The Villain's Sister - Chapter 10

“Ha. Haa…”

Washing my face with cold water helped me calm down a bit.

The man still hadn’t regained consciousness.

Seen up close, Red Shadow looked exactly like he was drawn in the comic book.

His wavy black hair looked incredibly soft, and his sharp jawline and sleek nose gave off a refined aura.

Just by his appearance, he looked more like an artist than an antihero.

Worn down by life and steeped in cynicism, yet profoundly aesthetic.

What hobbies might someone like him have? What kind of daily life would he lead?

It’s a real shame that the author of Mist Island never revealed the origin story of Black Pistols and Red Shadow.

— Breaking news. Two deaths have occurred during a hostage incident caused by Two Star on Vermont Second Avenue. As a result, Black Pistols and Red Shadow have clashed…

As soon as I turned on the radio, it explained everything.

It’s widely known that Black Pistols treats Red Shadow like a villain and tries to take him down.

“…Ugh…”

Suddenly, Red Shadow let out a brief groan.

His eyes moved beneath his lids—he must be coming to.

Planning to give him medicine once he woke, I quickly filled a glass of water.

“You’re awake—”

As I turned my body and spoke, a strong force knocked me down.

When I came to, I was sprawled on the living room floor, pinned beneath Red Shadow.

“…I thought I’d removed all the weapons.”

A razor blade pressed diagonally against my neck.

If he just angled it slightly, my skin would split, and I’d bleed out to death.

Gasp—I swallowed hard.

The gun in his holster, the knife strapped to his ankle, the wire cleverly hidden in his shirt pocket—

I’d found and stored every weapon on the shelf, yet somehow he still had that one hidden.

“Who are you?”

His voice was low and rough, but his gleaming eyes held a sharpness that didn’t belong to someone who had just awakened.

I had underestimated this man.

There’s a reason Red Shadow is a major figure in Mist Island.

No matter how injured he is, he’s a predator capable of tearing flesh and ending lives, and I’m the deer pinned under the lion’s claws.

And I could become the prey that helps him recover his strength and blood.

Don’t shake. Even if I’m scared, I can’t let fear paralyze me.

Compared to what Raphael’s been through, this is nothing.

“…You were collapsed in the yard…”

My heart was pounding so violently that the fear came through clearly in my voice.

I shut my eyes to avoid the gaze that seemed like it could tear me apart at any moment.

I swallowed the tension rising in my throat, threatening to make me gag.

“I used a clean towel to stop the bleeding, poured disinfectant, and wrapped the wound in bandages. Need more details?”

“……”

I waited for Red Shadow’s decision. I just hoped he wouldn’t kill me.

After a brief silence, he got off me.

Only then could I exhale the breath I’d been holding.

Red Shadow leaned his back against the armrest of the sofa and held his head.

I handed him the medicine.

“Take it.”

“What is it?”

“Antibiotic.”

Our house is always stocked with antibiotics.

Before becoming a villain, Raphael was part of a special forces unit constantly deployed to dangerous missions, always coming home with wounds big and small.

Even after becoming a villain, that didn’t change.

The only difference was that it became harder to visit a hospital.

So Raphael stockpiled antibiotics through illegal means, and I swiped some of them.

Instead of taking the medicine, Red Shadow chose to smirk at my faintly trembling hand.

“If I wanted to kill you, I would’ve done it while you were unconscious. Still, it’s your choice whether to take it.”

I placed one pill on the side table next to the sofa.

His wound was deep, his complexion was as pale as a corpse, and cold sweat glistened on his face, yet his presence was overwhelming.

This was definitely my home, but all the air in the room bent to his will.

The tension was so tight, it said everything:

A single slip-up could cost me my life.

I felt like I’d die from the suffocating tension.

A faint, high-pitched ringing echoed in my ears.

“Ah. The water…”

Now that I thought about it, when he knocked me over earlier, the glass of water spilled on my clothes, leaving the front damp.

“Where’s my gun?”

“…If I give it to you, will you leave quietly?”

Eyes colder than Raphael’s blue ones stared at me silently.

