TCRVP 04

Chapter 4

Third grade of elementary school.

The moment I heard those words, my mind went completely blank.

“Sniff… sob… Sob…”

Lady Melissa—or rather, this third-grade elementary school student—burst into tears again, which wasn’t helping me in the slightest.

But this was normal.

A third grader was ten years old by Korean standards, and nine by the standards of this world.

That was the age when you got nervous in front of strangers, made mistakes, became frightened before anything even happened, and ran away crying.

Once I finally regained my composure, I began soothing Melissa.

“Oh, you’re ten? There, there. It must have been so hard for you… How did you end up transmigrating?”

“Sniff… hic… I-I was just… before going to bed… I was reading a webtoon with the Grand Duke in it… Sob…”

“Ah, a webtoon… Do you remember what it was called?”

I pretended to remain calm on the outside, but inside, everything was turning upside down.

Unlike novels, which often explain even the smallest details of their settings, webtoons tend to condense the explanations and let the illustrations do the work.

That meant that even if Melissa remembered the entire story, there would be limits to how useful that information could be.

Assuming this tiny ten-year-old could even remember the whole thing.

“Save the Villainous Brother…”

The moment she said those words—

My head suddenly began spinning.

‘…What?’

Unable to keep myself upright, I sank to the floor.

Then, like electricity suddenly surging through a room after a blackout, a vivid image flashed through my mind.

It was me reading the very story Melissa had just mentioned.

‘A novel I’d only read once, and one that hadn’t left much of an impression…’

Perhaps it was only natural that I’d forgotten it.

But with that one sentence from Melissa, the memory came rushing back in its entirety.

As if…

Melissa’s words had been the trigger.

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Its abbreviated title was Save the Villainous Brother.

It had been so popular that a webtoon adaptation had come out almost immediately.

Apparently, that was the webtoon Melissa had read.

‘I was an extra in a childcare story.’

An imperial official in some obscure department whose name would normally never even be mentioned in any novel.

But I didn’t have time to dwell on the shock.

“I-I want to go home. I want to see Mom and Dad. I want to play with Choco…”

“Who’s Choco?”

“O-Our poodle.”

Melissa pouted, and her chin began trembling as though she were about to burst into tears again at any moment.

‘Oh, dear.’

She seemed to be desperately holding her tears back, but there was no way that could last.

I soon pulled the sobbing child into my arms and comforted her while swallowing a sigh.

‘Good grief…’

My head was throbbing.

It wasn’t because I felt guilty about having to tell a ten-year-old that she could never return to her original world.

She would find that out sooner or later anyway.

Among the thousands upon thousands of romance-fantasy novels out there, stories where someone actually returned to their original body could be counted on one hand.

What was really giving me a headache was the plot of Save the Villainous Brother.

Just as the title suggested, the Villainous Brother—in other words, Melissa’s older brother, the Grand Duke Achilles—was the villain.

And what did that mean?

It meant that despite appearing to obediently serve the Imperial Family like this, he was actually plotting a rebellion.

That’s right.

The Grand Duke of Cardicha was preparing to rebel.

He was harboring the absurd dream of turning the Northern Autonomous Territory from a mere autonomous territory into a power capable of ruling the entire Empire.

For reference, in the original novel Save the Villainous Brother, the Grand Duke of Cardicha did briefly seize the Imperial throne.

But in the end, he lost.

Naturally, his ultimate fate was execution by beheading.

Melissa was beheaded along with him.

“U-Unnie…”

The little girl trembling in my arms was going to die.

To be perfectly honest, whether the Grand Duke of Cardicha died or not wasn’t really my concern.

Considering the things he’d done in the so-called “original novel,” I almost felt like assassinating him myself.

Then Melissa would live, and the Empire would remain at peace.

Two birds with one stone, right?

But I didn’t have the ability to do anything like that, and if I simply left them to their fate…

‘I’d be completely screwed.’

If a war broke out, the Child Protection Bureau—a department whose sole purpose was leisurely taking care of children—would simply cease to exist.

My hard-earned job, my career, all of it would be gone.

Of course, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that I’d simply become another drop of blood in a sea of carnage.

Hahaha, my life…!

I let out a hollow laugh inside my head before coming to my senses.

‘There’s no time.’

There couldn’t be only one or two people looking for Melissa right now.

Naturally, sooner or later, someone would think to check the balconies.

And once Melissa returned to the Ducal Estate, it would be extremely difficult for an ordinary commoner like me to ever cross paths with the Grand Duke’s younger sister again.

