LVSMLA 03

Chapter 03

Callisto soon turned his gaze away from me. Since he didn’t turn his head toward me again, I started to doubt whether what I’d seen had been real.

While the count summoned the head butler and the head maid to discuss where Callisto would stay, I quietly observed him. The small face looking at the count didn’t show even a hint of hostility. The child simply sat there quietly with a doll-like face.

Did I see it wrong?

Maybe he had just been tense because I was a stranger he’d met for the first time. Since I was so absorbed in the fact that Callisto was destined to kill Etienne in the future, perhaps I had simply become too sensitive.

Well… what would a little kid know? Why would he glare at me out of nowhere?

Thinking that I must have misunderstood, I felt a little relieved. After finishing the discussion with the servants, the count spoke.

“Callisto’s bedroom has been prepared at the room at the far end of the west wing. A tailor will visit in a few days, so you can have whatever clothes you need made then. Elsie will help you.”

Elsie, my nanny, bowed to Callisto. Callisto’s cheeks flushed peach-pink as he smiled shyly.

“Hello, Elsie. I look forward to your help….”

“Oh my, Lord Callisto. I look forward to it as well.”

…He was too cute.

I had never had any particular preference for beautiful male leads before. But seeing him with my own eyes now, I could finally understand why Author H was always going on about beautiful tops whenever she opened her mouth. Even though Callisto was still a child and looked a bit scruffy, just one shy smile was enough to completely captivate Elsie.

Not just Elsie. Me too.

The count chuckled and patted Callisto’s head.

“I think things are mostly settled now. Come to think of it, you must be tired. Traveling without rest must have been exhausting, wasn’t it?”

“No. I’m not tired at all.”

“Still, get some good rest for now. A maid will call you when it’s time for dinner.”

Callisto nodded obediently with a gentle face.

It really seemed like I had just been overly sensitive earlier.

* * *

A few hours later, I arrived at the dining room for dinner. I greeted Count Winyeits and Callisto, who were already seated at the long table. Unlike in the original story, I hadn’t shown any hostility toward Callisto, and the count looked greatly relieved.

“Callisto, it seems Etienne likes you. That’s good.”

The count spoke kindly to him. Callisto, who had been sitting quietly beside him, lifted his head.

I was a little surprised.

I had clearly met Callisto just a few hours earlier. At that time he had just arrived at the estate and was still dirty and disheveled, but even then his beauty—befitting a confirmed “beautiful male lead”—had been obvious. I had even silently applauded Author H’s taste.

But now it seemed the maids had thoroughly bathed and dressed him.

With all the dust and grime washed away, Callisto looked incomparably cuter than before. He had already been pretty, but I hadn’t realized he could become even more adorable.

A beautiful male lead really is a beautiful male lead. How can a child be that pretty?

Round, large eyes with deep golden irises. Long, dense eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. Clean white skin contrasting with black hair that fell softly over his forehead. His cheeks, flushed like apples, looked so soft I wanted to bite them.

Staring blankly at him, I thought:

Author… why did you make a child into Snow White?

Snow White probably looked exactly like this when she was a kid.

It must not have been easy to bully someone this pretty. Etienne’s impressive.

I wasn’t sure which was more impressive: Etienne, who had relentlessly hated and abused such an angelic child, or Author H, who created such a peerlessly beautiful main character and then made her favorite character the villainous second male lead who bullied him.

Of course, the most impressive person was me—who had insisted that Etienne should meet a gruesome death despite having the chance to live peacefully, thereby bringing disaster upon myself.

Just then, while I was lost in thought, I felt a sharp gaze prick against my cheek.

Puzzled, I lifted my head.

Callisto was staring straight at me.

The moment our eyes met, I flinched and sucked in a breath.

Callisto’s eyes were fierce and razor sharp.

It was almost frightening to see such a cutting expression on someone who looked not even seven—more like five. The cute and lovable demeanor he had shown the count and Elsie was nowhere to be found.

Had I not imagined it earlier after all?

Startled, I dropped my fork.

“Etienne? What’s wrong?”

At the clattering sound, the count asked in surprise. But I said nothing and simply stared at Callisto.

When Callisto turned to look up at the count, he looked like nothing more than a beautiful little angel.

But this time, it wasn’t a mistake.

I suddenly realized something.

Callisto hated Etienne.

Not just dislike—he practically despised him.