I had no way of knowing what answer lay behind them.

I was a coward barely able to meet the glowing eyes of a beast, and he was someone who could flip any decision—whether to kill or spare me—on a whim.

Everything was determined by his caprice.

If I had known it’d turn out like this, I should’ve tied him up before treating him… I was foolish.

“What’s your name?”

“……”

“I repay kindness twofold. Revenge, tenfold. Answer me and I’ll show gratitude.”

“I’m…”

“That’s far enough.”

Click.

A gun was aimed at Red Shadow.

Raphael, the ace from a special forces unit, had taken a perfect stance and jerked his chin toward me.

“Deva. Get away from that bastard and come behind me.”

Red Shadow’s eyes narrowed.

Raphael had entered so silently I hadn’t sensed him at all—he looked like a beast ready to hunt.

Things were taking a strange turn.

This wasn’t why I helped Red Shadow.

“Raphael. Put the gun down first.”

Who would win if he and Raphael clashed?

No, that wasn’t the right question.

Who would be the most harmed?

Red Shadow, who shook up all of Mist Island alone?

Raphael, one of the top three villains on Mist Island with a special forces background?

Or me, the one inevitably caught in between these two monsters?

Once they clashed, a peaceful outcome was impossible.

‘I’ve already put Red Shadow in my debt. If I can calm Raphael down, maybe this can pass quietly.’

I blocked Raphael’s path.

He frowned and gave me a questioning look.

It made sense—he wouldn’t understand what was going on.

“He’s not a robber.”

“I saw the blood trail from the yard. Get behind me now.”

“Put the gun down. He’s not a robber…”

If I said I rescued him after finding him collapsed in front of our house, Raphael would call him a dangerous criminal or claim he had ulterior motives and try to eliminate him on the spot.

“He got hurt trying to save me.”

I quickly followed up with a lie.

“I ran into a mugger on the way back from the theater, and he helped me.”

“A mugger?”

Raphael’s eyes flashed with a different intensity.

A mistake. A huge one.

If I didn’t correct myself, the Death Adder members would clean up every thug near the theater before midnight.

“…Not a mugger. It was Red Shadow. I accidentally stumbled into the scene where he was going wild, and he helped me and got caught up because of me.”

“Is that true?”

“Are you doubting me now?”

Raphael stared at Red Shadow as if trying to determine the truth.

He stepped closer and pushed me behind him.

The gun was still aimed at Red Shadow’s head.

“So this guy pulled out a razor blade, huh?”

“…He was unconscious at the time. He woke up and realized I’d removed all his weapons, so it makes sense he panicked.”

Red Shadow tossed the razor blade he held onto the floor and raised his hands, palms out.

But that didn’t change the fact that he was a wizard who could kill without any weapon.

Raphael kicked the razor blade farther away across the floor.

He lowered himself to meet Red Shadow’s eyes.

Swish. Swish.

As Raphael flicked his wrist, the gun in his hand moved threateningly.

“Since you helped my sister, I’ll show proper thanks. You got treated, and if you want something, I’ll help with that too. But.”

He pressed the gun barrel into Red Shadow’s wound. My heart thudded in sync.

Blood seeped through the bandage, but Raphael didn’t care.

“Ugh.”

Red Shadow groaned. My insides twisted.

“You’d better carve into that thick skull of yours exactly who that girl is.”

“…Who is she?”

“Giselle. My sister. I’m Raphael Kapuzen. If you’ve got enemies in the back alleys, then you know exactly who I am.”

Red Shadow slowly nodded.

Raphael raised one corner of his mouth in a crooked grin.

Whenever he showed that expression—not the face he wore at home—I felt anew that Raphael was a villain.

That he was the head of a crime organization and the villain destroying someone’s life.

“That’s enough.”

I pushed Raphael firmly, unable to watch any longer.

He didn’t budge—his body was too solid—but I slapped his back in frustration.

Because Red Shadow had lost consciousness again, likely from having his wound agitated.

“I just changed that bandage…”

In the end, Raphael had to carry Red Shadow to the guest room in my place.