Leave the Villainous Second Male Lead Alone - Chapter 5.12

Instead of answering, I stared out at the rain-soaked night.

The sound of pouring rain continued uninterrupted outside. On nights like these, I used to hold Callisto until dawn, reassuring him when he trembled at the thunder and lightning. Back then, he found comfort in my arms and could sleep peacefully despite his fears.

But after leaving Wynyeates, Callisto had been forced to bury his trauma to survive. Storms were common at sea, and as a leader, he couldn’t afford to show weakness.

Still, everyone has the right to feel fear.

I wished for Callisto to rest comfortably, at least by my side. Just as he often stayed by mine during other difficult nights.

As his warmth seeped into me, I began to relax. I pulled him closer, patting his shoulder affectionately.

Callisto shifted, awkwardly adjusting his large frame until his broad shoulders fit into my embrace.

The night in the northern continent passed quietly like that.

“Actually…” Callisto’s voice broke the silence much later, when I had just started to drift off. His whisper startled me awake. Outside, the storm continued to rage, rain pounding against the ground.

He must have dozed off briefly, as his head was resting lightly on my shoulder. His damp lashes trembled slightly as he blinked, and he spoke in a hushed tone.

“I’m still a little scared. Just… a little.”

“Mm, I see,” I replied softly.

The fear experienced in childhood doesn’t fade easily. I nodded, offering a small reply, and instinctively tried to tighten my arms around him. Noticing this, Callisto shifted even closer, curling against me.

“It’s not just because of the nanny,” he admitted quietly.

“Hmm? Then what is it?”

His next words caught me by surprise. I had always thought his trauma stemmed solely from that fateful night with his nanny, never considering there might be more.

Callisto stared into the air, his lips moving faintly as he continued.

“For a while, even storms like this didn’t bother me. There wasn’t time to think about the past. But lately… I keep dreaming about the same thing. Just now, before you woke me… I had that dream again.”

“Was it…?”

It sounded like one of the dreams that showed glimpses of the original story’s events. He had once told me about a dream where the empire was swallowed by a great flood. If his dreams were progressing to the later chapters, they were now showing the more tumultuous parts of the story.

“It was a stormy night, like this. My rebellion had already reached the capital, and Lorence… I mean, in the dream, my child’s…”

He trailed off, fumbling over his words. I interjected gently.

“You can just call him Lorence.”

Callisto frowned, lines forming between his brows. I reached out to smooth the crease with my finger.

“It’s Lorence, isn’t it?”

“…Anyway, he suddenly decided he didn’t want to stay with me and ran away. He disappeared completely…”

It seemed we had reached the part where Lorence escaped.

Callisto’s expression was grim, but I couldn’t help my wandering thoughts. If I were to take on the role of this new “main character” in the story, would I also have to run away from Callisto? The idea didn’t sit well with me.

No matter how I looked at it, replacing Lorence’s fate didn’t seem like a good idea.

“Hyung, are you listening?”

“Yes, yes. Lorence ran away. Then what?”

“There was someone who helped him escape.”

“Ah…”

I already knew who that was. The character who acted as an antagonist to Callisto but showed unwavering devotion to Lorence—the “villainous second lead,” Etienne.

“So, I got angry and…”

Callisto’s gaze grew distant. He stared blankly at the rain outside, his voice lowering to a murmur.

“On a night like this… I killed him. With my own hands.”

I inhaled sharply.

The sound of the storm thundered in the background, echoing through the tent. A flash of lightning lit the sky, the ensuing roar reverberating through the ground and into the small space we occupied.

I glanced at Callisto, who leaned against me with a pale face. The usual healthy flush of his cheeks was gone, replaced by a stark paleness. His expression looked desperate.

Still caught in the remnants of his dream, his voice was cracked and raw.

“That person… it was you, Hyung.”

“…”

I had suspected as much, yet hearing it left me breathless. Callisto’s shoulders trembled faintly under my hands.

“I won’t let that happen. I won’t…” His words sounded more like a chant, as if he were trying to convince himself. I tightened my grip on his hand, hoping to ground him.

“Calli, not all dreams come true,” I said softly. “We came to the northern continent to change things, didn’t we?”

He didn’t respond immediately, but his gaze shifted slightly, as though he were finally grasping onto something.

“You’ve already changed so much. This version of you is different from the one in your dreams. And me? I’m not Lorence.”

Callisto’s amber eyes regained clarity, and he gazed at me with an intensity that warmed my heart. I continued, my voice steady.

“Nothing is set in stone, Calli. No matter what storms come, I won’t leave you. I won’t die. I promise.”

His lips twitched into a faint smile, and he nodded slowly, as though finally allowing himself to believe me.

That night, I realized that no matter what, our story was our own to write. Together, we would forge a new path and create our happy ending.

“Still, if storms bring back your trauma and make things hard for you… couldn’t we overlay those memories with something better?”

“Something better?”

Callisto asked, his expression puzzled. I averted my gaze, feeling embarrassed by what I was about to say. Even though it was Callisto I was talking to—or perhaps because it was Callisto—it felt awkward to bring this up.

“Well, if something good happens during a storm like this, maybe that memory could take over, and you wouldn’t think of the bad ones as much.”

“Something good?”

“For example… what if I…”

I whispered, barely audible.

“…kissed you?”

Callisto’s lips parted slightly, but no words came out. His stunned expression briefly reminded me of the innocent child he once was, and guilt surged in me. How could I feel this way about someone I’d raised like my own? But I ignored the feelings pressing against my chest.

Gently, I cupped Callisto’s face with both hands, as though soothing his surprise. His cheeks, once cold to the touch, had turned warm and flushed. Without further hesitation, I leaned in and kissed him softly. The gentle smack of our lips echoed faintly, mingling with the sound of the storm outside.

The rain, which had been pouring relentlessly, seemed to ease up. A breeze laced with the scent of calendula drifted through the partially open tent flap, brushing against my cheek.

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