Episode 1

Prologue. Little As

I had a dream.

I was taking a walk with little As.

As was knowledgeable about flowers and told me all about various blooms.

Excited, I asked about every flower we saw—what kind of flower it was, and what its meaning was.

Then, a blue-purple flower next to me caught my eye.

“What kind of flower is this?”

I asked, and As answered calmly.

“It’s a delphinium.”

“That’s a pretty name. What’s its meaning?”

I asked as casually as I had with the other flowers.

But unlike before, when As had answered so readily, no reply came right away this time.

The child hesitated for a moment, then slowly turned to look at me.

And the person who turned to look at me was no longer As, but Akes.

“Why don’t you love me?”

Akes whispered to me as I stood frozen in place.

With a sudden, heart-dropping feeling, I jolted awake.

“Hah…”

The moonlit room was the same bedroom I had seen every night for the past nine years.

It was just a dream.

…It was only a dream.

I muttered to myself inwardly as I slowly rose from the bed.

It seemed I had dreamt about the walk I’d taken with As earlier today.

Of course, the ending of the dream had been a bit jumbled.

“Sigh…”

My heart was still racing in my chest.

I hesitated for a moment as I reached for the water to calm myself, then turned my head.

On the bed bathed in moonlight, a child was sound asleep.

Soft, wavy black hair, with long black lashes gently resting on their cheeks.

Though I couldn’t see the eyes hidden beneath, I knew they were a deep, wine-red color, clear and transparent.

The resemblance was uncanny.

‘…No, that’s impossible.’

I snapped out of my daze, shaking off the thought as I stared blankly at As.

Yes, it’s impossible.

Because he would never smile at me so innocently, like As does.

…So, that dream I just had was nothing more than a silly dream.

‘Get a grip, Ainra.’

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

Never did I imagine that soon those thoughts would be utterly shattered.

Chapter 1. I Picked Up a Child

There was someone collapsed in front of my house.

To be exact, it was a child.

“A child…?”

Early that morning, I had stepped out to go shopping and blinked in disbelief before gasping in shock.

“Oh my gosh! A child! It really is a child!”

A tiny kid was sprawled out in front of my house in a pitiful, ragged state, looking like they were on the brink of death!

I tossed aside the basket I had been carrying and rushed over to the child.

Carefully lifting the child, I noticed they weren’t moving at all.

Placing my hand near the child’s nose, I could feel the faintest breath.

“Thank goodness…”

Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, I immediately scooped the child into my arms.

After bringing the child into the house, I began examining their condition closely.

Their jet-black hair was matted with blood in several places, and their small face was bruised and discolored with blotches.

The tattered clothing—if it could still be called clothing—was torn in multiple places, revealing wounds underneath.

“This is insane… What kind of child has been hurt like this?”

I was speechless at the horrific injuries covering the child’s body.

Without delay, I summoned healing magic.

A refreshing scent of water accompanied the blue, watery glow that enveloped the child several times, slowly seeping into them.

When the child’s complexion finally returned to normal, I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Phew… If I hadn’t been nearby when you collapsed, who knows what would’ve happened to you…”

The external injuries had been severe, but who’s to say the internal injuries weren’t worse?

In fact, their internal organs could have been gravely damaged.

While external wounds are one thing, internal injuries are beyond even the most renowned sorcerers.

The only thing capable of fully healing internal injuries in such a short time was the healing magic of the water spirits.

And in this world, I was the only spirit contractor who had made a pact with a water spirit.

“It’s a miracle… a real stroke of luck…”

With the tension slowly easing, I murmured in a daze, using my water magic to cleanse the child when I suddenly froze.

Come to think of it, this child… they resemble someone.

Long, curly hair cascading down to their waist, and now that the bruises and dirt were gone, their skin was revealed to be white and flawless.

Long eyelashes, tiny red lips…

As I pondered who they resembled, a face I had buried deep in my memory flashed in my mind.

Akes de Serenia—the hidden antagonist of the fantasy novel *The Tyrant Emperor Slaughters the Villains*.

His face had the same curly black hair, just like this child’s.

However, no matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn’t find any logical connection between him—who had recently returned from five years on the battlefield—and this child.

For a split second, the thought that this could be his child made my heart drop, but reason quickly refuted the idea.

In the past, Akes had been severely burned when his father, driven mad by jealousy over his mother’s lover, set fire to their estate. Because of this, Akes despised lovers and mistresses.

Moreover, I had never heard of him marrying anyone, so there was no way this child could be his.

Also, Akes was an only child, and the Serenia family, which had been elevated from a ducal house to an archducal one over a decade ago, had very few relatives, especially of the child’s age—around seven or eight.

There was no way this child could be him either.

‘Could they be a distant relative I don’t know about?’

I scratched my chin, trying to piece together a plausible explanation, but nothing that made sense came to mind.

With a sigh, I gave up thinking about the hidden antagonist.

‘What’s the point of all this speculation when I don’t even have the courage to face him again? That’s why I ran away to the Count of Haila’s territory in the first place…’

I muttered to myself, brushing back my chestnut-brown hair.

“But still… what’s the story behind this child?”

Why on earth is a child with such a main-character-level beauty lying here, badly injured?

‘…If I’m not careful, I might get caught up in something troublesome.’

Still, I couldn’t just abandon a child whose identity was unknown and who hadn’t regained consciousness.

Not because I’m some philanthropist or a saint.

It’s simply because I know all too well what it feels like to be thrown into an unfamiliar place all of a sudden.

‘I also woke up one day in a world that was completely strange to me.’

I didn’t want this child to experience the same feelings I had back then.

“…”

Suddenly, memories of the day I first woke up in this world resurfaced.

It had been an ordinary day.

As usual, I turned on my phone to read ‘The Tyrant Emperor’, then opened the novel platform.

The only difference that day was a notification in place of the latest chapter, which should have been posted.

A notice?

I had a bad feeling creeping up, but I couldn’t just ignore it, so I clicked the notification with trembling hands.

[Dear readers, hello! This is the author of ‘The Tyrant Emperor Slaughters the Villains’. I apologize to all the readers who have been waiting for the next chapter, but unfortunately, I have to put the series on indefinite hiatus…]

“Why… why are you putting it on hiatus…?”

It was the only joy that had gotten me through my job search struggles!

My precious favorite character had just finally risen to seek bloody revenge, and now this! Right before they could even take their first steps!

“This can’t be happening…”

That day, I was so devastated, frustrated, and disheartened that I drank.

Because it was during the pandemic, I couldn’t meet up with friends, so I drank strong soju alone.

Then, I got a text message saying I had been rejected from a job I had applied for, which made me cry and gulp down the bitter soju with tears.

I don’t remember exactly how I fell asleep, but it was probably the best sleep I’ve ever had.

At least until the next day, when I woke up and realized I had reincarnated as a nameless commoner in ‘The Tyrant Emperor’.