Leave the Villainous Second Male Lead Alone - Chapter 2.9

It seemed Lawrence was still a child after all. I had expected him to ask for something grand, but a picnic? Unlike Callisto and me, who were always together, Lawrence must have wanted to spend time with us since he often stayed by himself at the mansion.

That was an easy decision. I nodded eagerly.

“Sure, let’s do that. Callisto hasn’t seen much of the Wynyeats estate, so it would be nice to show him around.”

“…Callisto?”

But Lawrence’s tone when he repeated Callisto’s name sounded strange. No matter, Callisto, sitting next to me, squinted his large eyes and smiled brightly.

“Yeah! I’m up for it! Let’s go, Lawrence!”

“…So Callisto is coming too?”

Was the two of them finally starting to get along? I glanced at the two little troublemakers when suddenly three kids started murmuring, and one of the beagles popped up right in front of me.

“What? A picnic? Anetta wants to come too!”

“Eek, you startled me.”

As expected of the future top swordsman of the empire, Anetta, the older twin of the Gilloth twins, was faster than lightning. I widened my eyes in surprise and stared at Anetta. Then, the other beagle jumped in.

“Kevin too! I want to go on the picnic! The Wynyeats estate picnic sounds awesome!”

“Yeah! You guys should come too. It’ll be fine, right, Lawrence?”

Callisto seemed happy to have friends his age, and he kept looking at Lawrence with a delighted expression. Lawrence, on the other hand, was the only one looking reluctant.

“Ugh… sure…”

Lawrence reluctantly agreed. Then, Breene, who had been standing at a distance, slowly walked over and gave the twins a scolding.

“Don’t you have any shame? I’m embarrassed for you.”

“Ha ha… It’s nice that the kids are so bright and energetic. Let’s all go together.”

“I’m not friends with them. Really.”

Breene mumbled in a calm voice. Next to her, Lawrence was frowning deeply, glaring alternately at the twins and Callisto, who were huddled together.

However, it wasn’t possible to just jump straight into playing before starting the lesson. We decided to schedule the picnic for next week, and after that, we finally had our first lesson with the tutor, who had just arrived. Since the children’s ages varied, the teacher adjusted the difficulty of the lesson to a moderate level.

Fortunately, when I possessed Etienne’s body, I retained all the education Etienne had received. Although the language was different from the one I had used in my previous world, I had no problem reading and writing. Moreover, since my soul was that of an adult, teaching a class of children came naturally to me.

Brienne, known for her intelligence, and Lawrence, who had been receiving high-level education from a young age, seemed to follow along with ease. The younger twins, with far more talent in swordsmanship than in academics, looked a bit overwhelmed, but they still paid attention and focused diligently. I was worried since I had created this joint class from scratch, but it seemed like everyone was enjoying the lessons, which was a relief.

The problem arose unexpectedly.

After several lessons, that evening, I lay down in bed, having finished getting ready, but I couldn’t fall asleep. After tossing and turning a few times, I realized something was missing.

It was the time when Callisto would always crawl into my arms.

“Elcy, where’s Callisto? Is he in his room?”

I looked around, searching for Callisto. The bed was large, but it felt strangely empty without him. Elcy answered, almost absentmindedly.

“He said he was going to sleep alone tonight.”

“He’s sleeping alone?”

Something didn’t feel right. Since we had started sharing a room, Callisto had never once slept alone. I mumbled to myself, uneasy, and finally decided to go search for him.

Callisto’s room was just across the hall from mine, only three steps away. As expected, as soon as I arrived at the door, I heard sounds from inside. Callisto was sitting on the bed, flipping through a book—one of the textbooks we used for the joint class.

‘He’s studying this late?’

In the original story, Callisto was depicted as being talented in both civil and military affairs. While the Gilloth twins and Brienne excelled in their own fields, none of them could surpass Callisto. Especially in tactics, he was almost a genius, completely taking control of the imperial navy at a young age.

I had assumed he was a natural genius, but it seemed that his efforts to study alone at this late hour showed just how hardworking he really was. I felt proud and was about to approach him when…

“Sniff…”

A small sob broke the quiet in the room. I froze in place, too shocked to move. The sobbing grew louder, and only then did I snap to my senses. I rushed to him and pulled him into my arms.

“Why are you crying, little one? Who made you cry?”

“Hic… Hyung…?”

Callisto looked up at me, his eyes wide, and quickly covered his mouth with both hands, hiccupping. He must have been scared because his tears stopped instantly.

“Why are you here… I was going to sleep alone…”

Callisto hastily hid the book behind him, glancing nervously at me. I pulled him onto my lap and hugged him.

He hesitated for a moment, but soon leaned against my chest and let out a long sigh. His childlike sobs mixed with the sound of his deep sigh, and though it was almost amusing, the tears in his breath made my heart ache.

I gently soothed Callisto, wiping his wet cheek with my thumb. His cheeks, now round and soft like sticky rice cakes, had filled out since he first arrived. I softly patted him, and his sobs gradually quieted.

“Why were you crying? Did the servants treat you badly?”

