A Fairy Tales For The Villains

 

Fortunately, instinct tends to undermine public opinion.

Taking the

cups from the tray cart and going to the bathroom, we

each g

ot a sip of water and were able to sit down and talk about what we’d just seen.

 

Lettis spoke first. His look was the same as when I instructed him to drink the bathroom water a few minutes before; as if I had asked him to capture a whale.

 

“The bell tower?

This is

the bell tower? What the f…”

 

“Oppa, do you remember the bell tower of the chapel? It’s probably the same bell.”

 

Yeah, inside the Duke Serpente’s residence, there was a chapel devoted to the family. It was

located

north of the manor, far away from the main buildin

g,

and the bell rang at noon and prayer hours every day.

 

The tower with its golden bell was so tall and luxurious that it seemed even taller and more majestic than the one in the central church downtown.

 

“…Is this inside the bell tower? I mean, was there even a place like this inside

it

?”

 

Mumbling in disbelief, Venya exchanged glances with his brother. A strange suspicion flickered in both of their sky-blue eyes and then disappeared.

 

“Neither of you guys knew?”

 

“There is no way I would have known. Did you know, Hyung?”

 

“No, I never imagined that a place like this was in the tower .”

 

It was the same for me. I

had

imagined that there might be a secret room somewhere in such a huge manor, but I never thought that a place like this

would

exist in the bell tower of a chapel of all places.

 

A place like this is our hiding place…Here, no matter who hid, there

would be no r

eason to fear

capture.

Even if someone screamed or made a fuss, no one would hear it. It was the perfect place

for

a prison. 

 

There was no exit other than the mirror door. If

we tried

to escape through the

library

window, we would eventually fall and die.

 

“Oh, so the bell will ring around noon. Is that what caused the crack on the wall?”

 

I pondered for a moment. How loud would the bell sound? Hopefully, it won’t

be loud enough

to startle Estelle. If she finds out we’re in the bell tower, I’m sure she’ll be desperate to get out of here; she’s afraid of heights.

 

But it

was true that it was the safest place within the mansion. Who would

come here normally?

Most people

would never guess that such rooms existed

within

the tower

.

 

In other words, it was truly the perfect hideout. A place that must have been deliberately created by someone a long time ago. A secret room made for people who need to hide immediately. Of course, I couldn’t consider this place a prison because there was a library here. I’m not completely sure, but I don’t think someone would have added a library if they were going to

imprison people

here.

 

Knowing exactly where we were only

confused me further

. The itching sensation under my ears and the goosebumps in my arms began again. If someone decides to

keep us

here forever…

 

“Why do you suddenly have that expression?”

 

I slowly lifted my head. But

rather than look at the boys,

I

peered in

the mirror on the opposite wall. 

 

A bedroom light with soft candlelight and three children

sat t

here. Our reflection looked like a scene from a thriller movie.

I felt

a spooky, eerie shudder at that moment, and I

didn’t know

why. 

 

“…I’ll go make sure Estelle is sleeping well.”

 

The boys

just stared at me silently the entire time I was standing up and going for the stairs.

 

Estelle was dead asleep, buried in her bed. 

 

‘What time is it now? I wish I had a watch so I can prepare in advance for when the bell rings. When I see Mr. Harris tomorrow morning, I’ll have to ask him to

bring

a watch.’

 

I sat beside the bed for a mo.ment and looked up at the ceiling where the sunlight was pouring in… 

 

Suddenly, an idea struck me; I got up and went to the closet. The crude marble wardrobe was quite large and looked like it could be used as a

bed if

a blanket was placed inside. 

 

I pulled the handle and opened the door

to reveal a closet full of girl’s dresses. Estelle’s clothes had been moved in advance. Inside the drawer, there was extra underwear, pajamas, silk socks, and brushes. 

 

I

searched through

both the closet and the drawer, but I couldn’t find any clothes for

me.

Did they forget? It

seemed

they did because they wouldn’t let Estelle and I wear the same clothes. 

 

‘I should speak to Mr. Harris about this, too. For today, I have no choice but to use Estelle’s pajamas.’ 

 

I wouldn’t even have

considered

it in other circumstances, but it

was

an

emergency, so there was nothing I could do

about it. 

 

However, the next morning, there was

no opportunity to

tell Harris what we needed. A clean new tray cart was already placed next to the mirror door when I woke up, as if he had come in while

we slept

.

 * * * * 

The

confinement

was starting to hit me hard, and I couldn’t stop thinking about fried dumplings. Although we weren’t exactly captive, it was no different from imprisonment because we couldn’t leave and go freely. 

 

“It’s damp and smelly here. I think it’s going

to stick to me,

too.”

 

Estelle had struggled to adjust since the first day, especially because she liked to wash with warm water, but she gradually

got used to it.

I believe it was due to her preference for using cold water over feeling dirty and sticky.

 

“It’s because we can’t ventilate here, but you don’t smell bad at all.”

 

Funny enough, we both left the bathroom smelling like the same soap and sanitizer. The sanitizers on the shelves in the bathroom were just the type servants would typically use, but

we had no options. 

 

Besides, we didn’t have enough towels. I had to dry them and use them again for the whole week. But of course, I didn’t mention this to the others. 

