A Fairy Tales for the Villains

The clash between the brothers cast a shadow on all of us, and the day passed slowly. Once noon arrived, the bell rang to announce the lunch hour. The noise level inside the tower was bearable, but the entire place seemed to vibrate every time it rang.

During our first day here, Estelle cried, saying she was going to get out of here. But now, a week later, she realized how powerless she was and just wrapped herself in blankets.

"What if the tower falls? Sasha, have you ever seen a bell tower fall?" She asked, worried about the vibrations.

"I've never seen one fall, and even if I had, this one won't. Don't worry, we're not that high up." I reassured her with a smile.

"How high up are we?" She asked, frowning.

Did she believe me? "Um, around the 5th floor, I think?"

That was a blatant lie, since we were high enough on the tower that we could see the bell over our heads. But as long as I could lessen Estelle's fears with those words, I didn't mind lying at all.

After so many days of confinement, a routine had been established. We woke up early in the morning and ate after washing up. Then, once the bell rang at noon, we had our lunch. The afternoon was spent with no snacks until we ate dinner at six o'clock, when the bell rang again for prayer time.

Today Benya didn't show up during lunch or dinner. According to Letis, he holed himself up in the library and didn't respond when spoken to.

I couldn't understand why Benya was acting like this. What triggered him? He wasn't the type to sulk for so long for something so trivial. Honestly, I should be the one sulking, not him. I couldn't even fathom why he was acting like that. No one told him to ruin the atmosphere.

We didn't see Benya again until nighttime.

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I woke up early on the next morning and took a quick glance at the ceiling window. Since the sky above us was still dark, it had to be sometime before dawn. Lowering my gaze to the spot beside me, I watch the deeply asleep Estelle for a while.

Why did I wake up so early? Was I excited that today was the last day that we had to stay in this tower?

Going back to sleep was no longer a possibility, since I was already wide awake, so I got up. My first thought was to tiptoe toward the bathroom and try to not wake up Estelle, but a stray thought suddenly popped into my mind and I turned around.

I had no idea what made me check downstairs at that precise moment. Maybe I had been under some sort of spell.

With a lit candle I took from a drawer, I carefully made my way down the narrow and dark stairs. The entire floor was dark, the only source of light being the faint glow if the candle I held in my hand. I walked forward, but and the first thing that came to view was…

… The tray cart standing in silent vigil in front of the mirror door.

I frowned, confused. Did we cover the trays yesterday? I couldn't remember if we did.

Still frowning, I approached the cart and opened the silver cover on the top. Unsurprisingly, it was the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner that the siblings and I ate all week. But we were going to leave this place today, weren't we? Why did they bring us our meals, then? Were we going to leave during the night, perhaps?

And most importantly, when did that Harris or Parris guy come and go with this cart?

A cold hand suddenly touched my shoulder and a whisper tickled my ear, almost making me jump in fright. "What are you doing?"

I turned around, half-surprised, and discover a boy standing wide-eyed behind me, his silver-gray hair dripping water all over the floor.

"Geez!" I hissed at him, heart racing.

"Why are you so surprised? Did you do something bad?" Benya gave me a once over, no doubt trying to find some evidence that he could taunt me for.

Maybe I did something bad. That is, if reincarnating into someone else's body could be considered a crime.

I tried to call my rushing heart and cough awkwardly. Benya just stared at me silently with those pale blue eyes that looked especially chilly today. I averted my eyes to the cart and he followed suit.

"… We're leaving today, so why is that here?" He asked in an offhand manner.

"Look, there's even a day's worth of food on it." I half heartedly point at our silent sentinel.

We spent a moment in silence, both gazes focused on the tray cart, until Benya gave up on glaring at the cart and just shrugged. "It's probably because we might get hungry while we wait."

I stare at him. "Then someone should have explained the situation to us, no? I mean, you and your siblings."

"… What are you getting at?" He suddenly stared at me, tone sharp and distant. It surprised me, since I had never seen him like this before. While he teased people a lot, Benya was not the type to be seriously angry or to use sarcastic words. Not to mention, he had been notably edgy since yesterday, when he almost fought with Letis.

I squirmed under his inquisitive stare. How should I explain the suspicions and discomforts I had accumulated all week long? I couldn't confirm it, but what would happen if I told Benya that his relatives might have malicious intentions toward him and his siblings?

The most likely outcome was everyone getting offended. After all, no one liked when someone they trusted was suspected of something. Even worse when their blood relations were the ones being accused.

I had no idea how I became important to those brothers in the novel, as the plot never explained it, but right now we weren't that close. Also, I wasn't the Sasha of the novel anymore. I still had the same body, but if I did something wrong, our relationship could sour.

There had to be something I could do to prevent that.

I once thought of escaping by myself, back when I had just recovered my memories, but I couldn't do it. My mother was still my mother, and so was everyone else. They weren't just characters in a novel.

I had to protect these siblings for my mother and the ducal couple, who had been so good to me. To prevent our future tragedy, Estelle's death, and Letis and Benya's eventual transformation into villains, I had to stay close to them.

And to achieve all that, I had to learn how to influence them as much as I could.

While I thought about our future, Benya laughed as he stared into my surprised eyes. It was that playful smile that made him look like a mischievous angel, creating dimples on his cheeks.

"I know you don't like the new butler either, but don't worry. When we get out of here, I'll scold him for you."