The Worst Villain is Actually a Cute Girl-Chapter 58

The sun was pouring down on a peaceful, lazy afternoon. Rena and I were alone together at her secret base.

Right now, the two of us were practicing singing.

It was Rena’s wish—to sing together with me.

After singing for hours, I was exhausted.

I collapsed onto the ground, arms and legs sprawled out. The floor was cold. But the sunlight pouring down was warm.

Rena offered her lap.

I hesitated, torn between adult pride and guilt, but Rena forcibly pulled my head onto her lap.

As Rena hummed, a soft melody filled my ears.

My body and heart felt warm.

“Hehe. Singing with you is so fun, Lily.”

“Really...?”

“Yeah.”

Rena looked down at my face. She cupped my cheeks with both hands. Her expression turned a little serious, and something about it felt strange.

“That angel song we heard at the shop back then... That was you singing, right?”

The unexpected question came flying out of nowhere, and I barely managed to suppress my surprise.

Though flustered, I didn’t show it on the outside.

“No.”

I denied it in the same tone as usual, making sure the lie wouldn’t be noticed.

“Why do you think it was me?”

“The voice sounded exactly the same...”

When I gave her a lazy look, Rena pointed at her ear with a finger.

“I’m really good at listening.”

“Is that so...? But this time, you’re wrong.”

“Huhu.”

Even though I denied it, Rena didn’t seem to believe me. Her face was lit with joy just from being with the person she admired.

“Let’s practice hard now and surprise the other kids.”

“That wasn’t the wish, though. You just wanted to hang out—not sing in front of everyone.”

“Ugh...”

I was just telling the truth.

Rena puffed up her cheeks like a balloon and looked at me with fierce eyes.

A dangerous aura seemed to radiate from her body, and just as I tried to quickly get up and escape—

She started pulling my soft cheeks apart on both sides.

Ah, ow.

I only managed to get released after promising to sing in front of the kids with her someday.

*

Late at night, under the rising moon, in the orphanage office.

While the children were off in dreamland having sweet dreams, the sound of a keyboard clicking echoed in the otherwise silent night.

Even though it was late, Rene was still working diligently.

She was, after all, the orphanage director. And she handled all sorts of other tasks too.

At that moment, Red approached her.

“Here, coffee.”

“Thank you, Miss Red.”

The coffee cup was slightly hot, probably freshly brewed.

Rene gently blew on it to cool it down, then took a sip.

The aroma and taste of the coffee spread in her mouth, gently shaking off the lingering haze in her mind.

“Sorry. You’ve gotten busier because of me.”

“It’s fine. I do this because I want to. Compared to all the trouble you go through out there, it’s nothing. I’m just happy I can help you in some way.”

At her bright, sincere smile, Red looked a bit awkward as she lifted the cup to her lips.

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Rene laughed softly at the sight.

Red turned and moved to sit on a chair.

She gently placed the coffee cup on the table, then began going through the large stack of documents beside it one by one.

The two of them went back to working hard.

Time flowed slowly.

At some point, Rene looked down [N O V E L I G H T] at her empty coffee cup and stood up to refill it.

Humming, she turned on the electric kettle.

After scooping in the coffee powder, she asked Red if she wanted another cup too, but Red declined.

As Rene poured in the hot water and stirred with a spoon, she suddenly remembered something.

“Miss Red, come to think of it, how’s the investigation going? Making any progress?”

Red’s hand, which had been setting down a finished document, paused for a moment, then lowered it gently.

“There’s been some progress.”

“Really?”

Red tilted her head back, staring at the ceiling.

Silence followed. Her expression looked calm.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

But that heavy silence hinted that something serious was going on.

Like a locked box, her lips stayed sealed.

Then, as if she had organized her thoughts, her heavy lips finally parted.

“I’ve gathered enough puzzle pieces. Now I just need to put them together to reach the truth.”

Red had been investigating the connection between Lily and the Church of the Reaper.

And during that investigation, she had found a few suspicious points.

The most prominent one—ever since Lily arrived at the orphanage, the Reaper had stopped appearing.

That figure, who once swept through the city like a natural disaster, had suddenly gone quiet.

Too suspicious to be a coincidence.

If she assembled all the information she’d collected, she could probably figure out the truth about Lily. But Red wasn’t doing that.

She was just staring at the pieces.

Was she hesitating? Or did she need to steel herself first? Or maybe she simply felt she didn’t have enough to reach a conclusion yet?

With a self-mocking smile, Red continued.

“But something decisive is still missing. If I can figure that out, I’ll know for sure. Until then, I don’t want to jump to conclusions.”

“I see.”

Rene sensed something was off in Red’s voice—but chose not to comment.

Silence filled the room again.

The stillness of night made it even heavier.

“Oh, right. You haven’t watched the play video we recorded, have you?”

“I’ve been meaning to, but things got busy and I haven’t had the chance.”

“Let’s watch it now. The kids did such a great job. I’m sure you’ll be surprised.”

“Alright.”

Red cleared the stack of documents from the table.

Rene brought over her laptop and set it down. She pulled up a chair and sat beside Red.

Then she plugged in a USB drive and played the recording of the play.

The children’s performance played on-screen—complete with music, acting, and singing.

Red watched the monitor with a pleased smile.

Rene laughed softly, clearly enjoying it too.

Neither of them looked away, completely focused on the video.

Before long, the final scene played.

With the children receiving applause and cheers, the video came to an end.

To Red, the play she had just seen felt better than any other stage she’d watched.

Rene, in particular, was genuinely impressed by Lily’s scene.

