A Fairy Tales For The Villains

 

A month passed like that.  

 

To be precise, 30 days

had

passed since Viscount Ipolit’s last visit. We used knives to mark on the wall of the library every day so we wouldn’t lose our sense of time.

 

It was late at night, so I put Estelle to sleep first and sat still for a while, looking up at the ceiling. The stars in the black sky

sent their faint condolences to me.

 

I didn’t know why I felt so pathetic and sad. Maybe that’s when I started to realize…

 

If it were summer, it would have been worse. The bedsheets and blankets we used were quite scruffy, and there was a limit to how many days we could wear the same clothes. 

 

After a month and a week, I did laundry for the first time since

I had been reborn into this world.

 

At the Duke Serpente’s residence, hard labor

such as laundry was mostly done by servants of the lowest ranks, but since I was young I was given special treatment in many ways. This was the first time since my reincarnation that I’d done this kind of work.

 

After pouring water into the bathtub and dissolving the powdered soap, I thoroughly soaked the pillowcases, sheets, and blankets and stepped on them to get rid of dirt.

 

The hardest things to wash were Estelle’s clothes. Even for a girl’s dress, it was difficult to clean the expensive fabric with delicate lace and jewelry without damaging it. Lettis and Venya’s clothes weren’t easy either. Fortunately, each of them took care of their own underwear… ahem.

 

Thinking about it, Rapunzel, who was trapped in a tower, must have suffered as much as Cinderella. ‘At least Rapunzel only had to take care of herself but I…’

 

Sweat was pouring down like rain, it was hard to breathe, and my body was so tired that tears welled up. 

 

Why? Why is everything like this? I

wished

I had been reborn as a young noble lady who knows nothing

of

hardship, but I died shamefully in a cold elevator just to do… this?

 

“What are you doing?”

 

‘Oh, that scared me.’

 

I blinked and raised my head. Venya stood by the half-open bathroom door with

an enigmatic

expression on his face. I was sure everyone was in

the library, but

when did you get here?

 

“Trying to make the clothes shine?”

 

When I answered

by

wiping the sweat dripping down my forehead with the back of my hand, he frowned.

 

“Why are you doing that?”

 

“…What do you mean ‘why’? Because

they’re

dirty…”

 

“Since when have you been doing that?”

 

‘Ah, look at this guy. Why are you asking that? And why do you look so bothered about it?’

 

“It doesn’t matter when I started… You also don’t want to wear dirty clothes. So while we’re here…”

 

“So why are you doing this when it’s time for us to get out of here? What, you want an award as the best nanny of the year? You never had to do anything but play with us. It doesn’t matter if it’s out there or in here! Just do what you usually do!”

 

My jaw literally fell down. Venya pierced me with his dark-sky-blue-colored eyes, and then turned around and left the bathroom.

 

Silence fell on me. Well, saying that silence fell on me was funny because I was left all alone, completely frozen and dazed for a while. I lost my motivation and slumped down on the wet bathroom floor. 

 

I couldn’t tell if it was sweat or tears

running

down my cheeks. 

 

‘That mean guy

!

He’s not a dog, so why is he biting me?! Do you have to say things like that to feel good? That’s all I’ve ever been to you? Geez, I don’t know anymore, I don’t know! I’m gonna ignore everything about those mean little scoundrels, that’s it! I’m gonna throw you all away!’

 

‘I miss my mom… Duke, Duchess, please forgive this ungrateful girl, but this is too much for me…’

 

“Sasha.”

 

‘…Did he

return

to give me the medicine after giving me the disease? Does he want to check on the dead?’

 

I lifted my head, sniffing, trying not to cry like a child in front of him. The second young master, who I suspected of having multiple personalities,

spoke a

gain.

 

“I’m sorry. Don’t cry.”

 

The dreadful atmosphere vanished from the air. No, wait, more than that.

 

‘What did this guy just say? Sorry? You’re sorry??’

 

Aside from the fact that it was nice how he was trying to soothe me after making me cry, my eyes were wide open because it was my first time seeing him

behaving so gently.

 

A bitter smile hung on his lips as he looked down at me.

 

“I mean, I… I took out my anger on you, I’m sorry. I’ll help you.”

 

‘If he

acts

like this, I have nothing to say.’ In any case, it was a remarkable development that he offered to help.

 

For a moment, both of us silently focused on the laundry. After trampling on the laundry in the bathtub, carefully

scrubbing

the clothes with an extra toothbrush, grabbing the finished clothes one by one, and turning them around to squeeze out the water, I finally was able to breathe.

 

As we exited the bathroom, exhausted, we sank against the wall, completely worn out.

 

“Damn it, I’m going to die

!

So… how do we dry

everything

?”

