LVSMLA 05

Chapter 05

I put a robe on Callisto after his bath and brought him out. Elsie looked down at us with a pleased smile.

“You two seem to be getting along well. I never expected the young master to dote on his younger brother like this.”

“Who’s the younger brother?”

Callisto snapped back, but neither Elsie nor I paid him any attention.

After washing the child, the problem was what to dress him in. The tailor hadn’t visited the mansion yet, so we couldn’t make him new clothes. But the clothes Callisto had come in were also filthy, covered in dust and soot.

I picked up Callisto’s ragged clothes with two fingers and clicked my tongue.

“Be honest. Did you crawl straight out of a fireplace?”

“What’s it to you?”

“You little—!”

I glared at the sulky kid sitting on my bed. I had no idea why he looked so proud. Maybe I should just throw him out wearing nothing but his underwear.

No. If I do that and he later kills me even more miserably, what then?

While I was trying to pull myself together, Callisto continued thrashing around tirelessly.

“I’ve already washed! That’s enough! Let me out, you villain!”

My inner peace was collapsing in real time. I struggled to hold back the urge to throw the kid over my knee and smack his backside. Friends who had married early used to say children were angels only when they were asleep. They weren’t wrong.

I chanted inwardly while taking a deep breath.

Callisto is the protagonist… If I don’t treat him well, I’ll be brutally killed…

“Callisto, you still have to wear clothes.”

“I said I’m fine! Don’t touch me! Go away!”

But once my peace of mind had collapsed, it wasn’t easy to restore. Before I knew it, I’d gotten swept up in his tantrum and was shouting back at him.

“You’re planning to walk around like that? Why not just go around naked?”

“You villain! How is that any different from my dream? It’s exactly the same!”

“You little brat!”

“Young master…”

Elsie called me gently from the side. I whipped my head toward her.

“He started it!”

The moment the words left my mouth, I felt dizzy.

He started it? The other person is a child…

“You’re five years older than him, young master. Be nice, alright? Please treat Lord Callisto kindly.”

Five years older? In reality I was more than twenty years older. I wasn’t Callisto’s brother—I was practically old enough to be his uncle. If I’d married early, I could have had a son his age.

After doing the math in my head, I felt a little embarrassed.

With my neck flushed red, I awkwardly asked Elsie,

“Alright… But there are no clothes for Callisto to wear. Elsie, could you bring some of the clothes I wore when I was younger?”

“How kind of you, young master. Of course.”

Elsie smiled and stood up.

Callisto looked up at me in surprise. When I asked, “What?”, he shook his head and fell silent. Soon his face turned thoughtful, as if he were lost in deep thought.

Watching him, something suddenly came to mind—an episode from the beginning of the original story, when the child first arrived at the Winyeits estate.

Back then, just like now, the count had summoned a tailor to make clothes for Callisto. But the tailor only arrived after several days, and making the clothes took even longer.

So Etienne mocked Callisto for not even having clothes to wear and humiliated him in front of the servants. After that, Elsie even stopped someone from mending Etienne’s old clothes for him. When the new clothes finally arrived, she deliberately ruined them.

In the end, Callisto had to keep wearing the same ragged clothes he’d worn in the slums for quite some time.

Callisto must have remembered that incident. For him to know such specific details, the dream must have been ridiculously vivid.

While Callisto stayed silent, Elsie stepped out of the bedroom to fetch the clothes.

“Lord Callisto, please stay here with the young master for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

“Huh? I don’t want to… I’ll go with you, Elsie.”

“Your hair is still wet, and you’re only wearing a robe. I’ll be back in a moment.”

“No. Etienne will bully me.”

“He won’t. Right, young master?”

“Of course I won’t. When have I ever bullied you? Come here, Callisto. I’ll dry your hair.”

Though I answered in disbelief, Callisto clung to Elsie, whining. Elsie gently coaxed him and managed to pry him away.

Moments like this made Callisto look exactly like a normal child. After observing him for a few days, I realized he only bristled at me. With the count and Elsie, he was soft and obedient.

To think that such a little kid would grow up into a personality-wrecked obsessive tyrant.

It was the perfect example of how important childhood attachment relationships were.

And the fact that he would one day defeat the empress and become a proud crown prince was hard to believe.

Whether you become crown prince or crown princess, I won’t stop you. Just please let me live.

I dragged the struggling Callisto over and sat him on the bed, drying his hair with a towel while thinking about my future plans.

Fixing my relationship with Callisto and surviving was important, but there was another problem.

The Winyeits count family was destined to lose all its wealth and collapse around the time Etienne came of age.

After solving the Callisto problem, I should figure out a way to make money. I survived all this—no way I’m going to live in poverty. I want to live well.

At that moment Callisto let out a short cry.

