The Villainous Me Turned the Losers into Blackened Bosses-Chapter 6 - Embrace

“E-Eir… um… I-I saw that Young Master fell asleep… so I… came to cover you with a blanket,” she stammered, lowering her head shyly.

Of course, that was a lie.

She hadn’t left at all!

Perhaps the story she had heard during the day had left her uneasy—especially after imagining herself as the little hunting dog and Will as the master in the tale. Her mind was filled with the scene of Will turning back to say, “I don’t need you anymore,” before walking away with a dragon-girl in his arms.

So, when she had closed the door earlier, she had left it slightly ajar.

She had peeked through the crack, watching as Will’s body slowly slumped forward, eventually accompanied by the sound of soft snores.

But she had to lie!

As a loyal maid, how could she admit to spying on her young master?! What on earth was wrong with her?

Ugh, it must’ve been because she read “300 Questions on Blackening” before bed.

“Hmm? You didn’t go back to your room? That’s strange…” Will glanced out the window at the moon’s position, realizing he hadn’t been asleep for long—maybe ten minutes at most.

“I wasn’t out for long. Quite the coincidence that you noticed so quickly and came to cover me with a blanket, huh?”

“Ugh!”

Eir, who had been drowsy moments ago, perked up instantly. Her ears stood upright, her eyes widened, and her tail stiffened.

—Young Master was way too sharp. There was no way to hide it from him!

Eir had no choice but to confess.

“W-W-Well… I was copying ‘300 Questions on Blackening’…”

“Oh? And?”

“One of the questions said… if the man you like shuts the door and doesn’t let you in… what should you do…”

Will immediately felt a sense of foreboding.

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

“I-It said to peek through the crack in the door… s-so my mind went blank, and I-I thought I’d try it… and then I saw Young Master slump over the desk, and I thought you must’ve fallen asleep, so… I’m sorry! I won’t do it again… Eh? Young Master?”

Before she could finish, Will pulled her into a hug.

She felt the weight of the embrace, as if he were holding her tightly to reassure her.

Will didn’t speak immediately, but Eir could faintly sense him exhaling a sigh of relief.

In the brief silence, Eir listened to her young master’s breathing, so close and clear. Along with it, her own heartbeat quickened.

This was the first time Will had ever hugged her.

For some reason, Eir had always felt a “respectful” distance between herself and her young master since the day they met—a stark contrast to the rumors of other nobles who treated their personal maids inappropriately.

He almost never touched her without explicit confirmation, not even tugging on her clothes without asking if it hurt.

So this was… unusual.

It made Eir worry.

What had he dreamed about just now? In his dream, he had called her name—was it something about her?

“Young Master… did you have a nightmare?”

Will’s face was pressed against her ear, and she could hear his deep breaths.

“Hah… it’s nothing. I’m just glad you’re actually learning something…”

But Eir felt his embrace tighten.

He even patted her back, as if to encourage her.

Will’s words often carried a playful tone, making it hard to discern his true feelings.

But Eir could tell—at least in this moment—he was being sincere.

He genuinely wanted her to graduate from Blackened Love Studies.

“Keep it up.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll make sure you rise from the flames, your body and soul fueled by hatred. With an unyielding shield of ice in your hands, clad in Frozen Ice Armor, you’ll sever dragon heads, extinguish stars, and make the one you desire kneel at your feet forever—”

Eir didn’t understand a single word. She wondered if her young master had mastered the art of sleep-talking while standing.

“Young Master… you should go to bed early. You’re… you’re even weirder than usual. Eir is… very worried…”

—

“Yawn… I really didn’t get enough sleep last night. I shouldn’t have spied on Young Master…”

The next morning, Eir couldn’t stop yawning.

Standing in front of the mirror, she stared at her dark circles before putting on the collar that rested on the table.

The icy flow from the collar against her neck sent a shiver down her spine.

Today, Will had told her they’d be doing something important—something that might drain her stamina and magic. As a result, he had canceled her morning training and instructed her to wake him up so they could prepare together.

Rubbing her eyes, she walked down the hallway. Perhaps because it was her first day wearing the collar around the Hysterm estate, she overheard whispers from the other maids—

“See? Will’s no different from the others.”

“Hmph, I thought he was serious about studying magic, and his grades were pretty good. I thought he’d be different from his older brothers.”

“And yet he went and put that kind of collar on his personal maid?”

“Shh, don’t forget he’s heading to Entark’s First Academy. The master dotes on him. He can do whatever he wants.”

Hearing this, Eir clenched her fists. She turned around, ready to shout, “Young Master isn’t like that!” but realized the gossiping maids were ten meters away.

She touched her ears.

Perhaps her training had paid off. Her magical circuits had been thoroughly activated, enhancing her physical abilities—her beast ears could now pick up sounds from such a distance.

But…

She stopped in front of Will’s door.

Her young master devoted himself entirely to training her, staying up late every night.

Such a kind young master, yet he was misunderstood so badly behind his back. He might’ve even overheard those words himself…

The thought saddened Eir.

She needed to become stronger, so she could protect her young master!

Resolving herself, Eir knocked on the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Come in. I’m getting up.”

As soon as she opened the door, the smile on her face vanished.

Will was lying on the bed without a shirt, and on his back was a medium-sized slime trapped in a cage. The slime’s viscous liquid was dripping down his body.

Meanwhile, her young master, wearing his glasses, was enthusiastically reading the notes he had scribbled the night before.

“Don’t be surprised. I figured it shouldn’t just be you training—I need to learn to adapt to fate as well.”

He adjusted his glasses and lifted the trembling slime off his back.

“This is a trial. Since fate cannot be changed, I must start adapting to it now—”

“At least put on a shirt, Young Master.”

“Fate tells me that when I meet it in the future, I’ll be naked.”

“Young Master, please act normal.”

Eir felt ridiculous for worrying about someone like Will.

He clearly didn’t care about what others thought!

He was always so unapologetically himself.

But…

This same young master had hugged her tightly last night, as if afraid she’d leave him.

Thinking about it, Eir felt a warm, fuzzy happiness in her heart.

“No matter. Today is important. I’ve prepared everything for the Extreme Flame Meteor experiment. Let’s get started—”

Will confidently got out of bed, only to step on the slime’s dripping liquid.

The last thing Eir remembered was seeing Will’s glasses fly off his face as she struggled to hold back her laughter.