Chapter 2
The protagonist, Sislein, and Heinri meet for the first time at the mansion.
The mansion was known as "The Forest."
It was a secret rearing facility of sorts, gathering orphans of unknown origin to awaken their abilities.
In this world, magic and supernatural powers were incredibly rare, and nobles were willing to pay vast sums of money to adopt children who possessed such gifts.
All for the sake of having a child who would become a trophy to bring glory to their family name.
In the novel, the children raised in "The Forest" were referred to as "Trees."
An ancient shaman had sacrificed their own life to cast a powerful spell over this forest, a force that drew out and awakened the children's latent potential.
However, this powerful and useful spell often came with side effects.
The more formidable the ability an awakened individual possessed, the more likely they were to lose their sanity and run wild after reaching adulthood.
It meant that while they were fine as children, things became problematic once they grew up.
'That’s why Sislein and Heinri suffered.'
My favorite character in that novel was the main protagonist, Heinri.
A boy born to a lowly courtesan who inherited the genius magical talent of his noble father.
He was the finest "Tree" in the forest.
'And he was even beautiful!'
However, this beautiful, talented boy with silver hair and violet eyes was arrogant and foul-tempered, driven by an inferiority complex from being abandoned.
Furthermore, due to the trauma of his father calling him "born from a filthy body," he became obsessed with extreme cleanliness.
Heinri’s father was the type of man who discarded the courtesan carrying his child like a used tissue.
To such a man, Heinri was nothing more than a stain on his life.
Abandoned from the moment his umbilical cord was cut, the boy drifted until he eventually washed up in "The Forest" after even his mother, who had raised him alone, passed away.
In that process, Heinri’s trauma deepened, and consequently, his "obsession with cleanliness" became even more intense.
'And yet, Sislein was looking like a beggar…'
When he first met Heinri, Sislein’s state was truly miserable.
With his shaggy hair and the soot from living in a cave, he looked like a black dust ghost. On top of that, the foot he’d caught in a trap was rotting from infection.
The moment Heinri saw Sislein, he felt a visceral sense of disgust.
So, the first words he spat out were,
"Dirty."
—that was it.
Ever since then, this foul-tempered, chihuahua-like protagonist tormented Sislein relentlessly.
'He was earning his own beatings.'
While the readers accepted it, saying his personality was bound to be twisted given his pitiful backstory...
In the eyes of a young, obsessive, tyrannical lead, he was just a bastard who needed to be avenged.
'Heinri really did go too far.'
I was shocked by his cruelty, like stepping on Sislein’s injured foot because he was a cripple, to the point where I just blurred my eyes and accepted it when he got beaten up a few times later on.
But there was a catch: Sislein was actually of "Imperial blood."
Sislein, who later became royalty, framed Heinri for treason.
He then kept the ruined, homeless man by his side and tormented him viciously, almost to the point of flaying him.
'It was truly desperate and pitiful…'
There wasn't a single peaceful scene, so whenever a moment of respite appeared between the two, readers had to "extract" joy from it like licking the lid of a yogurt cup.
'I was a giant juicer myself.'
But no matter how much I tried to extract sweetness, Sislein’s erratic behavior, evolving into that of an increasingly insane bastard, was hard to watch.
'Please, stop. Just stop…!'
Those were the days I spent crying into my pillow, mourning my favorite character.
And then, suddenly, I ended up inside the novel!
"Isn't this pacing too fast…?"
I muttered to myself.
"Annette, do you have a question?"
The teacher conducting the class in front asked with a gentle smile. Ah, I had forgotten I was in class.
I saw the "sparkling" eyes of the children looking back at me. The ages of the children participating in the group class ranged from 4 to 12, but they all had one thing in common.
They were all incredibly cute…! *Sob*, they look like peeled quail eggs.
I smiled and shook my head.
"No, teacher."
"Then shall we end the lesson here?"
"Yes!"
The children shouted, thrusting their tiny, potato-like fists into the air.
* * *
Lunchtime after class.
Today’s menu was warm lamb stew, soft cream bread, and colorful strawberries and blueberries.
"Annette! Isn't the group class with the little ones fun?"
Shasha, who was sitting across from me with her lips stained purple from eating blueberries, asked me.
'You’re a baby too, Shasha.'
"The classes by age group are hard. They only ever teach difficult things…"
I replied listlessly to the dejected Shasha.
"I didn't find it that hard."
"Sob! That’s because you’re smart, Annette!"
The Forest had a well-structured curriculum to raise excellent Trees.
Basic etiquette for adoption into noble families, as well as history, culture, geography, alchemy, magic formula studies, and so on.
I was, at least, an honor student who was good at studying.
