A Fairy Tales For The Villains

2 – Fairytale Fantasy  

“Lavender is blue, lavender is green. If you become King,

I’ll

be your Queen. Birds sing and flock around…”

 

My voice sounded dull and clumsy humming the lullaby that my mother sang to me often.

Had I known this would happen, I would have practiced it in advance.

 

Fortunately

, Estelle finally closed her eyelids as she held a giant rabbit doll in her arms.

 

It was a

haphazard

doll, sewn from my already

worn-out

pajamas and stuffed with feathers ripped from the cushions. 

 

It was a clumsy version of the dead and irreparable ‘Mr. Wendy’ but nevertheless, my baby sister

had been

really pleased.

 

I stopped singing and

stifled

a sigh at the sound of

her

low

breathing.

Phew, for just one lullaby, it took me a long time. 

 

The stories I told Estelle, similar to the stories my mother made up for me, were the same fairy tales I knew from my previous life. 

 

Rapunzel, Cinderella, Snow White, and so on. Estelle’s

favorite was

Rapunzel’s story. Well, considering the situation we were in, it wouldn’t be strange.

 

Estelle was twelve years old. She was long past the age to sleep hugging rabbit dolls or listening to traditional fairy tales. The more time we spent here, the more it felt like she was mentally regressing, but there was nothing I could do about it.

 

I checked again if Estelle was sleeping well and headed to the library. Every time I walked down the cramped stairs, I could see the tray cart in a straight line. It may be funny, but there were times when I wondered if it moved by itself.

 

There were several times when I stayed up all night waiting for the moment to open the mirror door, but there were no results.

 

Did they see what we were doing through some kind of hole or something? When we were alert and expectant, Mr. Harris never came in, but if we were asleep or distracted, a new tray full of food would be replaced.

 

That didn’t mean we sat all day watching the mirror door. It wasn’t impossible if we put our minds to it but… it seemed that unconsciously, we all had the same idea.

 

I mean, what was the point of catching the act of someone who brings us food everyday? 

 

If

we had been

deliberately imprisoned from the beginning,

with

not only their blood relatives but also the servants being part of the plan… if someone was manipulating from the shadows and decided to confine us here…

 

Fear. It was

the

fear of what would come next.

 

What if food deliveries ceased

? What if we were left to slowly starve to death inside here? Who

knew

what atrocities they could

commit

? 

 

I was convinced that we would never leave this place to go to Pzeya, and I was feeling gloomy about the reality that we would have to stay here for the next two

years, sink

or swim.*

 

The description of the Serpente siblings’ study life abroad,

as I remembered from the original work

, was nothing but a life of confinement created by their own family.

 

Indeed, it was a grim reality.

To prepare

yourself for any situation, you must know something to figure out the best way to act. So, what was the

advantage

of knowing the original story!? In this case, it might have been better for me

to have no memory of

my previous life. 

 

It wasn’t uncommon for wicked uncles to work together to get rid of their young successor

nephews.

 

As it was a time of great plague, there were also good

alibis.

There was also a way to find the bodies of similar-looking children and swap them instead.

 

However, no matter how rampant the situation was, if the Serpente family died in one day but all the branches were still active, both the Imperial Family and the Python bank would definitely begin an investigation.

 

Therefore, given the original plot, there was no benefit

to announce

our deaths. In other words, they must have used the

ruse

of studying abroad in Pzeya, but the problem was that it would be easy to find out where we stayed and what school we

attended

. How the hell did they make it up?

 

‘And

why are we alive? Are they keeping us alive in case they get caught?’

 

‘…They’ll use the excuse they gave us? That they kept us quarantined to prevent us from getting infected?’

 

The more I thought about it, the more hopeless I felt.

 

Whatever

the scheme

was,

there was no changing the fact that I

had to stay here for the next two years. Around emotionally sensitive and

autocratic

children at the peak of puberty, isn’t this a situation that would

turn anyone into

an evil mastermind!?

 

‘Uuuuugh! I’m also on the verge of going crazy, oh my gosh!!’

 

It

seemed my

past life’s karma started in that elevator. It wasn’t enough to die

caged

in that way, now I also have to live in confinement? Was it my fate to be

imprisoned

everywhere? Sob, sob.

 

“Is Estelle sleeping?”

 

I

was feeling dizzy with

a hopeless and gloomy mood, but I couldn’t stay still.

My future duties were

very evident… No, it was no different than before.

 

To prevent Estelle from dying here, and to prevent Lettis and Venya from turning into

villains.

That was my mission and purpose.

 

In honor of those I missed and longed for, whose love had filled the emptiness left from my previous life where I hadn’t known the affection of others.

