By now, the servants and maids had long since departed, leaving the door securely shut.
Loxidian, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, slowly pried them open and immediately scowled. He muttered something, his expression a mix of lethargy and irritation.
“Hey, come here.”
Why did I move? My body acted on its own. It didn’t feel strange, though—as if the Charlize in my memories had often obeyed him with the same weary resignation.
“Hey, hey, Yoon Ji-Hoo! Yoon Ji-Hoo! Something’s wrong! Come here quickly!”
As I approached him, his demands began to spill out in rapid succession.
“Close the curtains.”
“Turn off the lights.”
…So this was that sense of déjà vu.
“Oh, and bring some refreshments. You, yourself.”
“Hey, make some ramen. Enough for two people, but like a three-person portion.”
…Why did this feel exactly like my late older brother, Yoon Ji-Hoon? The sync was one hundred percent.
“What are you doing? I told you to close the curtains.”
Are all older brothers in this world the same toward their younger sisters? That couldn’t be right. Surely there must be one sweet, kind older brother out there? The Loxidian I had read about in the book was at least supposed to be that way—at least until Charlize neared the moment she would inflict a fatal wound on the female lead.
I wiped my face in disbelief, my mouth moving before I could check myself.
“You close them.”
Ah, I had done it without thinking.
“You?”
“Yeah. Do you not have hands?”
“Huh? You’ve grown quite a bit, haven’t you?”
Charlize had clearly rebelled in her own way, so this should be fine, right? Perhaps it was because Yoon Ji-Hoon’s image kept overlapping with his that the retort slipped out so easily.
Loxidian looked at me as if my insolence were laughable, then snorted.
“Since you’re finally acting out the rebellion you missed in your puberty, should I teach you some manners after all this time? Huh?”
Is the male lead actually a third-rate thug?
I frowned, feeling the romantic fantasy of the novel I had loved shattering into pieces. I had made a grave mistake; I had let my guard down, completely underestimating the madness of the tyrant male lead.
For a split second, Loxidian’s eyes sank into a dark, hollow gloom.
“Ugh, argh…… of all times. Right now.”
At the same time, a strange golden hue flickered in his crimson eyes.
*Wait. Wait a minute…… could it be?*
In the novel, the tyrant Loxidian suffered from a volatile madness. He was labeled a tyrant largely because he would occasionally lose all sense of self and go on a rampage. It was my error to have forgotten this, even for a moment.
*Whoosh—.*
A sharp, unnatural wind tore through the room. I was so paralyzed I even forgot to retreat.
Loxidian, his face now completely devoid of expression, pulled his sword from its scabbard and leveled it at me. I held my breath, my heart hammering against my ribs.
*Damn it, you lunatic. Give me back my fantasy. Where did the handsome, kind brother go? I thought that was the only perk of waking up as Charlize!*
As Loxidian raised his hand as if it were a trivial task, I squeezed my eyes shut and shrieked.
“Oh, Mommy! G-go away!”
*BANG!*
The room shuddered with a violent crash. When I opened my eyes, I saw Loxidian sprawled on the floor, cast far away from where I stood. He attempted to push himself up with the grace of a seasoned swordsman, but I wasn’t looking at him.
*W-what. Why is my necklace like this?*
To my shock, the pendant around my neck was pulsing with a brilliant golden light.
Simultaneously, a buried memory flared in my mind.
“My daughter, my son. You two siblings must get along well, understand? Or Mommy will be angry.”
“Especially! Loxidian! Take good care of your sister!”
It was the late Empress, Charlize’s mother. The woman with the same red hair as my maternal grandfather laughed brightly in the memory, her voice echoing with a lingering warmth.
“If your brother bullies you, call for Mommy anytime. I’ll scold him thoroughly and make him kind.”
1.
Loxidian slowly stood up from amidst the swirling dust.
I gulped, my breath hitching as I watched him grip his sword in one hand.
Was I the one who blew my brother away? It certainly seemed that way. I didn’t know what kind of power this was, but please, save me……!
As I trembled, fearing the blade might fly at me again, Loxidian suddenly dropped his sword with a look of pure shock.
*Clatter!*
He strode toward me, his face a mask of distress.
“Goodness, what have I done……! Are you alright, Liz?”
