I Became The Novel's Biggest Antagonist

As King ascended the staircase, he kept glancing at Cecil, whose expression remained impassive, though she seemed to strain to hold it. His gaze was unsettlingly piercing, as though searching for something beneath her carefully composed facade.

Eventually, Ferdinand stepped in, shielding Cecil with his broad frame, much to King's visible displeasure.

At the top floor, they entered a spacious room. Cecil shut the door behind them, and with a subtle gesture, activated a spell that enveloped the room in a soundproof barrier.

"Take a seat," Ferdinand offered, gesturing to a sofa, while he settled into the one directly across.

King draped himself onto the sofa with an easy nonchalance, his long legs stretched out and dangling over one armrest, utterly dismissive of the formal setting.

Cecil's eye twitched at his insolence. She itched to call him out, but she remembered Hubert's request: treat him with respect befitting royalty. Reluctantly, she held her tongue. She wasn't about to coddle him, but she certainly didn't want any disrespect to endanger Ferdinand.

"I've heard quite a bit about you from Hubert," Ferdinand said, his hands folded as he leveled a penetrating gaze at King.

But King's attention was elsewhere. He clutched an oval-shaped silver locket hanging from his neck, the clasp open, revealing a photo inside. He seemed lost in it, oblivious to the others in the room.

Because of his mask, Cecil and Ferdinand couldn't see his expression, but the slight curve of his eyes hinted at an uncharacteristic smile—one that, had she been able to see fully, would have astonished them. The smile held a surprising warmth, a softness far from his usual hardened demeanor.

In the locket, King's azure eyes traced the image of a stunning woman with silvery-blond hair and pale, almost ethereal grey almost white eyes. Two small horns jutted from her temples, adding to her otherworldly beauty. It was a beauty that words could barely capture—divine, unearthly. She was his wife, usually known as Queen.

Beside her stood a little girl, her wide grin radiating an innocence that matched her mother's beauty. Just five years old, she was as charming as she was adorable: his daughter, his pride and joy.

They were his family—his only family.

But now, he was worlds away from them.

They were in another world, one King doubted he would ever reach again. His physical body had died, struck down by the protagonist and his allies.

King's blue eyes narrowed, remembering his death. For a split second, a sliver of his carefully-contained killing intent slipped free—the potent, lethal aura he had honed during years as an assassin.

Ferdinand and Cecil both flinched, recoiling instinctively at the murderous energy that briefly filled the room, only for it to vanish as quickly as it had come. They exchanged uneasy glances, puzzled by the chill that had just washed over them, while King resumed his outwardly calm demeanor.

After a moment, he closed the locket.

He wanted to see them. Now. To tell them he was alive, somehow—but he knew he couldn't, not yet.

Here, in this world, Ludmila's life and the fates of others had curiously begun to take precedence in his mind since he was in this world. Strange, he thought, that he felt compelled to protect anyone other than himself. But it was fortunate for Ivan. King's nature—though twisted by his past—was among the calmest and most calculated of the Antagonists, along Adam Crane.

The others were neither so patient nor so restrained.

"Ferdinand, I'd like to register as a Hunter," he said suddenly, his usual smile snapping back into place, smooth and playful. "Would you be able to handle that for me?"

"Mr. Siver, if you could just tell me—"

"King," he interrupted with a quick smile. "It's just King. Siver's my family name."

It wasn't the first time he'd corrected people on this. Back in his world, he'd become used to the double-takes. His adoptive parent had given him the name, one he had taken on willingly.

"King… is your first name?" Ferdinand's eyes narrowed, curiously.

Siver King. That's how Hubert had introduced him. The name rang a bell, familiar and unsettling.

Ferdinand recalled a figure from the distant kingdom in the Northern Continent: a tyrant king who had murdered his own father to seize the throne, ruling with a brutal, iron fist until his people finally revolted. After that, his fate had been shrouded in mystery. Some said he had been slain; others whispered that he had simply…vanished.

'King… Siver... King… King Silver?'

Ferdinand's mind overheated.

The King of the Kingdom of Arhendir was known widely as the 'Silver King'—or, by some, 'King Silver' because of his iconic silver armor. The resemblance seemed far too coincidental. While King wasn't from this world at all, Hubert's was reaching a dangerous misunderstanding as Hubert's words echoed in his mind:

"Treat him like royalty!"

Of course Hubert only repeated the words Patrick Cromwell said to him since he considered Ivan as a God and wanted to give Ivan all privileges but the words unfortunately had taken the true meaning int Ferdinand's ears.

