I Became the Villain Alpha's Omega (BL)

The morning Lord Antel’s visit finally faded into the background, Havenwood went back to being what it always was: cold floorboards, thin porridge, and the endless, low hum of children trying not to be bored.

It was three weeks after the fine horses and leather boots had rolled out of the gravel courtyard. The bright red painted wooden horses Lord Antel brought were already nicked and scuffed from being dropped on the flagstones. The sweet honey cakes were long gone, swallowed down in three bites on a Tuesday afternoon.

Philia sat near the long wash basin in the back scullery, his sleeves rolled up past his small elbows, watching soap bubbles pop against the zinc rim.

Livya was standing at the wooden counter behind him, slicing dried apples into a earthenware pot. The heavy kitchen knife went thunk, thunk, thunk against the pine board in a slow, steady rhythm.

”You don’t have to scrub those tin cups until it shines through, dear,” Livya said gently, not turning around. ”Just get the grease off. The soap is hard on young hands.”

Philia didn’t stop. He rubbed the rag over the lip of the cup, his small fingers stiff from the cold well water. His mind was still looping through the same quiet room, the same smell of saddle soap, the same heavy hand that had rested on his head weeks ago.

”Philia.”

Livya froze, her hands hovering over the wooden board, the thin silver blade glinting in the pale sunlight filtering through the small window. For a second, the only sound in the room was the drip of water from the brass tap into the bucket below.

She turned around slowly, her wide brown eyes fixing on the tiny boy sitting on the low wooden crate. Her apron was dusted with white flour, and her mouth was slightly open in quiet shock.

”What did you say, sweetie?” she asked, her voice dropping to a breathy whisper, as if she were afraid a loud noise would break whatever magic had just happened.

Philia kept his eyes fixed on the soapy water in his basin. His throat felt dry, like he had been swallowing sand for four months straight. His jaw was stiff, aching from being held shut for so long. But he knew he couldn’t stay a nameless ghost forever. If he was going to survive in this house, if he was going to hide in plain sight, he needed a shape.

”My name is Philia,” he murmured.

It was small, raspy, and barely louder than the rustle of dry leaves against the windowpane, but in the quiet scullery, it sounded like a bell ringing.

Livya set the heavy knife down on the counter with a soft clatter. She wiped her flour-dusted hands on her apron and crossed the small room, dropping down on her knees right beside his wash bucket. She didn’t grab him, and she didn’t make a big fuss, but the relief on her lined face was so thick it made Philia’s chest ache.

”Philia,” she repeated softly, testing the weight of it on her tongue, giving him a small, watery smile. ”That’s a good name. A fine name.”

”Just Philia,” he added, his voice still croaky.

”That’s alright,” Livya whispered, reaching out to gently tuck a damp lock of dark hair behind his ear. ”Just Philia is plenty. We’re glad to hear your voice, little one.”

By supper, the news had traveled around the long dining tables like wildfire.

”The Wooden Boy talked!” Jorah announced to the older boys near the window, shoving a thumb toward Philia’s corner. ”He told Matron his name. It’s Philia.”

”See? I told you he wasn’t really mute,” another boy grunted, dunking his hard crust into his grey pea soup. ”He was just being stubborn.”

They didn’t gather around him or treat him like a hero. Orphans didn’t have time for grand reveals. After a few minutes of pointing and murmuring, the kids went back to arguing over who got the bigger share of salted lard, and Philia went back to chewing his food in silence.

But something had changed. The wall between him and the rest of the house had crumbled just enough to let him blend in completely. He wasn’t ”The Mute” anymore. He was just Philia, another quiet kid who washed cups and didn’t like the cold.

Two years passed like water slipping through a crack in a stone foundation.

Philia grew taller. The oversized wool tunic Azar had given him was replaced by a fitted shirt and grey trousers patched at the knees. He turned eight, then nine. He learned how to chop wood without hitting his shins, how to mend the leather soles of his own shoes with a dull awl, and how to keep the faint, stubborn heat in his body completely buried under his skin.

Lord Antel never came back.

Spring came and went, then winter, then another spring, but the grand carriage never rolled up the gravel driveway again. Livya said the lord was busy down in the Capital, dealing with works here and there.

Philia didn’t care why he hadn’t returned. In a way, he was relieved. Every time he looked at the gate, he half-expected to see the man’s gentle eyes, and the thought of having to look at him again made his stomach turn into a hard knot.

He held onto his anger like a hot stone tucked inside his pocket. He didn’t know how he was going to get answers, or how a penniless orphan in patched trousers was ever supposed to reach a powerful noble family in the South, but he knew he had to wait. He had to grow bigger. He had to learn how the world worked.

Then came a day when the skies broke into a heavy, relentless rain.

The wind was blowing sideways, whipping sheets of freezing rain against the walls of Havenwood. The children were gathered in the main hall, sitting on the floor near the hearth while Livya mended socks by the light of two tallow candles.

The heavy front door rattled, and a messenger from the township, a young man wrapped in an oiled leather cloak dripping with rainwater, stepped into the entryway. He handed Livya a paper notice, spoke a few low, hurried sentences to her, and turned right back out into the storm.

Philia watched from his spot near the corner stack of firewood.

He saw the moment Livya read the paper. Her hands began to shake. The color drained completely from her face, leaving her pale skin looking almost grey against her dark dress. She let out a small, broken gasp, her hand flying to her mouth.

”Miss?” Jorah asked, stopping his game of wooden dice on the floor. ”What is it?”

Livya didn’t answer right away. She folded the paper with trembling fingers, her eyes glazed over as if she couldn’t quite process the words written on it.

”Children,” she said, her voice strained and cracking at the edges. ”Hands together. All of you. On your knees.”

The kids looked at each other, confused, but the sharpness in her tone made them scramble off their benches and kneel on the cold floorboards. Philia stayed where he was near the firewood, his knees pressed into the pine, his heart beginning to beat with a strange, heavy rhythm.

”Word has just come down from the Capital,” Livya whispered, her eyes shiny with unshed tears. ”Lord Antel... our benefactor... is gone.”

A low murmur ran through the room.

”Gone?” someone asked softly. ”Gone where?”

Livya swallowed hard, a tears slipping down her cheek. ”He passed away.”

The children gasped, some of the younger ones covering their mouths, while Livya sank to her knees near the hearth, leading them in a soft, solemn prayer for the dead noble’s soul.

Philia sat dead still in his corner, his hands buried deep inside his trouser pockets.

The room seemed to tilt around him. The sounds of the children chanting their simple, sing-song prayers faded into a dull buzz in his ears.

Dead.

The man was dead. The noble with the warm smile, the only man whose name had been spoken on that terrible, blood-soaked night, was buried in the ground.