Seduced the Doomed Villain (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 3

When he handed the sword embedded in the corpse to his aide, his subordinates—who had been holding their breath in wait—finally began to move.

“What the hell? Is that the young master?”

“If you’re gonna run away from home, at least pick a proper place. Why the hell did you come to this demon-infested land? Did you plan this just to give us extra work?”

The Schwarz Duchy, hailed as the northern shield, had dispatched this search party—known throughout the north as a band of notorious troublemakers—from their house, which boasted a knightly order rivaling even the imperial family.

“So what? Thanks to him, the captain’s finally burning off some of that pent-up energy.”

The madman’s leader. Commander of the Duvark Knights. Rodric Schwarz.

Known as the Black Reaper, he had set out to find his younger brother—the heir of their house.

[“Brother, wait. I’ll find a way to lift the curse! Don’t come looking for me until then.”]

Because of his younger brother, who had vanished leaving only a single letter behind, Rodric’s face was twisted with frustration.

If he caught him, he’d lock him in the tower and make him do nothing but chores until he inherited the dukedom.

Putting aside the blood curse running rampant, monsters kept appearing constantly—trying to soothe his twisted mood—and made perfect prey.

Thanks to that, his subordinates followed him comfortably without ever having to get their hands dirty. That didn’t mean they were any less skilled than him, however.

This elite, small squad—calling themselves a shock unit and performing special maneuvers—surpassed even the imperial elite forces in prowess.

“Hey, rookie.”

A young man stood awkwardly among them, shivering and unable to fit in. His youthful face suggested he had just reached adulthood, looking utterly bewildered.

“Yes? Y-yes! What do you need?”

Snapping to attention, the youth hurried over to them.

“Scared?”

“N-no, sir!”

Seeing the dazed youth, one of the men clicked his tongue.

“Why do these new guys always have to do their initiation rites on us?”

“If he’s shaking this bad already, he’s useless to Schwarz. All the cowardly ones got weeded out—only this one’s left.”

“This batch really sucks.”

“As long as he doesn’t piss himself just seeing our captain, he passes, right?”

Amid their snickering, the youth broke into a cold sweat.

According to rumors, Rodric Schwarz—the eldest son of Duke Schwarz—had given up his position as heir to his younger brother.

They said it was because he was obsessed with bloodshed and wandered battlefields endlessly.

Was that true? Glancing sideways at Rodric, the youth gulped nervously.

He wore no chainmail or breastplate—just light clothing with a heavy formal coat draped loosely over his shoulders. That relaxed demeanor was anything but arrogance.

He radiated an aura so overwhelming, no one dared approach him.

Terrifying to the bone. Even more frightening than savage monsters. The youth’s face fell—he desperately wanted to escape this place.

He genuinely just wanted to go home. Why was he even here?

“Move out.”

At that commanding, low voice, the group began to move.

Caw—! As if understanding his order, the crow flew off in the direction it had come from.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Halt.”

Before the majestic ancient castle, the search party was speechless.

“My god.”

“What is that?”

Pushing through winding forest paths deep into the demon lands, they found a solitary, elegant castle standing alone.

Even a humble hut here would’ve been suspicious—but an enormous castle?

“How is this possible?”

Whew— One of the men whistled as he looked up at the fortress.

“Does some witch live here or what?”

“Unbelievable.”

The youth, struggling to keep up, gaped as he looked up at a castle rivaling even the ducal estate in scale.

The building—its age unknown—lacked any outer walls or curtain defenses; only the main keep stood starkly alone.

A castle standing alone in the black forest. Though the structure itself wasn’t monstrous, an ominous chill ran down their spines.

“Maybe the young master wasn’t running away—he was kidnapped by a witch?”

“Why do you keep babbling about witches?”

“Think logically. A castle like this in a place like this? Impossible. No mage alive today could’ve built this.”

“Witches don’t even exist. Magic this powerful would only belong to the imperial court.”

“That’s absurd.”

The imperial court’s influence could never reach this demon land.

Those cowardly capital nobles were too busy dumping all the dirty, hard work onto the north. There was no way those refined folks would come all the way out here.

They searched everywhere with torches, but found no entrance.

No door was visible in the solid stone walls. At this rate, they’d have no choice but to camp outside without even entering.

“Hey, crow. Are you sure this is the right place?”

Caw!

“What are we supposed to see to get in? There’s no door, and all those high windows are blocked shut. Who even threw that gemstone anyway?”

Caw!

“Argh! That hurts!”

The ill-tempered crow pecked the man’s head repeatedly to voice its displeasure.

“Pfft, even the crow’s ignoring you now.”

Ignoring the idle chatter of his men, Rodric ran his hands along the stone wall and frowned.

Thump. Thump. Without warning, his heart began beating ominously.

‘Kill them. Kill them all.’ As that demon-like, vile whisper stirred his blood into frenzy, Rodric clenched his teeth.

He’d thought drinking monster blood would keep him stable for a while. Apparently, this damned curse still hungered greedily for more blood.

