I'm Not Your Dad, I'm a Villain - Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Guilt (3)

The day the first mission began.

Bombs fell on the path the unit was advancing, and the heroes who arrived to sweep up the survivors mercilessly killed her comrades.

It was not even a fight.

It was a one-sided massacre.

The will to revolt, which had soared high, was crushed by their overwhelming power. Before such power, the only options were to resign to death or flee miserably.

-Crack.

Using her power in that situation was never her intention.

It was instinctive, an unconscious release of power when she felt her life was in danger.

‘It’s all your fault.’

After losing her senses and using her power, the first person who approached her was a man.

But not even the rain falling from the sky could wash away the blood staining his body.

Even buried in such a thick tragedy, he couldn’t hide the hatred he felt toward her.

‘Everyone died because of you. Because you hid your power…’

She couldn’t say a word.

Knowing how her power was created, she feared her newfound peace of mind would crumble.

‘If it were me…’

Still, she thought he might understand.

‘If I had that power, I…’

But his cries directed at her and the grief radiating from him pained her so much that she turned her back on him without a word of excuse.

Her dead comrades would never return.

The one who survived would live every moment remembering that day.

“Please be honest.”

Was it a coincidence or fate that she met him again after all this time?

“Do you… resent me?”

Having encountered him, she knew she couldn’t run away.

If she cherished those times, she had to face him.

If he hadn’t forgotten his feelings toward her, she had the duty to accept his grudge.

“…I don’t really think about it.”

But his response to her earnest plea was curt.

That was something Seolhwa hadn’t expected.

What she had done back then was too grave to be brushed off with mere kindness.

“Not really think about it…”

“I did feel betrayed at the time.”

She thought she would never be forgiven.

Yet, in his eyes, there was no trace of the hatred she had expected.

“Despite having the power to rival other executives from the start, you mingled with the lower ranks and didn’t use that power until you were about to die. Then, as soon as the opportunity for promotion came, you specifically chose me for your unit…”

“That was…”

“It’s obvious why. You wanted to apologize but didn’t know how to approach me, so you kept me close to seize any opportunity.”

“…Ugh.”

Seolhwa flinched as if he had struck a nerve.

Seeing her reaction, he chuckled and continued staring at the sea.

“That’s just how you are. No matter how much you try to act strong and cool, you’re inherently a coward.”

“Cool… coward?”

“Am I wrong?”

His words were harsh, but there was a faint smile on his face as he looked at the sea.

It was a feeling of nostalgia.

He remembered the times they spent together with their peers, just as she did.

“…No, you’re right.”

She had thought he must have been tormented by the betrayal because he cherished those times.

“But still.”

But he already knew.

Wounds heal with time.

Though scars remain, the pain fades, and one can’t be tormented by memories forever.

Especially when life leaves more than one scar.

“I continued watching you afterward. I understood that you didn’t hide your power without reason.”

To truly forgive or be forgiven, one must understand the depth of the other’s wounds.

He realized just by watching her that the wounds that made her suppress her power while her comrades died were not trivial.

He had failed to grasp that and left a deeper scar with his momentary feeling of betrayal.

‘He understands me. This man…’

Unlike her, who had forgotten him.

He remembered their time together and carried those feelings to this day.

Longing and guilt for an old comrade. Bitterness for the past…

‘Then, maybe now…’

If he could call such understanding maturity…

If so, perhaps now she could say what she couldn’t back then.

“And that you didn’t become a villain by choice.”

But before she could speak, his words took her breath away.

Words that a villain like her could never overlook.

“What…”

“Lee Yunseol. I’ll be honest.”

Before she could question him, he met her eyes and spoke.

“I don’t think you belong as a villain.”

His calm judgment based on her actions both in the organization and at this moment.

But to Seolhwa, those words felt like an insult.

“That’s not for you to judge.”

Of course, she would feel that way.

The person she thought understood her now denied her very identity.

“True, I have no right to meddle in others’ affairs when I can’t handle my own.”

He didn’t find her reaction strange.

