NOVEL NEXT A Fairy Tales For The Villains
Vol. 1 Chapter 16 - Fairytale Fantasy(5)
Jerome went straight to the library as he reached the lower floor. It was so natural, I thought he might have looked around the whole floor before going upstairs where we were sleeping. It was only after the door closed behind my back that our watchman finally looked at me directly.
‘What’s up with those eyes?’ It was the same look he had when he noticed me wearing Estelle’s dress. Well, I was in a similar situation now. Because Estelle’s robe and Venya’s jacket were draped over my clothes. “You…” Jerome’s voice that came out after he finally opened his mouth sounded strangely exasperated. He hesitated for a moment, then continued in a more solemn tone. “I must have misunderstood.” “…Pardon?” “I thought you and your mother were different, and I always thought you were the type of person who never crossed the line no matter what, but I must have always misunderstood! What the hell—no, how dare you even consider tangling up with my niece and nephews? Or was that what you were planning to do from the beginning?” This wasn’t just bullshit, it was an accusation I had never even imagined, so I was struck speechless for a second. ‘Excuse me, Mister Watchman? What the hell did you just say? Did I hear right?’ “I thought Estelle would have a harder time without you, so I let you stay with them, but, as it turns out, it’s a complete mess. Did your mother teach you to do that? To forget your place and covet my nephews?” ‘What is this old man saying about the kids? And my mom did what?’ The surge of anger and humiliation made my head spin, but I quickly came to my senses. ‘Let’s calm down. Breathe…’ Whatever it was, Jerome was now the only link between us and the outside, and at least he wasn’t yet an enemy. If he had been in perfect harmony with the ones who imprisoned the siblings here, he would not come here like this. So, there was no advantage for me to provoke this damn man and make him angry. Most importantly, I didn’t know what kind of damage this man could do to the children upstairs. With that thought, suppressing my anger, I tried to open my mouth calmly. It was so cold that my jaw trembled the whole time I was talking. “Viscount, I don’t know what you’re misunderstanding, but as you can see, it’s freezing cold here! What’s more, if Miss Estelle catches a cold, it will be a big deal! I’ve never even thought of crossing any line! Everyone is doing their best to survive here. The only tool to warm ourselves is the stove, so everyone gathered in front of it and fell asleep.” To be clear, in here, we are not in a master-slave relationship but rather hang out as if we were common friends—that is, doing all sorts of chores together, lending each other clothes to avoid freezing to death or sticking together all day. None of these actions that would have been extremely unconventional outside was our fault. It wasn’t my fault nor the siblings’ fault. So, there was no reason for him to attack me that way. And not only Viscount Ipolit but anyone else. No one should criticize me or the sibling for our actions here, trying our best to endure without a moment to even form impure intentions. Those deserving criticism are the ones who confined us here, and Jerome himself, who judged me arbitrarily on a subject he couldn’t even comprehend. ‘Ha! What? It was as you expected? If you knew it was going to be a mess, you would have pulled us out of here sooner!’ Apparently, Jerome wasn’t just angry at the fact that we were sleeping tangled up on the floor, but it seemed he was wrongly pointing arrows full of anger, pity, frustration, and deprivation at me, at the fact that his precious nephews and niece were living in this state. ‘Yeah, it’s ridiculous even for me.’ ‘This guy, really! Am I the one you should be angry at?! Uuuuhhkkkk!! I feel devastated. Such a dirty classist world.’ As if he had heard my words properly, Jerome shot me a distorted glare before dropping his shoulders and sitting on a nearby chair. “Yeah… that’s right… It must be unbearable… Maybe it was better that way…” ‘What are you talking about?’ More than that, I had a pile of things I wanted to ask. But I knew I didn’t have that option, so I chose carefully my next words. “Viscount… For how long will the young masters and the young lady be here? Is it still dangerous to go outside?” I knew the plague must have completely died down by now. We were all aware of the fact that we were imprisoned here not for our own safety, but because of some clever conspiracy. Instead of answering my question, Jerome said something else. “Sasha, can you help us?” ‘Us? It’s just the two of us here, who else is there?’ Nevertheless, it didn’t take me long to understand the meaning of those words. Jerome led me from the library and headed toward the mirror door. In the place where he pushed the mirror door open, there was none other than Mr. Harris, who boasted spy-level infiltration skills. To be precise, Mr. Harris, a new tray cart, and all sorts of fantastic items stood there. Thick winter bedding, white fur rugs, fur slippers, leather coats, extra winter coats, kerosene boxes… I couldn’t help but wonder how the two of them moved so much. We moved things inside quietly and quickly. That was the first time I looked out the mirror door since I came here. There was a dark, long corridor outside, so I couldn’t even see where the exit was. And, as I expected, there was a lock on the outside of the door. Even though I only looked outside the door for a moment, I felt the desperate urge to run away. I tried hard to suppress it, but the life in confinement was dreadful for me as well. I wanted to go outside, feel the