Taming The Villainesses

Chapter 449: Clear Skies, Then Occasional Showers of Petals (1)

Wobble—

Elga’s body swayed violently.

The shoulder of the giant, which she’d been using as a foothold, had suddenly shifted. What had felt like a solid mountain range now trembled all over.

Goooooooo—

Because of that, Elga lost her balance and plummeted down from the giant’s high shoulder. The moment she shut her eyes tight, her organs seemingly floating up inside her from the fall—

Fwip—

Something wrapped around Elga’s arm. A long rope.

“Elga, are you alright?”

“Ah, thanks to you—I’m alive.”

Thanks to Stella’s intervention, Elga avoided becoming an egg splattered on the ground.

A strong pull lifted Elga upward. Now mounted on the ghostly back of a bizarre dragon, she was carried away from the collapsing giant.

Elga asked,

“This situation... It’s not just me, right? It is weird?”

“I think it’s weird too.”

Stella nodded in agreement. Anyone would’ve found it strange to see the giant, who had been fighting with such intensity just moments before, now utterly motionless.

Tap—

Elga and Stella dismounted from the dragon and landed on the ground. Queen Ayra, who had been fiercely battling the grotesque angels below, raised her head, panting heavily.

“This is...”

The angels charging toward Ayra stopped moving.

Like children frozen in a game of freeze tag, they came to a complete halt. Ayra slowly reached out, touching their arms and wings.

Sssrrrk—

What she felt at her fingertips was absolute stillness. It was hard to believe they’d been moving just moments ago—the angels were like statues now.

“Looks like... something’s happened.”

Ayra’s eyes turned toward the giant—the one who had been seated in a noble lotus posture, observing the world.

The light that had been radiating from its body dimmed, like a firefly at the end of its life. It flickered intermittently—then extinguished completely.

The space around them was no different. What had once been blinding with radiant light was rapidly fading to dullness. All around, the air rumbled like the end of the world was near.

Even without a word,

Everyone could sense—they needed to get out of here. But Ayra’s feet wouldn’t move.

The half-fairy.

“Teo...?”

Something had happened to him. That much, she could feel in her gut.

Whether it was good or bad, she didn’t know. But if she left this place before the half-fairy returned, she might never see him again—that thought alone kept her frozen.

Just then, someone yanked Ayra’s wrist.

“We don’t have time to stand around. We have to get out of here.”

“Elganes, you know as well as I do... Teo is still in there...”

Ayra trailed off.

The face of her cousin, Elganes, who had grabbed her wrist, was too resolute—too full of determination.

Elga spoke.

“If we get out safely, we’ll definitely meet him again. But if we don’t leave now—then everything ends here.”

There was no proof.

It was just a feeling Elga had. Her life had always run on spontaneous instinct, and once again, she was going all-in on her gut.

Still, Ayra couldn’t bring herself to move so easily.

“But—”

“Just this once! Please listen to me, you idiot!”

Elga screamed.

Ayra’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Then, as if slowly accepting it, her expression softened and returned to calm.

“Elga.”

“But he promised. That bastard promised he’d come back. On the day flower petals rain down. He promised he’d return.”

Elga’s face twisted in a way Ayra had never seen before—tears pouring down in thick streams. And watching her, Ayra felt a quiet sorrow stir in her chest.

But the queen did not cry.

A queen’s lips weren’t meant for falling tears—they were meant to wear a smile.

Ayra said,

“Teo Gospel is a liar. There’s no such thing as a day when petals fall from the sky.”

“......”

“He’s told more lies and made more blank promises than anyone. Everyone knows that—even if I didn’t say it. And you still believe him?”

“I do.”

Elga’s answer was the end of that. Ayra said no more.

To believe, or not to believe—

That’s a matter of personal faith. It’s not about logic or proof. It belongs entirely to the foolish, private, and sentimental domain.

Ayra had never believed in people.

They were full of lies, manipulating others when it suited them. With her sensitive ears, Ayra could always hear the falseness in their words.

So trusting people—was never easy.

And yet—

Now that they stood at the edge of the world—

Maybe the next thousand years would be different.

Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next month. Maybe everything ahead could change.

So Ayra decided to bend. Just once more, she would believe in a lie.

“Everyone, get on!”

Stella shouted. Elga and Ayra grabbed the rope Stella had lowered and were hoisted up, landing on the strange dragon’s tail.

