IBYVS 04

Chapter : 04

Ah, that lunch was amazing.

It feels weird to say it myself, but honestly, it was awesome.

There was no stench from the meat, and the fish wasn’t fishy at all.

Calib was completely satisfied, dozing off with a blissful expression.

I cleared the table and handed Calib a warm cup of herbal tea.

I’d found it earlier while tidying the pantry.

Unfortunately, the cocoa seemed to have run out—none in sight.

“Chamomile, huh.”

But Calib, apparently more accustomed to herbal teas, didn’t mind at all.

A kid more familiar with herbal tea than cocoa… It felt oddly bittersweet.

After sipping the chamomile tea quietly, Calib carefully opened his mouth.

“Elia… why haven’t you asked me anything?”

“Hm?”

“Why I was here alone, whether I’m really the Duke’s heir, if there’s anyone else around… those are things you should’ve asked, right?”

Calib looked up at me, clutching the warm mug.

Oh—right.

Yesterday had been such a whirlwind that I completely forgot.

I paused, wondering how to respond, then decided to keep it simple.

“Well, I mean, I am curious… but right now, I thought it was more important for you to calm down first.”

“To calm down…?”

“Yeah. You must’ve been really shocked. And I figured, once you felt better, you’d tell me when you were ready.”

“So you were waiting for me to be okay… Thanks… ugh.”

Calib was about to thank me but pressed his lips shut.

He must’ve remembered me saying he didn’t need to thank me for everything.

Whew, if he had thanked me for that half-baked excuse, I’d have felt guilty.

I gave him a sheepish smile at the thought.

Calib stared blankly at my face, then muttered like he was under a spell.

“Elia… you’re strange.”

“Strange? How so?”

“It’s like… you’ve known me for a long time. Is it because of that kid, Yoon?”

“Uh…”

I was at a loss for words.

Sure, having known Yoon made things feel more familiar.

But Calib wasn’t wrong either.

Because I’d read the original story—I knew not only Calib’s past but also his future.

“Unlike you, Elia… I keep getting more curious about you.”

“You’re curious about me?”

“Yeah. But I guess… I should talk about myself first, right?”

Calib looked confused.

Honestly, hearing more about the young future-villain wasn’t something I wanted.

But looking at him now, it seemed like he wanted to talk about himself.

Saying he was curious about me was just a decent excuse.

So I quietly looked at him with a gentle gaze.

That seemed to give him courage, and he began to speak with a hesitant voice.

“Maybe… it would’ve been better if I’d just died yesterday from the wolf attack.”

“What? What do you mean…?”

“Because I have an older brother.”

I stopped myself from reacting angrily.

Calib’s older brother—Cedric Kedisel Indigentia.

Yes, I knew about him.

“Even though he’s adopted and we share no blood… he’s still my family.”

In a romance fantasy world where siblings usually fight like cats and dogs, they stood out for their strong bond.

“And I really like him. I respect him a lot. Because… he’s a genius.”

So much of a genius, in fact, that despite being adopted, he had the full support of the retainers—even over the biological heir, Calib.

He was even considered the next Duke.

“He’s amazing—someone I could never compare to. But he keeps trying to make me the next Duke.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? He’s acknowledging you.”

I pretended not to understand, hoping to comfort Calib’s low self-esteem.

But he shook his head with a gloomy face.

“The truth is… he’s cursed.”

“Cursed?”

“Yeah. Last year, he was cursed by a wicked fairy. A slow curse that puts you into an eternal sleep from which you never wake up. It’s terrifying.”

I swallowed dryly.

Because that curse was the very thing that triggered Calib’s descent into villainy.

The curse that Cedric suffered was originally meant for the male lead, Ronoah, in I Won’t Let You Sleep This Time.

The wicked fairy had cast it on his birthday out of spite for not being invited.

The female lead deflected the curse to save him, and that’s how their love story began.

Hearing Calib’s words, I realized when I had entered the story.

It was after the female lead had already saved the male lead and Cedric had taken the curse.

Which meant—after Cedric fell into his eternal sleep, Calib…

I felt dizzy.

Soon, Calib’s descent into villainy would shake the entire world.

He would delve into forbidden dark magic and merge it with gravity magic—the strongest known magic in this world.

He would bring the empire to the brink of collapse as its worst and most powerful villain.

Calib spoke again in a low voice.

