Chapter 31 - Unbaptized Black Beast

Flinch.

I was frozen at the first treatment I've ever had from him right after he came to the castle.

Camillean spit out in a sharp tone.

"Beans, who are you talking about? Why don't you watch your mouth?"

Avelle also looked disapprovingly at him. Avelle held my hand slightly as if it was okay.

Everyone was taking my side, so I became a little confident and glared at Carlyx, but he frowned and started talking again.

"I've heard of it, but is that the fourth thing my father was talking about? Did you make sure that she really has the blood of our family?"

At the end of his words, the atmosphere was completely frozen.

"Just in case. For the dignity of our family, fake things…"

"Carlyx."

At that time, Henriette cut off Carlyx's words.

"After going to the tower, you've become quite proud. Who gave you permission to say such a thing?"

Carlyx stopped talking and hardened his face.

Looking up at Henriette, he had a much scarier, more grim face than when I first came to this castle.

"Go to your room. Don't come outside until I give you permission."

"...yes."

Carlyx couldn't even make eye contact with Henriette, but he stared sharply at me and turned away.

It's been a long time since I've been treated like this.

My arms and legs were as stiff as they were, and Avelle held me gently and stood up from his seat.

"Lotty, are you all right? It's been a long time since he came to the castle, and I think he lost sight of it."

Avelle thought I was surprised, so he is patting me on the back.

Camillean, who had just been staring at the door with a cold face, also looked back anxiously.

"Our youngest! Didn't you cry? Are you okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll scold him next time."

Henriette was looking at the back of Carlyx as he stepped out into the hall while my two brothers made a fuss.

Knowing how scary it was to be scolded by many people at once, I grabbed Avelle's sleeve and shook my head.

"No, no, don't scold him."

"Lotty, why ····."

"I don't want you to scold him. It's scary."

And if he found out he's in trouble because of me, he's gonna hate me even more.

Speaking of which, Avelle and Camillean both look embarrassed.

Avelle stroked my hair with great care.

"I'm sorry, Lotty. Yeah, I promise I won't scold him. Don't worry, I'll just tell him not to do it again."

"Ugh, it's my brother's fault, too. So he should get in trouble! What's that attitude?"

Camillean finally grumbled, looking back at the door. Then I saw Henriette turn to my side and shut up.

"Never mind him. I'll talk to him well."

Is Henriette really good at talking?

No, I'll bet my favorite dessert, cream strawberry tart.

I shook my head desperately and reached out to hold onto Henriette's sleeve.

"No, I don't know yet. Dad, don't scold third brother."

"Lotty, look how thoughtful you are…"

Camillean covered his cheeks with both hands and spat out admirably, and Avelle reached out with a pitiful face and began stroking my head.

Henriette looked down at me with a little surprise, sighed, and silently turned away.

'In fact, Carlyx is normal. Even in the original book, Carlyx was like that to everyone. Avelle, Camillean, and Henriette are the only ones far too different from the original.'

While painting for mental and physical stability after returning to the room, I tried to understand him somehow, reflecting on Carlyx's behavior.

(Just a clarification, Painting is part of healing the child's trauma as well as playing according to Ennys, her therapist.)

But my child's heart is so sad right now.

Is it because everyone has loved me so much since I came to the castle?

I can understand it in my head, but I was still embarrassed by the coldness of my third brother.

I ended up feeling down.

"Oh, my lady! Are you drawing a black, fluffy animal this time?"

"No, my heart."

"I see, your heart… huh?"

Peina listened to me, stood with a serious face, and hurried out of the room, saying she would bring Ennys.

Although I was extremely depressed, I tried to soothe the spirit of a child with the adult mind.

Yeah, well, it's weird that everyone in the world would be nice to me in the first place, right?

In fact, everything was already a strange situation.

After hearing that Count Semond had fallen under the name of Rossette, there was one thing I couldn't think carefully back then because everything in the world seemed peaceful.

Did my novel originally feature a character named Rossette?

No, there's no one like that.

I had no plan to make her, and in the first place, I set up only three sons and a father.

It's not even a character that has anything to do with the original heroine or male character.

And beside me, the name of the character "Kian" was also not in the original book.

Even reaching out to aides or Henriette's vassals, the people I met and heard their names existed in the original book.

Even my maids, Peina, Shelia, and Mary, come out briefly once in a while.

In addition, even though it was an extra, Count Semond was a family that existed in the original.

But there was no word that Henriette directly destroyed Count Semond and his vassals.

Even Peina, Shelia, and Mary, there was no word that the Duke of Wensgrey would have them as the only maid of the family.

Where the hell did it get twisted?

In retrospect, everything from one to ten is strange.

The characters who act completely differently from what I remember, and the current situation.

The novel I wrote wasn't supposed to be like this.

"Ugh·····."

I can't get my hands on the picture. I just put the crayons down and stood up.

I have no choice but to think positively for now.

Well, not all of this is against me right now, and thinking negatively won't change anything.

Is it because the existence of a character suddenly emerged in this world that caused minor changes?

'I'm the original author from the beginning. Maybe it's a special treatment of the original book that attracted me.'

I decided to think as simply as possible. I had a headache and was tired because I kept pushing my limits with a child's body.

But how do I accept Kian's existence?

Even so, a character named Kian really didn't exist in the original story.

'Imaginary friend ······ Yeah, let's say it's an imaginary friend. As they say.'

We were supposed to be friends and now I'm thinking endlessly, but the ghosts probably wouldn't give me such a warning for nothing.

