A Destained Young Master Villain

Zen had an epiphany and quietly uttered, "Ah, I see, at this time they found out about the things I have been doing and my little hobbies."

His step-sister cast a disdainful gaze in his direction, but he responded with a tender, endearing smile. The identical smile that rendered Marie, the maid, devoid of conscious thought. Followed after that was an expression of confusion manifested in his sister's expression.

When considering Zen's sister, despite being a potential love interest for the protagonist in the novel, she consistently maintained a neutral position amidst the conflict between Zenryx and Edward. In the novel, she had mixed emotions toward Zen, as he was her brother.

Even if they were not biologically related and even if she felt disgusted with Zen, they both still grew up together, being raised by the same parents since childhood, and she was grateful to Zen's parents for taking care of her like she was their daughter.

Zen's mother was the first to come forward and hug him tightly, seemingly worried about what was happening to him psychologically. Zen's mother loved him, and she often spoiled him rotten.

While Elle was hugging him, a deep voice sounded, which belonged to Randell. He said, "Before we go to dinner, me and your mother have to ask you something, my son."

Zen's mother then pulled him away from her embrace, looking straight into his eyes.

Elle asked in a mad tone, chastising him, "Zen, tell me why are you doing all those things? Torturing animals and despicably framing your sister?! You are going a bit overboard, don't you think so?"

This marked a pivotal moment in the life of Zen, as he had never experienced reprimand previously and was an indulged ten-year-old who had yet to grasp the intricacies of the world.

In the novel, it is stated that he resorted to uttering profanities toward his parents upon being reprimanded, which instigated his father to administer physical discipline.

You can easily guess how the plot of the novel progressed after that incident. It was like a cycle of him accumulating hatred from his parents.

Until it led to him being disowned and starting his path to being a villain, joining evil organizations and such. Consequently, his fate ultimately met its tragic end at the hands of the protagonist.

Although Zen can understand his actions in the novel, he was quite pitiful. It is so easy at times for a lonely individual to begin fantasizing about what the people outside are saying about him and, as a result, irrationally, fearfully, and sometimes angrily, fancy himself a villain.

Of course, Zen won't let that happen now that he has taken over. He will fully utilize and use his family's power, wealth, and influence/prestige to crush that cringe-worthy hypocritical protagonist.

The room went silent. Fiona, Randell, and Elle gazed at me attentively, demonstrating their patience as they awaited my answer.

Zen then told them firmly, while mixing lies with truth, "Mother and Father, I apologize for my actions if they were not appropriate. As for torturing the animals? Who said that? It was merely a beast from the Demonic Twilight Forest I had someone ordered to capture."

"I wanted to practice my skills by fighting with beasts. I was also researching the weak points and how to deal with them more easily if I ever were to fight one. So I was dissecting it."

"Those maids need to be reprimanded for spreading such fake rumors."

Randell pondered silently, questioning the notion that his son possessed a cowardly nature, as he seemed more inclined to derive pleasure from inflicting harm upon defenseless creatures rather than engaging adversarial counterparts of greater strength.

But then he widened his eyes in surprise after hearing his response, and then a deep, loud laugh echoed through the estate. Guards, maids, etc... who were working stopped what they were doing when they suddenly heard a laugh that was similar to Zen's laughter that echoed earlier, which made them nervous.

They immediately guessed that something was about to happen.

Randell expressed his satisfaction with a smile and confidently remarked, "Great! Great! So that's it. We misunderstood. I shall promptly execute all the maids responsible for slandering you, resulting in our unfortunate misperception of our son."

Zen's father's action did not come as a surprise to him. He possessed a complete understanding of his father's ruthlessness and authoritarian nature, exhibiting only a gentle demeanor toward his family members.

While Randell was busy with his thoughts, Fiona and Elle were also surprised. Fiona's gaze toward Zen became gentler.

Fiona muttered to herself, "To be honest, I did not really like this brother of mine due to his hobbies being spread around, but it seems like it was just a mix-up." She sighed, feeling better about her brother.

Due to Fiona's parents and her family being destroyed and her tragic past, she was forced to mature and think like an adult at such a young age.

Indeed, she expressed her gratitude towards Zenryx's parents. They not only provided her refuge but also sought retribution for the demise of her family. They eradicated the entire Marquess lineage, which bore the responsibility for the demise of her family, and the organization that was also involved had its power and influence reduced by half.

She did not care about Zen's rebellious child tantrums he throws all the time when the family gathers together. They also had a good relationship for about a year while playing around when they were about 6 years old.

The only reason she started hating this brother of hers was because of his questionable hobbies. Then she also found out that Zen had framed her.

Zen informed their parents that during her previous visit, she surreptitiously administered a substance to him, resulting in his debilitating sickness for a week, an assertion utterly devoid of veracity. She was then reprimanded as a result of that.

That instilled a heightened sense of revulsion within her towards her brother's behavior. Now, one of the misconceptions has been clarified, specifically regarding the torture of animals and stuff. In reality, it was merely a beast undergoing dissection for educational motives.

She eagerly anticipated Zen's explanation for falsely accusing her of poisoning him, hoping that it could be also a misunderstanding, but she doubts it, as it was pretty clear what his motives were.

But she still hope that they could go back to how things were when they were six. Her only wish right now was for her, Zen, their parents, and the family to become more harmonious.

Elle, on the other hand, also felt refreshed hearing his answer; she then continued to ask, "What about your sister? Why did say that?"