 

I had to

keep

my chin up.

 

Reflecting on those resolutions, I deliberately answered Lettis’ dry question cheerfully. 

 

“Yeah. I should sing her a lullaby every night from now on. That one about lavender had a direct effect.”

 

The lullaby that my mother used to hum in particular would have been remembered very well, not only by Estelle

but by the boys, too.

 

Although Lettis remained indifferent

and continued

rummaging through the bookshelf with a sullen face. It made me feel ashamed.

 

Instead, Venya, who had been fiddling with the chessboard,

spoke.

In other words, as usual, these days, he spits out words that

I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or just

joking.

 

“Can you sing me a lullaby too? Because I’m not sleeping comfortably.”

 

“…Aren’t you old enough to sleep without listening to a lullaby?”

 

“Age is just a number. In that case, let’s play chess. If you win, I’ll call you noona from now on

!

“

 

‘As if you’ll do that.’ Well, to be honest, my birthday

had passed

a few months earlier.

 

Our shadows in the candlelight shimmered enormously on the library wall.

It was fortunate that there were many stocked candles. Except for sleeping, be it day or night, candles were essential on this floor.

 

“Why are you

still standing there

like that? Are you afraid of losing again?”

 

“…I was thinking what would happen if we ran out of candles. Even if we have a lot of kerosene, we have to use it on the stove.”

 

Winter was coming. And in the winter, that little stove would be very precious. 

 

As I frankly shared my thoughts, he chuckled mischievously.

 

“Ah, right. When that time comes, you can make us a feather blanket, just

like you

made that deer doll for Estelle.”

 

“It’s not a deer, it’s a rabbit! And where will you get all those feathers?”

 

“Is that so? Them don’t make anything, but even if the candles run out, there’s enough firewood.”

 

“What do you mean firewood?”

 

“The books.”

 

‘I see. There are countless ways to burn these ancient books. It seems that our ancestors in the underworld will be vomiting blood…’

 

Suddenly Lettis, who had been silently looking at a book, spoke up. 

 

“Stop talking nonsense

!

Especially you, Sasha, stop being annoying with your whining

!

“

 

…Did these brothers get swapped? Originally, it was Venya’s

obligation

to get on my nerves, so how did this happen?

 

In fact, lately, Lettis had been in an extreme state of nervousness. It was understandable, but

recently, every time I tried to discuss

my worries about life here or

future plans

,  he would automatically respond

with annoyance.

 

Thus, I ended up in a strange situation where the only person I could

consult was

Venya.

 

It was sad to see Lettis

become so

uncharacteristically feisty.

 

He

hadn’t been

this kind of guy at all, he was far from getting irritated or annoyed… Even though he

could be

a bit silly, he was always kind. Where’s my sweet little Duke? We have lost him!

 

I swallowed my flushing tears and

carefully chose my words.

 

“I’m just wondering, I’m worried t—”

 

“Then don’t come up with such useless worries.”

 

“…Oppa. Do you really think it’s useless? I mean, since we’re alread—”

 

“Don’t call me that

!

I’m not your ‘oppa

!

‘ You’re not my little sister

!

Stop being presumptuous and get out!”

 

Woah. Needless to say, my eyes widened at the verbal abuse

coming from

Lettis’ mouth, not anyone else’s.

It

was a little too much.

 

My

head was pounding and ringing from the shock. Of course, I

had

no choice but to live in this world with marked status, and I have never forgotten my place either, but nevertheless…

 

‘Was

I the only deluded one?

We can never be equal, and childhood is just childhood. Was I being presumptuous without realizing it?’

 

I had hoped

we could somehow get through this grim reality together, and I

tried

my best to somehow create a comfortable environment.

 

“Hyung, stop tha

t! Just

get out of here

!

I can’t stand your sulky crap anymore

!

“

 

I looked at Venya with my jaw half-dropped. He didn’t even raise his head as he placed the chess pieces in order. Thud! Lettis got up, closing the book loudly. 

 

“What did you just say?”

 

“Am I wrong? You’re the only one among us who keeps

sniping

right now, aren’t you? Why are you trying to vent your anger out on that kid?”

 

“Really, this bastard!”

 

“Do not fight!!!”

 

Lettis aggressively grabbed Venya’s collar, and I shouted. I was screaming without realizing it.

 

“What…?”

 

“Don’t fight! Both of you, Young Masters! I’ll leave!”

   Gina’s Corner:

* She original says “whether it is porridge or rice” slang means regardless if they end up dead or alive, then they’ll have to stay there.

 I will protect Lettis any day, my baby!