Saving the Villain

Conrad raised his eyes when he heard three consecutive knocks on the door. He tilted his head after hearing his daughter's voice from the other side of the door.

"Come in," he said calmly, putting down the pen as the door opened from the outside. Conrad pushed himself up and walked towards the set of couches while Cosette followed. Resting his leg over the other, he propped his jaw against his knuckles, eyes on the couch where Cosette sat down.

"Is there anything that you need?" he asked, observing her face him squarely. The second he met his daughter's eyes, Conrad was certain Cosette came for a reason. He didn't mind since his daughter had always come just to spend quality time with him.

"Papa, I have a question." Cosette took a deep breath only to exhale it sharply, seeing Conrad raise his brows as he patiently waited for her inquiry. "If… I kill someone, will I be in trouble?"

"..." Conrad stared at Cosette without any drastic change in his plain expression. However, he couldn't deny that the question took him aback. He had thought of many requests or questions that she would ask him in a matter of seconds, but this one? It didn't cross him.

Seeing that her father was staring at her silently, Cosette cleared her throat.

"I mean, of course, I won't be the one who will do the dirty work. But if I hired someone — a hit man to kill someone, will I be in trouble?" she explained as if that explanation was necessary.

Conrad ‌remained silent for the next minute. His eyes, however, didn't leave Cosette's curious eyes. He wanted to treat it as a harmless question, but he knew his daughter well. Cosette was serious about this question. He might not know the reason or she was serious about executing this 'plan', but she was serious about knowing his answer.

"What sort of trouble you mean?" he inquired in his warm baritone voice.

"Will you get mad?"

"Yes, definitely."

"Will you disown me?"

"No. I will cover up your crime." Conrad dropped his hand on the armrest. "But covering up your crime doesn't mean I won't lock you up in a temple or the hospital. Why? Do you have an urge to kill?"

"Urge?" Cosette frowned. "Dad, I'm not a psychopath."

"Then why are you asking?"

"Because I want to kill someone. It's not just an urge; it's a desire, a wish, something I MUST do. Hundred percent. No regrets."

"..." Conrad didn't bear any expression, but upon hearing her last remarks, he only grew even duller. "In other words, there's not a problem in your head and you simply want to hire someone to kill someone?"

"Exactly." Cosette nodded without a second hesitation.

"Aren't you worried this will warrant your ticket to the temple before my daughter becomes a murderer?"

She shook her head. "Why would send me to the temple? If you want to stop me, you could've said jail or the mental hospital."

"Cosette." Conrad leaned forward, resting his arms over his legs, eyes fixed on her. "I will do everything you want and give you the best I have and the best I could. However, taking a person's life… isn't something you make light of. No matter how this person angered you, there were legal means."

"I know that." Cosette let out a deep exhale, leaning back, frowning. "But Papa, do you think you can kill someone?"

This time, Conrad went silent. "Everyone is capable of murder."

"Me too," she returned, her voice sounding calmer. "If someone hurts you and the legal justice will not do much, I might — no, I will definitely put justice in my hands. Won't you do the same? Let's say, for instance, someone put a drug into my drink and violated me. What will you do? Or maybe someone abducted me and then killed me, throwing my body in a river just like that?"

"I…" Conrad pursed his lips while staring at her face. His daughter was smart to raise the worse examples that could happen to her. After all, Conrad couldn't even imagine the scenarios she uttered he didn't want to imagine.

However, he knew the answer. Conrad would put justice in his hands, and he wouldn't even kill them. He would torture them for days, weeks, or even years, and those wouldn't be enough to quench his anger.

"Care to explain why would you want to do the extreme?" he inquired, shaking off the thoughts in his head as his blood boiled with the sheer thought of it. "What did this person had done for you to resort to killing him?"

"Nothing." Conrad furrowed his brows and frowned at her answer. "Nothing yet."

"So, you are preventing this person from doing what you think he would do?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Cosette, you are my daughter and I've always been so proud of you. However, you don't consider this option if this person hasn't done anything yet. We don't know the future."

"You're right, Papa. We… don't know the future." Cosette bit her tongue, as she definitely had the idea of what would happen in the future. "But I'm not just speaking about one person."

His brows knitted, narrowing his eyes, observing her knowing expression. "Not just one?"

"It's an underground organization, Papa."

"What?" Conrad straightened his back, as his full attention was piqued. His expression grew solemn and his eyes darkened. "Cosette, what do you mean by that? And how did you get involved with any crime organizations?"

Cosette pressed her lips into a thin line and then sighed deeply. She peeled her back from the backrest, adjusting her position to face Conrad squarely.

"Sin." As soon as that word slipped past her lips, his back stiffened, which caused her eyes to narrow upon catching how his pupils dilated. "Have you heard of that organization, Papa?"

His mouth fell open, speechless. "The people you want to kill…"

"... are the people from that organization," Cosette finished her father's sentence. "They might've not done anything yet, but they will."

"And why would they?"

"Because…" this time, she hesitated for a second before forcing herself to be truthful, since she was already halfway through her confession. "It's because of Max, Papa. Maxen… is a son of a member of that organization. Maxen's father's surname is a Devilsin."