Home/I Saved the Villain and Fell Asleep/ch 29

Chapter 29

I stared intently at the mirror. My pale pink hair, resembling my mother's, cascaded in waves down to my waist.

I raised my hand and touched my face. The baby fat had melted away, making my cheeks more slender. I was taller too, and overall seemed more mature.

I was pleased that I was taller than I'd expected. Please, just keep growing like this—if I'm going to swing a club, long arms are better.

"Ah, ah."

My voice was fine too. Muscle—did I have some muscle?

Oh, I do. Good.

After examining myself in the mirror for a while, I lay back down on the bed. I admired my longer fingers for a bit, then closed my eyes to try and sleep again. But in the quiet, dark space, my chest felt heavy.

"Hari."

Now I was even hearing things. I definitely couldn't sleep like this. I felt like I'd only be able to let go of this frustration if I went and smacked Kali on the back of the head right now.

That mocking, sneering laugh was exactly like Kali's.

"Drumroll please! Sudden mood—balance game!"

This is all because of that stupid dream—I couldn't sleep, got caught up in the early morning sentiment, and went half-crazy.

"Cold-hearted, emotionless, devilishly handsome black-haired Caelius, overflowing with masculinity but not a drop of feeling VS playful, mischievous, accident-prone pink-haired Caelius with a sprinkle of rudeness!"

Choi Hari! What's your choice?

Drumroll please!

"I think I prefer the black-haired Caelius who smiles well but is a mischievous accident-prone brat with a sprinkle of rudeness!"

It was impossible to choose just one.

A "merciless, cold-blooded villain" is fun to read about in a book, but in reality? It's a total disaster.

If my club didn't have the ability to nullify magic, I would have been burned to ashes when Kali summoned dozens of fireballs in that dream.

If my club were just a wooden bat, I would have turned to ash. Right, that acrid smell... wait, acrid smell?

I approached the window and pulled back the curtain. Even though it was night, I could see gray smoke rising. I quickly raised my hand and slapped my own cheek.

"It hurts. So it's not a dream."

I pressed my temple with my right hand and shook my head.

There's no way a fire would just break out randomly. Was it an intruder?

I hurriedly threw on a thin indoor robe and stepped out of my room. I could hear Simon's voice on the first floor giving orders to the servants. Relieved, I quickly headed toward Sier's room.

My throat felt parched. Unlike the dream, this is reality.

Kali would be sleeping in his own room, and the situation outside would be handled by my parents and the shadows. Nothing would go wrong. Nothing.

...Then why can't I open Sier's door?

I stood in front of Sier's door, biting my lip.

"You can't kill me."

I know! So shut up!!

Annoyed, I flung open Sier's door. I saw Sier lying sprawled on the bed, still in his day clothes.

"Sier!!!"

Despite the commotion, he didn't wake up. I approached him and roughly shook his shoulders.

"Sier!!! Brother!!! Wake up!!!"

At that moment, Sier's eyes snapped open and he quickly reached toward me. I stepped back a few paces, and Sier glared at me with sharp eyes.

It didn't feel like he was just half-awake—he seemed wary of me. I was confused for a moment, then realized and clapped my hands softly.

'Right, I'm in my adult form right now!!'

In the blink of an eye, the room filled with fog. A chilling sensation crept up from my feet.

"Ack! Brother!!"

"Hari? Wow, you scared me. I thought I was dreaming. What is that look?"

"Th-this is the age-transformation magical tool Irein gave me..."

"Age-transformation? You really grew up just like that. But please don't surprise your brother like that—I could have done something serious."

Sier dropped his arm limply onto the bed and looked at me with a sleepy expression.

Th-that was close. Wow. That really startled me.

The fog felt strange—it wasn't the moist, hazy fog I knew. The chilling sensation creeping up my legs still sent shivers down my spine.

"Is it morning? What made you come wake me up? I'm so tired right now—ugh..."

"No, that's not it! Wake up! The house is on fire!!"

"Hm, fire... Huh? Fire?"

Sier shot up in surprise. His fog, which had filled the room, crept along the floor and slowly spread into the hallway, then swept through the entire villa in an instant.