But… why?

Callisto had met me for the first time today. Unless he knew about the future in the original story where Etienne abused him, there was no reason for him to hate me this much.

“Unless he knows the future.”

Suddenly a terrifying thought crossed my mind.

No way… don’t tell me… he knows the future?

Cold sweat ran down my spine.

* * *

For several days, I stubbornly followed Callisto around, trying to figure out what was going on in his head.

But this pretty little brat refused to let me get close to him.

After a week passed without any results, I lost motivation and collapsed onto my bed, completely drained.

“What’s wrong with that kid Callisto anyway….”

Elsie, who was tidying the bedroom, looked surprised.

“Lord Callisto? Is something bothering him?”

I looked at Elsie with sorrowful eyes. I wanted comfort from her, since she loved Etienne like her own son—but there was no way she could understand my worries.

If I told her Callisto was destined to kill me, she would immediately summon the family doctor of the count’s household.

She would surely assume I had become delusional out of jealousy over my new younger brother.

Even if I simply said Callisto seemed to dislike me…

She’d probably say an angel like Lord Callisto would never do such a thing.

So I couldn’t confide in her.

Like I’d noticed on the first day, Callisto only acted sharp and hostile in front of me.

Author H had been so faithful to her tropes that even at this young age, Callisto already showed the budding signs of a tragic obsessive male lead. When he glared at me, he looked exactly like a future obsessive psychopath.

Of course, he wasn’t glaring at me because he was obsessed with me.

Meanwhile, around Count Winyeits and Elsie, he acted so sweet and innocent that no one suspected anything. No one would ever imagine that Callisto was secretly a future obsessive psychopath with a terrible personality.

But why does he hate me so much?

In the original story, Etienne constantly picked on Callisto and abused him—forcing him to kneel, beating him, even grabbing his hair and shoving his head underwater like torture in a bathtub.

If Callisto knew that future, it would be natural for him to hate me.

But did he really know the future?

And if he did… how?

Was this another hidden setting by Author H?

Or…

Was Callisto not just a simple character from a novel either?

All kinds of thoughts tangled in my head.

Seeing my serious expression, Elsie quietly laughed.

“I never thought you’d take such an interest in Lord Callisto, young master.”

“Well, that’s because….”

Because I don’t want to die.

The words almost slipped out, but I swallowed them.

Forcing a trembling smile, I said:

“…I’ve always been lonely. I’m happy to have a younger brother now….”

This was the position I had consistently maintained publicly.

Unfortunately, Callisto clearly didn’t believe it.

“Oh my.”

Elsie widened her eyes and looked worried—probably concerned about how I might react if I ever learned that Callisto was my half-brother.

Of course, I was perfectly ready to become the world’s most angelic half-brother.

The problem was that Callisto didn’t seem interested in accepting one.

Every time I remembered the murderous look in his eyes whenever we met, I could only sigh.

Well… I’ll just have to keep trying.

Even if Callisto hated me, I couldn’t just sit back and wait to die.

At the very least, I needed to know why he was acting like this.

So, frowning deeply, I set out to look for him.

Where are you, my lifeline?!

* * *

After searching the mansion for quite a while, I finally found Callisto.

He was crouched in a corner of the kitchen, hiding.

Covered in soot from the hearth, he had become dirty all over again. I had no idea why he was sitting here like this.

The little brat squatting on the floor looked up at me with even more defiance than before.

Anyone would think I was his mortal enemy.

Crossing my arms, I glared down at him with annoyance.

“Why are you hiding here? Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”

“Why are you looking for me? What are you planning to do to me?”

Callisto narrowed his big round eyes.

His already large eyes grew even bigger. His sulky face looked as cute as a swollen dumpling—but I couldn’t just admire it.

What he said bothered me.

“What do you mean, what I’m planning to do?”

I asked with a tense expression.

Callisto and I glared at each other for a long moment.

It was ridiculous that I, a twenty-eight-year-old adult, was having a staring contest with a child—but both of us were deadly serious.

Finally, Callisto shouted:

“You’re going to bully me! You’ll make me kneel and beat me and torture me in water and try to kill me!”

“…What?”

My heart seemed to drop.

The cruel acts Etienne had committed in the original story flashed through my mind.

Callisto could never say something like that unless he knew the future.

Bad premonitions rarely turn out wrong.

Callisto definitely knew about the future from the original story.