A Fairy Tales For The Villains

 

…Ehem, of course, it couldn’t

be her

beauty alone, but rather

due to Estelle’s death a

t a young age in a foreign land. I was

like a

foster sister and a faithful friend.

To th

e brothers who had lost their parents and sister, I,

always with

them as a family,

was the

last of their kind… or so it was said.

 

Honestly,

I didn’t think the justification was quite accurate. Was there

an

additional side story? Even if there was, I couldn’t recall it, so it was pointless

to consider.

Anyway, I

was cl

ose to Lettis and Venya, and so far, they didn’t seem

like

vicious, cold-blooded villains. Venya was a bit mischievous and tough, but he was still a good guy, and Lettis was always

told he had

an overly kind personality.

 

Of course, there was

a passage stating t

he two brothers had changed too much in Pzeya. But to change to that extent… there

had to be reasons beyond

their sister’s death. It

would have been

nice to know what the hell happened, because I was sure there was more to it. 

 

There must have been a compelling

reason.

And the existence of that trigger

was grating

my nerves now.

 

“What, It’s not Karon?”

 

Old man Karon, Duke Serpente’s butler, was very popular among the Duke’s family

and employees

. He also was nice to my mother and me, so I liked him a lot. However, contrary to Jerome’s statement that the butler would undoubtedly come, it wasn’t Karon who arrived with a three

-tiered cart

. 

 

Although

dressed as a butler, he was a middle-aged man I had never seen before. He replied to Lettis’ question straightforwardly. 

 

“I’m sorry, Young Master. I’m Harris, the new butler.”

 

“You? Where’s Karon?”

 

“Mr. Karon, unfortunately… died this morning due to the plague.”

 

We were all stunned by that

blunt announcement.

 

‘Oh my God, even old man Karon? How many lives must be lost in order for this terrible disaster to be satisfied?’

 

“Because it’s such a dangerous situation, the number of servants entering and leaving here

is limited

to me. Try your best, Young Masters and my Lady. I know it’s uncomfortable, but you can never

leave

here. Nobody knows when or how they’ll become infected.”

 

Right. While everyone nodded tiredly, Mr. Harris turned to me. 

 

“You, take care of everything. From the top, breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

 

“Will you come just once a day?”

 

My tone

might

have been harsh. Unlike his predecessor, the man

had evidenced no

compassion. A thick line spread

across

his forehead.

 

“Aren’t you old enough to understand that I can’t come and go at every meal? It’s a great threat to the young

Masters

and

Lady

if

I’m constantly coming

and going.”

 

That was a valid

point

. Hoping to

reduce

the persistent uneasiness in my mind, I asked him what I should do after eating.

Harris s

aid that he would take care of everything while we slept if we placed the cart near the mirror door. After that, the new butler quietly left through the

mirror.

And as soon as he left, I went straight to the door and tried to open it, but it didn’t budge as

if locked

from the outside. Lettis came to my side.

 

“What are you doing? You heard how dangerous it is out there.”

 

“…Don’t you think it’s a little

peculiar

?”

 

“What?”

 

“You know, locking us up like this.”

 

Lettis shuddered

slightly as he looked at my face, then shrugged and said.

 

“Isn’t it because they’re afraid we’ll secretly sneak out as soon as we feel stuffy?”

 

It was a reasonable assumption. It was difficult to predict what kind of unexpected action children would take. And yet, why did I keep feeling anxious? No matter how much I knew about our future, I didn’t know the details.

 

We were extra characters, and our story

was told by a third-person

narrator. Therefore, in this unexpected situation, I needed to stop being puzzled

and panicked

every time something happened tha

t hadn’t been mentioned

or I couldn’t remember. It

was likely to

happen a million times in the future. If things didn’t

go as

I expected, my suspicions would run wild, and

anxiety would rule endlessly

.Yeah, I had to call it a day.

 

“Sasha, I’m hungry.”

 

There were other things that needed to be prevented. First and foremost, Estelle’s death in Pzeya. Apart from her death, I wanted to stop Lettis and Venya’s

descent.

Naturally.

 

Trying to calm my cluttered mind, I

looked

at the tray cart. Three meals for four people appeared as I opened the covered silver tray one by one. 

 

The top compartment

contained

olive pickles, pancakes, omelets, and apple juice, while the middle compartment

held

brioche and boiled chickpeas. The last compartment

displayed

smoked ham, biscuits, and turnip salad. Oh no, Estelle hates turnips. 

 

“Damn, I can’t even dream of

demanding

side dishes.”

 

Venya was growling and muttering. Lettis responded gracefully, trying to sound mature.

 

“It can’t

be helped

.  It’ll be just a few days, and you’re already

whining?

“

 

“What do you mean, I only said that because I was worried about you

!

Who’s the one whining?”

 

“That’s funny

!

“

 

Anyway, since

meals should be

served in the dining room, we went straight upstairs to the kitchen. The tray full of cups and plates was so heavy that I was stumped as to how to move it, but the problem was easily solved.

 

“You, hold it.”