It's almost certain that Kian is not human.

"Kian is an imaginary friend. Kian is an imaginary friend…"

I covered my head and muttered like that.

After finding the answer, I felt a little relieved.

Still, I was a little disappointed because he looked like a friend for a long time.

But isn't it better to be friends with the same human being than being friends with something that's not human?

Peina brought Ennys into my room while I was holding the crayons again, thinking so.

As she checked my painting, I had to restart my second healing session today.

***

"…and that's how the paper princess managed to get rid of the monster under the bed and save the cowardly prince of wheat dough."

"Wow!"

I looked at Avelle with a lively admiration.

Avelle, who was reading a children's fairy tale book by my bed, closed it with a proud face.

I was a little surprised that he suddenly came to me to read a fairy tale book before going to sleep, but Avelle was very fluent in reading fairy tales.

I felt a sense of urgency, and my hands were sweaty without realizing it.

"By the way, is there really a monster under the bed?"

A monster under the bed was the most common ghost story in the Western world on my planet, and there seems to be a similar ghost story in this world.

When I asked him a little because I was curious, Avelle smiled softly.

"Of course. The monster is always waiting under the bed to eat the children who sleep late."

"Hyuk, I'm not sleeping right now!"

Since the curse of God, named Holy Spirit, exists, wouldn't there be monsters?

The child's heart felt a little scared, so when I pulled the blanket up to my face, Avelle looked like he was holding back his laughter.

"Lotty's got a big brother, so it's okay. The monster under the bed, the big brother..."

He seemed to choose a few words, and soon smiled softly.

"I'll cut off their neck and bury it on the ground, and then plant our lotty's favorite flower on it."

I think that's the highest level of simplification you've made, but what were you going to do with the monster under the bed?

"But why is the monster under the bed?"

I was curious purely as a child, so I asked while sticking my eyes out of the blanket.

If there really is a monster, are "spirits" and "monster" different beings?

"Well, it's probably because you haven't been baptized."

"Baptism?"

"Yes, from the moment of birth, all life in this world is baptized by sunlight, the air, the earth, and everything in the world, including the stars of protection. To breathe, to live, to be in the light, to be in the darkness."

The baptism in this world seemed to be a different concept from the baptism I knew.

Should I say it feels more like a blessing than a baptism?

"If you haven't been baptized yet, what happens?"

"There is no being unbaptized, Lotty. Well, unless you are something higher than that to be baptized, or something that cannot even be called life? or…"

Avelle tilted his head sideways, suddenly holding a playful smile of his age.

"He's already dead!"

"Ah!"

He suddenly surprised me.

When he saw me hiding under the blanket, Avelle burst into laughter.

When I pulled down the blanket and glared, Avelle tried to stop the laughter and apologized to me.

I replied with my lips pouting.

"Well, then, I'll cut you some slack."

His laughter grew louder when he heard it. I glared at him when I was sullen.

Avelle said he would stay in the castle until tomorrow, and he would have to go to Capital the day after tomorrow.

Avelle belonged to the Royal Knights of the Imperial Family, so he has to go for training.

He said he would stop by the castle more often in the future.

Henriette's orders, and because I'm here.

The words somehow made me feel very happy.

A cold-blooded man who easily destroyed an area in the original book.

But Avelle, who was younger than then, smiled affectionately at me with his unique cold face.

"I actually found out a little late that I had a sister. Well, you didn't stay in the castle that long as a baby."

'I've never asked my father,' he added, scratching his cheek awkwardly.

"But I'm really thankful you're back in the castle. Your older and younger brother waited for you for so long. You're my family, and you're my sister."

"····· Really?"

"Yes, indeed."

His face obviously looked cold, but he also looked very soft and friendly with a smile.

"Is it okay if your oldest brother reads fairy tales to you this often in the future?"

"Yeah!"

I nodded my head excitedly. Avelle looked very happy.

When it was time to sleep, Avelle carefully kissed my forehead and left the room.

Avelle seemed to really care about me from the bottom of his heart.

In fact, I was worried if he suddenly bothered me, his new sister, but I was relieved that he didn't seem to have any wants to do that.

Just like Camillean and I'm honestly very happy that they've both treated me so well.

'I wish I could have a chance to talk to Carlyx calmly tomorrow.'

With that in mind, I tried to go to sleep first.

But I couldn't sleep, so I kept tossing and turning.

I don't know if it's because Avelle's story keeps coming to mind.

'The monster is always waiting under the bed to eat the children who sleep late.'

"…"

If this was Earth, you could have thought that such a story was made up to put children who sleep late to bed early.

But there's really a monster called the Holy Spirit here.

What if there's really something like that under my bed?

… This is all the fairy tale book's fault.

I thought so because I didn't want to blame Avelle.

And then I try to force myself to fall asleep.

Rattle.

The bed shook underneath.

"…"

I, I'm sure I heard it wrong.

As soon as I thought so, I heard something bumping into me loudly under the bed again.

I immediately sprang up my upper body.

'·····W, what's really there? I hope none.'

Let's be realistic.

There is quite a space under my bed.

However, if there's really something down there, there's no way that Avelle, who was sitting in front of it, didn't notice.

Most of all, Henriette would have noticed if there was a monster in the castle.

While thinking about that, I lay down on the bed and looked under the bed with my head down.

I made eye contact with two eyes that shone in the dark.

At one look, I got chills all over my body.

I jumped up and burst into tears as I quickly stepped back onto the bed.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"