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Chapter 04
Third grade of elementary school.
The moment I heard those words, my mind went literally as blank as a sheet of white paper.
“Sob, waaaah… waaaah…”
Bursting into tears once again, Lady Melissa—no, the third-grade elementary school student—was of no help whatsoever.
Yet, this was normal.
A third-grader in elementary school was ten years old by Korean age reckoning, and nine years old in this world. An age where one would freeze up, make mistakes in front of others, get frightened beforehand, and run away crying.
Barely gathering my senses, I began to soothe Melissa.
“Oh dear, ten years old? Right, it must have been so hard for you… How on earth did you reincarnate here?”
“Sob, sniff, waaaah, just, before sleeping… I read a webtoon with the Grand Duke oppa in it… waaaaah.”
“I see, it was a webtoon… Do you happen to remember what the title was?”
On the outside, I pretended to be composed, but my insides were churning.
Unlike novels that explain even minor settings in meticulous detail, webtoons often abridge explanations to present things visually through drawings. That meant even if Melissa remembered everything, there would be limits to how much we could respond to.
That is, assuming this tiny ten-year-old remembered the plot at all.
“Save the Villainous Oppa…”
At that exact moment.
My head spun violently.
‘…What the.’
Unable to keep my balance, I slumped onto the floor.
As if power had suddenly flashed back on in a blacked-out room, a vivid image surfaced in my mind. It was a vision of myself reading the very novel Melissa had just mentioned.
‘A novel I only read once, one that wasn’t particularly memorable…’
Perhaps it was only natural that I had forgotten it.
Yet with that single phrase from Melissa, the memories returned in full clarity—as if her words had acted as a trigger.
Abbreviated as Villainous Oppa.
It had been so immensely popular that a webtoon adaptation came out in no time. It seemed Melissa had read that very webtoon.
‘To think I was an extra in a child-rearing novel…’
A bureaucrat in some obscure department, the kind of minor character whose name wouldn’t normally be mentioned even once in any story.
However, I had no time to stay frozen in shock.
“I, I, I want to go home. I miss Mommy and Daddy. I want to play with Choco…”
“Who is Choco?”
“O-Our home’s poodle.”
Melissa pouted her lips, her chin trembling violently as if she were about to burst into tears at any second.
‘Oh boy.’
In her own way, she seemed to be desperately holding back her tears, but it wasn’t working in the slightest.
Holding the child who soon began to sob again in my arms, I swallowed a heavy sigh while comforting her.
‘Good grief…’
My head throbbed.
It wasn’t out of guilt over having to tell a ten-year-old child that she could never go back. She would find out sooner or later anyway—the fact that among thousands, tens of thousands of romance fantasy novels, instances of returning to one’s real body in the modern world were exceedingly rare.
What truly gave me a headache was the plot of Villainous Oppa.
Just as the title suggested, the villainous oppa—Grand Duke Achilles, Melissa’s older brother—was indeed the villainous mastermind.
What did that mean?
It meant that even if he appeared obedient to the Imperial Family on the surface, he was actually plotting treason behind the scenes.
That’s right.
Grand Duke Karditza was currently preparing a rebellion, harboring the wild dream that the northern autonomous territory could break free from being a mere territory and rule the entire empire.
For the record, in the original novel of Villainous Oppa, Grand Duke Karditza briefly managed to seize the imperial throne, only to be ultimately defeated in the end.
Naturally, his end was execution by beheading.
And Melissa had been beheaded right alongside him.
“U-Unnie…”
This tiny girl trembling in my arms was going to die.
To be completely honest, whether Grand Duke Karditza died or not was none of my concern. Given the erratic stunts he pulled in the so-called “original novel,” I almost felt like assassinating him myself. That way, Melissa would live, the empire would be at peace, and we’d kill two birds with one stone.
However, I lacked the capability to do such a thing. And if I left them unattended like this…
‘I’m just completely screwed.’
If a war broke out, a place like the Child Protection Bureau—which lazily cared for children—would simply be disbanded. My hard-won job and career would all go down the drain.
Of course, the possibility of me becoming just another handful of blood mixed into a bloodbath couldn’t be ruled out either.
Hahaha, my life…!
Laughing dryly to myself, I quickly snapped back to reality.
‘There’s no time.’
There had to be more than just one or two people looking for Melissa right now. Naturally, someone among them would eventually think of checking the balcony.
