IBTDRI 10🎃

Chapter 10

Balthazar Crime.

The moment I heard the name, my heart dropped.

A high-ranking noble in the original novel, and a master of black magic. The villain who cursed Titania and ruined the novel’s ending.

Even though I had been sure, hearing it directly was something else.

‘Zar… so that’s where “Zar” came from.’

If I’d thought a little harder, I could have realized.

I was furious at my own stupidity.

Zar tilted his head at me.

“Edel, you look upset. Do you dislike me?”

“……”

“That’s strange… humans are supposed to feel attraction toward peers of the opposite sex. Is this form not to your liking?”

Human? This form?

Once again, words I couldn’t make sense of. But I didn’t want to think about it anymore.

“Shut up, I don’t want to hear another word from you—!”

Just as I was about to snap again—

<Edel…!

<Open your eyes, my child…!>

From far above, I heard my parents’ voices.

My body, which had felt like it was sinking, began to feel lighter.

I lifted my head.

‘They might be trying to wake me up!’

“Mother, Father! I’m right here!”

My feet lifted slightly.

Slowly, my body began to rise upward.

But then, Zar grabbed my wrist with a sharp tug.

“……!”

“Don’t go.”

With an unreadable expression, he stared straight into me.

“Let go.”

“Clear up the misunderstanding first, okay?”

“Misunderstanding?”

Even after he seized my wrist, my body kept rising.

Soon, I was facing him upside down.

His gaze was relentless.

“I told you, it was an invitation. I never intended to hurt you. Don’t you want to know the real reason you’re in pain?”

“Why… am I in pain?”

“That’s…”

But whatever Zar meant to say, he shut his mouth tight.

He stayed silent for a while, wearing a troubled expression, before finally speaking again.

“If you stay with me, I can tell you everything. So… won’t you?”

His words were smooth, tempting, like a serpent’s lure.

He really did seem desperate to persuade me.

But why bother persuading me? With black magic, he could’ve forced me to stay.

That’s when a thought struck me.

‘Ah, could it be…?’

This was my dream.

And he hadn’t originally belonged here.

So even if he was a master of black magic, the one with all the control in this dream was—

‘Me. Even waking up from this dream is my choice!’

Suddenly, my body jolted upward.

“……!”

‘I knew it!’

Zar had realized this too. That’s why he threw out such tempting lines—to distract me.

“You fool.”

“…?”

Confusion flickered in his eyes.

I smirked.

“If you truly wanted to clear up my misunderstanding, you would have told me right away. But until the very end, you only disappoint me.”

“……!”

His eyes widened.

I tore my hand free with finality and shouted—

“It’s time to wake up from this dream!”

And then…

The world was dyed in light.

“Huuhh…!”

“Edel…!”

I gasped like someone rescued from drowning.

When I opened my eyes, I was in my mother’s arms.

“M-Mother…”

“It’s alright, it’s alright… my daughter…”

She was crying. That only made me more uneasy.

“Mother, what about Tani? Where’s Tani?”

“Edel, calm down. Tani’s fine.”

My father, who stood behind with a complicated look, stepped forward.

“You collapsed, and the birthday banquet ended. Tani cried herself out and is resting in the next room.”

“Then what about Zar?”

“Zar…?”

“Yes, the boy Marquis Persis brought! He’s not really the marquis’s nephew!”

If he hadn’t escaped yet, he had to be caught.

Or maybe he was shamelessly deceiving the other adults again.

But my parents only looked bewildered.

“Edel… you still seem confused.”

“The Marquis of Persis didn’t bring anyone, you know. As always, he came alone.”

“The Marquis… didn’t bring anyone?”

But in the past few days, Zar had influenced everything around us.

How could he have never existed? My wrist still throbbed where he had held me in the dream.

‘He erased everyone’s memories.’

But why was mine untouched?

“Hrmm…”

A sudden cough startled me.

I turned and noticed an elderly man in a shabby tunic in the corner of the room.

