CH 4

Ah, the lunch was fantastic.

It’s a little hard to say that with my own mouth, but it was dope anyway. There was no smell of meat, and the fish was not fishy. Calib was dozing off with a relaxed face, also completely satisfied.

I cleared the table and handed him a warm herbal tea. It was there when I was cleaning out the cupboard earlier. Unfortunately, the cocoa couldn’t be seen anywhere whether I ran out of it yesterday or not.

“It’s chamomile.”

However, Calib didn’t care as if he was more familiar with herbal tea.

To think that he’s a kid who’s more familiar with herbal tea than cocoa…

Somehow, something felt odd.

Moments later, Calib was sipping chamomile tea and cautiously opened his mouth. “Why didn’t Ellia… aren’t you going to ask me anything?”

“Hm?”

“Why am I here alone, am I really the Grand Young Lord, aren’t there any other people around… You can even ask questions.” Calib grabbed his warm mug and gazed upon me.

Ah, right.

Yesterday passed like a storm and I completely forgot about it. I pondered for a moment on what to answer, and then I decided to just look around. “Well, I’m curious, but… before that, it was more necessary to calm down first.”

“Calm down… You say?”

“Yep. You’d be very shocked too. And when you get a little bit better, I wondered if you could tell me vaguely.”

“So you’re waiting for me to be okay… Well, um, thanks.” He shut his lips as he tried to say thank you.

I think I remember I said he didn’t have to thank each and every one of them. Phew, it would’ve hurt my conscience if I had been greeted with words of thanks.

With that thought in mind, I flashed my smile at Calib once. 

Calib, who stared blankly at my face, said as if he was bewitched.

“Ellia is… fascinating.”

“Hm? Fascinating, you say?”

“Yeah. It’s as if you’ve known me for a long time. Is it because of a child named… Yoonie? I wish I were.”

“Uh…”

I was speechless for a moment.

Obviously, the part where I feel more familiar with him because of Yoonie is correct. But his words aren’t wrong. I read the original novel, that’s why I know the past as well as the future of Calib.

“In contrast to Ellia, I keep getting curious about Ellia for some reason.”

“You’re curious about me?”

“Yes. But if it’s that way, I’ll have to… tell you my story first, right?” Calib looked confused.

To be honest, after knowing the young villain’s story, I don’t want to get involved anymore. But now it seems to me that Calib wants to step out and tell his story. Being curious about me is moderately a good excuse.

Then I looked at Calib quietly, gave him a friendly gaze. 

Perhaps he had gained courage, Calib licked his tiny lips. “Maybe I… It would’ve been better for me to die by the wolf like that yesterday.”

“What? What kind of nonsense…”

“Because I have an older brother, you know.”

I shut my mouth and looked down, mad at Calib’s words.

Calib’s older brother, Cedric Kedyssel Indigentia. I knew him too.

“Even though my brother is adopted and has not even a drop of family blood mixed… Even so, he’s family.”

In the midst of the fact that brothers would pay no mind to each other, they had an unrivaled relationship.

“And I like him very much. I respect him because he’s a very talented genius.”

He was so outstanding that he was called an ‘adopter’ and was given full support by his vassals. So much that he was mentioned as the next Grand Duke.

“He’s a very bold person, incomparable to anyone like me. But he keeps trying to make me the Grand Duke.”

“Isn’t that good? He acknowledges you.” To comfort Calib, who had low self-esteem, I deliberately pretended not to know.

But Calib shook his head with a gloomy face. “Actually… Brother is cursed.”

“Curse, you say?”

“Last year. He happened to be cursed by a bad fairy. It’s a dreadful curse that will make him slowly fall into an eternal sleep and never wake up again.”

I swallowed dry saliva, nervous.

Because this curse was the trigger for Calib to become a villain.

Cedric’s curse was the curse that Daphne, the female lead of [I Won’t Put You To Sleep This Time], threw out in order to protect the male lead, Renoir.

The bad fairy put a curse on him to sleep forever in revenge for not being invited on his birthday. And the regressed female lead repelled this curse to protect the male lead. The two of them fell in love. That was the story of [I Won’t Put You To Sleep This Time].

After hearing Calib’s story, I realized the timeline of when I possessed this body.

Before the female lead saved the male lead, Cedric got cursed…

Later, his brother slept forever due to the curse. Then Calib…

I got dizzy.

Sooner or later, the world will be in chaos because of the villain Calib. He took a hand in the forbidden black magic and combined it with his gravity magic, the most powerful magic in the worldview. He became the strongest and worst villain, driving the imperial family to the brink of destruction.

Calib continued in a gloomy voice, “This curse… It is said that only the caster can solve it. But we still haven’t been able to figure out where the bad fairy is.”

I gulped again.

Calib was cursed last year and Calib is 7 now…

The bad fairy will soon reappear because they need to kidnap the female lead. The problem is, however, even after the caster bad fairy appeared, it didn’t lift Cedric’s curse.