“I had no idea Lily could sing that well. I was so nervous she might mess up because she can’t talk. But with that kind of talent, if she ever became an idol, people would swarm just to hear her voice.”

Red nodded in agreement.

“She’s been silent all this time, and yet her voice is that good. It feels like such a waste.”

A voice that healed hearts and wrapped them in warmth.

That voice, paired with a face that looked like it had stepped out of a fantasy, made the presence of a small girl shine unmistakably.

The only reason things had stayed quiet was because the performance happened in an outer district. If it had taken place in the city center, the fallout would’ve been unimaginable.

Even now, rumors about Lily were spreading throughout the neighborhood, exaggerated in the aftermath of the play.

Unreasonable beauty was truly terrifying.

At the same time, in a world like this, having such looks and such a voice at a young age wasn’t a blessing—it was a curse. It would've drawn too much attention and dragged her into all kinds of trouble.

Red gave a bitter smile at the thought.

Then, suddenly, something popped into Red’s mind, and she lifted a hand to cover her mouth.

The softness in her eyes vanished, replaced by seriousness.

Lily’s voice—she had heard it somewhere before.

She thought hard, and then her eyes widened as if she’d remembered something.

“Rene, you’ve heard of the ‘Song of the Angel,’ right?”

“That urban legend? Of course.”

“What do you think of it?”

“I’ve never really thought about it, but if you're asking whether it's real, I believe it is. Out here, a lot of things that sound like lies turn out to be true. Why do you ask?”

“I once heard a recording of that song at a shop I visited a long time ago. I’m not sure if it was real or not, though.”

“Seriously?”

Rene looked shocked.

She tried to read Red’s intention—why she was bringing this up now.

Then her eyebrows twitched as if she’d realized something. Her expression turned strange as she looked at Red and asked,

“You don’t mean what I think you mean, right?”

“The voice sounded the same.”

“Are you saying Lily is the one who sang the ‘Song of the Angel’?”

“Who knows... It’s all in the past. Even if I tried to dig up the truth now, the rumor’s long dead, and it’d be hard to gather any solid proof.”

Even though Red said that, she was certain the two were closely connected.

And with good reason—Lily had reacted strangely when she heard the recording of the “Song of the Angel.”

From her emotions and actions back then, it was obvious there was something there.

But Red kept that part to herself.

Even if Lily really was involved, it was an incident that couldn’t be revealed now. She had suspicion, but no evidence.

Unless the person involved came forward and confessed themselves.

Rene packed up the laptop and took it with her.

Red began sorting through the stacks of paperwork.

“Come to think of it, right after the rumors about the ‘Song of the Angel’ died down, a series of unsettling events started happening. And then the Reaper appeared. Could the two be connected?”

“......”

Red’s eyes narrowed.

The word “definitely” didn’t leave her lips—but it circled inside her.

Too many things lined up too perfectly for it to be coincidence.

With the addition of a new puzzle piece, Red’s mind automatically began aligning the rest.

Just as she was about to sink into thought, she sensed a gaze coming from the doorway and snapped back to reality.

Red smiled lightly.

“You’ve already been caught, so come on in.”

Three seconds later—

Clack, the door opened, and Rena stepped inside.

“Busted...”

Rena scratched the back of her head with an awkward smile.

“Why aren’t you asleep?”

“I was going to the bathroom and saw the light on in here, so I got curious.”

“We’re working.”

“This late?”

“We’re almost done. You should get back to bed soon too. If you stay up much longer, you won’t be able to fall asleep.”

“Okay. You and Miss Rene shouldn’t stay up too late either. Get some rest soon.”

Rena let out a big yawn and walked back toward the door.

Watching her small back, Red was reminded of the play she had just seen. And though it was late, she decided to say it now.

“The play was great.”

Rena froze in place, turned her head, and smiled brightly.

“It was all thanks to everyone working hard together.”

Humming happily, Rena headed toward the door.

But just as she was about to open it, she suddenly stopped, and her face lit up in surprise.

“Oh! I just remembered!”

“What is it?”

“Something popped into my head—Lily was the angel I met back then!”

“Huh?”

“Remember when I got kidnapped? I told you I met an angel.”

“You did say that.”

When Rena had been kidnapped, she told everyone she saw an angel.

Later, when Red asked Stahl about it, he guessed Rena might have seen a Yuilkin and mistaken it for something else.

Red had agreed it sounded plausible and didn’t think much of it at the time—but now, out of nowhere, Rena was bringing it up again.

“That angel I met back then was Lily! I can’t believe it! What a crazy coincidence. It’s so amazing.”

Red also found it amazing—but then, a terrible thought crossed her mind.

In that instant, it hit her like a bolt of lightning. Her red eyes trembled violently with shock and confusion.

She quickly forced herself to stay calm, masking her face with her usual expression, and gently sent Rena back to her room.

Rena didn’t notice anything strange and cheerfully headed off to bed.

Once she was gone, Red sank into a chair and pressed her fingers to her brow.

She closed her eyes and began organizing her thoughts.

The Reaper had appeared near the area where Rena had been kidnapped. And Lily had been there too.

Lily possessed a special power unlike anyone else—and it resembled the Reaper’s magic.

The Song of the Angel. Lily. The Reaper. The Church of the Reaper. The pieces were forcefully starting to fit together.

“Miss Red.”

At that moment, Rene’s urgent voice snapped Red out of her thoughts.

Rene’s normally gentle gaze was sharp now, her eyes fixed outside the window.

Red realized it too. Suspicious figures were approaching—more than a few of them.

The two women stopped what they were doing and quickly moved outside the building.

Their footsteps were light—so the children wouldn’t wake.