“Ow! What are you doing? That hurts!”

“Oh! Sorry. I guess I pressed too hard.”

I’d been so lost in thought that I’d used too much force while drying his hair.

It was just a mistake, but the ill-tempered kid immediately started yelling that I was bullying him.

“I’m telling Elsie!”

“You think Elsie will take your side or mine? She’s my nanny, you brat!”

“Elsie wouldn’t take the side of a villain like you!”

“What? You little— Want to get thrown out wearing nothing but your underwear?”

“Waaah! Elsie!”

And just like that, I got dragged into another argument and made the kid cry again.

My head hurt.

Only after Elsie returned did things calm down.

Callisto sat there with a sulky face while Elsie dressed him. He accepted her touch obediently. If I’d tried to dress him, there would have been another disaster already.

“All done, Lord Callisto.”

“Thank you, Elsie.”

Callisto lowered his eyes and answered quietly. At moments like this he looked like a perfect angel.

But now I knew it was all an act.

Watching Callisto behave like a baby fox, I felt speechless.

Why can’t you act this cute with me too? Then you’d get love and I wouldn’t get brutally killed. Can’t we get along?

Foaming internally, I forced a gentle smile at him. My facial muscles felt like they might cramp.

Callisto gave me a suspicious sideways glance.

“What’s wrong with your face? Did you eat something bad and get a stomachache?”

“Of course not… Callisto is just so adorable…”

I almost got pulled into another argument but slammed the brakes in time.

The clothes I had worn when I was younger were far too big for Callisto. The sleeves covered his entire hands, and the pants dragged along the floor.

I clicked my tongue and rolled up his sleeves.

“Was this when I was about seven? Don’t we have anything smaller, Elsie?”

“No. I think the smaller clothes were thrown away. I thought these would fit, but they’re a bit big.”

Callisto was seven, but perhaps because he had grown up poorly, he was so small that you could believe he was four or five.

Seeing the tiny child awkwardly drowning in oversized clothes was both cute and pitiful.

I patted his head.

Callisto flinched in surprise, scrambled away—and fell over.

The thud was loud.

Startled, I hurried over.

“Callisto, are you okay? See? That’s what happens when you run. Let me see… Your palm is scraped.”

“Ow… Let go! Don’t touch me!”

“I’m not going to eat you.”

“How can I believe that?”

Callisto snapped back sharply, but he clearly looked like he was in pain. The scraped skin was already showing blood.

Elsie hurried off to get ointment.

When I blew gently on the wound, Callisto’s eyes widened. He glanced at me repeatedly with a confused expression, clearly unsure how to treat me.

I almost laughed inwardly. He was still just a kid.

“Does it hurt a lot? Hang in there. It’ll get better once we put ointment on it.”

“…It doesn’t hurt at all.”

He replied sullenly, then quickly added,

“This is nothing. Don’t underestimate me.”

“Who’s underestimating you? You’re a child who got hurt.”

“I’m not a child!”

Suddenly Callisto shouted angrily.

He’d been prickly before, but this was the first time I’d seen him truly angry.

I stared at him quietly.

His small face was twisted in a scowl as he glared at me.

“I’m fine. I’ll be an adult soon! I’ll grow up quickly and protect my nanny too—”

His voice, full of anger, suddenly cut off.

I stared at him silently.

Callisto lowered his head.

His face had turned pale and stiff.

Before arriving at the count’s estate, the nanny who had risked her life to help him escape the imperial palace and had raised him died.

In the original story it was strongly implied that the empress had arranged it while chasing Callisto.

There weren’t many details, but it was clearly a huge shock for the young boy.

Did he see it happen right in front of him?

The moment he mentioned his nanny, his face had gone white.

Watching the child lower his head, I could guess.

Perhaps there were reasons beyond Etienne why Callisto grew up unable to open his heart even to his lover and became violent.

If he had witnessed the person who loved him most being murdered in front of him, it would have left a deep wound.

And after she died, he wandered the streets alone…

The boy who had seemed so annoying suddenly looked pitiful.

I wanted to comfort him.

“Yeah, yeah. Callisto will grow up soon. If you eat well and sleep well, you’ll grow big in no time.”

“…You really think so?”

“Of course. You’ll grow much taller than me and become a very handsome adult. I guarantee it.”

“What? Of course I’ll grow bigger than you! That way I can get revenge on you!”

“What did I ever do to deserve revenge?”

“You’ll beat me, torture me, bully me! You definitely will—”

“I said I won’t! Stop talking about torture already, you brat!”

The good atmosphere that lasted about five seconds collapsed instantly.

I regretted feeling sorry for him even for a moment.

Still, I was relieved his mood had improved.

And while yelling back and forth with Callisto again, we continued arguing for quite a while.