 

Lettis

ordered

Venya while pointing to the tray.

 

“Why should I?”

 

“Then, you want Sasha to lift this alone?”

 

“Why not? Then,

Hyung

can do it.”

 

“Isn’t this what a younger brother should do?”

 

“Who said that?”

 

Lettis eventually lost this round. As usual. He grumbled and led the way with a tray, so I followed behind with a bottle of juice. The

image of the p

recious Serpente’s heir carrying a tray of food

into

a shabby kitchen was a sight to behold.

 

Because there were no windows except for the bedroom and it was quite dark, I left the kitchen door wide open. The table,

covered with a brightly flowered ta

blecloth, was only for four people. As if it was done on purpose…

 

Stop! Damn, paranoia, go away! I set the table quietly, trying to shake off the constant rush of unpleasant thoughts. After taking out the plates and cutlery and putting the food on the table, Venya, who

was suspected of

multiple personalities,* spoke in a low voice. 

 

“Relax, don’t be upset. I’ll carry it when we go down.”

 

Such a simple boy. Even if he was a future cold-blooded villain, he was still a child. Even at times like this, he was a pretty good guy, however…

 

“What, the bottle of juice or the tray?”

 

“The- the tray!”

 

I couldn’t help but tease him. Venya rolled up his sleeves with an expression that said he would be nice from now on and began to fill the glasses with juice. Although of course, it didn’t go so well. Estelle sighed deeply.

 

“Brother, you spilled all the juice.”

 

“I didn’t spill everything. You should be thankful that I poured it for you, why are you nagging me?”

 

It was worth

waiting

to hear those words come out of that fussy noble Young Master’s mouth. I should call it karma, he brought it onto himself. On the other hand,

our Young

Duke seemed unable to give up his usual attitude. 

 

“What’s this, pancake syrup is missing? Does this even make sense?”

 

“…Here it is.”

 

“Oh, sorry.”

 

Scratching his head awkwardly, Lettis

took the bottle of syrup and began pouring it all over the pancakes, trying to act solemn.

 

…

That

didn’t go very well either.

 

“Hyung, what are you doing? Give it to me!”

 

“I’m doing it! You just be grateful!”

 

“You want me to say thank you? Are you saying that giving syrup to the table is something I should be grateful for?”

 

“Pffft…”

 

The first meal began after a flurry of disruptions. There were no major complaints because everyone was starving, even

without anyone

to attend them. 

 

“But what’s this place supposed to be? I’m more curious because our uncle said it hasn’t been used for a long time. I can’t believe there was such a place like this in our manor…”

 

“You don’t know anything, Hyung? If you’re the heir, you should know the details of what’s inside the manor, right?”

 

“It- It’s something no one told me yet?! Father didn’t—”

 

There was a brief moment of silence after Lettis’ final words. He,

who had been speaking

, frowned slightly and lowered his eyes, while Venya, who had provoked it, had a sudden dark complexion as well. Then Estelle muttered softly.

 

“I miss Daddy, Mom, and Sylvia too.”

 

I, too, missed them all. The Duke and the Duchess, who were the best people, and my mother who gave birth and raised me… After the memories of my previous life returned, all the memories of my mother flooded me more tenderly. 

 

I could feel Estelle hugging me tightly and sniffling on my shoulder. I buried my face in her

colorless

hair and suppressed the urge to cry along. 

 

The first meal in the shelter ended in such a gloomy atmosphere. I laid Estelle on the bed in the room right outside the kitchen, then went back and started putting the empty plates on the tray.

 

As Lettis sat next to his sister and spoke in a low voice, Venya, who

for reasons known only to himself

was silently helping me, suddenly

spoke.

 

“The room downstairs, the one I don’t know if it’s a study or a storage room. Shall we explore it? Aren’t you curious about

what we’ll find

?”

 

“What’s the point of an expedition if we’re leaving in a few days?”

 

“That’s why we should do it

sooner.

If we leave, we won’t be

returning

here for a while.”

 

‘Wow, you really want to explore that dark, moldy, stinky old place after all!’

 

Yet, I was also curious. I mean, what the hell was this place? Apart from the existence of furniture, it had a bathroom and a kitchen, so the purpose of living was clear. However, it was too narrow for nobles to use it and too grand for servants.

 

A perfect place to use as a hideout… Maybe there was a clue in the storage room?

 

Venya took the lead, holding a tray of tableware, as I followed him with an empty bottle of juice. The

cart stood

next to the mirror door

like a s

entinel. Soon after, Lettis, who had been talking to his little sister for a while, ran downstairs.

 

“What are you guys up to?”

 

“We’re going to explore there. You look like you want to tag along.”

 

“Well, that’s true, but… ah, it’s really dark in here.”

 

Unlike the upper floor, which had windows on the ceiling, this floor was completely dark even in the middle of the day. We used some matches and candlesticks to

light our path.

   Gina’s Corner:

*“Multiple personalities” refers to the fact that he changes his attitude very quickly, it would be something like cyclothymia. I decided to leave it like that because I think it’s better understood.