Saving the Villain

"Won't you ask me what happened?" Cosette broke the prolonged silence, lying flat on her back with Maxen beside her. Both of them kept their eyes on the ceiling; the room was warmly lit to help them fall asleep.

"Should I?" Maxen returned under his breath. "Will you tell me?"

Cosette blinked ever so tenderly. "I dreamed about the I was reading."

"That ?"

"Not that one you saw." She chuckled weakly. "It's another one."

"What about it?"

"It's about a beautiful lady. She's a celebrity: beautiful, talented, and warm. Amid a crisis that involved matters of the heart, she met this guy. They clicked the first time they met, and their meetings grew frequent as if fate wanted them to be together. Eventually, they fell in love." Cosette smiled subtly. "It was a good story."

"Then why are you crying about it?"

"Because… of the villain in their story." Maxen cast her a sidelong glance, only to see her keep her gaze at the ceiling. "The villain, let's call him Rotten, Ten for short."

"What about him?"

"Well, he did all sorts of bad things."

"How bad?"

"Anything you deem terrible. He… was the worst. He kills without conscience, ordered a group of men to violate the poor lady, and pushed her to the brink of insanity to break the story's leads apart. In the end, he died a terrible death."

"He deserved it, then."

"He did. What he did… was unforgivable."

"Why do you feel bad for him?" he asked out of plain curiosity, staring at the ceiling. "Those kinds of characters are meant to die, anyway."

Cosette bit her inner lower lip. "Because he did it, not because he felt any affection or attraction towards the female lead. Ten did it for someone else, believing she will be happy. Let's call her… Milk."

"Let me guess. This person… this Milk likes the male lead?" he chuckled weakly.

"She doesn't. Ten misunderstood her."

"What?"

"Ten is someone who wouldn't make this world a better place if he lives. However, for Milk, he's her happiness. Milk loved him very much. Even if it was wrong to love a felon like him and it's impossible for the two of them to be together happily, she loved him," Cosette explained, trying her best to keep her voice from cracking.

"Why… is it impossible for them together? It's a romance book. They could just run away."

"Milk was dying."

This time, Maxen turned his head to look at her side profile. His lips curled down, seeing the liquid forming in the corner of her eyes. But her tears didn't fall.

"Milk is a selfish woman. She kept her condition from him for as long as she could, cherishing every moment with him, lying to him with a smile, and then… left him." Cosette breathed out heavily. "She left Ten, telling him all sorts of harsh things, knowing full well her words cut his heart like a knife."

"Ten loved her, so he let her go even when he was selfish himself," she continued. "They cut all their communications, only for him to see her months later. Milk didn't know at that time that Ten had attended the same event, watching her from a distance while she stared at the leads of the story."

"Ten thought Milk was sad because she fell in love with the male lead. He misunderstood why she had to drink that night to wash down the pain in her heart. He had the worst timing ever." Cosette chuckled bitterly. "Under the influence of alcohol, Milk spewed all sorts of nonsense just to chase him away."

"She told him she was in love with someone else?" Maxen inquired and chuckled. "They're both foolish."

"They were. If only Milk knew the consequences of that encounter, she would've just said something else. But it was already said and done, and the damages it caused were irreparable."

"Why didn't she stop him?" he kept his eyes on her side profile. "Did she die?"

"No. She lived for a few years after his death." Cosette slowly rolled to her side to face him. "But she had early onset dementia. The day she planned to meet him, she… experienced an episode and totally forgot everything she was planning to do."

"Fortunately, she knew her illness will soon devour her bit by bit. That's why Milk wrote their story so she wouldn't forget how happy the relationship the leads had before Ten and her ruined them," she added with a slight smile, staring at him straight in the eye. "Ten died a miserable death and everyone said he deserved it, but Milk… she got to live. I bet people mourned for her when she died. She didn't deserve it, did she?"

Cosette lowered her eyes. "Innocent people died because of her. Ten wouldn't wreak havoc, taking innocent lives if not for Milk."