I knew the servants’ attitudes toward Callisto had changed since I started living with him. Even the stern butler, Cliff, had become quite polite. Callisto was now treated as the second son of the Count’s family. Yet someone had still managed to make him cry. Whoever it was, I was going to deal with them properly this time.

But Callisto shook his head. His dark hair gently swayed on his forehead. I lifted his bangs and pressed my lips gently to his round forehead, asking softly.

“Then why were you crying?”

“Just… don’t mind it.”

“What do you mean? How can I not mind it?”

“I can handle it myself…”

It seemed that Callisto didn’t want me interfering. He kept pushing me away, and I felt upset and hurt. But this wasn’t the time to worry about my feelings. I tightened my arms around him and responded reassuringly.

“Of course, Callisto can handle it himself. But can’t you tell me what happened? I’m curious.”

“…I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Is there something you can’t say to me? Hm?”

When I gently coaxed him, Callisto looked down silently. Drops of moisture formed on his long, separated eyelashes and fell. His chubby cheeks had grown warm from crying, and I felt so sorry for him.

Some time passed before he finally spoke, his voice strained.

“I can’t… read.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

I asked absentmindedly, but for some reason, Callisto clammed up again.

Looking down at him, I remembered what I had seen earlier. Before I arrived, Callisto had been sitting alone, crying while looking at his book. A sudden thought flashed in my mind.

‘Could it be…?’

I flinched in surprise and looked down at Callisto, who had his head bowed low. He was still sobbing quietly, his shoulders trembling slightly.

I gently cupped Callisto’s cheek and stroked it as I cautiously asked,

“Callisto, can’t you read?”

“Wahh…”

Callisto finally broke into sobs again.

I was so shocked that I desperately tried to comfort him. I wanted to bite my tongue for not realizing sooner.

“Don’t cry, little one. I was wrong. I’m sorry, okay?”

“Hic… I can’t… read…”

Callisto’s eyes quickly reddened, and he clung to my clothes, sobbing uncontrollably. Seeing a child still unable to read and crying about it made my heart ache.

“It’s okay. It’s nothing to cry about. Stop, okay?”

“Then… sniff… will you stop treating me like I’m special?”

“What? What do you mean? Why would I stop treating you that way?”

“Because I don’t know anything…”

“So what? It doesn’t matter if you know everything or nothing—Callisto is special.”

“You’re lying…”

“I’m not. And if you don’t know something, we can learn it together. I’m sorry. I should’ve thought more.”

“Really?”

“Of course. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

I repeated it several times while gently patting him.

In the original story, Callisto was a genius who could do anything effortlessly. That’s why I never worried about him, just assuming he’d handle everything perfectly.

But the original only showed a small part of Callisto’s life.

This world I now lived in was no longer a story. Callisto, Lawrence, and Count Wynyeats were real people, not just fictional characters. They each had their own stories and struggles that the author never depicted.

Callisto, who appeared to be a natural genius, must have worked incredibly hard in his life. Learning to read and acquire knowledge was one of those efforts. While the joint lessons with Ivry were going on, Callisto had been secretly studying on his own. But the original story never mentioned this process.

Thinking about it, Callisto had been raised in constant danger from the Empress and Duke Harrington from the moment he was born. After his nurse was murdered, a five-year-old child wandered the slums alone for two years.

It had never been a suitable environment for learning. I had failed to realize that.

Callisto, unable to calm down easily, continued to sob. I didn’t know how to comfort him, and I felt helpless.

“Little one, please stop crying. Why do you keep crying?”

“I can’t read… Do I have to learn separately?”

“Yes. You can learn. So…”

“Then, do I have to stop going to lessons?”

“Huh?”

I was momentarily taken aback as the conversation suddenly shifted.

The lesson was originally started because of Callisto. The goal wasn’t so much to gain knowledge, but to help Callisto become closer to Lawrence, his future lover, and to build relationships with the other children.

So, even if Callisto didn’t know how to read, it would be problematic if he didn’t attend. I couldn’t just take four children, none of whom were even ten years old, and have them attend lessons they didn’t need.

‘Still, it would be hard for him to keep up if he didn’t know how to read. Maybe he doesn’t want to attend the lessons with us.’

I couldn’t force Callisto to do something he didn’t want to do, so I was in a dilemma. As I continued to think about it, I was still uncertain when suddenly Callisto tugged on my sleeve. Tears like beads rolled down his pale cheeks.

“Please don’t send me away. I’ll study hard. I want to take lessons with you, Hyung…”

“…Little one.”

It was surprising to hear that he still wanted to stay in the joint lessons.

How much did he dislike being left alone? When I thought about it, Callisto was still a child who didn’t want to sleep alone at night.

I wiped his swollen cheek with the back of my hand, and Callisto sniffled, rubbing his cheek against my chest. I couldn’t bear the thought of him being left out and feeling lonely.

‘I didn’t even know he was thinking like this.’

I regretted only thinking about my own survival and the business. I lowered my head and pressed my lips firmly to Callisto’s wet cheek. By now, Callisto was hiccupping softly.

Every time Callisto hiccupped, his round shoulders trembled. I hugged him tightly, whispered softly in his ear.

“Do you really want to keep taking lessons with me?”

“Mm…”

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