“They say only the caster can lift this curse. But we still don’t know where the wicked fairy is.”

I swallowed again.

Cedric was cursed last year, and Calib was seven now…

The wicked fairy would soon reappear.

Because in the original story, she has to kidnap the female lead.

But the problem is—her appearance doesn’t automatically undo the curse.

What happens after the villain kidnaps the heroine?

Execution.

Calib, after the fairy was caught, had gone to beg the male lead.

He asked for time—just enough to save his brother.

But the male lead, blinded with rage, refused and gave the order for execution.

And so, the only one who could lift the curse was gone forever.

While I was lost in thought, Calib murmured again.

“There’s a place called the ‘Sanctuary of Knowledge.’ It holds all the world’s knowledge.”

I knew that.

Whenever the heroine was stuck, she got clues there and overcame the situation.

“In the Empire of Ifrescent, only the royal family and three chosen noble houses are allowed entry.”

The villain’s house—Indigentia, the heroine’s house—Marinnest, and one more.

“But even those families can’t just go in. You have to be the head of the family—or prove absolute loyalty.”

Right. That’s how it worked in the story.

“For my adopted brother, the fastest way to access the Sanctuary is to become the Duke.”

But in the original, Cedric gives up the title to Calib and eventually falls into eternal sleep.

“So I… don’t want to be Duke.”

“Because if your brother becomes Duke, he can go to the Sanctuary and maybe lift the curse?”

“Yeah.”

Calib lowered his head and whispered.

He looked so forlorn, it made my chest ache.

“If I can’t lift his curse… what will happen to me?”

You’ll lose the only person who ever cherished you.

And you’ll fall apart.

It was a future I already knew—too well.

“Will I be able to endure it alone?”

No. You won’t.

The helplessness of knowing how to lift the curse but failing to do it.

The guilt of becoming Duke instead of your brother and being unable to access the Sanctuary.

The cold, watchful eyes of the retainers.

At only eight years old, Duke Calib’s heart will be utterly broken.

And in his desperation to revive the only one who ever loved him, he’ll fall into the abyss of forbidden dark magic.

I knew all of this.

That’s why I told myself I’d send him away as soon as his wounds healed.

But…

“I’m afraid… of losing him. Of having to let him go.”

Seeing Calib cover his face with his small hands.

“That’s what scares me most.”

Seeing a child so mentally cornered that he could share something like this with a stranger he just met.

“I wish… it were me who got cursed instead.”

My resolve—to keep my distance—began to crumble.

Calib’s shoulders trembled.

This child is just a character, a villain. I have no reason to get involved.

He’s not Yoon. He’s someone else.

No matter how much I told myself that—I couldn’t ignore his trembling shoulders.

I gently wrapped my arms around Calib’s small body and whispered.

“…There has to be a way. Your brother will be okay. You’ll be able to live with him for a long, long time.”

“…”

“I’ll help you.”

The story’s fate is already written.

A mere extra like me can’t change its course.

But still… at least for now, I wanted to comfort him.

One Week Later

Late at night, Calib woke up feeling something heavy on his chest.

“Mmh…”

It was Elia’s arm.

For the past week, Elia had slept hugging him tightly, as if he were someone precious.

Maybe that’s why?

‘…It’s warm again today.’

There was no heating spell under the blanket. The cold night breeze came in through the window.

The air was chilly enough to sting his nose, but Calib’s heart felt warm.

‘I never knew being held while sleeping could feel this warm.’

Sure, compared to sleeping alone, it was a bit uncomfortable.

But somehow…

‘It feels safe.’

It felt like he was important to someone—and that made him happy.

Elia, sleeping beside him, looked peaceful and kind.

That gentle face had never once gotten angry with him all week.

‘She keeps getting warmer, like spring slowly arriving.’

At the Duke’s estate, everyone’s expressions were always cold and sharp.

He never even dreamed of laughing and having a kind conversation like this.

He knew why the retainers hated him.

‘The child who devoured his parents.’

Whenever Cedric wasn’t around, they would all curse him with those words.

Eventually, Calib himself started to believe it.

‘Honestly, there’s no real reason for them to come find me. They already have a perfect heir—my brother…’

But Cedric had always told him otherwise.

‘My brother is so kind. He always comforts me, always supports me.’

The only reason Calib had held on this long was Cedric.

Just thinking that Cedric would one day fall into an eternal sleep…

Calib shivered.