"But she was punished. She had a disease."

"Why… was her punishment came way before the crime?" she replied bitterly. "Either way, I feel very sorry for them, especially for Ten and those in the story."

Maxen remained silent while observing her somber expression. A shallow breath slipped past his nostrils before his lips parted.

"Don't be," he said, making her raise her eyes at him. "I'm sure Ten was aware doing a good or bad deed wouldn't change his life. He was a felon way before meeting Milk, and he had done grave sins that were already irreparable."

"His life… is irredeemable. I'm sure he didn't regret committing all those crimes, even if it was a misconception," Maxen added with a slight smile. "Ten seemed like he sincerely like Milk, and if we look into more of his character as a felon, someone like him probably had just one wish. That was to make sure the only good thing that happened in his life was for her to be happier even without him."

"He would be even more devastated if Milk told him she was dying. I won't be surprised if he just cremates the entire world before holding a funeral for her," he continued as if he personally know the villain of the story she was talking about. But it was not that he knew, but if he put himself in the villain's shoes, he could understand him.

Maxen's life was already leading to that route, if not for Cosette's interference. He wouldn't mind if that was the life he led, actually. His life was just a series of misfortune and turning out to be a felon wouldn't be a surprise.

"If I am Ten… I don't think I can bear to live if I lose the only good thing — the only woman I loved. She can't die before me; I'll die the second she stops breathing," he concluded, raising a hand to tuck a portion of her hair behind her ear. "You were crying because of them?"

"Mhm." She hummed, smiling subtly at him. "They were tragic lovers."

Maxen pressed his lips into a thin line, pondering about what could console her. "Well, maybe, pray that they will meet in hell? Maybe they'll get their happy ending then."

Cosette chuckled at his reply. It was strange, especially for the hell part.

"Well, there's this fanfiction." She smacked her lips and grinned. "They are having a story of their own."

"Really? What? A story of how they both turned into kick-ass criminals?"

"No." She shook her head, raising her hand to hold his hand between them. "Milk returned ten years prior, thinking she was inside the story she had been reading while in the hospital, carrying her child-like mind because of her dementia."

"And?"

"She plans to change Ten's life." Her lips stretched wider. "Milk had been and will always be selfish. Of course, she feels bad for what happened, but all she cares about was her own love story. Nothing has happened yet since the story between the original leads hadn't started, but I'm following it and looking forward to a satisfying ending. It's like a healing journey."

His eyes softened seeing the luster in her eyes. Just moments ago, Cosette looked depressed. But the more she stared at him, the more her eyes grew clear and her smile stretched wider.

'I don't know what's going on in her head, but it seemed she had come to terms with whatever troubling her.' Maxen secretly sighed in relief. His eyes then fell on their hands between them as they lay on their sides, facing each other.

"Maxen," Cosette called, snapping him back to the current lapse.

"Hmm?" he hummed, looking back at her."

Cosette's smile grew into a grin and, without a second hesitation, she tossed her body to him. She flung her arms around him, resting a leg over his leg, and squeezing her body to him.

"How cute," she teased, grinning mischievously as she looked up at him. "Why do you always stiffen when I catch you off guard?"

"Cosette."

"Goodnight!" Cosette perked her head up, stealing a kiss on his lips with a giggle. "I want to sleep like this. So comfy~!"

Maxen's mouth opened and closed, rendered speechless by her shameless actions. He gazed down and sighed, moving his arms, only for her limbs to tighten around him.

"I knew you're up to something," he mumbled before relaxing his body on the bed, carefully snaking his arm around her to embrace her. "Good night, Cozie."

Maxen lowered his head and planted a kiss on top of her head, making Cosette grin happily. She might've felt bad and would forever regret driving Maxen to his death. However, Cosette had thought long and hard about it before coming to his room.

She could still change things. She had done a good job so far. Therefore, she just needed to continue it for the sake of her own happiness and everyone else. That was the only way to forgive herself for ruining everyone's lives.