Chapter 144
Izzen’s eccentric behavior wasn’t limited to that.
He always woke up on time, neatly folded his blanket, and made sure to put his pajamas in the laundry basket and personally take them to the maid. He never failed to visit his parents and greet them, never forgot to express his gratitude at meals, and always scraped his plate clean, saying food shouldn’t be left over. He even occasionally tried to help the employees with cleaning or work. He would even mend his own torn clothes, saying he shouldn’t unnecessarily inconvenience the employees. To make matters worse, his kindergarten teacher constantly praised Izzen for being good at sharing and being considerate to his friends.
Shuddering at his eccentricities, Izzen’s mother hysterically cried out.
“He truly is a terrifyingly kind child!”
Izzen’s father also flinched and clicked his tongue in distaste.
“To think a child like that would be born into our family…….”
The fact that Izzen, the family’s sole successor, was such a kind child. That fact was a great source of worry for Izzen’s parents and the family’s greatest misfortune.
At that time, Izzen was literally a living testament to the theory, ‘The true nature of the demon race is not bad.’ If the Department of Moral Ethics, which was then heavily focused on distributing all sorts of promotional materials with slogans like, ‘Everyone, the demon race is not bad,’ ‘It is a wrong stereotype that the demon race must live wickedly,’ ‘It is now the era of great integration beyond good and evil,’ ‘A society that tears down all boundaries and lives together is beautiful,’ and ‘Living a kind life makes you happy,’ had known about Izzen’s existence, they would have actively sought to use him for promotion.
But there was no way the members of this family could stand by and watch such a horrific thing happen.
“He is still young……. Let us strengthen his education even further.”
After his father concluded this, Izzen received an education that was several times more intense and rigorous. It was an education on becoming a meticulous mastermind and a wicked villain. To call it education was merely a formality; in reality, it was no different from brainwashing.
This is where the young Izzen’s confusion began.
His innate nature told him it was right to live kindly and righteously, but at the same time, he also felt it was right to obey his parents, leaving him confused as to which to follow.
However, no matter how bright he was, he was still a child close to a blank slate. After continuous, harsh training, Izzen eventually leaned toward his parents’ instruction. He came to believe that it was right to live wickedly and badly.
Still, there were trial and error moments. The repetition of unintentionally acting kindly even while trying to act wickedly as he was taught. That part was disciplined with a switch. That is how Izzen was trained.
“When I grow up, I’m going to be a great mastermind!”
The well-trained Izzen would say that as a habit. Now, he no longer tried to water wilted flowers or treat injured birds.
When he woke up in the morning, he’d just kick off his blanket, throw his pajamas on top of it, and not only did he not greet his parents, but he also didn’t offer thanks during meals. He only ate what he liked, and far from helping the employees with cleaning or work, he disrupted them. Going a step further, he would intentionally rip his clothes and force them to sew them back up to make them suffer more. Even the kindergarten teacher complained that Izzen was frequently bullying his friends and making them cry these days.
Every time this happened, his parents, who were otherwise nothing but strict, would be overjoyed and praise Izzen.
“Oh, Izzen! You truly are a great child!”
“You’re doing well! You will definitely be a wonderful successor!”
Every time, Izzen felt proud of himself. He was happy to finally receive praise and recognition from his parents after being treated as a black sheep all this time. So, Izzen devoted himself even more to becoming a great mastermind and a wicked villain.
Nevertheless, there was one thing Izzen could not accept.
It was about how a villain handles human life.
“A human life is merely a pawn on a chessboard or a card in a card game. You just use them and boldly discard them. Because no one worries about the well-being of a pawn or the feelings of a card in a game.”
Izzen made an uneasy expression at his tutor’s words.
“But……. Even so, it is strictly someone’s life, and they must have their own life, too…….”
“Izzen, you cannot devise a perfect scheme if you think of such things! A villain must be ruthlessly cruel, treating human lives like fly lives.”
“Even so, it would be better to devise a scheme without sacrificing human lives…….”
“Absolutely not! To still speak of such soft-hearted things……. It seems your training is still incomplete!”
When the tutor raised his switch, Izzen gave up arguing and closed his mouth. But since he could accept everything else except this, Izzen thought and thought secretly.
‘No, even so, it is right to protect human life if possible. Because…….’
Izzen frowned, having thought that far. He didn’t know what adjective to attach there. Attaching expressions like ‘kind’ or ‘righteous’ was clearly a bad idea, and attaching ‘bad’ or ‘wicked’ to the act of protecting human life simply didn’t fit the meaning.
‘Dignity……. Yes. Because that makes for a more dignified scheme.’
After a long period of thought, Izzen finally found a suitable and pleasing expression and nodded in satisfaction. Leaving just that one exception inside, Izzen grew day by day into an excellent villain.
Then one day, war broke out.
The humans who invaded the Demon World first killed the females, the royalty, and the nobility. The people of Izzen’s family, who belonged to the nobility, were also massacred. Izzen, who happened to be at the dormitory, returned to the mansion, saw the carnage, and screamed, frantically searching for survivors.
“Father!”
After searching the mansion in a daze, Izzen found his father collapsed under a table, bleeding and gasping for air. Even his breathing was barely holding on, ready to stop at any moment. When Izzen cried out and embraced him, his father looked at his child with hazy eyes and smiled weakly.
“Ah, my son. I’m glad I could see you one last time…….”
“Father, you can’t die!”
“Izzen……. You are…… now the only person of our family and……. the last mastermind of this era. Please, take pride…… and remain a wicked villain until the end…….”
“Father!!”
Clutching the corpse of his father, who had finally stopped breathing after leaving those final words, Izzen wailed.
Now, there was not a single person left in the world to urge Izzen to live wickedly. But the last words his father left behind powerfully bound Izzen.
Now, Izzen could only live as a wicked villain and a mastermind until his death.
***
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