'Even if I don't have any awakened abilities.'
Naturally, what mattered in the Forest wasn't studying, but ability.
Someone like me wasn't even a "Tree," just a "weed."
That’s what extras are, I suppose.
"But you have mana, Shasha. If you eat a lot, your mana will grow too. So let’s eat up."
"Ah, really? Okay!"
Convinced by my nonsense, Shasha began to gobble up her bread.
In the meantime, I secretly wrapped a cream bun in a handkerchief and smiled deviously.
'Hehe. I have to go give this to my baby.'
By now, Sislein would be in that lightless cave.
My heart ached at the thought.
He was a terrifying tyrant in the novel, but the Sislein I saw in person was just a lonely, hurting boy.
'Besides, he was much cuter than I expected!'
Just like when I first saw young Heinri in the Forest, I had fallen for young Sislein.
'Their future has to be bright.'
So, my current goals could be summarized in two points.
1. Make sure Sislein lives comfortably in the Forest like the other children.
2. Make sure Heinri and Sislein get along well.
'If they get close from a young age, there won't be a catastrophe in the future, right?'
Could this dark, tragic story turn into a sweet one?
I grinned and imagined the happy possibilities.
* * *
That night.
I snuck into the kitchen and knocked on the countertop.
Knock, knock, knock! Knock—knock, knock, knock!
It was a secret signal Sislein and I had recently created.
We had become quite close lately, enough to make something like this.
Of course, it was thanks to my tireless efforts. Bringing him food every day, talking to him incessantly even when he avoided me with one-word answers… and so on.
'It was a time of endurance.'
But fortunately, it seemed he had opened his heart a little lately. Just a tiny bit. About as much as an ant’s butt.
A moment after the signal, a boy who looked like a young wolf cautiously emerged from the cabinet under the counter.
His ruby-like eyes shone beautifully through his shaggy black hair.
"Annette."
"Sislein!"
My face lit up. I ran over and held out the cream bun from my pocket.
"You like this, right? I brought it especially for you. I wanted to bring two, but there wasn't any bread left today. I’ll definitely bring two next time. Here, eat up!"
I chattered away in my excitement, but for some reason, Sislein seemed strange.
He couldn't even eat the bread he’d received and was breaking out in a cold sweat.
'Why is he like that?'
I looked closer, puzzled, and saw that his ankle was completely red, with flesh torn away to the point where the bone was visible.
My heart sank.
"…You’re hurt? What happened?"
"It’s fine. It’s nothing."
Sislein tried to pull down his short pant leg to hide the wound.
"That’s not 'nothing.' Doesn't it hurt?"
"Yeah. It doesn't hurt."
Liar.
Did he crawl all the way here even with that leg just because I called him?
'It must be. He got caught in the trap Lady Mimosa set.'
My chest tightened at the thought of him suffering alone.
Even though he hides from the world because he doesn't want to get hurt… he ended up getting hurt anyway, Sislein.
'They said it was a hellish fate…'
Sislein.
As is typical for protagonists in novels, Sislein had a twisted past just as much as Heinri.
His mother was of the "Mephisto" bloodline, which possessed the powers of an ancient demon.
Sislein’s father, who was the Emperor, loved her deeply, and the two even had a child.
Some of the Mephisto children are born with "Black Supernatural Power," a rare and powerful ability that appears maybe once every few generations.
However, the ability was a curse in itself.
It heightened the senses, making daily life difficult, and while it granted great power, it was said that the demon would play tricks, plunging the child into a living hell.
I didn't know if that was true, but Sislein’s childhood was certainly miserable.
His mother was murdered, and he himself was secretly abandoned.
After that, he went through countless hardships—circus troupes, being a punching bag, slave auctions, and so on—before coming to the Forest.
'The eyes of such a young child are so deep and dark.'
He must have lived in an environment where he couldn't even say he was in pain when he was hurt.
Thinking of that, my hand clenched tightly.
"I’m sorry, Annette."
The boy’s sunset-red gemstone eyes turned toward the floor.
"You’re angry, aren't you? I make people angry."
"……."
I held my breath, feeling a lump in my throat, unable to answer.
It’s not that you’re bad; it’s the adults who are so angry that an 11-year-old feels intimidated who are the bad ones.
"Sislein, I’m not angry."
"…Really?"
"Yes. I’m only going to say nice things to you!"
I smiled brightly at him.
Sislein asked back as if he couldn't understand.
"Why?"
"Because you’re pretty?"
Sislein stared at me quietly with his red eyes through his black hair as I spoke with a hint of brazenness.
Then, with a faint smile, he let out a soft, melodic voice.
"You’re the pretty one, Annette."
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