 

“We should hang

them

in the library. It’s the only place.”

 

The only place with ventilation was the library. It was the only place large enough to hang this much laundry. Really,

what would have happened if we had not cleaned the library before now

?

 

Venya, breathing heavily with his head against the wall, took off his sweat-soaked shirt.

 

It was an act that was far from noble dignity, but it was better than getting a heat rash. His silver-gray hair

was tangled around his temples with sweat.

 

“Coming here, I feel like I’m trying all the experiences I’ve never had in my life.”

 

“Yeah, I know. If I tell the others, they probably won’t believe it.”

 

“If I could ever tell anyone about this, that’ll be enough for me.”

 

It sounded very meaningful. After hesitating for a moment, I cautiously asked.

 

“You know, saying sorry for taking it out on me earlier… what exactly did you mean?”

 

“You already know.”

 

Of course, I had an idea. I was trying to get confirmation.

 

As I looked up, fanning my hands, Venya gently closed his eyes and opened them again. He had

a vacant

expression that seemed exhausted and detached. I spoke faintly.

 

“Even now… someone could open the mirror door and walk in.”

 

He slowly folded his arms and answered me with a sound.

 

“Mmmh.”

 

“It could be tonight, it could be tomorrow.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“…It could be after another month has passed.”

 

His

sky-blue gaze and mine were intertwined. Oddly enough, rather than feeling hopeless or fed up, I felt rather calm at the moment.

 

“Do you think your relatives…”

 

I was about to ask if he had a bad feeling about them, but I stopped myself. Venya didn’t try to say anything either. We just looked at each other quietly.

 *  *  * 

The bell rang, announcing the time of prayer.

 Dang~ Dang~ Dang~ 

I could hear the bell tower bells ringing very close together. And like always, it felt like the whole room was vibrating.

 

Estelle didn’t jump into the bed upstairs or hide under the desk today. Instead, she sat quietly by my side and fixed her gaze on the old book she had been looking at for a while now. It was a book called “Tea Cup and Dialogue.”

 

There was no sound except for the bell. Neither Lettis, Venya, Estelle nor I opened our mouths. Everyone just quietly rummaged through the books as if there was some sort of spell on us. 

 

Perhaps by now we were all thinking the same thing. They must have been trying to come up with an excuse to somehow turn a blind eye to reality while they were struggling with the same suspicions.

 

It

had

been more than a week since it was a full month. Counting all the days we spent here, it was one month and three weeks altogether.

 

Only I knew, but by this time, the plague that swept through the Imperial City would have begun to fade.

 

It made no sense that this

sequestered

life would be extended beyond this. Nevertheless, there was still no news.

 

When the anxiety and doubts we’d been trying to ignore for so long finally turned into certainties, the majestic bel

l slowly ceased

, and someone tipped open Pandora’s Box. It was like watching a dam break.

 

It was Lettis.

 

“…Isn’t everyone just trying to make fun of us?”

 

It was an empty joke. Something that neither the speaker nor the listener considered

funny.

 

Venya immediately rebutted. That is,

he

was bitterly sarcastic.

 

“Something only Hyung could think of

!

A plan that isn’t funny

or

impressive, just plain cheap.”

 

“What? Hey, have some respect for your elder brother

!

“

 

“Well, you should be a figure that inspires respect then.”

 

Lettis ignored Venya’s

retort

and looked at me. 

 

“Sasha, do you know anything?

If this

is a well-made prank, I think there’s a good chance you’re behind it.”

 

“Oh well, that’s actually a plausible idea, Hyung.”

 

Perhaps they were trying to express their anxiety in

a playful

way, but I wrapped my head with my hands, listening to the two

chatter

in an easygoing manner.

 

I couldn’t believe or even understand the fact that my two young and bright masters would turn into villains who would turn the whole Empire into ashes.

 

“Sasha?”

 

…No, I was starting to understand. That ominous feeling became clearer and clearer.

 

As if the confusion and agitation we were feeling had been transferred, Estelle, who was just quietly chewing her lips, put down

her

book, leaned close to me, and grabbed my arm with both hands. She barely opened her mouth.

 

“Sasha, do you really not know anything?”

 

‘…E-Estelle, even you? No matter how many times you ask, I still don’t know anything.’

 

Would it have been better if I had known this in advance? The problem was I couldn’t understand this situation at all. No matter how much I looked back on my memories, there was no

reference

or description of this part of the novel. 

 

The fact that three children of noble status and

the nanny’s daughter

would be imprisoned together in one section of this magnificent manor; the fact that they were imprisoned not b

y a

demon king or boring dragon, but by the young siblings’ own relatives.

 

This part of the story…

 

It didn’t exist at all.