What Route Is This Supposed to Be??
The Knight Commander of the North’s Grand Duchy, Karl. Having served the Heiden family longer than any other knight in the duchy, he had a single daughter who had just turned twenty this year. Her name was Karina.
She took after her father in her talent for swordsmanship and had proudly joined the Northern Grand Duchy’s Knight Order. Right now, she was fidgeting restlessly right outside the Grand Duke’s office.
“There’s a mountain of things I need to report to His Highness Cedric…”
One might think she could simply walk in, but unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.
Karina knocked on the office door once more with an anxious gesture, yet—
Absolute Silence Magic Circle
Only a vivid red rune floated in the center of the door.
‘It’s the Absolute Silence Magic Circle?’
This high-level magic circle was normally only activated during top-secret military meetings that could decide the fate of the entire duchy, as a precaution against outside spies or assassins.
The fact that it was active meant that no matter how hard someone knocked from outside, nothing would be heard until the Grand Duke himself disabled the circle from within.
‘Just what kind of urgent situation made His Highness Cedric activate the highest-level magic circle the moment he returned?’
All sorts of ominous scenarios flooded Karina’s mind.
‘They said he entered with Lady Miliela, whom we brought from the capital. Could it be something about the imperial family??’
Was Lady Miliela, who had come to the duchy with Karl, not just any ordinary young lady? Or perhaps there was some enormous conspiracy threatening both the empire and the Northern Grand Duchy, which was why he had stayed in the capital for three whole months?
While Karina anxiously bit her fingernail, imagining one worst-case scenario after another, a voice called out behind her.
“What the—Karina? What are you doing here?”
“Young Master Edrick! Th-this is terrible! I don’t know exactly what’s terrible, but it’s definitely not normal!!”
“What the hell are you even saying? You’re holding documents, so I’m guessing you’re running an errand for Karl.”
“Please take a look at this.”
Karina knocked on the office door again—thud thud!—and once more the bright red rune rose in warning.
“Huh? This rune is…?”
“It’s the Absolute Silence Magic Circle! Haven’t you seen it a few times before, sir?”
“Isn’t this only used in actual emergencies?”
“Exactly! While His Highness Cedric was in the capital, he must have gotten caught up in something enormous…”
“That fucking idiot.”
Karina’s mouth fell open at the sudden curse that flew from Edrick’s lips. She stared at him in shock.
“What? Got something on my face?”
“Young Master Edrick!! How can you say something so outrageous!! This is an emergency where the Northern Grand Duke has even activated the Silence Magic Circle!!”
“Karina. Just confirm one thing for me. Inside that room right now, it’s just Cedric and that damn woman Miliela, right?”
“Pardon? Y-yes… That’s what I heard from my father…”
“Move, damn it.”
The sheer aura that burst out of Edrick made Karina flinch and step aside instinctively. But the very next moment, she came to her senses and blocked his path in horror.
“Y-Young Master Edrick!! What exactly do you think you’re doing right now?!”
“I’m going to break the door down and go in. What does it look like?”
“You’re going to break the door?!?!”
“Karina! His Highness Cedric told you to bring urgent documents for approval, so why are you still standing here… Young Master Edrick!!”
At that moment, Knight Commander Karl came running over and joined in blocking Edrick. Edrick clicked his tongue in irritation and shouted.
“I’ll only break it a little, so if you don’t want to get hurt, both of you get the hell out of the way.”
Before Karl and Karina could even respond, a frigid sword qi rose from Edrick’s blade like a cold mist.
‘The Heiden family’s signature sword qi…!!’
The father and daughter barely managed to dodge aside as Edrick swung his sword lightly from top to bottom.
“Haaah!!”
True to his claim that he was holding back, the sword qi shot out in an extremely thin blade. Even so, the massive door of the Grand Duke’s office—made of the North’s sturdy ash wood—shattered into pieces.
—CRAAAAASH!!!
The instant the door broke, Edrick strode inside without hesitation.
“Y-Young Master Edrick!!”
Karl and Karina hurriedly followed him into the office. And there they saw…
“What kind of insane bastard does this?”
In the center of the Grand Duke’s office stood Cedric and Miliela, still locked in a passionate embrace, staring at the shattered door with completely blank faces.
‘This is fucking ridiculous.’
Even in the original story, Cedric had been a pathetic fool who lost all sense of judgment the moment a woman was involved. But Edrick never imagined he’d be this bad.
“You really want to do this right in front of our father’s portrait? Seriously?”
At his words, Cedric flinched and glanced sideways at the portrait of their father hanging on the office wall.
As mentioned before, Cedric had left for the capital the moment he inherited the position of Northern Grand Duke. Because the succession had been so sudden, he hadn’t had time to commission his own portrait or remove their father’s.
Now that he thought about it, the guy really was out of his mind. Their dead father’s portrait was staring right at them, and he still put up the Absolute Silence Magic Circle just to fool around with a woman?
“Ahem. So… what brings you here, Edrick?”
“Don’t change the subject, dumbass. Look at Father’s portrait and speak properly.”
“Is that any way to speak to your older brother?”
“You have to actually act like a damn older brother if you want me to treat you like one.”
Up until now, Edrick had treated him with respect because he thought Cedric would handle the annoying duties of the Grand Duke in his place. But if the guy was so obsessed with women that he forgot his own responsibilities, why the hell should he?
Besides, if you combined their ages from both lives, Edrick was older. This brat had no right to act superior.
As Cedric stood there awkwardly, the root of all evil beside him suddenly snapped.
“You! What is this rude behavior?!”
“The rude ones are you two. You damn four-timing, six-timing, eight-timing fish pond girl.”
“Wh-what?! What did you just say??”
See? She didn’t even deny it.
