Chapter 3
At that moment, I felt my face flush for some reason, so I babbled a clumsy rebuttal.
“……Huh? I’m not pretty at all. That’s strange.”
“You are pretty.”
“You really have no filter, do you?”
I suppose even a cliché line sounds like flirting when a future obsessive villain says it. Even at eleven years old!
Of course, Annette, the character I possessed, was undeniably quite pretty.
A girl with honey-sweet, glowing blonde hair and eyes the color of fresh, vibrant spring sprouts.
But I didn’t think Sislein meant it simply as a compliment to my looks.
I mean, his tone was, how should I put it……
It sounded incredibly tender. Enough to make my heart tickle.
Ahem! Feeling embarrassed for no reason, I cleared my throat and stood up.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to get medicine to fix your leg!”
To be precise, I was going to steal it.
To think I’d turn into a thief—I, who was known as the model student of The Forest.
Well, he’s cute, so I’ll let it slide.
But for a first-timer, I seemed to have a natural talent for thievery.
I successfully snuck into the infirmary without anyone knowing and swiped a healing potion.
I rubbed my nose, feeling strangely proud of myself.
‘Maybe my Awakened ability is actually thievery.’
Of course, if Mrs. Mimosa caught me, I’d be ground into dust.
Mrs. Mimosa was the woman in charge of The Forest; she was usually benevolent, but she became incredibly strict whenever the Trees violated the rules.
Not only that, she was ruthless enough to use traps to catch Sislein.
Of course, that was likely a decision made on the judgment that he would die if left in the cave.
‘Still, not just anyone can set traps for a child.’
It meant she wasn’t an ordinary person.
I kept my body as low as possible and scurried through the hallway like a hamster stealing seeds.
“Sislein, I brought it!”
I knelt before the waiting boy and, without hesitation, opened the potion and dripped it onto his ankle.
Then, a miracle occurred.
Right before my eyes, new flesh sprouted rapidly, covering the exposed bone, and the wound healed without a trace.
“Wow……!”
‘Thank goodness. ……In the original story, he misses the window for treatment and ends up with a limp.’
He only gets healed by the priests after he is reinstated as royalty, but by then, he had already suffered all sorts of wounds throughout his childhood because of his leg.
To think Sislein wouldn’t have to go through that anymore…… I felt a surge of pride, as if I had protected the little boy right in front of me.
I asked with a smile.
“It really doesn’t hurt anymore, right?”
“Yeah.”
Sislein nodded calmly, but he seemed a bit moved.
“It really doesn’t hurt.”
Seeing that, I felt a sense of fulfillment that made a smile bloom on my face.
Good.
I took both of the boy’s hands in mine and said,
“Sislein, you can’t keep living in that cave, can you?”
Originally, I had planned to monitor Mrs. Mimosa’s movements and move Sislein at a safer time, but……
After what happened today, I decided I couldn’t leave him alone in danger any longer.
“Do you want to come with me?”
“…….”
I shook the blanket and smiled brightly.
* * *
Stealthily, like a cat, we headed out into the hallway.
Sislein, draped from head to toe in a white blanket like a ghost, followed while holding my hand.
“It’s stuffy.”
“……Shh! Just bear with it a little longer.”
Walking around at this hour of the night was a violation of the rules.
‘If we get caught, we’re both dead.’
Sislein, in particular, had already broken over seven rules.
It was obvious that the strict Mrs. Mimosa would mercilessly use the rod to discipline him.
‘We’ve only just managed to open his heart a little…….’
If he went through something like that, it would be irreparable.
He might never come out of that cave again. Since the traps were already useless because of me, she would probably use even more terrifying methods next time.
The kind of cruel methods that didn’t even exist in the original story.
‘Ugh, I don’t even want to imagine it!’
I must not get caught.
But then, Sislein suddenly hesitated and stopped walking.
I tugged on his hand and whispered urgently.
“What’s wrong? Let’s go quickly.”
It was then.
A voice, cold enough to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up, struck from behind us.
“You two. Where are you scurrying off to like rats in the middle of the night?”
“……!!!”
My heart nearly exploded.
Sweating cold beads, I turned around slowly.
At the end of the dark hallway, Mrs. Mimosa stood, holding a sharp rod and a lantern that glowed like hellfire.
“Annette, is it?”
Mrs. Mimosa walked slowly toward us, frozen like ice, and shone her lantern on me, then on Sislein, who was draped in the blanket like a ghost.
The golden eyes beneath her bright red hair looked down at us coldly. I gulped audibly.
“Annette, what is a model student like you doing? You know very well that wandering around at this hour is a violation of the rules.”
“Good evening, Madam.”
I managed to greet her as I usually would.
“Who is this child?”
Mrs. Mimosa ran her hand over the sharp rod and scanned Sislein, who was draped in the blanket like a ghost, from head to toe.
Then, she slowly lifted the edge of the white blanket with her rod. At that moment, I hugged Sislein tightly and shouted.
“It’s Henri!”
Henri was a nine-year-old boy who lived in The Forest and was terrified of ghosts.
“Henri had to pee in the middle of the night, but he couldn’t go to the bathroom. He said he was scared of ghosts, so I’m walking him there.”
“…….”
“If he dresses up exactly like a ghost, the ghosts will think he’s a friend and pass him by. Right, Henri?”
I said, smiling brightly at Sislein.
“…….”
Sislein, covered in the blanket, nodded slowly.
‘Please, let her buy it.’
I looked at Mrs. Mimosa with the face of an innocent, obedient model student and smiled.
Mrs. Mimosa watched me for a moment without a word, her sharp eyes seemingly trying to discern the truth.
