of the main villain the damned system had been rattling about.

Even so, Noel still felt suspicion at the duke’s extraordinary decision, which sat outside his common sense.

As Noel weighed the situation, the butler added more. What came out of his mouth was even more of a spectacle.

“His Grace recognized the child’s outstanding magical talent at a glance and judged there was nothing lacking in Winslow standing as guardian.”

“Huh? That’s what it was?”

Magic. At the word Noel let out an involuntary hollow laugh and furrowed his brow. Facing Noel’s stiffened expression, impatience spread over the butler’s face in an instant.

Speaking of “magical talent” in front of Noel, the only one in the ducal house who couldn’t handle mana. Realizing his mistake, the butler who had been proudly talking about the duke’s affair hurriedly tried to wrap up, blood gone from his face.

“Ahem, I wasn’t told anything more, so I know nothing else.”

He trailed off, thoroughly cowed, and dropped his gaze to the floor. His hunched shoulders made it obvious he was afraid the spark would fly his way.

Contrary to his worry, Noel didn’t spare him even a speck of a look.

Father was more than crazy about magic. Now his choice made sense. A man who lived and died by magic would lose his head seeing a child with genius talent.

Add that lofty spirit and of course he’d scooped him up at once.

Still felt filthy.

Born with innate talent so the duke becomes his guardian, and he loves that duke’s son Adrian……. Later he blackens and drives the world to ruin as the original’s main villain. A narrative so flashy it stood on its own.

Against that, Noel himself was a minor villain to be used as a sacrifice for the villain’s awakening. His pitiful, wretched position sank into his bones again and his mouth tasted bitter.

But it was only a future he couldn’t change right now.

First he had to find out the kid’s exact state. They said his magical talent was outstanding; if Noel carelessly bullied him and got hit by some magic attack that popped out by accident, it would be a disaster.

Noel twisted the corner of his mouth and asked in a listless voice.

“Chase. Where is he now?”