I arrived at the entrance to the northern forest with Yuria, cutting through the darkness.

“Gasp, over there……!”

Yuria spotted a flickering shadow on the path leading to the forest and grabbed my clothing in surprise.

An imperial knight was standing guard in front. As if waiting for us to arrive.

The knight also spotted us and looked in our direction.

Our eyes met directly.

‘Damn, do I have to fight.’

Fortunately, there was only one opponent.

I was loosening up my hands, intending to knock him out, when it happened.

“I’ve been waiting, Lady Jella.”

The man unexpectedly bowed his head to me.

“I am Heyden, a knight directly under His Majesty Emperor Niel Alpenhayer.”

The man who politely introduced himself handed me a glowing luminous stone.

“It’s dark inside.”

“……?”

As I unconsciously accepted it and looked at him with puzzled eyes, he smiled gently and replied.

“His Majesty commanded me to ensure Lady Jella could safely visit the forest.”

“Emperor Niel…… did? Why?”

Wasn’t he the one who confronted me, insisting on capturing Yuria the last time I saw him?

But now he suddenly changed his mind and ordered someone to help me.

Even readily giving me a precious luminous stone that’s difficult to obtain.

I was quite suspicious, unable to understand Niel’s intentions.

However, Heyden didn’t explain further and stood upright again at the forest entrance.

“Please go ahead. I will guard this place to prevent others from approaching.”

“……”

Though I harbored inner misgivings, I passed by him with Yuria.

Thanks to him, we safely entered the forest.

The luminous stone lit our path.

“That’s fortunate. Without the luminous stone, we wouldn’t be able to see ahead.”

Yuria, who had been tense all along, seemed somewhat relieved after entering the forest and became more talkative.

“When I get home, I’ll first take a warm bath, then eat the meal my mother prepared, and then get into bed……”

There was a hint of anticipation in her voice.

We soon arrived at our destination.

It was that cave, the starting point of the original work.

“Ah!”

Yuria looked at the cave with a startled expression.

“The cave entrance……!”

The cave entrance was blocked by a large boulder.

There were signs that someone had deliberately blocked the entrance.

“Is there someone else who knows this is the path to the dimensional gate?”

“……Niel Alpenhayer. That man knows. This must be his doing! No wonder he readily gave us a luminous stone and let us pass!”

“Niel?”

“That man, even 5 years ago, he persistently tried to discover how to cross dimensions!”

“Why would Niel do that?”

“He must have planned to block me from escaping like this!”

Despair appeared on Yuria’s face, which had been flaring up in anger.

“What should we do now?”

“We’ll move it.”

I replied lightly and pushed the boulder with my hand.

The boulder slowly moved and was pushed aside.

“……!”

Yuria looked at me with surprised eyes.

“Well, this much is nothing.”

I laughed, “Heh,” and stepped into the cave.

“Where do we go now?”

“This way!”

Yuria, with lightened steps, ran into the cave.

Tap, tap. The sound of footsteps echoed in the dark space.

And at the end of the cave, Yuria looked in one direction with a slightly flushed face.

“Finally……”

There was a pattern like a magic circle drawn on the cave wall.

Yuria slowly placed her hand on it.

Then, as bright light poured from the pattern engraved on the wall, her appearance changed.

Her bright blonde hair turned into soft brown hair with dark roots. Her purple eyes turned black.

Her facial features—eyes, nose, mouth—also gradually changed until she became a completely different person from the one I knew.

I could tell immediately. This was her true appearance.

Where the bright light flashed, a passage made of light appeared.

“Now I can go home.”

Yuria, who had been muttering in an excited voice while looking at that path, turned to me.

“Thank you so much. And……”

She hesitated a little, then added with a short deep breath.

“I’m sorry.”

“……?”

“I listened only to God Arne and others, believing I was good and you were evil.”

Pause.

My expression froze for a moment.

I stared at Yuria, who was clearly watching my reaction, and asked.

“Since when did you know?”

Unlike before, my voice sounded somewhat cold, making Yuria flinch as she answered.

“I-I didn’t know at first. But I came to realize while being with you. Above all, if it weren’t for you, they wouldn’t be hovering around you like this……”

“You figured out who I was yet managed to stick by my side.”

I crossed my arms indifferently and looked her over.

“In the past, you used to avoid me out of fear.”

Just like 5 years ago, she still feared me, but unlike then, she didn’t seem to be trying to avoid me at all costs.

“Th-that’s……!”

Yuria seemed at a loss, then said in a small, shrinking voice.

“……because I know you’re not a bad person.”

“Aren’t you mistaken? I am a bad person.”

“No, you’re……! You act like a bad person, but you’re actually not!”

As Yuria raised her voice, it echoed off the cave walls like a reverberation.

I silently gazed at her, expectantly waiting for her to say more.

Then she subtly avoided my gaze and mumbled an explanation.

