That’s How They Became Villains

#54. Return Broadcast -6-

Finally, I pulled Mary above the surface.

Yu-ha Chan finally felt relieved that all her antics so far had not been meaningless.

Mary Nathan Rothschild.

In the original story, she was a villain who tried to eliminate the Royal Road itself, including her family who had tormented her to the point of death.

Mary’s evil deeds were so cringe-worthy that even readers who had endured the depressing narrative so far criticized her harshly.

For example, her duality of hating the Royals so much, yet being unable to give up her privileges as a Royal for her own purposes.

Her coldness in killing Alfred, the butler who had served Mary for a long time and never spared his honest advice.

And her ugliness is gradually corrupting into the very image of the Royals she hated after awakening the ability to control people with words.

It would have been strange if she hadn’t been cursed at.

If we were to distinguish between innate goodness and evil, she was clearly inherently evil.

But what did that matter?

To Chae Yu-ha’s eyes, Mary’s potential ability to “control people with words” was more important than her personality. In the original story, how many people died after Mary awakened that ability? If she could win Mary over, not only would a future enemy disappear, but she would also gain a powerful ally. Things would certainly become much easier going forward.

“Mary, the viewers are confused. Would you introduce yourself first?”

At Yu-ha’s words, Hyun was startled.

He was also one of the people who had heard Mary’s name on the airship.

-Merry15: I’m Mary Nathan Rothschild. I’m one of the Royals that you all hate so much, and I’m the one who invited Yu-ha to the airship lobby.

The chat window was frozen.

So it seemed as if there was no reaction to Mary’s words at first.

But the reality was completely different.

[A Royal????]

[Why the fuck is a Royal suddenly appearing]

[I knew that slut was like that lol The sponsor uncle just appears lol] [7]

[Rothschild means they’re one of the 7 families…] [2]

The Royals are beings like the embodiment of an elect consciousness who have lived their entire lives looking down on others.

And not just any Royal, but one from one of the 7 families, showing up among commoners?

Whatever the reason, viewers couldn’t help but focus their attention on the screen right now.

-Merry15: Is that okay? Now please answer me. Why did you accept my invitation so easily back then?

‘To commit terrorism.’

…was not something she could answer.

Yu-ha deliberately moved her lips a few times, pretending to have difficulty speaking.

“On the contrary, why is Mary asking me such a question?”

-Merry15: At that time, I thought it was a win-win relationship because you wanted to advance to a higher place as an influencer, and I wanted to see you in person. But watching today’s broadcast, it doesn’t seem that way.

“What do you mean?”

-Merry15: To be frank, you’re not interested in getting popular.

I felt a pang.

-Merry15: I’m what you might call “someone who’s had it all,” so I know. People become incredibly ugly and desperate when they’re about to lose something precious. But today, you were about to lose the image you’ve built up, yet you showed no desperation.

-Merry15: Yet paradoxically, you started a comeback broadcast. Why? You’re not interested in popularity, but you don’t want to worry people. That’s the only conclusion I can draw.

-Merry15: Going back to the original question. Now that we’ve established that you’re someone who doesn’t care much about popularity. Then, why did you accept my invitation back then?

-Merry15: It’s funny coming from me, but I’m a Royal. If it’s not for worldly reasons, there’s no benefit in getting close to me. Look at today. How many people picked on the airship lobby issue before I even mentioned it? You knew this would happen, didn’t you?

As Yu-ha read Mary’s chat, she suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.

This was not just Yu-ha’s sense.

It was the sense of Sawol within her.

The feeling of having had a similar conversation somewhere before.

With that strange sensation, Yu-ha naturally opened her mouth.

“I thought this before, but Mary is very self-destructive.”

-Merry15: What?

“Mary said it, didn’t she? That people become the most ugly and desperate when they try not to lose something precious. That’s how Mary is right now. You look so pitiful and desperate.”

-Merry15: You think I’m pitiful?

“Yes, pitiful. Do you remember when you first sent me a DM? At that time, you used your Royal power to forcibly send me a message, right? To tell you the truth now, that was quite scary.”

-Merry15: …That was.

“But when I actually talked with you, it wasn’t scary at all. That’s because Mary was a child. I could feel through your messages that you really liked me, and I was grateful for that.”