It wouldn’t be a problem if Melissa’s side came looking for me, but expecting that kind of initiative from a child in her current state would be foolish.

‘She’s confused enough as it is…’

Melissa was, after all, the protagonist of Save the Villainous Brother.

For the record, she wasn’t an illegitimate child.

She was simply an extremely late-born child, with a seventeen-year age gap between her and her brother.

The Grand Duke and Duchess adored their late-born daughter, but unfortunately, on Melissa’s fifth birthday, she fell into a lake and spent the next four years in a coma.

The Grand Duke and Duchess summoned every renowned physician in the world, but nothing helped.

After years of despair over their daughter, who showed no sign of waking, the Grand Duchess gradually fell ill and eventually died.

The Grand Duke followed her soon after.

And when the Grand Duke of Cardicha hurried back to the castle after hearing of his parents’ deaths, what awaited him was…

His younger sister, who had awakened perfectly healthy.

With no memory of anything.

By now, you can probably guess what happened.

Melissa had awakened because someone else’s soul had entered her body.

‘But there was definitely no mention in Save the Villainous Brother of a ten-year-old transmigrating into her body!’

I don’t think her age was even mentioned.

But one thing was certain: the person who transmigrated into her body had been an adult, not a ten-year-old.

She used information that only adults could know to save the Grand Duke of Cardicha, and she even skillfully built businesses and invested in real estate.

It was completely unimaginable when looking at the “Melissa” standing before me now.

I took a deep breath.

Whatever the case, I had to accept the reality in front of me.

And I had to act in whatever way would help Melissa.

But before I could come up with a proper plan—

The door suddenly flew open, and a man rushed inside.

The very person I’d wanted to avoid more than anyone else.

The Grand Duke of Cardicha, Achilles.

The Grand Duke of Cardicha looked far more exhausted than he had a few hours ago in the ballroom.

His silver hair was disheveled, and his violet eyes were bloodshot, clear evidence of how desperately he’d been searching for his sister.

But a handsome man was handsome no matter what.

Unlike the intimidating and cold aura he’d given off in the ballroom, he now looked precarious and decadent, which somehow made him even more attractive.

…In other words, he was unnecessarily sensual.

“Melissa.”

The Grand Duke of Cardicha spoke in a hoarse voice.

“So you’re here.”

I had no desire to attract the attention of the villainous Grand Duke, so I hurriedly tried to leave.

Unfortunately, Melissa ruined that plan.

“B-Brother…”

No, Melissa!

If you’ve called your brother, go to your brother!

Don’t come to me!

But Melissa seemed completely oblivious to my silent screaming.

Instead, she slowly hid behind my back, peeking her face out from behind me.

“Brother, I’m sorry…”

The Grand Duke of Cardicha narrowed his eyes.

He took a step toward me and slowly opened his mouth.

His voice was unmistakably filled with hostility and suspicion.

“Who are you?”

I sighed.

This was exactly why I disliked older brothers in romance-fantasy novels.

Imagine treating someone who had kindly taken care of your little sister like some suspicious stranger.

“I am Tessa Harrington, Deputy Director of the Child Protection Bureau, Your Grace.”

Even so, I maintained proper etiquette and greeted him politely.

I didn’t want to give him the slightest excuse to find fault with me.

My life was precious to me, too.

“The Child Protection Bureau…”

The Grand Duke of Cardicha’s expression became complicated.

Fortunately, he no longer looked as openly hostile as he had a moment ago, but I couldn’t afford to relax.

Melissa, who was trembling as she clutched my hand tightly, wasn’t helping matters either.

The Grand Duke of Cardicha stared at the two of us.

And finally, the words that came from his mouth were…

“Do you… think I’m abusing Melissa, too?”

…What?

The Grand Duke of Cardicha casually using the word abuse made him look deeply self-deprecating.

“Your Grace, I have never once thought anything like that…”

More importantly, my encounter with Melissa had been nothing more than a coincidence.

I wasn’t here in my capacity as Deputy Director of the Child Protection Bureau.

But before I could explain that—

“No!”

Melissa suddenly cried out.

She looked desperate.

“Brother… Brother…”

The child’s voice began to mix with sobs again.

Still clutching my hand tightly, Melissa looked up at me and mumbled.

“He really cares about me, s-sob…”

It would have been wonderful if the Grand Duke of Cardicha could actually hear what Melissa was saying.

Unfortunately, she was mumbling so quietly that only I, standing right beside her, could hear her.