The Worst Villain is Actually a Cute Girl

Chapter 24: A Trivial Hobby

I held a watering can filled to the brim and sprinkled water over the flower bed.

A thin stream sprayed out, wetting the brightly colored flowers.

It was a pleasant sound.

‘Grow well, won’t you?’

They say plants grow better when you speak kind words to them.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t actually speak.

I tried conveying positive words in my heart but stopped because it felt awkward.

Even if I was only saying it internally, it felt too cheesy for my taste.

Instead, I simply thought to myself, ‘Just grow well enough.’

If my sincerity reached them, they would surely grow well.

Thud.

I set the watering can down on the ground and squatted to leisurely admire the flowers.

I lightly tapped the petals with my finger and gently stroked them.

The strange sensation at my fingertips made me chuckle softly.

Ever since I opened my eyes in this world, I hadn’t had a proper hobby.

There wasn’t the luxury of time to think about such things, and finding an appropriate hobby in this kind of world was difficult.

‘If I had anything close to a hobby, it would have been treasure hunting in garbage heaps or eating desserts.’

Since arriving at the orphanage, I had picked up a new hobby.

Tending to the flower bed.

It wasn’t because I found flowers beautiful or had such a hobby in my past life.

It just happened by chance.

At first, it was a simple pastime.

When I wasn’t mingling with the other kids, I would wander inside out of boredom and happened to notice the flower bed in the yard.

From then on, I started watering it whenever I had time.

‘Once you start, it’s not so bad. Though the kids seem to find it too bothersome and rarely do it.’

Looking at flowers gives me a peculiar feeling.

It’s hard to see flowers outside.

There are no flower festivals or anything like that, at least not in the outskirts of the city.

The place is entirely filled with buildings and debris, leaving no room for flowers or plants to bloom.

It’s an unsuitable environment for anything to grow.

This world is like that.

‘Sometimes you might see a flower blooming in a crack on the road, but if you go back, it’s often buried under debris or withered away.’

Unless someone tends to them by hand, flowers are a rare sight.

And since it’s not a profitable endeavor, hardly anyone bothers.

Perhaps that’s why this flower bed in front of me feels so special.

‘This world is really cursed. Why did I have to wake up in such a place…?’

Despite being a futuristic city with advanced technology, the world has ironically been devastated by it.

It’s not just plants; animals are no exception.

Animals that were easy to see in my past life are now only visible in zoos, and even then, they’re usually holograms or androids.

I heard real animals can only be found in the inner districts where the wealthy live.

Of course, I’ve never been there, so I can’t confirm whether that’s true.

If I made up my mind to verify it, I could, but I don’t particularly want to go.

Maybe my feelings will change someday.

But not now, at least.

Feeling a wave of melancholy from getting too sentimental, I shook my head to snap out of it.

‘Time to get up.’

Just as I was about to rise, I heard the sound of someone running up behind me.

Before I could turn my head, the owner of the footsteps leapt onto my back.

The impact made me stagger, but I managed to keep from falling.

“Lily!”

Two slender arms wrapped around my neck.

Turning my gaze, I saw, as expected, a yellow-haired girl—Lena.

“Are you watering the plants again today?”

I nodded.

“Lily, you’re so diligent.”

At her compliment, I awkwardly shook my head after a brief pause.

“Do you like flowers?”

For a moment, I hesitated.

I didn’t dislike them. But I wasn’t confident enough to say I liked them either.

It was hard to tell.

Lena looked puzzled by my hesitation.

“Don’t you do it because you like them?”

Do I?

I tilted my head slightly to indicate I wasn’t sure.

“I like singing. That’s why I enjoy singing. What about you, Lily? Do you enjoy it?”

I pondered over her question.

It was a surprisingly difficult question to answer.

It should have been simple, but no clear answer came to mind.

In the end, I shrugged to say, ‘I’m not sure.’

“Eh~ What kind of answer is that?”

Clearly, she wasn’t satisfied with my response.

But she didn’t press further.

Though Lena puffed out her cheeks slightly, her expression changed when she noticed something.

She pointed to a spot in the flower bed with her small finger.

“Hey, look at that. The seeds you planted are sprouting.”

Oh, she was right.

Those were the seeds I planted.

They’ve sprouted already.

How fascinating.

At that moment, Lena removed her arms from my shoulders and stepped back.

She clasped her hands together at her chest.

“To help these little ones grow well, I’ll sing for them.”

Lena began to sing.

A gentle melody spread through the air. It was a lovely song.

It gave me the feeling that the plants might grow exceptionally well, maybe even high enough to pierce through the clouds.

The image made me chuckle.

After finishing the last lyric, Lena ended her song.

“Alright, let’s go to the secret base now.”

With a bright smile, Lena extended her hand toward me.

The secret base.

It was the place where I first encountered the other kids at the orphanage.

Originally, it was Lena’s private spot, but after I was dragged there once, it became a shared space with the other kids.

The children loved playing at the secret base, and Lena loved singing there.

“Actually, I’ve come up with a new lyric on the spot! I need someone to listen to it. I’ll grant you the honor of being the first.”

An honor, indeed.

I took her small hand and stood up.

As we moved toward the secret base, Lena holding my hand tightly, someone grabbed my other hand.

It was a blue-haired girl—Bada.

When did she get here?

“Lily can’t… She has to read a book with me….”

After the trip to the zoo, the distance between Bada and me had significantly lessened.

This led to more time spent reading books together like this.

“Ehhh~ I called dibs first, so it’s my turn!”

“Lena unni, you can go later…. This is the most exciting part right now….”