Once Melissa returned to the Grand Ducal Residence, it would be extremely difficult for a commoner like me to establish contact with the Grand Duke’s sister again. It wouldn’t be a problem if Melissa looked for me on her end, but expecting that kind of clever resourcefulness from a child in her current state was pure stupidity.
‘She must already be so confused as it is…’
Melissa was none other than the protagonist of Save the Villainous Oppa.
For the record, she wasn’t an illegitimate child. She was simply a child born very late in her parents’ lives, creating a seventeen-year age gap with her older brother.
The Grand Ducal couple adored their late-born daughter immensely. Unfortunately, on her fifth birthday, Melissa fell into a lake and lapsed into a coma for four long years.
The Grand Ducal couple summoned renowned doctors from all over the world, but to no avail. Despairing over her daughter who hadn’t woken up for years, the Grand Duchess fell ill and passed away, with the Grand Duke following shortly after.
And what Grand Duke Karditza—who rushed back to the castle upon receiving the news of his parents’ deaths—encountered was…
His younger sister, perfectly awake and healthy.
Except she remembered nothing.
By now, everyone could probably guess: Melissa had woken up because someone else’s soul had entered her body.
‘But there was definitely no mention in Villainous Oppa that a ten-year-old had reincarnated into her!’
In fact, her age seemed to have never been mentioned at all. However, the fact that an adult had reincarnated was beyond doubt. She had used knowledge only an adult would possess to save Grand Duke Karditza while deftly managing business and real estate investments.
Looking at the current “Melissa,” such feats were utterly unimaginable.
I took a deep breath.
Whatever the case, I had to accept the reality right in front of me. And I had to act in a direction that would be helpful to Melissa.
Yet before I could even come up with a proper plan—
The door burst open, and a man rushed in.
Grand Duke Achilles Karditza—the very person I wanted to avoid more than anyone else.
Grand Duke Karditza looked far more exhausted than when I had seen him in the ballroom a few hours ago. His disheveled silver hair and bloodshot purple eyes bore clear traces of how frantically he had searched for his sister.
Yet a handsome man remained handsome at all times.
Unlike his intimidating, cold demeanor in the ballroom, he radiated a vulnerable, decadent aura that made him appear even more striking.
…Meaning he was unnecessarily sensual.
“Melissa,” Grand Duke Karditza spoke in a rasping, half-hoarse voice. “There you are.”
Having no desire to catch the eye of a villainous Grand Duke, I made to leave quickly.
Though that failed because of Melissa.
“O-Oppa…”
No, Melissa! If you called your oppa, you should go to him, not come to me!
Yet completely unaware of my silent scream, Melissa slunk behind my back, peeking only her head out.
“Oppa, I’m sorry…”
Grand Duke Karditza’s eyes narrowed.
Taking a step toward me, he opened his mouth slowly.
A voice laced with overt hostility and vigilance drifted out.
“Who might you be?”
I let out a quiet sigh.
This was precisely why I disliked older brothers in romance fantasy stories. Treating someone who cared for their younger sister out of goodwill as some suspicious “you” figure.
“My name is Tessa Harrington, Deputy Director of the Child Protection Bureau, Your Grace.”
Even so, I greeted him as politely as possible while maintaining maximum etiquette. I didn’t want to give him even the slightest pretext to fault me.
After all, my own life was precious to me.
“The Child Protection Bureau… is it.”
Grand Duke Karditza’s expression turned subtle. Fortunately, his face was no longer as hostile as a moment ago, but I couldn’t lower my guard just yet.
Melissa, who was trembling while gripping my hand tightly, wasn’t being helpful at all either.
Staring intently at the two of us, the words that finally spilled from Grand Duke Karditza’s mouth were…
“Do you… also think I am abusing Melissa?”
…What?
Grand Duke Karditza, uttering the word abuse so casually, appeared deeply self-deprecating.
“Your Grace, I have never once thought such a—”
Above all, my encounter with Melissa was mere coincidence, not part of my duties as the Deputy Director of the Child Protection Bureau.
However, before I could finish my sentence, Melissa cut in loudly.
“No, it’s not!”
Melissa looked desperate.
“Oppa is… oppa is…”
The child’s voice began to mix with sobs once more.
Holding tightly onto my hand, Melissa looked up at me and mumbled under her breath.
“He really cares about me, waaaah…”
It would have been wonderful if Grand Duke Karditza could hear Melissa’s words.
Most unfortunately, Melissa mumbled so softly that only I, standing right beside her, could hear it.