The madness rumored throughout the land was a hereditary curse passed down through his family.

The murderous urge gnawing at him had now spiraled beyond his control.

Rodric roughly ran his fingers through his hair. He was nearing his limit.

A time bomb with barely a thread of fuse left. It wasn’t hard to sense his own approaching end.

‘It won’t be long now.’

His brother needed to inherit the dukedom and continue the family line—soon.

No, even more urgently, his brother needed to have a child—so they could finally break free from this accursed bloodline.

“Daren.”

Unlike the rowdy men, his aide respectfully bowed his head.

“Yes, Commander.”

“The paralysis herb. Gah—”

In an instant, his veins swelled across his body and murderous intent erupted. His surging magic forced all his subordinates to draw their swords at once.

Rodric’s blue eyes, hazy just moments ago, turned blood-red.

Emergency protocol. Whenever Rodric lost control of himself, they had to be ready to fight him—even at the cost of their own lives.

That was the true duty of the search party: to guard him, and be ready to kill him at any moment.

Their sudden seriousness left the bewildered rookie frozen, unable even to draw his weapon—he just blinked in shock.

“Captain!”

“Snap out of it!”

Rodric’s previously blank expression twisted into a chilling smirk. His gaze locked onto the rookie.

Just as he was about to lunge toward the weakest prey—

A massive magic circle appeared beneath Rodric’s feet, and he vanished without a trace.

Silence fell over the group, who had braced for an immediate crisis.

No one dared move. Not even blinking, one of them finally spoke.

“Uh… kid?”

Where their captain had stood, a small child now crouched with head bowed low.

“Our captain turned into a kid!”

Whack— A gauntleted fist smacked the man’s skull.

“You idiot. His hair color’s completely different.”

“Is it a monster?”

“But I don’t sense any aura from it?”

“Everyone, sheathe your swords.”

At Deputy Captain Daren’s command, they all re-sheathed their blades.

“Kid?”

The crouching child suddenly lifted their head.

Unusually bright red eyes shimmered with tears. The burly men started panicking.

“Nuna!”

Oops. Noel quickly covered his mouth with small hands. His tongue felt thick, his speech clumsy.

Looking down at himself, he seemed even smaller now. Ugh—must’ve used too much magic.

If Diana saw him like this, she’d think he was weird. What if she rejected him for being such a strange kid?

“Hey, little one. Where did you pop out from?”

Sniff— Tears welled up, and the men instinctively stepped back.

“He’s gonna cry!”

“I can’t deal with kids!”

“Which one of you married guys—take care of this kid!”

“Are you okay, little one?”

Amid the chaotic commotion of grown men, a gentle voice spoke up.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Deputy Captain Daren, face expressionless, spoke kindly—prompting his men to grimace awkwardly.

“My nuna’s inside.”

“Your sister?”

“Only me came out here.”

“Did your sister send this gemstone?”

Seeing the gem he’d thrown earlier, Noel nodded vigorously.

Ah. So that’s how it is. Daren gently ruffled the child’s gray hair, impressed.

“Whoa, chills. Never seen the deputy captain like this before.”

Ignoring the murmurs of his men, Daren focused on the child.

“Is only your sister inside? Or was there anyone else—maybe a man with soft sky-blue hair and blue eyes?”

The child shook their head firmly.

“Only nuna and me.”

“How did you get out here?”

“There was a flash of magic—and I came out. I have to save nuna!”

Apparently, a trap spell had activated, swapping Rodric’s and the child’s positions.

Such things occasionally happened on battlefields where ancient artifacts were used.

Daren, who had knelt to meet the child’s eyes, stood up with a sigh.

“For now, hold position here. Set up tents. We wait until the captain returns.”

Right now, he was less worried about the vanished Rodric—and more concerned about the child’s sister.

Rodric, likely already lost to reason, would be far more dangerous than any monster.

If the child’s sister emerged as a corpse… how could he possibly explain that to this child? Daren’s face darkened.

They could uncover the child’s true identity after Rodric returned—there was still time for that.

[This is the timeline separator]

Several hours before the search party arrived at the castle.

Today’s objective was the western vestibule—the only area they hadn’t explored yet.

The castle was so vast they could only roam a limited area.

Moreover, the interior was always pitch-dark, and even relying on candles had its limits.

After searching the eastern entrance for a long while and finding every exit sealed shut, they were now heading west.

First, they’d look for more escape routes—and also search for the cursed object.

After all, there was no telling when the crow would bring its master.

Even if the crow brought someone immediately, they couldn’t afford to wait any longer.

She was living on borrowed time—her life could end at any moment. She had to act while she still had strength left.

“Noel.”

“Yes?”

“Do you hear anything?”

A soft music box melody floated through the air. As the tune played, fog began seeping into the wide corridor.

Was this really just fog? It felt like yet another trap spell had activated.

“Please don’t tell me another ghost’s about to pop out…”

As if in answer, the candle in her hand sputtered out abruptly.