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Prologue
Clang!
“Ah, no! Tani, don’t eat that!!!”
A discordant noise disrupted what was supposed to be a joyful birthday banquet.
The adults around me looked on in surprise, but my eyes saw only one person.
“Huh? Tani, can I eat this?”
The child, who had paused with chocolate halfway to her mouth, widened her eyes.
The lovely star of today, my little sister, Titania.
I approached her, stepping carefully over broken shards of a plate, and looked at her small hand with concern.
“Yeah, let’s eat something else, okay?”
“But… but Tani wants… to eat this…”
The chocolate in her chubby hand was a bright red, bead-shaped treat, almost ominously pretty.
Yes. It was exactly like what I had seen in my dream—the scarlet culprit behind everything.
“If you eat that, it’ll hurt. You don’t want to get hurt, do you?”
“Umm…”
Her tiny lips pursed in thought, and her plump cheeks puffed out in dissatisfaction.
If only I could go back ten minutes. Ten minutes, and I would have been lost in this cuteness.
But right now, there was no time for that.
“Edel! Are you hurt?”
‘Ah… even Father.’
My father, who had been talking to other guests, rushed over.
At a banquet with so many guests, the eldest daughter causing a scene looked shocking.
Seeing that I wasn’t hurt, my father spoke in a deliberately stern voice.
“Edelweiss. Explain why you broke the plate, and why you were stopping Tani from eating the chocolate.”
“Father, it’s just that…”
My voice got choked trying to explain.
Meanwhile, tears welled up in Tani’s eyes.
“D-Daddy… Tani… wants to eat the chocolate…”
“Let’s let her have her way just today, okay?”
“But…!”
“Edel. It’s Tani’s birthday.”
A chill ran through me.
‘Nothing I say will work.’
I had never felt so frustrated being just seven years old.
‘There’s no other way.’
“Sorry, Tani!”
“My chocolate…!”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
At that moment, I snatched the chocolate from Tani’s hand and popped it into my mouth.
The unpleasantly sweet taste melted instantly on my tongue.
“Ugh, waaaah! S-Sis ate my chocolate…!”
Tani immediately burst into tears.
But I couldn’t comfort her like I normally would.
“…Huff.”
A twisting pain gripped my stomach.
Then my body collapsed forward. The world spun.
“Edel…!!!”
My father barely caught me in his arms.
But I thought it might have been better if I had fallen onto the cold marble. The fire that started in my chest spread over my whole body like a burn.
‘So this is the curse…’
You endured such horrible pain, Tani.
My vision darkened. The shouting around me sounded muffled.
“Si… Sister…!”
“Tani… don’t… hurt…”
And just like the protagonist, I had to move forward heroically.
So that you wouldn’t have to hear anyone call you a nuisance.
.
.
.
I fainted heroically, like a proper sister.
When I opened my eyes in the darkness…
“…Why are you in my dream?”
I saw a boy in front of me.
A familiar face, the one I had spent the most time with recently.
“Zar, why are you here?”
The boy, Zar, whose name I called, smiled brightly.
His red eyes sparkled with pure joy and friendliness.
But it felt… a little ominous.
‘Chocolate.’
The same color as the chocolate that had bewitched Tani—the cursed chocolate I had eaten.
“You came looking for me, Edel.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Because you swallowed the invitation I sent.”
And that uneasy feeling became real.
‘Swallowed… an invitation?’
That chocolate was, in the original story, the orb that would curse Tani under the villain’s control.
And you were the one who sent it?
“Y-You… could it be… you…”
I stammered and pointed, and Zar took my hand.
Then he gently kissed the tip of my finger.
As if imitating adults.
Yet without any awkwardness.
“Yes. We were drawn to each other. You won’t deny it, right? Fate brought us together like this.”
I had no idea what he meant by “drawn to each other.”
‘What if you really are the villain?’
I was trying to connect you and Tani instead of the original male lead—!!!
