LVSMLA 14

Chapter 14

Callisto was curled up on the bed, trembling.

Every time lightning flashed outside the window and thunder crashed, his small body flinched violently. His round cheeks, once rosy, had turned pale and bloodless.

“Callisto. What’s wrong, hmm? Are you scared?”

I lay beside him and carefully pulled him into my arms. But it was as if he couldn’t hear me. No matter how much I stroked his cheek, it didn’t help.

“N-nanny… no, nanny. Please… don’t kill me. Please…”

Callisto murmured through sobs.

The hand that had been trying to comfort him froze midair.

He kept crying, begging someone endlessly. Each time thunder roared again, he let out a scream. Then he swallowed his breath, clenching his teeth as his whole body shook violently. He looked utterly terrified.

Callisto was seeing things.

The one in front of his eyes wasn’t me. It was probably the assassin sent by the empress—and the nanny who stood in front of him, trying to protect him.

“Callisto, it’s okay. It’s me. Open your eyes, okay?”

As I tried to soothe him, I searched my memory of the original story, wondering if there had been a scene like this. But the novel hadn’t gone into detail about Callisto’s childhood, so nothing came to mind.

Then I faintly remembered that even as an adult, Callisto had a trauma related to thunder and lightning. However, it had never explained why.

Now I understood.

The day the empress’s assassin came—it had been pouring rain.

And right before his eyes, his nanny had been brutally murdered.

Callisto had barely escaped, but he had been left to survive alone without even being able to properly protect the one person who loved him. That memory must have deeply scarred the child.

‘Even for a dark story, isn’t this too cruel for a kid?’

For a moment, I felt a surge of anger toward author H, who must have enthusiastically created such a tragic setting. But then I sighed, realizing I had encouraged it myself.

Why are humans always so shortsighted…?

Meanwhile, Callisto continued to sob weakly. My chest grew damp with his tears.

After his nanny died, Callisto must have wandered the streets. It must have rained heavily many times during that period. Thinking of him curled up alone in some corner of the slums, crying and trembling each time—it made my heart ache.

I tightened my arms around him and gently patted his trembling back.

“Calli, it’s okay now. You’re with me. No one can come here.”

“Sniff… hic…”

“Don’t worry. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ll protect you.”

It wasn’t just when he lived on the streets.

Even after coming to the count’s household, there had been storms several times. Each time, he must have trembled alone in that cold room. With no one to take care of him, no one had noticed his trauma.

In the original story, that’s why this trauma was only mentioned much later. As an adult, Lawrence was the first to comfort him.

Until then, Callisto had endured it all alone.

‘No wonder he turned out like that. He was originally this fragile.’

A soaked kitten trembling in fear under the storm.

You couldn’t really blame such a child for growing into a broken, obsessive man.

If he had been given a different environment, Callisto might have become someone entirely different. Maybe a gentle, devoted type instead…

But gentle or not, comforting him came first.

Then, Callisto—who hadn’t been able to open his eyes the whole time—called out weakly.

“Etienne?”

“Yes, you’re coming back to your senses? Can you recognize me?”

“Is it really you… Etienne?”

“Yeah, it’s me. There’s no one else here. You don’t have to worry.”

“…Not dream-Etienne, but the real one?”

“…Yeah.”

At that, Callisto burrowed deeper into my arms.

His small hands fumbled over me, trying to confirm my presence. It was pitiful to watch. I kept whispering into his ear, reassuring him.

“Baby, the Etienne in your dreams isn’t real. I’m the real one. There’s no one here but you and me. So you can relax.”

Only after a long time of patting him did his sobs begin to subside.

“…I’m not a baby.”

“Looks like you’re back to your senses.”

Seeing him argue like that, he must have calmed down a little.

Outside, thunder and lightning still raged, but fortunately warmth returned to his body, and his trembling eased.

Callisto stared at me with a pale face, then suddenly clung to me again.

“Etienne…”

He looked so pitiful that I pressed my lips gently against his round forehead. Holding his soft cheek, I wiped away the tears with my thumb.

“It’s okay. Don’t cry anymore.”

“Don’t go to the sofa… Stay next to me.”

“I won’t go. I’ll stay here, so go to sleep.”

“You’ll stay with me? From now on? Forever?”

“Of course. I’ll stay by your side forever.”

“…You promised.”

“I did.”