“We didn’t make a schedule, so I go first.”

“No, I go first….”

Excuse me. I’m not a rope, you know.

If you pull from both sides like that, I’ll split in half.

Caught in the tug-of-war between the two girls, the tension in the air grew taut.

Stop!

At this rate, I’m really going to tear apart.

*

In a quiet office room.

Red sat perched on a chair, taking a break.

With her head tilted back, she stared blankly at the ceiling, lost in thought.

Eventually, Isaac’s face faintly appeared on the ceiling, causing her expression to twist.

Red closed her eyes as if to block out the sight of his face, which she clearly didn’t want to see.

‘Why does he keep coming to mind….’

Lately, his frequent visits had caused their paths to cross more often.

It was truly unpleasant.

Suddenly, the voice of Isaac’s subordinate, Nina, seemed to echo in her ears.

Perhaps because her eyes were closed, the voice felt vivid.

Why do you dislike the Director so much?

What on earth did he do to make you treat him so coldly?

Red hadn’t answered that question.

She couldn’t answer it.

“….”

Lost in deep thought, Red soon drifted into sleep.

And then she dreamed.

The scene in the dream was of an event that happened long ago.

The reason Red began to distance herself from Isaac.

That day had been the funeral for the children from the orphanage Isaac ran.

Isaac, Red, and a few Problem Solver acquaintances had attended.

The weather had been unbelievably bad.

A gloomy sky full of heavy clouds.

Torrential rain pouring down.

An oppressive silence hung in the air.

Everyone present carried black umbrellas, making the atmosphere even more somber.

“You did your best. Don’t blame yourself too much.”

“I’m sure the kids were very happy during the time they spent with you.”

“This world is just like that. There was nothing you could do.”

Each person offered Isaac words of comfort.

Whether those words were truly comforting was uncertain.

“Who could have done something like this?”

“There were no traces left behind, so there’s no way to know who it was.”

“I’m sure there were plenty of security robots and systems installed….”

“It was just an unfortunate location.”

The children had gone missing.

At first, it had been one or two, but eventually, all of them disappeared on the same day.

There were no traces of the children or the culprit.

Isaac had used all his power to conduct a search operation, but it bore no fruit.

Nothing was found, and the search ended in failure.

The children were declared deceased.

It was deemed unlikely they could survive in such a harsh city.

Though no bodies were found, it felt wrong to leave it at that, so graves were made for them.

After the funeral.

One by one, the attendees left, leaving only Red.

Isaac remained in front of the children’s graves, unmoving.

He stood silently with his head bowed, and Red felt pity for him.

Since she also worked in an orphanage, she deeply understood the pain Isaac must have been feeling.

Even though no words could reach his heart, she wanted to ease his suffering even a little.

As Red approached to comfort Isaac, she froze when she saw the side of his face.

A smile spread across Isaac’s lips.

Sensing her presence, Isaac quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

He turned to Red and lowered the hand that had concealed his smile.

The smile was gone.

As if it had never been there.

Isaac spoke.

“…Thanks for your concern. I’m fine… I’ll be okay….”

His voice trembled as though he was holding back tears.

His expression also displayed grief.

Red wondered if she had seen wrong.

But in that moment, when lightning struck and lit up the ground, she saw it clearly.

Isaac’s eyes.

There wasn’t a trace of sorrow or despair in them.

Nor were they the eyes of someone calmly accepting the situation.

They were the eyes of someone intoxicated with ambition—or someone who had already achieved it.

A chill ran down her spine, and a cold sensation settled in her heart.

“Red…. What’s wrong…?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing….”

From that moment on, Red started feeling uneasy around Isaac.

The scene in the dream dispersed like mist.

Red slowly opened her eyes.

‘To dream of that day….’

Red pressed her fingers firmly against her furrowed brow.

She might have been mistaken.

Constantly dwelling on strange thoughts might have made her imagine strange things.

But her intuition, honed through countless Problem Solver missions, told her otherwise.

So, Red began investigating in secret.

When she gathered the information, something felt off.

The location of Isaac’s orphanage was unusual.

The arrangement of security systems and robots was odd as well.

At first glance, it all seemed fine, but upon closer inspection, there were too many flaws to ignore.

Her suspicions grew deeper, and it no longer felt like mere paranoia.

But it was all circumstantial—there was no concrete evidence.

Then she became too busy with Problem Solver missions to pursue it further.

Over time, her interest waned.

But as she kept crossing paths with Isaac, it resurfaced, and this time, she decided to act.

She approached Nina.

“What is it, Red? Calling me to a place like this out of the blue.”

“You’ve always wondered why I treat Isaac the way I do.”

“So, you’ve finally decided to explain? But you should tell the Director, not me.”

“…I will. But before that, how about visiting the orphanage Isaac ran with me? Just the two of us.”

“What? Excuse me? Wait a minute… What are you talking about? It sounds like you suspect the Director of being involved in something bad. Do you think he’s up to something shady?”

“…I’m not sure. That’s why I want to check it out together.”

“Why drag me into this? What if I tell the Director? Wouldn’t it be better to go alone?”

“Because it’s you. And you might notice something I can’t.”

“….”

“Well? What’s your decision?”

“Fine. But if we find nothing, you’ll apologize to the Director for all your rudeness.”

“Deal. You can set the time whenever you’re free. But keep this conversation a secret from Isaac.”

“…Alright.”

It was time to find out if her suspicions were true.

As someone who was once his comrade, a part of her hoped she was wrong.

Red waited for Nina’s call.