“Ah…”

“Oh, that’s the healer who woke you. We originally called him to make sure no scar remained on your leg, but…”

“Good timing, I’d say. Any later and it could have been dire.”

“Please, healer. Tell us what happened to our daughter.”

The healer hesitated briefly, then spoke.

“Your daughter has been cursed. It is a vile curse—one I cannot even attempt to undo.”

“What?”

I already knew, but for my parents, who didn’t, the news was shocking.

“But she just opened her eyes!”

“That’s only temporary. Not a cure.”

“Then is there no way?”

The barrage of questions left the healer pondering deeply.

“Hmm… I cannot say for certain. But there is someone more knowledgeable than me in such matters.”

“A healer…?”

“Similar. But he is a wanderer…”

“We will provide any support necessary. Please, just find him.”

“Very well. I’ll depart at once—time is of the essence. And child.”

The healer looked at me gravely.

“Steel your heart. Never let it break.”

His solemn expression made my plight feel real at last.

“…Yes.”

After giving instructions for emergency care and medicine, he departed.

‘So the fever that burned through me was just the curse’s baseline state?’

The thought of that agony returning was terrifying. But oddly, I felt lighter.

Because I had changed Tani’s fate.

‘One goal achieved. Now my problem remains…’

Just then, Father stroked my hair.

“Edel, everyone will know you as the hero who saved your sister. And we will find a way to free you from this curse.”

“But… if other nobles learn I’m cursed, won’t that bring you trouble, Father?”

“That’s not for you to worry about.”

“But still…!”

Seeing me anxious, Mother carefully spoke up.

“Dear, our reputation isn’t what matters. But Edel’s future… will any family want a cursed child?”

‘Ah—right. That’s another problem…!’

I didn’t care if I married or not. But if rumors spread that her sister was cursed, Tani’s future would be ruined too.

‘What’s a good way… wait! I’ve got it!’

“Father, you once mentioned a rural place the knights use, right?”

“The training grounds?”

“I’ll recuperate there! That way, I’ll be out of sight from the nobles.”

“……!”

They looked reluctant.

But I pressed on.

“If I go, Tani will want to visit too. Playing in the countryside will help her become more cheerful…”

Just then, the door burst open.

“I’m going too, with sis!”

“Tani?”

“I’ll go too, with sis!”

Standing at the doorway with Viti, Tani shouted tearfully.

I looked at her in surprise.

“But if you come with me, you’ll be apart from Mother and Father?”

“W-we’ll come back together when sis gets better.”

A swirl of emotions ran through me.

‘Maybe this is better…’

Without me or Zar around, bullies might return to torment Tani.

And after my plan to tie Zar and Tani together collapsed, I had learned something.

‘Yeah, it was foolish of me to think she needed some man to rely on. She’s my sister—she should grow strong on her own. Hmph.’

After long thought, Father finally spoke.

“It’s a safe place… but just in case, I’ll assign more knights to patrol and more people to watch over you.”

“No, taking a crowd will only be more dangerous. It’s better to hide our identities.”

If anything, this could help Tani grow stronger, and give me a quiet place to live differently from the original story.

‘It’s not making her suffer. It’s teaching her how to live.’

After exchanging a look, my parents made their decision.

“You’ll take Viti and Jack with you. Otherwise, we cannot allow it.”

“But Jack is the deputy captain of the knights!”

“He’s an excellent knight, but lately he’s been thinking of retiring. Maybe if he goes with you, he’ll reconsider.”

In other words, a vacation.

‘That works.’

I smiled brightly.

“Thank you, Father!”

“Th-thank you, Father…!”

Tani, who had climbed onto the bed, hugged me tightly.

I held her close.

I was excited for this new beginning.

“Tani, let’s do our best together in the countryside!”

Meanwhile, after his long performance, Zar returned to the castle.

But he felt only emptiness.

The hand that had held her felt achingly hollow.

“…I failed.”