I’m the Main Villain but the Heroines Are Obsessed With Me

29 – 13. Ian’s Secret (2)

In the moment of receiving the reward, his vision started to waver.

The illusion created by Release, taking on the form of hell, began to distort.

And eventually, when Ian opened his eyes, the previous scenery had long disappeared.

Instead, a new landscape greeted him.

Whoosh!

A crumbling empire. Land engulfed in flames. And the sky filled with black smoke.

Ian was terrified by this calamitous landscape.

‘What is this…’

An environment that could be called ruins. Does it mean that he can uncover the secret that Ian had hidden in a place like this?

Although it was not easy to believe, Ian decided to walk first. The system had never lied before. There was enough reason to believe.

How long did he walk?

Gradually, something began to appear in Ian’s eyes.

‘That person…’

A man, holding onto a corpse and wearing a hopeless expression.

Behind him, a white spirit looked at the man with pitiful eyes.

The man’s face… It was familiar.

‘Isn’t that Ian Volkanov?’

The man wearing a hopeless expression was none other than Ian.

To be precise, he must be the Ian in his memories.

And now that he was here, the woman in Ian’s arms was also a familiar face.

‘Elizabeth?’

Princess Elizabeth. She was wearing the empress’ clothes, nestled in Ian’s arms.

‘But she doesn’t seem to be alive.’

With her eyes tightly shut, she wasn’t breathing. Seeing the bleeding in her abdomen, she seemed to have already died.

Ian in the memories was like a doll devoid of emotions, slowly caressing Erzebeth’s face.

He took out a single stone from his pocket.

He clenched the stone that emitted an ominous aura. The spirit behind him gasped.

“Ian, that…!”

“It’s called the Soul Seal Stone. When used, it imprints a seal on my soul and activates the curse stored within. It was acquired from the Milesus family, so there’s no need to doubt its quality.”

“I’m not doubting…. What I want to say is, are you really going to do it?”

“Elysion.”

Ian looked at Elysion. As the spirit of the Holy Sword, she trembled with sadness.

“I wish you wouldn’t use it…. You know what will happen if you do.”

Elysion reached out her hand, telling him to stop. But Ian pushed her away.

“Elysion. When Ariette died by the hands of Maysin, you told me to live a happy life in order to fully wield the power of the Holy Sword.”

“That’s right…”

“That’s why I have to use this. If I’m hated…. Ariette will become stronger. And then, I won’t die by Maysin’s hands, and the empire won’t perish either.”

Watching him speak calmly, Elysia’s clenched hand trembled.

“But is it really okay to do that?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Do you know what will happen if you use the curse stored in the Seal Stone?”

Elysion, filled with emotions, took a deep breath and continued.

“It contains curses that make the people close to you hate you. If you use it…”

“…?”

“You will be left with no one on your side. You will live a life even more harsh than this life where you’ve lived in apathy.”

Tears formed in Elysion’s eyes.

“You might suffer abuses that are close to torture. You might lose friends you can rely on. Yet, you still want to use it?”

“I know.”

“But why?! Why to that extent.”

“If someone has to make a sacrifice, it should be me.”

Elysion couldn’t utter another word in response to Ian’s firm resolve.

Her sad gaze turned towards Ian, but he remained indifferent.

Gently placing Erzebeth on the ground, Ian firmly grasped the Seal Stone.

Card acquired!

As the seal stone shattered, a strong energy enveloped Ian’s body.

Elysion, who was watching this sight, had tears in her eyes.

In the end, she could only witness Ian choosing sacrifice.

“I’m sorry… truly. I’ve caused you so much pain through my mistake.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was something I had to do anyway.”

With those words, darkness once again filled their field of vision.

Alone in the pitch-black space, Ian recalled the situation he had just witnessed.

“So this is what secrets are like?”

Honestly, Ian never imagined that the secret he had hidden would be like this.

The reason why Ian had endured his parents’ neglect and abuse, it was all for Ariel.

“Phew….”

Though his mind was reeling from the overwhelming information, Ian made an effort to gather his thoughts.

“First. Did Ian fail to capture the Masin in his first life and thus reincarnated?”

The cause was Ariel’s death. The person who could use the only weapon capable of piercing the Masin’s heart had died, and eventually, the Empire perished.

This was not particularly important up until now. It was similar to the cutscenes that used to appear when he failed to capture the Masin in the game.

What was important was the conversation between Ian and the spirit Elysion in the Holy Sword.

“Ian acquired the seal stone through the Miles family and drove away everyone, including his family.”

According to Elysion’s words, in order to activate the power of the Holy Sword, Ariel had to be happy. And Ian had chosen to sacrifice himself.

If he is rejected by everyone, Ariel would be able to live a happier life than anyone else.

“In that case, Ariel will become stronger than in her first life, and the possibility of defeating the Masin will increase.”

Family, childhood friend, mentor, all had to be abandoned.

“Solely for the purpose of enabling Ariel to wield the true power of the Holy Sword.”

Because of that, Ian chose reincarnation, and as he expected, he lived a life intertwined with abuse in his second life.

Ian was dumbfounded upon realizing the truth.

Just by concealing the first secret, he already felt overwhelmed, yet there were still more remaining.

But one thing was certain.

He had to find out all the secrets no matter what.

“If I don’t want to die, I have to try.”

It was at that moment that he made up his mind.

Suddenly overwhelmed by drowsiness, Ian’s body wavered.

He tried to resist, but…

“Ah….”

In the end, Ian lost consciousness in the darkness.