-Merry15: …

“Of course I knew that the airship was a lobby place for Royals. When First advertised it so openly, was there anyone in the city who didn’t know? I went to meet Mary. Before being a Royal, before being an influencer, I wanted to repay the feelings of Mary who liked me. Is that answer enough?”

For a moment, no chat messages appeared.

In that brief silence, Mary’s thoughts seemed to be felt.

-??????

-What the hell is going on

-Chat is open?

-Oh it’s open

As the chat was disabled, the broadcast screen began to crackle and what appeared was the scene of a luxurious room.

“Miss, are you really sure…?”

An old man’s small voice leaked through the microphone but there was no voice answering.

Only Yu-ha and Hyun knew the reason for this.

-Roll roll…

The sound of wheels rolling on wood was heard.

Eventually, an old man in uniform and a young girl in a wheelchair entered the camera’s angle with a breathtaking presence.

“Hello.”

The girl held up a sign.

“I was enjoying the broadcast, but I seem to have caused trouble, so I apologize once again.”

“My name is Mary. Mary Nathan Rothschild. I’m the youngest of the Rothschild family, one of the seven families of Royal Road.”

“I said it so solemnly, but I’m actually an abandoned child of the family. Royals value purity very much, and I’m an enhanced human.”

“I once had a deadly disease. I took the enhanced human serum solely to survive. Thanks to that, I recovered, but…I became a fool who can’t use my legs or speak like this.”

“After becoming an enhanced human, I no longer had a place in Royal Road. My family treated me as if I didn’t exist, and even the servants often ignored me.”

“There was even less place for me in the city. Even like this, I’m still a Royal. There was no way the city people would accept me.”

“Hated by both fellow Royals and city people, where was I supposed to go?”

“That’s when I saw Yu-ha unnie’s video. It warmed my heart. It felt like I was being comforted that even someone like me was still allowed to live.”

“That’s why I tried to forcibly create a connection with Yu-ha unnie.”

“I’m sorry. This all happened because of my stubbornness. So I hope that unnie won’t suffer any harm because of this incident from now on.”

“After today, I will no longer be a Royal because I’ve broken a long-standing unwritten rule of Royal Road.”

“I don’t think I’ll regret it. Thank you for listening to my long story.”

And the screen went off.

In this way, the existence of Mary was imprinted on the approximately 20,000 viewers watching Yu-ha’s broadcast.

It was the first time in the 100 years since Minos was completed that Royal information had been leaked in this way.

After Mary’s revelation, no more hate groups appeared on Yu-ha’s broadcast.

There was no one left to cling to Yu-ha’s conduct and stir up trouble.

Literally, Mary had embraced all the attention and disappeared.

Thanks to this, the broadcast ended well. Yu-ha spent the late night at the detective agency.

-Rustling rustling…

It’s a time close to dawn but Yu-ha couldn’t sleep.

It wasn’t because of Hyun lying on the sofa.

Even though she had missed Mary, who was her original target, strangely, she didn’t feel disappointed or anything like that.

Rather, what she felt was worry for Mary. Mary, who had been two-faced, hating Royals while not giving up her Royal privileges. She gave up being a Royal to protect herself instead.

“Can’t you sleep?”

Hyun, who also couldn’t fall asleep, asked as he turned his head toward the back of the sofa.

“…Yes.”

“Is it because you’re worried about that girl, Mary?”

“…”

Yu-ha couldn’t bring herself to answer “yes” to that question because she couldn’t be sure if this emotion she was feeling now was entirely her own.

“She’ll be fine. She seemed like a brave girl.”

At Hyun’s consolation, Yu-ha closed her eyes tightly.

It was brief, but it seemed as if a faint crimson hue had crossed Yu-ha’s golden eyes.

The Red Witch’s headquarters.

Eltrinde welcomed an unexpected guest.

“What brings you to such a humble place?”

What appeared from the darkness was Mary in a wheelchair and the butler Alfred.

“I have something I want to ask.”

“You? To me? When our positions are so different.”

“I’m no longer a Royal. You were once a Royal too, but not anymore. We have a clear commonality.”

“Oh…”

After carefully pondering Mary’s words, Eltrinde nodded in agreement and pulled back her subordinates who were hiding in the shadows.

“Alright, what do you want to know?”

“How to become strong. The way you’ve survived until now being in the same position as me. All that know-how.”

As Mary said this, there was a certain sublimity in her eyes that could never be called evil.