I Don't Want To Do a Romantic Comedy With a Villain! - Chapter 4

Episode 4

The sharp bullet flew through the air, piercing the center of the desk.

“Ah…!”

Min-joo forced herself to swallow a small scream. She crouched down, burying her face in her knees, trembling with fear. If Vehen hadn’t pushed her, she might have been hit. 

The terror was so overwhelming that reality didn’t feel real.

Above her head, a loud explosion echoed, followed by a horrifying scream. It wasn’t Vehen’s. 

The consecutive gunfire that erupted, one after another, wasn’t from Vehen either. The intruders, having forcefully opened the locked door, poured in, armed with guns and knives.

“Fire!”

The apparent leader shouted. Clad in black attire, even their faces covered with black cloth, they ruthlessly surrounded Vehen. Or at least, they attempted to.

Vehen scattered the documents piled on the desk into the air, obstructing the vision of the intruders. Immediately, he shot at those holding guns without hesitation. The power of the shotgun was far superior to a small revolver, and the bullets accurately hit their targets, tearing through the paper.

As the space filled with falling sheets, the window behind Vehen suddenly shattered into sparkling fragments like stars.

In the distance, gunshots continued to echo.

The bullets raining down from beyond the window meant for Vehen, looked like shooting stars, glittering eerily. In the building opposite, on the rooftop where the servants lived, small flashes of light blinked.

The small lights and numerous bullets, accompanied by shining glass shards, framed Vehen like a throne, making him appear as a devil trying to destroy the world.

The bullets ruthlessly felled the invaders, acting as meteors seeking judgment. The smoke that filled the office, as dense as flames rising from hell hung in the air.

As the wind blew, the red curtains fluttered, and the smoke slowly dissipated.

In the silence, only Vehen and Min-joo remained alive. Even the mice seemed to hold their breath, the atmosphere was so still.

“…What a mess.”

Vehen’s voice uttered with a hint of regret and dry indifference, sounded like the protagonist’s soliloquy.

Min-joo, still under the desk, raised her head slightly. Her face, soaked with fear-induced sweat, twisted with a sorrowful expression.

“I-is it over?”

“Get up.”

Crawling out from under the desk, Min-joo trembled, still holding the revolver.

She looked more pitiful than a mouse drenched in the rain. Her black hair was disheveled, and her eyes were stinging from the redness.

She seemed to have lost all sense of reason.

Before she could comprehend the situation, Vehen, with a somewhat annoyed expression, mumbled.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Without fully understanding what had happened, Min-joo’s arm was pulled by Vehen, and they left the office.

The fallen knights and intruders on the floor, the bullet-riddled walls and shattered windows, painted a grim scene. Fear pressed down on Min-joo, suffocating her.

All she could think about was the desperate desire to live. She didn’t remember how she managed to run.

Following Vehen’s broad back, she went down the stairs, hiding on the wall, begging for mercy as she ran away. Whether it was a god or anyone, she hoped they would grant her request.

When they reached the first floor, there was a sharp clang sound on the stairs. Vehen looked up beyond the stairs and then turned to her. His cheek, wounded, was red.

“Do you remember your room? If you go a bit further, there should be an underground passage connected to the servants’ quarters.”

“Alone? …What about you?”

Vehen pushed her against the wall, gasping for breath. His wide shoulders trembled along his strong back.

In the dark corridor where all the candles were extinguished, relying only on the moonlight seeping through the windows, she couldn’t be sure if she would find her room.

Min-joo grabbed Vehen’s sleeve. Vehen looked at her with a frightened face.

A weak and pitifully incompetent woman.

A tiny person who would disappear into his embrace and not even be seen when pushed against the wall, who didn’t even know how to hold a gun and only knew how to take a breath.

“The knights will come soon. You’re just a hindrance.”

“…”

“Hurry!”

Gunshots echoed from a distance. It must be a sniper placed in the servants’ quarters. She crouched down at Vehen’s shout, then rushed down the corridor.

Clutching the long skirt that stuck to her legs with each step and running breathlessly with black hair fluttering, she couldn’t be sure if she could find her room in the pitch-dark corridor illuminated only by the moonlight beyond the windows.

Vehen, watching her disappearing figure from afar, loaded bullets into his shotgun, turning it to reload.

The voice begging for mercy from behind still seemed to linger.

Min-joo ran blindly. Desperately retracing her memory to find her room, it felt like the mansion was about to collapse, and the distant gunshots made her fear she might fall.

Why was this happening to her? She just wanted to go home.

Tears welled up. In the hazy and then clear field of view, an endless corridor stretched out. When she closed and opened her eyes, a figure appeared suddenly behind a bent wall.

“!”

Hair like the remaining ashes after burning everything and yellow eyes that seemed to have placed the moon on them.

When the light shone on his beautifully chiseled face, it created an illusion as if a god had descended upon the world.

She had begged the god for mercy, and now it seemed like the god himself had descended.

With long eyelashes casting shadows, his mysteriously beautiful face smiled gently. Behind him, the knights aligned, revealing themselves.

