IBYVS 47

Chapter 47

In his dream, Calib was staring out at an endlessly vast ocean.

It was so realistic that Calib only realized it was a dream after waking up.

In other words, while dreaming, Calib believed the ocean he saw was real, a part of reality.

Later, after waking, he wondered:

“Could this be some form of lucid dreaming?”

But a lucid dream where one realizes it’s not a dream yet still treats it as reality… that wasn’t mentioned in any book he had read.

In the dream, Calib would stand dazedly on the shore, staring at the sparkling horizon far away.

Then, before he knew it, the dark waters would rise to cover his feet.

“The water…”

Terrified, when he tried to back away, the water seemed determined not to let him escape, rising higher.

His ankles, calves, knees, thighs…

Even if he ran as if fleeing from the rapidly rising water, it was useless.

Once it reached his waist, ribs, and chest, swimming was faster than running.

Calib thrashed and pushed through the water, but it felt like sinking with lead tied to his body.

“This is strange.”

Calib was an excellent swimmer.

His swimming instructor had once been so skilled that even sharks were no match.

Having been taught and recognized by such a swimmer, Calib himself should have been able to swim easily.

“I just… can’t swim.”

All he could do was sink into that black water.

He wasn’t sure whether the water had filled to the top of his head or if he had simply sunk because he couldn’t swim.

“I can’t breathe.”

Feeling his chest tighten, he looked up at the surface of the water.

The black water shimmered like a net in the light, terrifying yet strangely beautiful.

Normally, he would sink forever like this in his dreams, waking up just in time before drowning.

That was the extent of his memory… until that day. The day Cedric and Elia shared a room was different.

“Something was following me.”

“Following you?”

“Yeah… I was just lying in the water, watching the rippling surface, and I felt a presence behind me.”

At that moment, Calib thought he absolutely must not look back.

But his body betrayed him, slowly rotating to turn his view.

“I… I don’t know. It’s hard to explain in words.”

Ignoring the shivers running up his spine, he spoke.

Thanks to the warmth of Elia’s hand, he felt a little courage even while recalling the terrifying scene.

“Do you want to draw it?”

Elia seemed to have some idea of what it might be.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have made the unusual request, as she normally never forced Calib to do anything difficult.

“Okay.”

But Calib wanted to convey what he had seen.

He wanted someone, anyone, to figure out the cause of this nightmare.

When Cedric gave him a nod, Edwin quickly brought over a sketchbook and a 12-color crayon set.

Without hesitation, Calib picked up black.

“Hmm…”

Holding Elia’s hand with his left, he drew diligently with his right.

It was something almost impossible to describe in words.

A clump of black fur? No… cotton candy?

The circle, distorted along its edges with jagged protrusions, looked like a cell, with a tiny tail like a speech bubble.

Four appendages, bent at right angles like a human arm, jutted out like insect legs.

Calib drew a tiny human figure nearby.

The grotesque monster was the size of Elia’s palm, while the human was only as big as her fingernail.

“That’s me.”

He picked dark blue and shaded around the small human figure he had just drawn.

It represented the black ocean he had sunk into.

“It’s… huge.”

Certainly something that would frighten a child into fainting.

Then he took red and drew the monster’s eyes—nine in total.

“It really looked like a spider.”

Calib pushed the finished drawing to the center of the table.

Curious, Edwin and Olivia leaned in to take a look.

“So… scary.”

“I’d have freaked out too.”

Between their small comments, Elia’s quiet voice came.

I knew it.

She seemed to have guessed part of it.

But… it’s too fast. And weirdly shaped.

Elia’s eyes deepened in thought.

Cedric was equally thoughtful.

Could this be a psychological issue?

Like the sun rising every morning, the night always comes.

The immediate concern: Calib might have this terrifying nightmare tonight as well.

Cedric asked:

“Calib, what did this monster do to you?”

“Do?”

“Did it threaten you, attack you…”

“Ah…”

Calib’s red eyes drifted into memory, then returned to focus.

“It didn’t do anything.”

“…Nothing?”

“Yeah. It just stared at me with those scary nine eyes. Oh, it did come closer.”

“Hmm, but it didn’t feel threatening?”

“I… don’t know. It was so scary that everything felt threatening…”

Enough to scream out for help.

Cedric stroked Calib’s fluffy white hair.

“I see. It must have been hard recalling that.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Calib humbly replied out of habit.

“It’s not nothing, Calib.”

Elia, deep in thought, told him not to downplay it.

“You endured your fear and shared the scariest experience.”

“Hmm… maybe…”

“So you don’t have to be humble.”

Calib looked at Elia and squeezed her hand.

“It’s thanks to you.”

“Huh?”

“Because you held my hand, I was okay.”

Elia smiled softly at his honest, sweet words—a smile cozier than warm sunlight.

Looking at her, Calib spoke almost entranced:

“I… can…”

“Huh?”

“…call you ‘sister’?”

With Daphne, it was natural to call her “older sister,” yet Calib had been calling Elia by name.

Elia’s heart sank at that moment.

When she opened her mouth in shock, Calib hurriedly explained:

“I… before, since you didn’t have a noble family, I—being a duke’s son—had to call you by name. But now it’s different. You’re also from Indigentia.”

“Oh, right.”

“So… like I call my brother ‘brother,’ shouldn’t I call you ‘sister’?”

His voice grew smaller toward the end.

He had thought about this since Daphne had called Elia “Elia sister” to seem friendly.

But as he said, he was a duke’s son and Elia was common-born.

Using her name was proper etiquette.

I could have ignored etiquette like Princess Daphne…

But the situation was different. Elia, a playful princess, and Calib, constantly under the stern gaze of adults.

With no response from Elia, worry crept in.

Does she dislike it? Will she refuse since we’ll soon leave the duke’s estate?

Even if not a true Indigentia, should he draw a line?

Just thinking about it made his chest ache.

Seeing this, Elia frowned and said hesitantly:

“Can you just call me Elia?”

“…Huh?”

“No need to call me ‘sister.’”

“Oh… uh…”

“And I’m more used to being called by my name now.”

She glanced away.

Calib felt sadness welling up inside him, like the sensation of water rising over his feet in the nightmare.

“Ah… yes, that’s right.”

He smiled faintly and looked away.

Elia’s heart ached at the sight.

She wanted to insist, to ask him to call her sister, but she held back.

Yuni came to mind.

I can’t keep identifying them as the same person.

She realized yesterday, during the outburst, that she had unconsciously reflected Yuni in Calib.

Her desire to give Calib what she couldn’t give Yuni conflicted with treating him separately.

Calib had become just as precious as Yuni.

I have to separate them. I have to distinguish them.

So Elia turned her head without correcting her words.

Cedric noticed the awkward tension between them, which had replaced their earlier warmth.

Why? I thought he’d immediately say it’s fine to call me sister.

He remembered a thought from last night.

Was Yuni younger than Elia? Did he call her sister?

So if Calib’s request was refused…

Wait, thinking of Yuni brings back lost memories. Didn’t he want to see Calib even after the divorce?

It didn’t make sense.

Just then, Edwin informed him:

“Sir Cedric, it’s time to head to the basement.”

The ceremony to pledge allegiance was about to begin.