A Fairy Tales For The Villains

 

“I

want out!

Didn’t you tell me I’d just have to wait a week? Why do we have to stay here?”

 

It was no surprise that Estelle finally exploded. Rather, it’s surprising that she didn’t explode earlier.

 

Lettis, slowly

rummaging through the cold omelet with a fork, opened his mouth. I didn’t expect to hear such a subdued and drained voice

from him.

 

“Finish your meal. The situation seems worse than we thought. Or something crazy happened, or maybe one of our relatives got infected.”

 

It had been

two weeks since we were

confined.

That means we spent a full week longer than the one we were promised.

 

In the meantime, we didn’t see

even

a single strand of hair from either the butler or Uncle Jerome. Could it be that they both

were s

ick? It was possible.

 

The atmosphere had been gloomy and sensitive the past few days as the children accumulated irritation and anxiety due to the

torturous

situation. If it wasn’t for Estelle, everyone would have exploded already.

 

“I don’t want to eat it. It’s tasteless and I’m tired of it!”

 

Poor Estelle. I knew how

picky an

eater she was. I tried to soothe her anger by patting her on the back.

 

“Drink some juice. Even if it doesn’t taste good, you need to eat to stay healthy.”

 

“See! Even you don’t want to eat it!”

 

“Just hold it in for today and eat, okay? You shouldn’t skip your meals.”

 

“Every day you say I just have to endure it for one more day!”

 

Her sharp remark felt

like a stab to my heart. It was true. We were reaching our limit thinking that tomorrow we’d hear news about our imprisonment. Our patience and hope were slowly fading away. 

 

The only person I could try to talk to to find out what was going on was the person who

covertly delivered

food every day. But when the hell are they coming? Even if I opened my eyes as early as possible, a new tray was already placed next to the mirror door. 

 

‘I will stay up all night to see you this time.’

 

We had a slow breakfast. Estelle eventually didn’t even touch the leftovers except for a little bit of juice and syrup-soaked pancakes. Fortunately, Venya, who still had an appetite, took care of disposing of the food left by his sister.  

 

“Damn it, I don’t know who made the menu, but if I get out of here, I’ll make them eat pancakes for a whole month.”

 

I agreed. Couldn’t they provide good food for us in this kind of situation? I wasn’t sure what kind of crime we had committed

to warrant such savorless

meals. 

 

Even if it was a modest world where luxurious food culture was regarded as a national sin, it wasn’t like that for ordinary nobility. They usually said ‘What’s the joy of life without delicious food?’ But now it

seemed,

given the situation, everyone wanted to refrain from those luxuries so as not to anger God.

 

‘But it’s extremely irrational that the aftermath should also reach the children.’

 * * * * 

Our days in confinement were long and slow. There wasn’t anything to do except eat meals.

 

There wasn’t anything I could do but comb Estelle’s hair, play with her curls, or read some books from the dusty library t

o vary activity.

Still, there wasn’t anything exciting for teenagers to read. They seemed to be just economic, political, or liberal arts books.

 

“I’m going to have to negotiate today.”

 

I hung a clean towel on the armrest of the chair and looked at Lettis. His voice seemed to have regained its normal energy for the first time in a while, so I thought I should answer quickly.

 

“What are you going to do?”

 

In the past, it would have been unimaginable for all of us to gather and spend our time in the same bedroom. However, the floor downstairs had no sunlight aside from the library, and if the candles weren’t lit, it would be dark day and night. So

we couldn’t be blamed

for hanging around while Estelle was taking a nap.

 

“I

need an

explanation. If there’s a new cart every morning, it means someone’s coming in and out, even if it’s not Harris. So why don’t we wait all night?”

 

I had a similar plan, so there was no reason to refuse but Venya,

silently sitting with his head tilted toward the ceiling,

snorted. 

 

“I’m sure Brother will fall asleep in the middle of the night.”

 

“That’s why I’m saying we do it together! If any of the three of us falls asleep, the others can wake

that one

up or watch instead.”

 

In other words, let’s all stand guard. It sounded like a pretty good plan, so Venya eventually agreed. However, we didn’t have to be on guard that day.

 

Shortly before the prayer bell rang, someone finally

came t

hrough the mirror door. Viscount Ipolit Jerome

appeared

after almost two weeks.

 * * * * 

I won’t go into detail about the welcome Jerome received when he finally

showed up. 

 

Estelle wept and begged to get out of this hellhole, and Lettis and Venya blew away the darkened atmosphere, their expressions relieved.

 

Jerome, looking

at his niece and nephews with a dazed look like a dead

fish with a strange smile nailed to his lips, finally said:

 

“I’m sorry I should have come sooner. I’m sure you’ve noticed this, but there’s been a setback.”