 

Estelle

preferred to d

ry herself naturally as if

she already knew that she was using

the same towel every day.

 

Speaking of naturally drying, the bedroom we were using provided excellent conditions to dry our hair as long as it was a sunny day. I often woke up early because of the intense sunlight pouring in from the ceiling, and fortunately, it hadn’t rained since

our arrival.

 

While I was looking for a comb in the drawer, Estelle sat on a

chair pouting i

n the center of the room. Her water-colored curly hair was wet and disheveled.

 

We shouldn’t stay here any longer. Even for just a few days, continuing to wash in cold water would be very bad for Estelle, who was still ill. I pitied her.

 

“I’ll comb your hair. Do you feel dizzy?”

 

“I’m not dizzy, but I do feel frustrated. I wish I could open a window at least.”

 

I wished the same thing, but there was only one window in the ceiling, and it was rather high.

 

After drying Estelle’s hair and dressing her, I combed my hair and put on some clothes. All I could have possibly worn were Estelle’s clothes. We

were two

years apart, but we were about the same size, so it was fine.

 

I never thought I would wear Princess Serpente’s dress. It was

something I

had longed for as a child, but I couldn’t have imagined that it would come true like this.

 

The very first time, I chose to wear the

simplest-looking

dress from her wardrobe. I was terrified that I might have offended her, but fortunately, my dear little foster sister didn’t seem to care whether I wore her clothes or not. 

 

Lettis didn’t react much either. On the other hand, Venya

announced

I was like a pumpkin trying to look like a watermelon.* His teasing would have lasted forever if it wasn’t for his older brother telling him to shut up.

 

I focused on

the unanswered questions o

nce again. 

 

‘Why the hell does Mr. Harris

sneak

in food while we’re sleeping, like some rat? What if we need something or someone gets sick? No matter how careful he needs to be because of the infection, it still feels excessive.’

 

“Are you done, yet? Oh, I’m starving to death!”

 

I could hear Venya’s ranting downstairs.

Estelle, still

in a bad mood, shouted back at him.

 

“You guys can eat first!” 

 

“I don’t want to eat in the bedroom alone? Father always told us that we should eat together.”

 

I couldn’t help but grin at the words of a guy who never listened to his father while he was alive. Now Venya was diligently following the late Duke’s teaching. And maybe Lettis thought the same because I could hear his sarcastic remark.

 

“Father would have been very proud to see you act so vulgarly.”

 

“Why are

you nagging

me when

you said

you were hungry too?”

 

Even if the sun didn’t serve as an alarm clock as it did on our floor, these guys

woke

early every morning, which surprised me. That meant they couldn’t be at peace until it was time for lunch. In any case, if I could have been patient for a day, this

drama

would have been over.

 

Yes, one more day.

It had been

a week since we

arrived.

I didn’t understand it back when I could still go outside, but being in a confined space like this with nothing to do made the days feel incredibly long. Even so,

time passed.

 

“I’m sick of this.”

 

With a plate of omelets, pancakes, olives, and a glass of apple juice in front of us, Estelle sighed. No matter how delicious the food was, anyone would get tired of it if they ate it every day. I was starting to

tire

already, so these guys must probably feel much worse. 

 

Why the hell do they send the same menu every day? There’s no way they wouldn’t have noticed that they were delivering the same food, and it’s unbearable to ea

t it

cold as we

don’t have

a place to heat it.

 

“What do you want to eat first when you get out of here?”

 

To

lighten the atmosphere a little

, I asked brightly, and Estelle answered without a moment of hesitation.

 

“Cheese. I want to eat all kinds of cheese.”

 

“Me, a stew of sea bass and veal. Oh, and I want to try the mushroom soup again. Damn, why do I suddenly feel hungry when I’m already eating?”

 

Venya grumbled unhelpfully

while stuffing the syrup-soaked pancakes in his mouth. Lettis also joined.

 

“I would make no other wishes as long as I ate some cold sherbet. We’ve been stuck here for a few days, and I feel like I’ve got dust in my throat. Sasha, what do you want to eat?”

 

“Um, maybe a cream cake?”

 

“I knew it

!

I used to offer you my dessert all the time

!

“

 

For other servants, cream cakes were a luxury, but there was a way to taste

one

almost every day for me. I smiled brightly as I looked directly at Lettis’ face remembering our childhood memories.

 

“Right… Do you remember when my mother found out? I was scolded a lot.”

 

“Waaah, your mom was no joke. I was really scared of her when she got mad. Even if I told her it wasn’t for free, she didn’t hear me.”

 

“That made it worse because she knew that you would never have thought of giving it to me.”

 

“After that, you

sulked and hid

in the greenhouse all day. You fell asleep there, right? What would you have done if my father hadn’t found you?”

 

Now it was only a memory of

people

I would never see again. I smiled at Lettis. Is it because there was someone with whom

I had these shared

memories? Rather than

sadness,

a

warm nostalgic feeling

rose inside me. 

  Gina’s Corner:*

‘pumpkin’ in Korea is slang for ugly, so yeah, Venya is saying she’s ugly but looks slightly better. Fricking Venya, lol

Sasha calls Lettis ‘oppa’ as they are close, and he’s only by a year older.