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Chapter 04
Callisto genuinely believed that I was going to abuse him and treated me with hostility.
Could he be someone like me—someone who had transmigrated into the story, or maybe regressed from the future?
But that didn’t seem likely.
“If he had transmigrated or regressed, his behavior would be too childish.”
Even in my case, the servants sometimes looked surprised and said I had suddenly become more mature. But aside from knowing about the future, Callisto’s behavior and speech were no different from that of an ordinary child.
“Then… can he see the future?”
I ran through several possibilities in my mind. Thankfully, thanks to my job at a web novel editorial department, I was familiar with most clichés. I vaguely remembered settings where characters learned about the near future through dreams.
So I casually tried to probe him.
“Don’t say ridiculous things. Why would I bully or torture you? What are we—rivals or something?”
Technically, we were destined to become rivals.
Callisto blinked slowly.
“What’s a rival?”
“….”
His soul was definitely that of a seven-year-old.
So he clearly wasn’t a transmigrator or a regressor. Carefully observing the child’s reactions, I answered,
“Like… fighting over the same omega or something.”
“Why would I fight you over an omega? My nanny said I’m so pretty I’ll probably manifest as an omega.”
“…Oh. I see.”
I responded awkwardly.
But no. It’s true you’re pretty, but you’ll become a dominant alpha, and not just any alpha—an obsessive, crazy beautiful alpha. When that time comes, please remember this conversation and spare my life.
Come to think of it, Callisto being a dominant alpha was certain, but I couldn’t quite remember Etienne’s designation. Publicly, Etienne had claimed to be a dominant alpha, but later it was revealed to be a lie.
“He was probably a recessive alpha or a beta.”
Etienne had hidden his real designation because of Callisto. He was worried that Callisto might manifest as an alpha. When siblings included an alpha and a beta or omega, it was far more common for the alpha to inherit the family.
The count knew Etienne’s true designation, but it was easier to make him the heir if he were presented as a dominant alpha, so he went along with Etienne’s suggestion to falsify it.
In any case, it didn’t seem like Callisto remembered the entire future from the original story. He didn’t even know his own designation yet.
In the original novel, Callisto manifested around the age of thirteen, so perhaps he could only see the near future, not everything.
“That’s a relief. At least he didn’t see himself killing Etienne.”
I felt momentarily reassured.
But when I thought about it again, it wasn’t something to relax about.
My plan had been to raise the still young and soft Callisto nicely and make him like me. But he already knew how badly Etienne would treat him.
Realizing that, my expression stiffened.
“Then how am I supposed to win him over?”
My vision went dark.
Still, worrying could come later. Before winning him over, I needed to wash him first.
Had he climbed into a fireplace or something? Just this morning he had been clean and fluffy, but now Callisto was covered in soot from head to toe.
Clicking my tongue, I lifted him up.
“What are you doing right now? Where are you trying to take me?”
“I’m not dragging you anywhere. Let’s wash up first. Lisa, could you go to my bedroom and fill the bathtub with hot water?”
“Yes, young master.”
After asking the kitchen maid, I turned back.
Callisto’s face had gone pale.
The child shouted as if breathing fire.
“Why are we going to the bath? Are you going to start water-torturing me? Or boil me alive?”
“Why would I boil you? To eat you? You’re tiny and so skinny you don’t even look tasty.”
“What? You’re going to eat me?”
“Why do you twist everything I say like that?”
He struggled to get out of my arms, but unfortunately he didn’t have the strength. Because he hadn’t been eating properly and was so thin, even my twelve-year-old body could easily carry him.
It felt fortunate—and at the same time bitter and sad.
How could a child this young lose his parents and live in hunger like this?
In my real life, I had also lost my parents early and grown up an orphan. So Callisto’s misfortune didn’t feel like someone else’s story.
Of course, Callisto’s father was alive and well in the imperial palace. Completely unaware that the lost prince was suffering like this outside the palace.
But Callisto didn’t give me time to sink into sentimental thoughts.
“Let me go! Let go, you demon!”
“Hold still for a second. What did I even do to deserve being called a demon? I just want us to get along!”
“Liar! I saw everything in my dream!”
So he saw the future in a dream.
Still, it was better than regression or reincarnation. If he had actually experienced Etienne’s abuse, there would be no way to repair our relationship no matter what I did.
In the original novel written by Author H, there was no setting where Callisto could see the future. Maybe it happened because I transmigrated, some mechanism to preserve the original storyline.
What a pointless complication.
With a frown, I asked him,
“What exactly did you see? Where did you have this dream that made you accuse me?”