 

‘Yeah, sure. Of course there was a setback.’

 

A moment of silence passed. Our

foci

quickly diverged as Jerome looked around helplessly in the awkward silence that suddenly engulfed us. Soon after, Lettis stepped forward and asked.

 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

 

“…That’s, well… how do I say this…”

 

“What the hell is happening? Did someone else die?”

 

We couldn’t know how many people had become ill on the outside while we were hiding in this secret room. After the death of the Empress and the Duke and Duchess of Serpente, everyone may have paid special attention to it, but… As far as I could remember, the siblings’ relatives didn’t die from the plague.

 

“You aren’t here to

release us

, are you?”

 

Venya’s harsh words sounded more like a confirmation than a question. And it fueled the most unsettling suspicions that were creeping over the audience.

 

Estelle, who had been struggling to get out, immediately turned as pale as a corpse, and Lettis jumped up from his seat.

 

“Uncle, we can’t be here any longer, no matter how serious the situation is. You know Estelle isn’t feeling well! Taking a warm bath is essential, taking regular walks, and receiving regular check-ups. It’s absurd to continue living like this. On top of that…”

 

“…Do you think we’re keeping you here on purpose because we like it?”

 

At the cold question from his uncle, Lettis quickly shook his head in embarrassment without arguing. Of course, he had never thought that.

 

At least not yet.

 

Jerome stared at the bewildered faces of his niece and nephews for a moment with a firm expression on his face, then sighed with his usual gentle smile.

 

“It’s a story that all the people who go to a funeral because someone was infected, the bishop who watched the deathbed, and the

pallbearers

carrying the body, all failed to wake up the next morning. Or ever again. They say that after having lunch with friends, dinner will be with our ancestors in the underworld… Under such circumstances, do you think it makes sense for you to play outside and interact with other people as usual?”

 

No one answered.

 

While her brothers exchanged perplexed glances of stupefaction and

horror, Estelle squeezed

my arm tightly. Three pairs of

tear-filled blue eye

s looked at

me

with frustration and despair. 

 

There was no way we could survive here even for a single day. With no servants or maids to attend to the siblings in such a small place without any privacy. The food was so awful that we couldn’t stand to look at the menu, and the bathroom only had cold water so washing up was a pain in the ass. There were no toys or books to pass the time, and we couldn’t even go to

see the

flowers blooming in the glass greenhouse. There was nowhere to run or walk. And what about the majestic bells that

rung

every day at noon and prayer hours?

 

The

Viscount, who seemed to be paying close attention to the reactions of his nephews,

finally

fixed his gaze on me. His dull jade-colored eyes were filled with bewilderment for a moment. 

 

“Those clothes…”

 

“I don’t have any clothes for me.”

 

I tried to explain quickly. But our

watchman(?)  just stared at

me with a wrinkled forehead, more precisely, at the maid in his niece’s dress, as if my voice could not be heard. So I opened my mouth again.

 

“I was going to ask Mister Harris for

clothing,

but I couldn’t see him except the first day. So I asked for her permission first, since I didn’t have any other option but to…”

 

“What? …Oh, yeah. God, I didn’t think of that. I’m sorry.”

 

The apology was, of course, directed at Estelle. And she didn’t have the

heart to

accept the apology.

 

“Uncle, when are we going out then…? I hate it here. I’m tired of eating the same meal every day, I’m scared of the sound of bells, and I don’t like to wash with cold water. I don’t even want to use the same towel twice.”

 

‘Oh, my God, did you notice that?’

 

I secretly folded it while she was taking a nap and put it back in. If she asked, I said all the used towels were drying in the library.

 

“Uncle, why the hell does the new butler come and go without a sound? What if something happens?”

 

“Also, did something happen to the chef? There’s a limit on how much we can eat the same meal every day. I feel like we’re being bred. I almost stayed up all night with Sasha and Venya trying to

get

a clue of what’s happening!” 

 

Jerome,

who had been

staring blankly while listening to the complaints of his nephews, suddenly lowered his head and placed his clasped hands on his forehead.

 

He stayed like that for quite some time.

He looked

tired and distressed, so the

siblings stopped

pouring out their dissatisfaction

at

him, shut their mouths and averted their gazes.

 

After

a while, the only sound we heard was a small voice.

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“…Pardon?”

 

Before I realized it, they all

stood next

to me, staring at the Viscount. Estelle, who was already close behind me, and the two brothers

joined

from the left and right. 

 

As he slowly raised his head and stared at us, a strange light flashed through Jerome’s eyes.