The bad guy kidnapped the female lead, and what happened after that?

Death penalty.

Of course, after the bad fairy was caught, Calib went to the male lead and begged to please give some time for Cedric’s curse to be lifted. Even so, the male lead’s brain had already whirled. He didn’t grant Calib’s plea and ordered execution.

The only being who would remove Cedric’s curse disappeared with the dew of death.

I was thinking of the original story when Calib muttered. “There is a place called the ‘Sanctuary of Knowledge’. It’s where all the knowledge of the world is.”

I knew it.

Whenever the female lead ran into troubles, she drew hints from it and eventually worked out the case.

“In the Epricent Empire, only the imperial family and three chosen families can enter.”

The family of villains, Indigentia; the family of the female lead, Marinest; and another family were the central figures.

“But no matter how many families are allowed to enter, the ‘Sanctuary of Knowledge’ is not a place that anyone can go to.”

If my memory is correct, you can only go if you inherit the family lineage or become the head of the household. 

Or if you can prove your loyalty to your family.

“The fastest way for my adoptive brother to get to the ‘Sanctuary of Knowledge’ is to become the head of the family.”

Still, in the original story, Cedric eventually put Calib on the throne and fell into an eternal sleep.

“That’s why I… I don’t want to be the Grand Duke.”

“Because your brother needs to become the Grand Duke so that he can go to the ‘Sanctuary of Knowledge’?”

“Yes.” Calib shook his head, replied softly.

It was a pitiful look that made my heart ache.

He mumbled, “If I can’t lift Brother’s curse, I… What will happen to me?”

‘You.. You won’t be able to overcome the sadness of losing your only brother who cared for you in the family and you will turn into a villain.’

The obvious future swelled up to the tip of my neck.

“Can I really endure it alone?”

‘No, you can’t stand it.’

A sense of helplessness, knowing how to break the curse but letting his brother fall into an eternal sleep. He felt guilty that he couldn’t even go to the ‘Sanctuary of Knowledge’ because he had surpassed his older brother and became the Grand Duke.

The glares of the greedy vassals trying to purify the mixed-blood…

Calib, who became the Grand Duke at the age of only 8, was completely broken and crumbling.

And in order to revive his older brother who only cared for him in Calib’s whole life, he even touched the forbidden black magic and fell.

I’m fully aware of Calib’s future.

So, to get away from him as soon as possible, I promised to send him back when the wounds are healed.

That’s it.

“I… I’m afraid that I will lose my brother like this, or that I should let him go.” I saw Calib putting his mug down and burying his face in his small palm. “It’s so scary.”

When I first met him, I saw Calib who was mentally preoccupied enough to confide in me.

“I would rather have been cursed.”

The promise I had been struggling with was overshadowed and I wanted to comfort him. Calib’s shoulders were shaking uncontrollably.

This child is a character in the story, the young villain. There’s nothing good about him being involved with an extra.

He’s not Yoonie. He’s someone else.

No matter how hard I tried to think about that, I couldn’t stand watching his small shoulders tremble. I hugged his small body tightly and muttered. “…There must be a way. Your brother will be fine. He can live with Calib for a long, long time.”

“…”

“I’ll help you too.”

The original story is already destined. 

As an extra, I know I can’t change the plot.

But still… For now, I just wanted to comfort Calib.

***

A week has passed since then.

Late in the morning, Calib woke up to a heavy feeling on his chest.

“Mm…”

It was none other than Ellia’s arm that was pressing on his chest.

For the past week, every night, Ellia fell asleep holding Calib tightly as if she was hugging someone dear to her.

Is that so?

‘…Today is warm too.’

There were no heating magic tools in the bed, but the night breeze flew in through the window. Even though the tip of his nose was tinged by the cold air, Calib’s heart was warmer than ever.

‘I never knew that sleeping in someone’s arms is so warm.’

Of course, in comparison, it’s more uncomfortable than sleeping alone.

Nevertheless, it’s…

‘It feels stable.’

Ellia, whom he looked up at, was still asleep. And she still looked friendly. This gentle face not even once got angry with Calib.

‘Rather, as if spring has come, she has become warmer and more affectionate.’

The expressions Calib saw in the Grand Duke’s Castle were cold and sharp. It was  impossible to even dream of talking with someone with such a friendly expression like recently.

He knew why the vassals hated him so much.

‘A child who killed his parents.’

Whenever Cedric was absent, the vassals united and slandered Calib. As a result, he himself felt as if he was the culprit behind everything.

‘Actually, they didn’t have to come to find me. I already had an older brother who was an excellent successor…’

Obviously, Cedric told Calib all the time that he’d never be the successor.

‘Brother is really kind. He always comforts me with kindness.’

Cedric was the only reason Calib could hold out this much. If he thinks about how Cedric is cursed and one day, he’ll fall into an eternal sleep…

Calib shuddered at his thoughts.