Edrick shook his head and glanced sideways. Karina stood there with a shocked expression, the documents slipping from her hands as she muttered.
“S-such shameless…”
It was definitely shameless behavior, but was it really shameless enough to warrant that kind of reaction just from a hug? She really was pure.
Edrick picked up the bundle of documents that had fallen at Karina’s feet and shoved them roughly toward Cedric.
“What is this, Edrick?”
“The Grand Duke’s work that piled up while you were gone, dumbass. You think you have time to play around with a woman right now?”
“Edrick. It seems you’re misunderstanding something. Right now I’m dealing with something far more important, so I can’t afford to pay attention to—”
“I don’t give a shit about your love life. At the very least, while I’m not around, try acting like an actual Grand Duke.”
Cedric seemed to catch something in his words and asked urgently.
“While you’re not around? What do you mean by that, Edrick?”
“Exactly what I said. I’ll be gone for a while, so I can’t act as your proxy anymore. You’re the Grand Duke and you’re sitting right here in the duchy. Shouldn’t you be the one handling this stuff?”
“Edrick. A proxy isn’t only supposed to work when the Grand Duke is absent. As I just said, right now I, the Grand Duke, have something extremely important—”
“Shut up, you idiot. I’m leaving. Make sure you actually do your damn job.”
It seemed that inside Cedric’s head, the formula {Northern Grand Duke Duties ≪ Romance with Miliela} had been engraved as absolute truth.
It was obvious that no matter what else he said, there would be no progress. Without any lingering attachment, Edrick spun on his heel.
Behind him, Cedric shouted.
“Edrick!! At least tell me why you’re leaving your post for so long—”
“I’m going to cut off the Ice Emperor Bird’s head, dumbass.”
After saying only what was necessary, Edrick strode out of the Grand Duke’s office without looking back.
*
Miliela—or more precisely, the woman who had transmigrated into Miliela’s body—had just witnessed the entire scene and was…
‘Holy shit…!! The sub character is insane? Why didn’t a character like that appear in the original?? If he had, he might’ve become my favorite.’
Far from being flustered, she was absolutely drowning in dopamine.
Maybe he was a character the author had created and then scrapped? Or perhaps…
‘Was he a character who only appeared in the legendary harem ending that I died before getting to read??’
In truth, the ending of I Became Happy After Reincarnating as a Villainess had a rather complicated story behind it.
The original novel had ended normally with Miliela paired with the empire’s crown prince. The problem was that its popularity had been so explosive it rewrote the entire history of romance fantasy.
The day the webtoon adaptation was announced, the original author posted on their SNS, and the romance fantasy community lost its mind.
As if to prove those words, the webtoon faithfully depicted the endings of all the sub male leads. But that wasn’t the end.
On the day the webtoon concluded, the author posted on SNS once again.
“Special side story serialization begins to commemorate the completion of I Became Happy After Reincarnating as a Villainess webtoon!”
“This side story will feature Miliela becoming happy with every male lead at the same time.”
“In effect, this upcoming side story is the true canon of the I Became Happy After Reincarnating as a Villainess universe.”
“There will also be additional characters, so please look forward to it!”
Amid the expectations of ten million romance fantasy readers, the harem ending side story—where Miliela gets with every male lead and still finds happiness—began. And she had died right before she could read it.
‘But I still ended up inside the world of I Became Happy After Reincarnating as a Villainess. Maybe this is a sign from the heavens??’
A sign for what? Obviously, a divine command telling her to create the legendary harem ending she never got to see in her previous life.
While she was watching the sub character who had literally smashed the door down argue with Cedric…
“Edrick!! At least tell me why you’re leaving your post for so long—”
“I’m going to cut off the Ice Emperor Bird’s head, dumbass.”
A familiar word reached Miliela’s ears.
‘Ice Emperor Bird??’
The sub character named Edrick had already strode out of the room. Beside her, Cedric was fidgeting anxiously.
“The Ice Emperor Bird… Such a reckless thing to do…”
“Cedric. What do you mean by Ice Emperor Bird? What are you talking about?”
At her question, Cedric wiped the panic from his face as if snapping back to his senses.
Oh, I’ve never seen Cedric this flustered in the original story. I should’ve watched a little longer.
“It’s a monster that has been passed down in Northern legends. The Ice Emperor Bird—as the name suggests, it is a high-ranking monster that reigns over all monsters in the North like their emperor.”
Yeah, she already knew that. But why was the Ice Emperor Bird showing up this early?
‘Didn’t the Ice Emperor Bird only appear near the ending of Cedric’s route in the original??’
Even in Cedric’s route, there had never been any mention of subjugating the Ice Emperor Bird.
‘Just what route is this story even following right now??’
While Cedric was panicking and Miliela was lost in confusion, Karl and Karina were hurriedly chasing after Edrick, who had already left the office.
“Young Master Edrick!! Please wait!”
“Didn’t you say you were busy? I even broke the door for you, so why are you following me instead of making that idiot Cedric do his work?”
“What did you just say?! The Ice Emperor Bird?!?!”
“That’s exactly what I said.”
The moment they heard those words, both Karl and Karina turned deathly pale and froze in place.
“You’re saying you’re going to that dangerous place all by yourself, Young Master Edrick?!”
“I’m not going alone. I’m taking Lily with me.”
“That’s the same thing!! If something happens to you while the North is already in chaos…! That’s it! Karina! You will accompany Young Master Edrick!”
“What? Father, what are you—”
“Sure, whatever. Come on, Karina.”
With no other choice, Karina followed after Edrick. Only then did Karl let out a sigh of relief.
Of course, Karl had no idea what he had just done. He had no awareness that he had just committed an act that would earn him the maid girl’s vicious, award-worthy glare of resentment.