"There's no way they'd have allowed an intruder this easily. Father is here. Is this a trap he set?"

"A trap? Then he would have at least given us a hint!"

"Hm? Father's not like that. He might have just forgotten."

With a grunt, Sier got up. Taking my hand, he stepped into the hallway, looked around, and tilted his head.

"It does seem like he set a trap on purpose."

"Why? What do you sense?"

"All the shadows from the main estate are gathered here. They're catching the spies."

The fact that they were cleaning up spies the moment a fire broke out could only mean they had set a trap and waited from the start.

But couldn't they have given us a hint? How can you not be surprised when the house is on fire? Simon said the villa would get noisy, but he didn't say it would catch fire!

"I don't think we need to go down there. Let's just go back inside. Okay?"

Sier, who valued sleep more than the commotion downstairs, started whining to go back to bed.

"Then you go back and sleep, Sier."

"Call me oppa."

"But I'm older than you now, aren't I?"

I put my hands on my hips and straightened my shoulders proudly. Sier is currently eighteen, and my appearance is at least mid-twenties!

"Hmm, right. You've grown well. Prettily."

The playful Sier from my childhood was gone, and he was slowly becoming more like Irein.

It was probably because he was sleepy... but if I said that, he'd wake right up, wouldn't he?

But I'm a good little sister, so I decided to hold back. Sier's dark circles had already conquered his face.

Sier raised his hand and patted my head. Then he subtly wrapped his arm around my shoulder and started pulling me along.

"Ah, I won't go anywhere. I just want to check on Kali's room. He's a light sleeper, and it's strange that he's so quiet despite all this noise."

"Hmm, fine. Let's go."

We passed Sier's room and headed toward Kali's. My hand, held by Sier, was sweating. As my steps slowed, Sier called my name.

"Hari?"

"No, it's just... I had a strange dream earlier."

"Why? What kind of dream?"

Sier's grip on my hand tightened. Feeling the warmth, I slowly moved forward. Even if my legs were shaky, I could bear it.

The relief of not being alone eased my anxiety.

"A dream where I opened the door and Kali wasn't there."

Through my tangled thoughts, Sier's laughter broke through.

"That's a pretty ordinary dream."

"Ordinary?"

"That kid does that often at night."

"What?"

"He doesn't do it anymore, but he used to wander around the villa quite often at night. Because he couldn't sleep."

I hadn't known that. Well, I guess I wouldn't—once I fell asleep, I rarely woke up.

"So don't worry too much just because you opened the door and he wasn't there."

Sier grabbed Kali's door handle instead of me. I secretly hid my trembling hands behind my back. Without hesitation, Sier opened the door.

The moment it opened, a white fluffball shot out of the room.

"Huh? Bibi?!!"

There was no one in the room Bibi had dashed out of. From a distance, I heard Bibi barking loudly.

Wait. Barking loudly? I'd never heard Bibi bark like that before. Nor had I ever seen him run at full speed like that toward somewhere.

"Brother, I'll go get Bibi real quick!"

"Huh? Wait, Hari!!"

The thought of chasing after Bibi took over, and before Sier could grab me, I ran in the direction Bibi had gone. At the stairs leading to the first floor, I ran into Aisa.

"Aisa!! What's happening outside? Have you seen Kali?"

"Young lady? Your height..."

"That's not important! Where's Kali?"

At my urgent question, Aisa's brow furrowed.

"Isn't the young master in his room? The outside has already been handled..."

Aisa stopped mid-sentence and scanned the first-floor lobby.

"Where's the 3rd squad?"

"They haven't returned yet."

"What?"

This conversation—strange and ominous—made my heart race. Kali wasn't in the villa, and the 3rd squad that had been handling the outside hadn't returned.

"I'll go out and search personally. Stay here, young lady."

If Aisa was going to search outside himself, I should feel relieved. I should...

Why am I so uneasy?

Suddenly, a white fluffball appeared in my vision. Seeing Bibi running toward the garden beyond the window, my body moved reflexively.

"Young lady!!"

I didn't have time to go through the door. I opened the window and jumped down.

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