***

Unconscious, Ian was moved to Cheongwol Hall instead of the hospital.

According to Ark’s rules, it was right for injured trainees to be moved to the infirmary where the priests were for thorough examination.

However, there were no wounds on Ian’s body, which is why he was not taken there.

Of course, the possibility of psychological shock had to be considered as well. But the priests determined that it was better for him to stay in a familiar space rather than in the hospital room for treating mental shock.

In the end, Ian was moved to Cheongwol Hall.

There was no major problem as the priests who were there for his treatment accompanied him.

After the examination, Neltalion looked at Ian sleeping soundly on the bed with a worried expression.

– Ian…. He’s not waking up…. I’ve read his diary more than ten times already.

Four hours had passed since the priests finished treating him. However, there was no sign of Ian waking up at all.

Seeing that he didn’t open his eyes even after reading the thick diary several times, it was only natural for Neltalion to worry about Ian.

Of course, it could be known that there was no significant problem with his life due to the connection of the contract.

– Still.

Isn’t it natural to worry when someone important is unable to wake up?

– Ian hasn’t eaten either….

If there was someone like a musclebound man or a blonde woman following Ian, it would be understandable. But they were also absent from their positions, confirming the family’s business.

Clearly, when the blonde woman mentioned today’s tasks, the musclebound man screamed.

Considering that reaction, there was no possibility of them coming early.

In the end, Neltalion began to gather mana in his body.

– Ugh….

The form of Neltalion, which had the appearance of a large slime, began to change gradually. It was a body made to resemble Ian using mana.

Of course, it was not a fully grown body. At first glance, it looked like a five-year-old child.

Neltalion, who had transformed into a young child with black hair and red eyes, looked at himself in the mirror with a gloomy expression.

– I tried to hide it. But I couldn’t help it.

Ideally, he wanted to show himself properly when he could create an adult-sized body later.

The situation was urgent, so there was no room for choice.

The slime’s body was uncomfortable to nurse Ian.

Clank!

After confirming that there was no one outside by opening the door, Nathalion looked at Ian and murmured.

– Ian! Just wait a moment! I’ll be right back!

With that, Nathalion closed the door and quickly ran through the hallways of Cheongwol-gwan.

Thud!

The sound of small footsteps began to echo through the corridors.

First, Nathalion headed towards the dining hall.

Since training started, Ian hadn’t eaten a single meal.

While others had even eaten emergency rations, Ian couldn’t even eat because he was busy treating Rhea Hurst.

From Nathalion’s perspective, he even thought that Ian might collapse if this continued.

That was why.

– S-Soup…. Good when you’re sick! Recipe. Seafood? Ian hates seafood! Must put meat!

It was when he unfolded the book with the recipe and started cooking for the first time in his life.

Fortunately, Nathalion was good at cooking.

For someone like Nathalion, who quickly absorbed knowledge from books in general, it was no big deal to follow along.

The only problem was that he was too short, making it difficult to cook. But even that was solved when he climbed onto a chair to cook.

While sweating profusely in front of the hot flames, he diligently made the food.

– Ugh…. Aitch!

Cooking with a childish hand wasn’t an easy task. But it wasn’t particularly difficult when implementing heavenly wisdom.

After making beef soup, Nathalion took a cooling towel and headed back to the second floor.

– Ian…. Are you sleeping?

Just to be sure, he glanced over, but Ian was still asleep.

Relieved, Nathalion entered the room cautiously and neatly placed the food around the bed.

He even placed the cooling towel on Ian’s head, so now his job was done.

Plop!

– Mmm…. It’s warm.

Nathalion, lying next to Ian, hugged his right arm.

– hehehehe.

Neltalion liked Ian.

He brought out the thought of when he could leave the dark cave. He was warm to him.

– That Ian…. Other people don’t like him. I don’t understand….

As Neltalion read the diary, he knew how hard Ian’s life had been.

Of course, now he had good people around him. But that didn’t mean the sadness he had received before disappeared.

Those wounds are not easily erased. The only solution is to be there by their side for a long time.

Ian saved him. Neltalion knew it was his time to repay.

That’s why Neltalion embraced Ian even more.

***

It had been 30 minutes since Ian opened his eyes.

“A towel…. Who did this.”

Ian, who opened his eyes briefly, picked up the towel on his forehead.

A neatly folded towel…. Looking at it, Ian blinked.

Was there someone who would do this for him….

“Igor wouldn’t know how to do this kind of thing, right?”

Igor, who filled the pain with training, wouldn’t do something like this.

Then maybe it was Eri.

Looking around, she seemed to have left her spot as well.

“But the food is still warm. That means it was prepared at least a while ago….”

Then, who could have done this?

Ian’s gaze turned to Neltalion. The slime sleeping soundly next to him….

“Could it be Neltalion….”

But the consideration didn’t last long.

It wouldn’t make sense for Neltalion, a slime, to cook.

Furthermore, it didn’t seem necessary to care about who did it.

There was no point in pondering alone because he wouldn’t be able to find a proper answer….

He will express his gratitude when he finds out later.

Ian held the soup beside him. It still had warmth.

Ideally, he wanted to eat it right away.

“But just in case….”

It was at that moment when he was trying to utilize mana to confirm his suspicions.

Ding!

Once again, the status window appeared before his eyes. It was the moment when Ian was taken aback.

[Some of Ian’s secrets have been confirmed!]

[You will receive rewards for confirming the secret.]

[Mana proficiency has increased. You can now handle a greater amount of mana.]

“Huh? Huh.”

Ian’s pupils dilated as he looked at the mana in his hand.