The imposing presence was so overwhelming that Min-joo involuntarily took a step back, gasping for breath.

She was scared. It was instinctive. She retreated, stammering.

“Sa…ve…”

Tang! Without any hesitation, the man fired the revolver he had been holding. Min-joo tightly closed her eyes. The gunshot echoed, and her whole body shivered.

“What did you say? I couldn’t hear because of the gunshot.” 

A cheerful yet calm voice poured out. Min-joo realized she wasn’t dead and opened her eyes.

The man aimed the gun beyond Min-joo, and his gracefully tilted face looked directly at her. It was a beautiful face, captivating as if enchanted.

The sound of something falling from behind could be heard. Min-joo turned to look, and she had to swallow a scream rising to her throat.

A person lay sprawled on the ground. It was too dark to see clearly, but it was a person. Sweeping back his ash-colored hair, the man smiled, scanning Min-joo’s appearance.

“A new maid, huh? That’s you.”

Although Min-joo had been here for less than half a day, it wasn’t important how he knew. Min-joo pointed the gun at the unidentified man.

“Go on your way. I’ll go my way too.”

The gun trembled with a metallic sound. Seeing the maid, who couldn’t hold the gun properly due to fear, the man laughed mockingly and aimed the gun at Min-joo’s head.

His refined eyes crinkled, and he smiled languidly.

A cold muzzle touched Min-joo’s forehead. The fear made her spine tingle.

“I found out about this as soon as you came. Why would I let you go? If the master finds out, he’ll kill me.”

Master.

Min-joo looked up at the man. The content of the report she saw in Vehen’s office and the title ‘master.’ It was someone she already knew well.

The owner of the report she saw in Vehen’s office and a supporting character Min-joo didn’t particularly like. Someone who could bring knights to the mansion at such a late hour.

“…Permette.”

Permette Devier Rolfreme.

In a small voice, he playfully laughed, raising an eyebrow. He was a lively and fragrant twenty-year-old.

Permette, with his oversized shirt hanging loose, pushed the gun away from his forehead, and in a cheerful tone, spoke.

“Well, who else could it be? Since I’m not afraid at all, let’s peacefully put the gun down.”

Min-joo had no intention of arguing with Permette. He was a charming piece of garbage who had long ago sold his ethics for a bag of cookies.

Because he would shoot if he had to, Min-joo handed the gun to Permette without any resistance. Permette casually tucked it into his back pocket and lowered the gun he had aimed at her head.

“You two, keep this maid locked up, and the rest of you clean up quickly. Just leave about two alive.”

Permette, lifting Min-joo to the knight, clicked the gun and gave orders. From his commands, there was no concern for Vehen’s safety, whether he lived or died.

As Permette finished speaking, the leader of the knights gestured succinctly, and the knights efficiently took control of the corridors. They quickly subdued the intruders, and the sounds of gunshots and screams filled the air.

The two knights restraining Min-joo let go of her, dragging her away. Although she knew too well where they were taking her, she didn’t want to witness a horrifying scene and opted not to resist, thinking it would be much safer.

Dragged along, Min-joo passed through the corridor and stood in front of a small door. The iron door was securely locked but not bolted.

With an unpleasant sound, the door opened. The ensuing space was dark without any light. Min-joo was dragged down the stairs and thrown into the underground prison.

The forcibly brought underground prison was damp, emitting a disgusting odor. Its depth blocked out all the noise happening in the mansion.

The gunshots that had been painful, the shouts—everything was silent.

Instead of dwelling on her situation, Min-joo thought about what to do next. Finding a way back home and securing her safety were the top priorities. If only she had some basic capital, whether through possession or regression, it would be better, but Min-joo was left with nothing but knowledge and information.

At that moment, despite not reading it properly and being caught, it seemed that if she explored more magical books, she might find a way back home. If the lineage of the sorcerer had not been completely severed, it might be worth looking for a sorcerer.

As for securing her safety, Min-joo thought about the remaining characters besides Vehen.

The male protagonist is a prince, a good character, but meeting him is like catching a star in the sky. 

Permette is a personality ruined by exchanging ethics for cookies.

The only influential remaining character is the female protagonist. Hanging onto the affectionate and kind would probably be a safer way to find a way back home than here. If she’s lucky, she might also receive help from the male protagonist.

“Alright. Let’s stir up some trouble when Vehen meets the heroine.”

She just had to survive until then. After organizing her thoughts, fatigue overwhelmed her. Min-joo lay down on the floor and closed her eyes.

Perhaps due to the relaxation, she didn’t want to sleep but sleep kept pouring in.

The sound of sniffling followed.

* * *

The door creaked, and the iron bars rattled. The tightly closed door swung open, and heavy footsteps overlapped, resounding. 

The knights trailing behind stood stiffly with tense waists. The only light came from the small candles that had sprung up in the hands of the knights, casting the face of Vehen, who had entered through the iron bars, in darkness.

Vehen looked down at Min-joo, who was sleeping majestically with her nose in the air, sprawled on the floor.