Even if she pretended to be strong, she had lived hiding her cursed power, feeling weak inside.

Despite that, she took pride in being an executive of Ouroboros and had committed many evil deeds.

Villain Seolhwa.

Objectively, she was undoubtedly ‘evil.’

“So at least tell me.”

But the beginning of her path couldn’t have been evil.

The way she acted made that clear.

“If you feel any remorse toward me or our comrades… Why did you walk the path of a villain with such a half-hearted resolve?”

He hadn’t asked until now, but maybe he could now.

Not as an executive to a grunt, but person to person.

“…You don’t know?”

“I know you joined for revenge. I don’t know who the revenge is against, though.”

His gaze shifted to the sea.

It narrowed toward the horizon and then closed, swallowed by the darkness.

In that darkness, what was he trying to see? What was he searching for?

“I know that those without a good reason for betraying society usually end up with regrets.”

Though he didn’t reveal his thoughts, she understood one thing.

Even as a grunt, he had belonged to the same organization.

Even without power, evil doesn’t discriminate.

He had seen the same world and experienced the same evil.

There was nothing he couldn’t empathize with…

“…I don’t think your reason is trivial. If you still hold onto it after the organization has fallen, it must be a valid reason.”

With that question in mind, Seolhwa clutched her chest and tried to calm her hesitation.

‘Can I tell him?’

It was a story she hadn’t shared with anyone.

Not in her former organization, nor her current one.

It was a story meant only for her, to be resolved by her.

So maybe silence was the answer here as well.

But…

“…It’s an era where orphans are common.”

But this man…

He had always watched and understood her naive and weak side.

“Though I lost my hometown to villains, the government couldn’t manage everyone… Some were too neglected to even be put in poor facilities.”

Suddenly, she found herself speaking, sharing her story.

The story of how the worst villain, Seolhwa, was born.

“I don’t remember much because I was too young, but I think it was a trafficking ring that took me.”

“…Most end up in organ trade; you were lucky to survive.”

“It might have been better if I hadn’t. What I saw after being sold was more horrible than anything I’ve seen as a villain.”

Unable to resist, she cried for help, for mercy.

It was a common tragedy in this era.

“Yes, it was terrible. When I escaped, I was chased by none other than a hero.”

“…What?”

This part of her story seemed unexpected even to him.

He looked at her with wide eyes, listening intently.

The terrible situation that gave birth to the worst villain was caused not by a common criminal but by those who claimed to protect justice.

“But back then, I didn’t care whether they were right or wrong. I was just scared.”

But how could a frightened child discern right from wrong?

She was just scared, hurt, and ran away.

No matter how much they claimed to uphold justice and punish evil, to a frightened child, they were the enemy.

“…I just knew I had to run from them.”

She had no choice from the beginning.

Joining the organization, becoming an executive, all happened naturally, unconsciously.

Being swept along was the life of the villain she was called.

“But the world wouldn’t even allow me to be swept along.”

That, too, was a story of the past.

Now, her intent wasn’t to elicit pity with her tale.

Though the beginning was distorted, her purpose had blossomed from her own will.

“…Did you find it?”

“Yes, I found it while working as an executive.”

The remnants of power that had granted her immense strength, scattered across Pangea.

She learned that even now, behind the scenes, those powers were still at work.

“At first, I tried not to care. It was happening in the society we aimed to destroy.”

If the continent changed, those things would disappear too.

Even with the disgusting power given to her, if she could achieve that, it would be enough…

That’s what she thought.

“But we failed.”

Their lofty ideals crumbled with a single defeat.

“And they continue their misdeeds under the name of justice.”

Mocking her failure, the remnants that pushed her into this path grew and spread over the world.

What should she do facing that?

Collapse powerlessly after one failure?

Or use her shattered pride and remaining presence to build even a ragged force?

“…I can’t stop seeing that. Not now.”

Such options were meaningless.

In her life, there had never been a choice.

Even if she erased herself and freed herself from the organization.

The years gone by forced her to walk this path.

End of Chapter