fresh air, the soft snowflakes falling over my head, the cold grass under my feet. I wanted to smell the scent of fir, pine trees, camellia, and cyclamen that kept the backyard tinted green even in mid-winter. I wanted to feel free again. But it was impossible. “No matter when… sooner or later, all of you will leave here somehow. So, please, take good care of your children and work hard. Just like you always do.” With that, our watchman and lunch man quickly disappeared. The door, of course, was locked from the outside. I stood absent-minded for a moment in a room where suddenly there was no room to move. From the new tray cart, a completely different, warm, and delicious scent emanated. ‘If you could’ve brought something like that, you should’ve brought it earlier. And why didn’t you bring an extra stove when you thought of bringing kerosene? Were you worried that we might turn it on because of the cold and start a fire? What did it mean that we will come out one somehow sooner or later? Does that mean he’s going to take us out somehow? Will that really work?’ I wasn’t sure how long I stood there with my thoughts. Lettis came running down the stairs blowing on his cold hands and was barely able to wake me from my stupor with a scream and his wide-open eyes. “Wow, what’s all this?! Guys, look at this!” Of course, Venya and Estelle followed their elder brother and opened their eyes as if they were about to pop out from their faces. “Sasha, where did you get all these?” “…I think your uncle has been here.” I answered Estelle’s question simply. Because I couldn’t repeat the exchange between Jerome and me. How could I? They probably wouldn’t believe it. You won’t believe it… “Ah, so warm!” “My eyes are not wrong, are they? It’s not a freaking pancake, right?” The food in the tray cart was truly a feast. There was butter and olives, canapés and still warm cocoa, pork stew, veal roast, raw ham, pies, fruit tarts and cookies, flatbread, and goat’s milk cheese. The cheese that Estelle missed so much. “Is it a Christmas present?” “I guess so. There! I prepared this for you!” “Letty Oppa prepared this?” “I’m not necessarily saying it’s like that…” Indeed, Christmas was just around the corner. It was the worst to spend Christmas and New Year here. Worst of all, I knew it would be the same next year. In any case, the warm equipment to relieve the cold and delicious food that we hadn’t seen in a long time brought light back to the children’s eyes. It created an exciting and lively atmosphere for the first time in a long time. On the one hand, it was a very bittersweet scene. I couldn’t believe they were so happy about this. Originally, this much was obvious and natural, it was only fair for the noble children of the Duchy household. They shouldn’t feel it was a gift to receive just food… Had the deceased Duke and Duchess witnessed it, they would have shed tears of blood. “What happened?” I blinked and raised my head. Maybe because it was weird I was just standing still, Venya approached me observing my face. His eyes probed at me as if exploring my head. I quickly shook it. “No, nothing. I was just puzzled. Anyway, that’s a relief. It’ll be less cold in the future.” “We’ll endure until winter is over.” There was no light of joy in the eyes of the kid mumbling meaningfully. He seemed to feel that all this only meant an extension of our imprisonment. At the same time, Venya seemed annoyed. “Geez, we’re not kids…” His tone worried me. ‘Dude, didn’t you have a childish sword fight recently? I don’t like it either but what do I do? I want to laugh if you’re like this.’ I carefully grabbed his hand and pulled him slightly. “It’s not bad to just enjoy it for a day. It’s better than nothing.” “…Right. It’s a relief that there’s a lot of kerosene.” “Yeah, we won’t have to worry even if we use it a lot.” We will no longer sleep hugging each other like a human stove. ‘Sheesh, mother, forgive this ugly daughter who acted in such a way to survive and made people slander you. I’ll never forget, and I will make the Viscount pay for insulting my mother.’ We had a rich and satisfying meal for the first time in a long time. The quantity was quite large, so it was possible to eat ‘basic meals’ until Christmas. A few pies and cookies were set aside for New Year’s breakfast. As we boiled water to take a bath and walked around in soft, thick winter coats and warm fur slippers, we began to visit the library again. With the stove and candles lit all day, the library, which was like a freezer, got warmer. The bells rang more often and longer, especially on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. But now, even Estelle didn’t pay attention to the bell. We ran around the library, chattering, laughing, reading books, and performing imitations of the plays we saw last Christmas. It was funny, but the ‘gifts’ had a greater impact than expected. In particular, Lettis seemed to have gained quite a bit of hope that Jerome had not forgotten about them. So, he seemed to be thinking he wasn’t completely betrayed, and whatever the exact circumstances, he still had a bloodline to trust and hope that we will be able to get out of here soon. A double-edged sword of innocence. Anyway, thanks to God that none of us caught a cold. That winter passed so smoothly. No matter how slow it seemed, time continued to flow. Gina’s Corner: I’ll say it a few times, but midterms are here so don’t hate me too much t-t On another note,Please leave a review and rate this series on Novel Updates (Click here to go to the NU page)Join our Discord Server for updates pings, novels discussions or mistakes reports!Thank you as always!
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