'Could it be…?'

Ferdinand's sharp intuition led him to a wrongest conclusion possible that would make even King grimace.

"Your last name is… Siver?" Ferdinand asked, treading cautiously. If this man truly was the infamous tyrant King Silver, he needed to tread carefully.

'How on earth does Hubert know someone like him?'

Ferdinand was inwardly growling, cursing his friend for dropping this potential menace on his doorstep!

"Siver," King repeated, this time more slowly.

"Not… Silver?" Ferdinand squinted at him, disbelief mingling with suspicion. To Ferdinand, it felt like mockery. The likelihood of King casually carrying a name so similar to the Silver King's was too slim to be pure chance.

Unfortunately he couldn't know that King wasn't from this world and even with Ivan's memories, he didn't know someone as insignificant to Ivan like the King Silver.

King raised an eyebrow. "Alright, let's leave that embarrassing nickname alone, shall we? I've heard it enough already."

"N-Nickname?" Ferdinand stammered, not sure if he was being toyed with.

"Yeah," King groaned. In his world, skilled assassins like him often acquired nicknames, and 'Silver' had become his, thanks to his distinct, silver hair that echoed his surname.

Unfortunately, King's answer only deepened Ferdinand's misunderstanding.

"…What exactly are you playing at?" Ferdinand asked, his voice more guarded. He was piecing together a troubling picture. If this man truly was a deposed tyrant in hiding, then what on earth was he doing in Aurion?

"Playing?" King grinned easily. "I want to try my hand at being a Hunter."

Ferdinand clenched his fists, a bead of sweat forming. "You know there are assassins after you, don't you?"

King gave him a 'what are you blabbering about' look, as if Ferdinand were speaking nonsense. But hearing the word 'assassin' triggered something in him. A strange glint appeared in his eyes.

"Aha! Bring them on—I'm an assassin myself!" King laughed it off waving his hand.

He was called the strongest assassin in this world so he worried about nothing.

'Of course you are! You assassinated your own father!'

Ferdinand seethed inwardly, though he bit back the accusation.

'What should I do?! Should I call the assassins looking for him? But he has nothing to do with me? And Hubert asked me to take care of him... Don't tell me he is the one who helped him to escape? Now that I remember Hubert was born in Arhendir wasn't he?

I can't believe it...'

Ferdinand was inwardly panicking a lot but he couldn't just act rashly right now.

Ferdinand studied King carefully, waiting for any hint that might confirm his suspicions.

'I knew the Silver King was young, but this young…?' He thought, a sliver of doubt creeping in. Still, he was now nearly convinced—90 percent certain—that the man sitting before him was indeed the infamous Silver King, who had supposedly escaped death only a week ago, right around the time a bounty had been placed on his head and when Hubert had called him to meet one day.

Yet, to solidify his conclusion, Ferdinand wanted to see the man's strength for himself.

"Alright," Ferdinand finally said, pulling a sheet of paper toward him and jotting down his signature on a recommendation letter.

He would play along with whatever 'plan' this supposed Silver King had, but he'd remain vigilant, prepared for anything. In the section for the applicant's name, Ferdinand skipped any questioning and simply filled in 'Silver' as the first name and 'King as the last, careful to observe how King might react.

Ferdinand was convinced that this man was aware of the significance of the name he had chosen—but as for his reasons? Those remained unclear.

"Here," he said, handing the document to Cecil. "Present this at the registry and have him listed as an E-Rank Hunter." Cecil nodded, clutching the paper, and left quickly.

At Ferdinand's words, a satisfied smile crept across King's face which would have vanished instantly if he had taken time to read the content of the paper, especially the name section.

"I can't assign you a higher rank without proof of your capabilities," Ferdinand said cautiously. "But that is what you wanted, wasn't it? Your name is on the registry in Ocryphia as a Hunter now, though I must ask—what exactly are you after?"

King's only response was a smile. He couldn't reveal his true goal: to reach the prestigious SSS Rank, a title that came with privileges capable of bending even rulers to his will.

"I suppose I'll take my first quest, then," he said, turning to head downstairs.

As soon as King was out of sight, Ferdinand pulled out his phone urgently. He needed answers, so he called his most trusted contacts within the Kingdom of Arhendir to verify exactly what had happened with King Silver.

'If this man is truly the Silver King, then the entire guild, and perhaps all of Ocryphia, could be in danger.'

In the worst case, he'd need to alert the authorities across Aurion immediately.Nôv(el)B\\jnn