“I told you—it wasn’t a dream! It all really happened!”
Callisto’s face turned deathly pale as he trembled. Still, he stubbornly refused to back down.
By the time we finished bickering our way to my room, Elsie greeted us with a shocked expression.
“Why are you carrying Lord Callisto? Aren’t you tired?”
“This kid refuses to walk nicely. Is the warm water ready? I think we need to wash him first. Just look at him.”
“Yes, young master. But will you do it yourself? I can wash him.”
“No, I brought him here so I’ll do it. I’m going to scrub him thoroughly.”
“But young master, I can do it. It must be tiring…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
After firmly stopping Elsie, I clicked my tongue and walked toward the bathroom.
Callisto seemed exhausted and hung limp in my arms, but he was still glaring at me.
At this point, my stubbornness kicked in too.
I didn’t know exactly how much Callisto knew about the original story. But none of the things he blamed me for had actually happened yet—and they never would.
Being judged for something I hadn’t done felt unfair.
Of course, I wasn’t sure how much a child would understand that.
Ignoring his murderous glare, I entered the bathroom.
A large marble bathtub decorated with antique carvings was filled with hot water.
As I started to remove his clothes, I suddenly paused.
I remembered the “imperial mark” from the original story.
Near the end of the novel, Callisto proved his royal blood by taking off his clothes and revealing the mark himself. The mark only appeared under sunlight and was located on his waist.
“There’s no sunlight here, so it shouldn’t show right now. Maybe his father already covered it with a tattoo.”
Still, just in case, I lifted his clothes slightly and glanced at his waist.
As expected, his skin was perfectly clean.
“What are you doing?! Why are you looking there?!”
Only after seeing Callisto’s pale face did I realize I had made a mistake.
Even if the mark wasn’t visible now, it was still a sensitive place.
“Huh? No, no. I was just going to take off your clothes so you could wash.”
“That’s a lie! You just looked at my waist!”
My attempt to reassure him only made him more suspicious.
His eyes were sharp, but they trembled with fear.
“I told you that’s not it… If you hate taking your clothes off that much, then don’t!”
To distract him, I deliberately acted mischievous.
Without taking off his clothes, I simply dropped him into the bathtub.
Callisto screamed.
“Aaah! Elsie, save me! Etienne is water-torturing me!”
“Come on, how is this water torture? It’s not even deep. Sit properly!”
“…Huh?”
Callisto froze mid-flail.
Since the water level had been adjusted for his height, it wasn’t deep enough for any kind of torture.
Looking embarrassed, he looked up at me.
Fortunately, the suspicion that I had intentionally looked at his waist seemed to disappear.
Then he slowly sank under the water with a glug.
I grabbed his arms and pulled him back up.
“Did you crawl out of a fireplace or something? How do you get covered in this much soot? Come here so I can wash your face.”
“No. Go away. Don’t pretend to be nice.”
“I’m not pretending. I’m just washing you. What did I even do?”
“You’re going to do it later!”
“You must have had a nightmare, but has anything you saw in that dream actually happened?”
“….”
Of course not.
As I busily washed him, I spoke gently.
“So don’t judge me based on a dream. Who knows? Maybe I’ve turned over a new leaf.”
“What does ‘turn over a new leaf’ mean?”
“Never mind. Why am I even explaining this?”
Grumbling, I washed his face.
Once the soot disappeared, a clean and beautiful face appeared.
But his thin cheeks, so unlike a child’s, bothered me.
He would look much better if they filled out a little.
Feeling uncomfortable, I clicked my tongue.
“And eat properly. What are you going to do being this skinny? You need to eat a lot so you can grow tall and strong.”
Callisto’s eyes immediately sharpened again.
“You just want me to get fat and strong so you can use me like a slave, you demon!”
Come to think of it, Etienne really had done something like that.
“He really did everything imaginable.”
They created such a villain who abused a weak little child like a slave, and yet he was supposed to be the favorite character who eventually got a happy ending.
What on earth had Author H been thinking?
And why was I the one responsible for fixing it?
Anyway, the only thing I could do was try my best from now on to improve my image, even a little.
No matter how annoying Callisto acted, I would endure it and treat him kindly.
Whether he would believe me was another matter.
While I silently tore my hair out in my mind, Callisto kept glancing at me with sharp eyes.
Alright. Let’s do this.
Looking down at that pretty yet irritating face, I clenched my teeth and forced a smile.
Callisto’s eyes widened.
“What’s wrong with you? Did you suddenly go crazy?”
“….”
I can do this… right?
