CH 8

I was facing Cedric’s gaze and I had mixed feelings.

It seems like it was just yesterday that I liked it because there was no sign of getting involved with the original main characters…

“And I get involved like this…”

“Yes?”

“Ah, no. I was just talking to myself.” I quickly waved my hand.

He looked at me, blinking his mild blue hydrangea eyes. I smiled awkwardly at him once and turned my head.

F*ck… This life doesn’t turn out the way my heart wants it.

It wasn’t enough to be properly intertwined with the young villain, now I eventually met his brother, who triggered the young villain’s darkening.

Moreover to think it’s ma… marriage!?

Honestly, this is ridiculous.

What do they think marriage is? Let’s have tteokbokki for dinner later! It’s not that kind of promise!

As I shut my lips, Cedric said. “Of course, you don’t have to consider what Calib says.”

“Yes,… Yes?”

“This is us brothers’ situation and it has nothing to do with you.”

“Ah…”

“Although you’re the first person to whom Calib opened up.”

Stab.

“It’s also his first time opening his heart so quickly.”

Stab.

“It’s his first time following someone else to the point of turning his back on me.”

Stab, stab.

“Still, that’s no reason for you to consider Calib’s absurd proposal.”

Ugh, everything Cedric said became an arrow and stabbed my conscience.

Apart from that, he was right a hundred times. Calib’s words. Marry his brother and help him resolve the curse, also live with him in the Grand Duke’s Castle.

Those words were so absurd.

But why does the face of Calib, who hung on me and cried, bother me so much?

Calib completely expressed his feelings to me, despite having been living with me for less than a month.

That’s how lonely he was.

And he’s actually a formidable genius. There was no way he didn’t know how absurd it is to tell me to marry his brother to resolve the curse. 

Nevertheless what I’m saying is, he’s that desperate.

If Cedric fell into an eternal sleep, there would be no one left in Calib’s side in the Grand Duke’s Castle. He was afraid of it, so he buried his face in his palms.

But… But no matter what, I can’t get married.

Even if it’s a possessed life, it’s still my life. It’s the same as getting the ‘new life’ I wanted, but I can’t get my nose stuck in marriage.

Yeah. This is right to refuse.

Thinking so, I opened my mouth to convey what I mean. Nonetheless, at that time, a thought suddenly passed by.

But… Is marriage the only way?

The brothers were looking for a marriage partner because they thought they could find the key to solve the curse only when they went to the ‘Sanctuary of Knowledge’. Yet I already knew because I read the original.

The caster who could resolve the curse, the bad fairy will appear soon!

If I intercepted the bad fairy who would appear to kidnap the female lead and let Cedric get his curse resolved first…?

After that, whether the fairy kidnapped the female lead or got executed, Cedric’s curse had been lifted, so Calib wouldn’t become a villain.

That way, I don’t have to marry Cedric!

Thinking that far, I jumped up from my seat, slamming the table. “Cedric, there’s a way!”

“Yes?” He opened his eyes round as if he was asking what was going on.

“Another way to resolve your curse!”

I’d think about the possibility Calib woke up because of my loud yell later. 

“To resolve the curse, another way…?”

“Bad fairy, I’m talking about the bad fairy! Can’t the caster resolve the curse?!”

“Yes? Ah, yes. That’s true. But we still don’t know the whereabouts of the fairy.”

I answered him with a grin. “I think I can help you with that.”

No matter how hard Cedric tried to find the fairy, the reason why he couldn’t find eat was simple.

Nobody knew a thing about the bad fairy!

The ‘Cursing Fairy’ was all I knew. How could I find it?!

It’s like finding a needle in a desert.

But not for me. 

Because the bad fairy’s name and physical characteristics were depicted in the scene when she was executed.

That’s why, the bad fairy…

She had pinkish silver hair, a rare pink jewel eye, and looked like a beautiful woman with transparent skin like ivory.

I’m sure it’s because she was a fairy.

And her name was…

“Ellia?”

“…”

“Ellia? Are you okay? Your complexion suddenly looks bad.”

I was swaying back and forth. My legs were weak, so I collapsed without realizing it.

“E-Ellia?”

This is crazy.

No matter how distracted I was, no matter how many times the ‘bad fairy’ had been mentioned throughout 200 episodes!