Flap—

The enormous wings spread wide. Elga and Ayra hunched down instinctively, gripping tightly so they wouldn’t fall. Soon, the twins climbed onto Ayra’s back.

Mirna asked,

“What on earth... is going on?”

She had been focused entirely on steering the dragon with her younger sister Narmee and had no idea what had just happened.

All she knew was—they needed to escape.

And that the half-fairy would not be coming with them.

Even so—

One look at their faces told her the rest. They won’t be seeing him again for a while—that much was obvious. Truly—

“Would’ve been nice if he at least said goodbye.”

Mirna felt strangely sulky. Elga, Ayra—even Stella—they’d all likely exchanged farewells.

But she and Narmee had taken on the hardest job, and that left her feeling unfairly shortchanged.

When he ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) gets back, she’d definitely give him an earful.

That thought helped Mirna soothe her petty frustration. She believed with certainty that the half-fairy would return—so there was no need to be overly emotional.

Mirna wasn’t foolish enough to act like this brief parting was the end of the world. Just then, someone pinched her in the side.

“Unni, look.”

Narmee, seated behind her, pointed.

A man and his companions stood still amid the crumbling rift of light.

The hunter, the priestess Miriam, and the warrior Renée—was that their names?

They’d been a great help. Extending a hand in moments of crisis was a virtue of humanity. So Mirna steered the dragon toward them.

“Get on!”

At her call, the group looked up.

The priestess and the warrior climbed aboard immediately, as if they’d been waiting. Only one remained—the tall, strange man, the hunter.

“There’s no place for me in the new era.”

The man didn’t climb on.

He chose to remain in the crumbling space.

“I think... I’ll rest now.”

How long had he walked?

Most of his long life had been a journey through dry deserts. All the fatigue he’d suppressed now washed over him at once.

Of course—

His companions were furious, their hair standing on end.

“What nonsense is that?! Get on!”

But at Priestess Miriam’s plea, the hunter only shook his head.

“My time... is already over. Twisted, shattered time has finally begun to repair itself. Looks like he pulled it off.”

For the first time in ages, the hunter smiled.

What remained in his heart was lightness. Though his legs began crumbling like ash—he hadn’t felt this free in years.

“It’s done.”

The hazy memories in his head scattered like dust in the wind.

The voice of the sister who had long tormented him—the sound of her dying breath—was gone now.

“You are...”

Just then, a woman with golden hair, riding the dragon, called out to him.

He hadn’t remembered her name. He didn’t even recognize her face.

But her voice—

Her voice reminded him of the sister whose memory had haunted him through countless wandering years in the desert.

Yet—

Thinking now, it was strange.

He never had a sister.

Why had he believed he did? Maybe the desert heat had driven him mad.

Instead—he’d had many other family members. Whatever the case, their dying breaths would never reach him again.

Rustle—

Then, the golden-haired woman reached out a hand.

Even while watching his body crumble, she extended it toward him. Had he wished for that hand during his endless walk across the desert?

But—

The man knew all too well that he wasn’t the one meant to take it.

“Save that hand... for the day you meet him again. You will—someday. Though I won’t be the same by then. Now go.”

—O’mm.

As the hunter chanted a strange word, the dragon let out a mighty roar. Its wings flapped, and it soared into the sky.

Someone tossed something down to him.

Who it was, he didn’t know.

But they had good sense.

He caught the round object wrapped in paper, tore it open without thought, and popped the glowing yellow sphere into his mouth.

“...Still too sweet.”

Honey candy.

Too sugary for his adult taste—but perfect as the full stop to a story.

Yes, the end of the tale.

“This is my last stop. My story ends here. The title is...”

The Villain Hunter.

That felt right. He couldn’t imagine anything else.

‘Sure, my life was a total mess—but at least it had an ending.’

He placed a period.

And with that, the story ended. Time stopped.

But even if his clock stopped ticking, time itself would continue—steadily and mercilessly—second by second. Toward tomorrow. Toward what comes next. Toward autumn, winter, and the spring beyond.

The eyes of the now-grown half-fairy, like long ago when he was still young, gazed forward—toward the coming spring.

His eyes were sharp enough to find a needle in the desert, and his nose sensitive enough to sniff out a single sugar crystal in salt.

So now—he could already sense it.

The unmistakable scent of spring.