“After clashing with you several times 5 years ago, I gradually realized you were somewhat different from what people said.”

“……”

“But I couldn’t easily admit it. The moment I acknowledged that, all the time I had spent opposing you would become meaningless.”

Her face, making this sincere confession, was as red as it could possibly be.

“……So I stubbornly insisted you were evil.”

When I silently stared at that face, she glanced at me cautiously and carefully asked.

“That day when monsters appeared in the capital square, it was you who helped me, wasn’t it?”

“……”

“God Arne told me I had to sacrifice myself there. He said that was the only way for the ‘flow’ to continue.”

“……”

“But I was scared. He said I had to be injured to the point of death, that only then could I receive people’s love, but I didn’t want to go that far just to be loved.”

At those words, I nodded unconsciously.

If it’s love that can only be received by risking death, what kind of love is that?

“When I came to my senses, I had become a hero who defeated the monsters. With only minor injuries, unlike what God Arne had said.”

Yuria continued her confession in a slightly choked voice.

“At first, people said you were the one who summoned the monsters, so I believed that too, but the more I thought about it, something felt strange. Then, after some time, I accidentally found out. That you had helped me that day.”

“……”

“I thought you had to die…… I really believed that. I was the one who told Niel and Yupheon that you had to be killed. And when Niel raised a rebellion to bring you down, I helped him by preaching the legitimacy of the rebellion to people.”

Yuria’s voice began to tremble with tears.

“With such a background, I don’t think I can be forgiven by you. But……”

Yuria finally said, dropping tears.

“I’m really sorry. For, sob, considering you evil without really knowing you. For thinking it was natural that you, as a villain, should die for the world, sniff, sob, thinking that way. For treating your life lightly, sob, lightly, and……”

“……”

“Yet you helped me, and I’m truly, sob, huuung, sniff…… grateful, sniff, huuuuuung……”

Having finished her story, Yuria sobbed bitterly.

Listening to Yuria’s long confession, I felt strange.

When else had I felt this way?

Ah, yes. That time.

‘Who knows if the tyrant Jella Shunaibel had her own story?’

‘Maybe, if we knew the truth, Jella Shunaibel, whom everyone curses, was actually a hero who saved the world!’

I was the evil of this world.

I was defined as evil from birth, and that was an absolute rule I couldn’t escape no matter how much I struggled.

I never thought someone like me could be understood by others.

I never dared to think I would receive apologies or gratitude.

Perhaps Jella Shunaibel should never have been born—even I secretly thought that way.

But there were people who understood me.

There were even people who apologized for misunderstanding me and expressed gratitude to me.

I felt a lump in my throat.

But I didn’t want to show such an unseemly appearance.

So I replied somewhat gruffly.

“Enough with the unnecessary greetings; just pay the price. Properly.”

At those words, Yuria wiped her eyes and burst into a small laugh.

“You really are a kind and good person.”

***

On my way back after sending Yuria off.

In my hand was a necklace that swayed gently.

It was the ‘payment’ I received from Yuria.

‘You really are a kind and good person.’

Yuria’s voice, responding that way to my gruff reply, kept lingering in my ears.

I didn’t accept her thanks or apology, so what was kind about that?

‘Don’t say such ridiculous things. And I haven’t forgiven you yet, you know?’

‘Saying “yet” means you’ll forgive me someday. Showing mercy to someone who was hostile to you, not everyone can do that.’

‘I’m not particularly……’

‘So what I’m saying is, you’re really an amazing and wonderful person! You’re listening to my story even now. Not cursing me to get lost because you can’t stand the sight of me……’

‘You can’t leave. I need to receive payment.’

I pretended not to be moved at all with an indifferent voice in front of Yuria.

“I see……”

I found myself muttering as I silently pondered her words.

I hadn’t particularly shown mercy to those who disliked and hated me.

I just thought it was all natural.

That people disliked me, and so I would end my life as a villain.

So I always told myself, as if brainwashing myself, that people’s dislike couldn’t hurt me, so it was okay, there was no need to hate them……

“That wasn’t true.”

I realized as I felt myself choking up at Yuria’s long confession.

It wasn’t natural.

I had been hurt without even knowing it.

Despite that, I, who didn’t hate them, might really be a kind and amazing person.

Thinking that way made my heart flutter like a child the night before a field trip.

Perhaps I wasn’t a villain but a truly wonderful person in my past life too—that thought excited me.

I had thought that despite all my efforts, I couldn’t escape the fate of a villain, but the idea that I was already not a villain made me thrilled.

I walked toward the forest exit with a bright smile and lighter steps.

As I reached the exit, Niel was standing in place of Heyden.

Had he been waiting for me?

Meeting him was somewhat awkward since our last encounter hadn’t been very pleasant, but thanks to him, I was able to safely send Yuria back to her original world.

“Thank y……”

Just as I was about to thank him while returning the luminous stone.

“Are you satisfied now?”

He cut off my words with a cold voice.