A Fairy Tales For The Villains

 

After that day,

we no longer discussed the question of when we would leave this place. As if by tacit agreement, we acted like

it was normal to spend each day here.

That

atmosphere may not have been a big deal, but it brought about a pretty big change. For example… 

 Clank! Clank! 

“What the hell are you doing now?”

 

“Ah, this is called swordsmanship training

!

“

 

‘Aha. Is that so?

How grand

that the childish act of fighting with broken ladder fragments as swords is swordsmanship training.’

 

Lettis shamelessly continued to speak

as my face showed

literal astonishment.

 

“You reminded me that we have to keep improving here too, didn’t you? That’s why I shouldn’t neglect my practice.”

 

“Ooh, I see. We’re definitely at a different level than those who whine.”

 

“That’s what I say.”

 

‘What are you talking about you snake son of a b*tch! Ughh my head… The progress I was talking about wasn’t such a childish brawl!’

 

“What the hell did Sasha say to my brothers?”

 

I couldn’t keep complaining after Estelle’s question.

 

‘I want to cry.

What

should I blame except for my own karma?

Should I say that I’m lucky that they didn’t choose to practice shooting after playing slingshot?’

 

Of course, many other things could be done other than wild sword fighting. It was surprisingly endless.

 

“Estelle, you should practice dancing.”

 

“Dance practice…?”

 

“Yeah. You have to keep doing what you’ve been learning for a long time

!

What if you can’t make a social debut properly later?”

 

“I don’t want to

!

How can I do it without music, Oppa?”

 

“Did the teachers teach you with the music on every day?” 

 

“Even so…”

 

Estelle insisted on not liking it without music, but Lettis was relentlessly stubborn, and in the end, a warm scene unfolded where the siblings took turns practicing waltzes every day.

Except for not having music, everyone was fully dressed up during practice so it was pretty accurate dance practice. It would have been perfect if there was an old piano.

As I

sat and watched the siblings’ activity,

I could understand why the existence of nobility was admired for so long. Silk socks, colorful dresses, suits, gloves, jewelry and buttons, and an elegant dance. They all looked like different people, and I felt like I was sitting in the middle of a classic movie.

 

‘Well, it’s true that we’re in some kind of story…’

 

“We can’t do this because we’re not in sync. Sasha, come here

!

“

 

Venya, who was retreating with an exaggerated movement toward the opposite wall, suddenly beckoned at me. I shook my head in fright.

 

“I- how could I… I don’t know any dance moves!”

 

“If you don’t know, just learn. We’ll teach you.”

 

“I’ll learn it, and where the hell will I use it…?”

 

“Sasha, just join us!”

 

“Yeah, we have to do it together to match.”

 

As Estelle and Lettis pressured me too, I eventually gave in to learn the social

dancing

of the noble society even though I wasn’t

born

for that kind of activity.

 

“Relax a little. Try to just give in to the music… well, imagine there’s music.”

 

“The thing is, I can’t imagine that well…”

 

“It’s always like that at first. Relax your arms and look into my eyes. It used to be like that when you dance, you have to look into each other’s eyes with your partner.”

 

‘What’s the use for me to learn something like that?! Whaaaaaa! ‘Imagine the music playing,’ ‘look into my eyes!’ Are you really Venya?!

Yeah, you are a real Young Master, I’m sorry, looking at your unsophisticated(?) appearance here, it seems that I forgot that fact for a while.’

 

It

was awkward

at first, but it was manageable because it wasn’t a flashy dance with intense movements.

As I took turns and practiced dancing under the siblings’ tutelage,

it suddenly occurred to me.

 

‘Sasha… Did she — the real Sasha, not the reincarnated me — learn to dance like this?’

 

In the novel, she

attended

banquets with the Serpente brothers despite her status as maid and nanny’s daughter. All the other nobles were outraged at

the corruption of

the social world, but

barring Sasha from

the ball meant fighting with the Serpente’s Duchy. And apart from the status issue, Sasha

drew

people’s attention wherever she went.

Like the typical irony of some King’s lover, she was the subject of all criticism and at the same time, the leader of all trends in high society… 

 

“The bell rings! It’s lunchtime.”

 

The morning passed as we focused on sword fights and dance practice under the guise of some kind of training. It

was good

exercise, and it was fortunate if our appetite

increased

.

After lunch, we took a short nap or rested for a while, and then we gathered

in

the library to read a book together. We did our best studying hard

each

in our own way.

 

At first, we played numerical games by looking into accounting books that

we didn’t understand or spreading out old maps and history books we found in the corner of a bookshelf and playing a guessing game to point out neighboring countries locations.

Then, when we got a little bored, we role-played characters from a book.

 

“I borrowed 50,000 lalis. How can this person reach 300,000 lalis?”

 

“Anyway, you don’t know how to thank me for helping you in times of need. If we hadn’t lent it to you, you would have gone bankrupt.”

 

‘…To be exact, it’s like a bad loan shark game? Hahaha… We were originally a family that started running a loan-sharking business…’

 

While spending each day like that, we gathered and did everything together. Not only when playing or eating, but also when periodically sweeping and mopping the library and other places, and washing blankets, sheets, and dirty clothes.