……Excuse me?
“I’m sorry. Brother was wrong. I’ve done a terrible thing!”
In truth, Loxidian was a man of fierce, wild appearance. Yet, here he was, clutching my shoulders, his eyes brimming with worry, his expression so sullen he seemed like an entirely different person.
It was as if a tiger were pretending to be a kitten, hiding its massive claws to look at me with pity. My jaw nearly hit the floor at his sudden shift.
“……U-um, Your Majesty?”
“Your Majesty? Why call each other so distantly as siblings? Come on, call me Brother.”
“…….”
What is this? Is the male lead suffering from a split personality?
Just as I began to unravel, Loxidian’s expression distorted violently. In a heartbeat, he reverted to the look he wore when he first entered the room—no, he looked even fiercer.
“Hey, you XX, little sister, what did you just do?”
“…….”
“Ah, damn it, my madness.”
I didn’t know what was going on either. Loxidian glared at me and raised his hand. I flinched, squeezing my eyes shut in anticipation of a blow.
“E-a-ah, Mommy!”
“…….”
Silence flooded the room. I opened my eyes.
“Ugh, were you startled? I’m sorry. Brother was just trying to rub your face…….”
Crazy. I was back to the polite, out-of-character brother.
……Wait. Could it be?
“Mommy?”
“…….”
Is it possible that every time I shout “Mommy!”, this brother switches back and forth? I had no idea why, but it seemed to be the case.
“Ah, damn it, what is this? I feel like I’m going to throw up!”
“Mommy?”
“Oh my, I’m sorry, Liz.”
Watching Loxidian’s personality seesaw, I stood paralyzed, my mouth agape. Good heavens, I just wanted my coins back; what was all this……?
It felt like I had stumbled into a bizarre disaster before I’d even managed to meet my important fiancé. I had been saddled with a strange, troublesome burden at the worst possible moment.
* * *
Not knowing what to do, I stared blankly, gauging his mood. The anger on his face seemed to be building in real-time, yet I faithfully shouted “Mommy” every time he reached for me, causing him to reset every single time.
“Hey, can you stop already?”
“B-but if you grab me, you’re going to hit me, right?”
“What? When have I ever hit you…….”
“Argh, Mom…….”
“Ah, damn it, I won’t! I won’t do it!”
In the end, Loxidian gave up on grabbing me and buried his face in his hands.
“Noah.”
As Loxidian muttered the name, the space behind him tore open as if sliced by a blade. Surprisingly, a man stepped out from the pitch-black, hole-like void.
“Good heavens.”
He was incredibly handsome, his forehead slightly damp with sweat. He glanced around the room and frowned, as if he had been expecting this.
“……Have you finally beaten your only blood relative due to your madness? How disgraceful…….”
“Shut up.”
He had handsome, delicate features. I knew him instantly by his ocean-blue hair, elegant jawline, and the slow opening of his gray eyes.
Noah. The second male lead.
“Even though I was a little late, what on earth is this?”
He carried a softer air than Loxidian. His expressionless face was so refined and beautiful that one might mistake him for a woman, yet beneath that, he felt cool and detached.
“You said you could handle it yourself!”
For a fleeting moment, his ash-colored eyes flickered toward me before snapping back to Loxidian.
“You must cherish the only other imperial bloodline in the empire, besides Your Majesty’s own. You know full well the consequences if even a single drop of that blood were to vanish in our current situation.”
Noah Chendice.
He was the second male lead, the Emperor’s adjutant, and his guardian knight.
I also knew the other, more clandestine role he played. As a character tethered to a major plot twist, I had assumed our paths wouldn’t cross until much later in the story…
“Weren’t you supposed to be discussing the Duke’s daughter’s fiancé while welcoming her home after all this time? Why is the floor shattered, and why is your sword drawn, Your Majesty?”
“Ah, just shut up for a moment.”
Loxidian covered his ears briefly, then pulled his hand away to rake his fingers through his hair.
“Enough. My madness has subsided.”
“Pardon? Is that really what’s important right now—oh, I see. That is a very important matter indeed.”
Noah turned his gaze toward me, his expression turning unnervingly serious.
“Hah. I see. So the key was the Duke’s daughter all along…”