Even her name was called just before she died, that’s right!

How could I forget the name of the villain?

Bugh!

I grabbed my hair and hit my head on the table.

“Ellia?”

Ellia, Ellia, Ellia!

The person who cursed Cedric and turned Calib into a villain.

“Daaaamnnnnnn iiitttt!”

It was none other than me, Ellia!

***

“What? Really? Is this for real?!”

Calib asked again and again. I smiled affectionately and nodded at the person who was eating mustard after he cried.

“Mm. I’m going to the Grand Duke’s Castle with Calib.”

“Are you really going to marry Brother?”

“Mm. I’m going to be Calib’s sister-in-law.”

Bright. Unlike when he came out of the bedroom like a dead body, his face bloomed brightly. He looked at his brother with an extremely excited face.

“Brother, it’s a relief. Right?”

However, Cedric also had a gloomy look on his face. He didn’t know why I suddenly wanted to marry him.

“That’s great, really great. Brother!”

“Y-yeah. That’s,… great. Yeah. That’s really great.” 

I swallowed a deep sigh as I watched Cedric smiling along the happy Calib with a puzzled expression.

Haaa… Damn it. How did it become like this?

I looked back on the conclusion I made a while ago.

I am Ellia. And Ellia is the ‘bad fairy’. I am the source of all the events, but in other words, I can solve all of them too by lifting Cedric’s curse.

But the problem is, I don’t know how to do it at all.

Because I don’t have any memories about me!

If I stay like this, my identity will be revealed and a knife will come onto my neck.

The only good thing, though, is that Ellia wore a black hood everyday, that’s why no one knew the appearance of the ‘bad fairy’.

That’s also why Calib was with me for 20 days and didn’t even doubt it.

But our voices would’ve been similar…

Ah, is that because the ‘real Ellia’ wore a dark, black hoodie?

Nobody expected her to be this beautiful. Then she just didn’t need to wear a black hoodie and she wouldn’t get suspected, right

Great, I grabbed my thumping chest, surprised for thinking that far.

I wanted to live a totally comfortable life that wasn’t related to the original main characters. But things have become like this, contrary to my heart. There’s only one way.

Let’s quickly release the curse and find my freedom.

Of course, I roughly know that there are many romance-fantasies where they just sit still because they have to think about their husband, pretension, and family, but…

Yeah, it’s all just a story in the novel and not me. I don’t know how the other female leads are, but I’m going to die if I get caught.

Anyway, in order to solve Cedric’s curse faster, we needed to try many ways, so it’d be better  for us to stick together. And rather than alone, it’d be faster if I followed Cedric to the ‘Sanctuary of Knowledge’ and search for it together.

That’s why I told Cedric.

[Let’s get married.]

That’s how I proposed to him.

Cough, cough, Cedric cleared his throat, said to the excited Calib. 

“But Calib, as you should know, it’s not the usual marriage.”

“Huh? Ah, yeah.”

“We decided to get married under a contract.”

“Mm. That,… yeah. Like that. Because Ellia is going to help resolve Brother’s curse.”

Fortunately, he was a very smart kid. I wasn’t very disappointed with the term ‘contract marriage’ as I knew exactly about our situation.

“Yeah. So when the marriage period ends… My curse will be lifted and Ellia will go back here.”

I arranged this with Cedric. Let’s start by telling Calib in advance, who followed me very well, that we had a scheduled breakup. Although he might be disappointed, if he came to play from time to time like going to a cottage on holiday… Wasn’t that all he needed?

“No, we don’t need to do that.”

“Hm?”

“Divorcing Brother doesn’t mean that Ellia has to leave the Grand Duke’s Castle.”

“H-Huh?”

What is this, all of a sudden?

Calib looked at me, stuttering with a determined look.

“After Ellia divorces Brother, you can live with me.”

“Huh, huh?”

“Anyway, in order to marry Brother, Ellia must have a proper status.”

“That’s true, but…”

“So, as a Grand Young Lord, I will be Ellia’s official guardian.”

“W-Wait!”

Things were going weird. I urgently called for him, but his words were a step ahead.

“Then, after divorcing Brother, Ellia can live in the Grand Duke’s Castle as a guardian of the Grand Young Lord!”

We would never be apart in the future!

He smiled brightly and said.

Ah, this is crazy.