 

Meanwhile, winter

arrived.

The daily routine of waking up with a chill in the morning began. 

 

The cold wind blew in and the library’s window had to be closed. We felt cold even dressed

in as many layers as we could

. Whenever water was boiled on the stove, everyone gathered around it and

thawed

their cold hands and feet.

In this cold weather, bathing was a luxury, and I was already sick and tired of eating the same disgusting, cold food. The apple juice I drank every morning was covered in thin ice.

We added a little juice to the boiled water and drank it as apple tea. Only then did my body feel a little warm.

 

“My dear younger brother.”

 

“Why are you calling me, Hyunwit?”

* 

“Let’s practice swordsmanship or else I’m going to freeze to death

!

“

 

Movement

was the best way to endure the cold without a heater. We spent more time practicing or running around than sitting

and reading.

I also cleaned every day, although doing laundry was on hold since I felt like freezing every time I touched the

icy

water. 

 

“Aht- Ahh- Aaachoo~! Sasha, I’m- I’m cold.”

 

The thing that worried

me most

was Estelle. 

 

‘

She’s already

weak, what if she catches a cold in here?’

It was a big deal because I couldn’t call a doctor or give her medicine. 

 

‘If things go wrong like in the original…’

 

I put several sets of clothes on Estelle, and even took out all the shawls and wrapped them around her shoulders. She also wore three layers of socks. Then I left the stove in our bedroom and turned it on all day. Of course, it wasn’t very

warm,

but it was still better than nothing. Either way, I had to turn off the stove while sleeping.

 

It would be nice if the bedding was a little thicker, but even the carpet on the floor looked warmer than

our blankets.

I really wanted to make a campfire using books as firewood, but if I did, the fire would spread and there was a strong possibility that we would all die.

 

“I’m cold.”

 

“Cold.”

 

“It’s freezing!”

 

Since the library became extremely cold, we

brought the

book, sat down, and read wrapped with blankets around the stove. Before long, snow began to scatter through

the window above.

In the past, everyone would have been excited about the snow, but here it just made us feel more miserable. We sat close to each other talking about this and that, sharing a drink of boiling water, to forget the reality.

Fun things that happened when we were kids,

cheesy

memories about the dead, and so on. Then, the conclusion was always the same.

 

“It’s cold.”

 

Everything would have been much better if there was only hot cocoa and a fireplace. Only those two things were the luxuries we desperately dreamed of at that time.

 

“Hyung, this is a little…”

 

“I like- Achoo! I’m doing this because I like yo- Achoo! Oh, it’s freezing cold

!

“

 

“Ah! Come on! Get away from me!!”

 

At Venya’s cold rejection, claiming that he would rather freeze to death than hug his older brother, Lettis backed away with an expression that claimed he was very hurt, but instead he went to Estelle and clung to her. 

 

“Brother, you smell

!

“

 

“Wh- what do you mean I smell…?”

 

Is it called a human stove? When we hugged each other tightly, it was less cold. It would have been unimaginable before, but such things have already happened too many times here.

 

“Venya, your hands are too cold

!

“

 

“And yours are like ice cubes, Sasha

!

“

 

When we came to our senses, at some point, we

were stuck

together like a lump all day. Except while eating, we spent the whole time in front of the stove with our bodies wrapped tightly in blankets and even slept together hugging each other.

 

That day too, was one of those days… 

 *    *    * 

I thought

my nose was going to fall off. Somehow, my body was quite warm, but only my face was cold.

It was like when you’re all dressed up in the middle of winter, but you forget your scarf and go out. Opening my eyes in such an ironic sense, I almost screamed. 

 

‘What? I’m still dreaming?’

 

In the silence I slowly blinked and tried to regain my sense of

reality. Viscount

Ipolit, who it seemed that I had not seen for a hundred years, was staring down at me with a bizarre

and indescribable expression.

 

To be exact, he was staring at

the sight

of us sleeping wrapped together on the

carpeted

floor. 

 

After a

moment,

he finally beckoned

me soundlessly.

It seemed to mean that I should follow him quietly without waking the children. Therefore, as carefully as I could, I got up from Estelle’s head on my stomach, and the arms of the young Masters entangled here and there.

 

‘Aishh… why is this punk hugging my arm so tight?’

 

The kerosene had run out overnight and from the stove that had been turned off, there

rose

a really dangerous smell of soot. 

 

Even in the midst of sleepiness and frenzy, I grabbed the stove and went down the stairs unsteadily.

   Gina’s Corner:

*Hyung + dimwit= Hyunwit lmao

 Hello to old readers! As you can see, Winter Is Here! lmao Game of Thrones reference? Maybe.You waited a lot for these new chapters, right? Thank you all for your patience and support as always. I’m sorry it took so long to get to the new updates. Thanks for being there reading my projects! I’m so happy we can finally see more of our beloves babies! Don’t die with such cliffhanger lol I almost felt like some pages were missing!!Also, I want to dedicate this chapter to my lovely Ukiyo, because she is a beautiful little person, although I am sure she will read this in two years lmao