The cold gaze from those golden eyes felt like arrows piercing the back of my head.
Thankfully, she soon lowered the sharp rod. The blanket fluttered back down to Sislein’s ankles.
“Next time, make sure to go to the bathroom before bedtime.”
“Yes! I’ll make sure to look after him, Madam.”
Only after hearing my attentive assurance did Mrs. Mimosa turn and walk away.
It was only after her figure completely disappeared that the strength drained from my body like liquid.
“Phew…….”
‘I almost died.’
If I hadn’t prepared an excuse just in case and made Sislein wear the blanket, we would have been in big trouble.
‘She believed me because of my image as a model student.’
I wondered, for a moment, how Mrs. Mimosa would react if she found out that I, of all people, hadn’t just stolen a potion but had also smuggled Sislein out.
It wasn’t a scene I wanted to imagine for very long.
* * *
“Stay here for the time being.”
I brought Sislein to a room in the mansion that wasn’t being used. It had originally been a bedroom, but it became a vacant room as the number of students decreased.
Inside, I had prepared bedding I’d brought over and food that could be kept for a relatively long time (dried meat, dried fruit, bread, etc.).
“……Where is this?”
“It’s your room, Sislein. No one will come in here.”
I lit the candles. It wasn’t proper lighting, but it had quite an atmosphere.
“I’ll bring you new clothes tomorrow, too.”
How pretty he would look in clean clothes; he was pretty even when he was all scruffy.
‘I want to return him to The Forest right away, but.’
Then he wouldn’t need to hide and could enjoy quality food and a bed. He could even make friends.
‘It’s too soon for that.’
The reason was his “water trauma.”
Sislein was terrified of water.
Because he had been bullied so severely in his previous place (to the point where I couldn’t even bring myself to say it), a fear had been ingrained in him so deeply that he couldn’t even wash himself properly.
He had a fear that if he filled a washbasin with water, someone would grab his head and push it under.
However, Mrs. Mimosa wouldn’t understand such a pitiful situation.
‘She’d just say it’s against the rules and beat him severely.’
She had done it countless times in the original story.
So, he had to be prepared before joining The Forest, at the very least.
‘I’m still thinking about how to help him overcome his water trauma, though…….’
While I was lost in thought, Sislein, who had been looking around the room, asked me quietly.
“Did you prepare all of this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Why, he asks. What do you mean, why?
“Why are you being so nice to a dirty kid like me, Annette?”
Sislein looked genuinely unable to understand. Like a child who had never received kindness in his life.
For a moment, my heart ached at the sight of the boy’s red eyes, shadowed with darkness.
“Someone being this nice to me…….”
“…….”
“There’s never been anyone.”
My heart sank at the words Sislein muttered very quietly, a little too late.
It felt as if I had caught a glimpse of the world he had lived in—a world that had no choice but to be a living hell under the “Curse of Mephisto.”
I gently stroked Sislein’s hair and smiled at him.
“Only good things will happen from now on.”
“…….”
His red eyes trembled quietly. Like a withered branch brushed by a warm spring breeze.
“Go to sleep early tonight. I have to go back now, too. If I’m gone for too long, I’ll be suspected.”
I walked toward the door, then turned back, suddenly remembering something.
“Oh! Tomorrow, I’ll introduce you to a truly ‘important person.’”
I smiled brightly.
* * *
Left alone, Sislein placed his hand gently on the bed where Annette had sat.
With his fingertips, he caressed the warmth the girl had left behind.
It was the first time in his life. Receiving such kindness, and having someone be so tender to him…….
It was as if a small star had twinkled into existence in the dark, lonely universe where there had been no one.
That single star was so bright and pretty.
Whenever Annette, with her honey-sweet hair, smiled as warmly as the spring sun, Sislein found himself wanting to become a wonderful person, just as she said.
“Only good things will happen from now on.”
That tender whisper……. Her thoughtful touch and smile.
Everything about the girl remained on his lonely heart like a clear fingerprint.
Lowering his long eyelashes, the boy softly pronounced her name with his reddened lips.
“……Annette.”
For some reason, his tongue felt sweet after saying it.
* * * I woke up early in the morning.
Today was the day Heinri would return to The Forest after two weeks of "socialization training."
After dinner, I snuck out and spent the time before Heinri’s arrival scrubbing Sislein until he was squeaky clean.
I had to make sure that finicky, psycho Chihuahua wouldn't look at Sislein and say something like, "You're filthy," triggering a future shackle flag or a doom flag.
'First impressions are everything. Everything.'
I couldn't bathe him in water, but I managed to brush his teeth, wipe him down thoroughly with a damp towel, and comb his hair.
'…My goodness. Just doing that much, and he even smells good now?!'
*Sniff, sniff.*
I buried my nose into Sislein and took a deep breath.
"This is insane. This must be the obsessive-maniac buff."
"…What is an obsessive-maniac?"
At Sislein’s innocent question, I hurriedly replied, "It’s nothing," and handed him some fresh clothes.
After changing into his new clothes, Sislein looked like a fluffy, baby beast.
'Ugh. My heart.'
Surely, now, he absolutely, positively wouldn't be able to call him "filthy"!
A short while later.
Heinri’s eyes scanned Sislein with suspicion.
I introduced him with confidence.
"He’s a new friend! Say hello, Heinri."
Heh heh. He’s not dirty, is he?
"……."
Heinri slowly looked over the boy with his signature arrogant gaze, but then, his eyes came to a sudden, sharp halt at one spot.
At the hands that Sislein and I were tightly clutching.
Heinri’s brow furrowed as he spat out,
"Disgusting. F*ck."
'…I think I’m doomed.'
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