Despite insisting before that we couldn’t sleep together, Callisto now burrowed deeper into my arms, sniffling.

Maybe what he had needed all along was just a little warmth.

After his nanny died, he had never been held by anyone.

That night, Callisto stayed in my arms, crying softly until he finally fell asleep. His tear-streaked cheeks and swollen eyes were heartbreaking.

Rain continued to lash against the window. Thunder echoed again and again. Each time, Callisto flinched slightly, but when I patted his back, he calmed down.

With his cheek resting against my chest, his soft breathing lingered in my ears for a long time.

Gradually, the storm subsided.

And before long, I fell into a deep sleep as well.

The long night passed like that.

It was good that I had managed to comfort him safely.

But after that night, Callisto changed.

The next evening, when I tried to sleep on the sofa, Callisto—already buried in the bed—stared at me intently.

For some reason, I flinched and asked,

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Aren’t you going to sleep with me?”

“The weather’s nice today. Are you still scared?”

“No… I’m not scared. I’m fine…”

He said he was fine, but his face clearly wasn’t.

He looked like a wounded chick.

I suddenly felt like I had committed some great crime.

Was it really possible to change this much overnight?

Just yesterday, he had insisted we couldn’t sleep together.

I was a little flustered, but he had clearly been very frightened the night before. If he wanted me there, of course I would stay.

Feeling sorry for him, I teasingly pinched his plump cheek.

“Am I not dangerous? You’re okay sleeping with me?”

His golden eyes shook violently.

There was no way he didn’t remember what he himself had said yesterday.

After hesitating for a long time, the answer he finally gave was ridiculous.

“I’m still a baby…”

I bit down on my molars to suppress my laughter.

“Aren’t you not a baby?”

“Who said that?”

You did.

Unable to say it out loud, I just held back my laughter as he blinked slowly at me.

His long, thick eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings. With flushed cheeks, he tilted his head slightly and pleaded,

“Let’s sleep together… okay?”

“…Ha.”

What a sly little kitten—no, what a schemer.

If he was scared, he could’ve just said so.

And after throwing tantrums all this time, now he thought acting cute would make me give in.

…Which it did.

It was ridiculous.

But he was just too cute.

After clearing my throat, I climbed onto the bed and lay down beside him.

Callisto happily snuggled into my arms as if it was his rightful place.

It felt a little strange, but I couldn’t push him away.

He smiled brightly, cheeks flushed, like a purring kitten in my arms.

I ended up smiling too.

“Why the sudden change? Decided to stop being difficult?”

“When was I ever difficult?”

“Wow, seriously…”

If only there were cameras in this world.

As I sighed, Callisto rolled his eyes around, clearly thinking about something.

“What is it?”

“…If I don’t act difficult… will you sleep with me every day?”

“…Every day?”

I had been planning to prepare a separate room for him soon.

Even if he was a child, nobles didn’t share bedrooms.

As I hesitated, Callisto asked quietly,

“Can’t I? The room is big, and the bed is big too… I don’t think I need my own room. I’ll behave. I won’t kick you or steal the blanket…”

Come to think of it, his sleeping habits were terrible.

That morning, I had woken up to find him sprawled upside down, one chubby leg thrown over my stomach.

As I recalled that, he continued pleading,

“Still no? I’ll stay really still. You won’t even notice I’m here.”

“You? Stay still? You were rolling all over the place.”

“…Really?”

His shoulders drooped further.

Still, he persisted.

“Then just until I get a little bigger. Okay?”

“You’re already grown, Callisto. Not a baby anymore.”

“…I think I am. Let’s sleep together… hyung.”

Now he was even calling me “hyung.”

Since when was I your older brother?

But how could I refuse when a child begged like this?

I decided to delay preparing his room.

“…Fine. Just until you grow a bit more. Got it?”

“Okay!”

His face instantly brightened into an angelic smile.

I felt like I’d been tricked.

But seeing him cling to me so happily, I didn’t really care anymore.

And so, from that day on, Callisto lived in my room.

For some reason, he became completely attached to me.

No matter how much I tried to separate him, he stuck to me like glue.

Because of that, it felt like my death flag had weakened a little.

Maybe escaping this dark genre was actually possible.

But still…

Where exactly was this story heading?

Was it even on track anymore?

I really wished someone would tell me what genre and tags this story had turned into now.