My Brother's Duty
I stared blankly at the fairy tale book. A monster was bleeding out on the ground. Right beside it, a princess and prince smiled happily at each other. If you only looked at this one picture, it didn’t seem strange at all.
‘It looks like the prince saved the princess.’
But the caption didn’t say he saved her. It said he was the heir to the throne? That was bizarre. What made my skin crawl even more was how Leviart had simply nodded, completely calm. As if she understood it. As if she agreed with it.
‘…What about the other books?’
Maybe this one was the outlier. I was flipping through the rest when someone tugged insistently at my sleeve.
“Huh?”
I turned, confused. Leviart was glaring at me with puffed-out cheeks.
‘What is it this time…’
This kid always found something to complain about.
“Why are you reading by yourself?”
Leviart pouted, her voice full of accusation. Ah. So that was it.
‘What should I even say?’
The truth was that the story felt off, so I was checking the others. But the rest were almost exactly the same. Come to think of it, Leviart hadn’t noticed anything strange about them at all.
‘Curiosity killed the cat…’
I swallowed dryly. When I didn’t answer right away, Leviart clicked her tongue and started fidgeting, kicking her legs like she was throwing a tantrum.
“You’re so mean.”
“Don’t you think it’s weird? This fairy tale.”
Maybe I could learn something about Leviart—some fragment of her that the novel never fully revealed. At my question, she tilted her head.
“What is?”
Her eyes were full of innocent confusion.
“Fairy tales aren’t supposed to be like this. They’re supposed to be full of dreams and hope, but the monster just dies.”
Leviart pressed a finger to her lips, thinking for a moment. Then she answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“I don’t know much about it, but humans kill monsters.”
“…So you think that’s normal?”
She shook her head.
“No. I don’t think it’s normal. It’s weird. But it’s always been that way.”
“I… see.”
It left a bad taste in my mouth, but I nodded anyway.
‘Hmm…’
I’d learned a few things. Leviart was quite old. She’d said “it’s always been that way,” and these books clearly weren’t new. Asking her age outright would be suspicious, so I’d just keep it in mind for now.
“Brother.”
“Yeah?”
I snapped out of my thoughts at her voice. Leviart hopped down from my lap, naturally linked her arm with mine, and stood in front of the door.
“It’s bedtime now!”
She tried to look stern. It was like a little kid imitating an adult—adorable, really.
‘I really must be losing my mind.’
I sighed inwardly. No matter how she looked, this was a girl who sliced people apart. She was probably the boss monster of an unexplored dungeon.
“I don’t feel sleepy. And why are you standing in front of the door…?”
“Even if you’re not sleepy, you have to sleep. And you said I was supposed to watch you earlier. The door is the escape route. I have to guard it no matter what.”
“…You have quite the vocabulary.”
She was thorough, damn it. Leviart stood with her arms crossed, staring at me with sharp eyes. Her determination to keep me from leaving was crystal clear.
“But what if I need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night?”
“I’ll go with you!”
“That sounds pretty dangerous.”
When I saw her puff up her chest and put on that stubborn, lone-general expression, I knew there would be no loopholes. In the end, I had no choice but to accept it.
I opened the wardrobe. A row of antique-looking clothes greeted me.
‘No pajamas… of course.’
Still, at least there were clothes to change into. Should I be grateful for that? It wasn’t much different from the prison. Wait—why was I even assuming I’d live long enough to need new clothes?
‘She might just put me to sleep and then kill me.’
I’d let my guard down because she hadn’t shown any killing intent, but there was nothing strange about Leviart deciding to kill me at any moment. For now, I just lay down on the bed still wearing the prisoner uniform.
“I’ll turn off the lights!”
“Okay.”
Leviart nodded, then suddenly raised her arm. What was she doing? I watched as—
Snap.
She flicked her fingers. The soft glowing chandelier hanging from the ceiling slowly dimmed. Must be magic. Darkness settled over the room. I couldn’t see a thing.
Except…
“…Hic!”
Except for the pair of yellow eyes gleaming in the dark.
I shot upright. They looked exactly like the eyes of a predator.
“What’s wrong?”
Leviart tilted her head, a question mark practically floating above her. I couldn’t see her face, but the movement of those glowing eyes told me everything.
‘T-those are Leviart’s eyes?’
They hadn’t looked that terrifying when she was angry—just eerie and fascinating. But right now, they were downright terrifying.
“N-nothing.”
“Okay. Time to sleep now.”
Her yellow eyes narrowed. Somehow, I could roughly read her emotions through them.
“Y-yeah.”
I nodded awkwardly and lay back down. I stared at the ceiling so I wouldn’t have to meet her gaze. Maybe the tension had drained out of me, because my eyelids gradually grew heavy.
‘I can’t fall asleep…!’
I forced my eyes wide open. When is a person most vulnerable? When they’re sleeping! I couldn’t let my guard down in front of the final boss.
‘Then again… there’s no real reason for her to put me to sleep just to kill me…’
Leviart could just slit my throat whenever she wanted. Still, there might be a reason I didn’t know about. Maybe she preferred killing people in their sleep? The thought alone was terrifying.
“Aren’t you sleeping?”
“I can’t fall asleep.”
When she asked in a puzzled voice, I immediately used the excuse I’d prepared.
“Really?”
“Yeah… Want to talk for a bit?”
“Okay…!”
I heard Leviart giggle happily.
‘Thank goodness.’
I needed to raise her favorability anyway, and I had to stay awake. It was ironic to be chatting with a girl who could kill me at any second, but as long as I stayed alive, that was what mattered, right?
‘What should we talk about…’
All we’d done so far was eat that awful food and read fairy tales. Just thinking about the food again made me nauseous. The fairy tale seemed safer.
“Did you enjoy the fairy tale?”
“Enjoy… it?”
For the first time, Leviart’s voice carried genuine bewilderment. I couldn’t see her face, but I could tell from her tone.
‘What? Did I ask the wrong thing?’
My heart tightened. The brief silence was unbearable, so I glanced sideways. Her glowing eyes looked confused.
“…”
Had I messed up badly? I shouldn’t have given her time to think—
Then Leviart smiled and nodded.
“Yeah!”
“Th-that’s a relief.”
I thought I was going to die! The tension drained out of me all at once. We talked a little more. The night was dark, and so much had happened that my eyes began to close on their own. And then…
“Good night, Brother.”
Her voice was bittersweet and gentle.
…
“Brother, wake up.”
“Mmm… ugh…”
Someone was shaking me. I frowned.
‘Who the hell…?’
Nothing annoyed me more than having my sleep interrupted—except maybe someone messing with my food. Therefore, this person was an enemy. I waved my arm lazily, telling them to go away. They shook me again. Irritated, I cracked my eyes open. Through my blurry vision, I saw a beautiful girl.
Leviart.
‘Wait… wasn’t that a dream—’
Leviart took a huge breath, puffing her cheeks.
“WAKE! UUUUUUP!”
“Hwaaaaaagh!”
I bolted upright in shock. My eyes flew open as I stared at the source of the noise. Leviart stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at me fiercely.
‘Wh-what the—?’
I could only stare in a daze. Leviart started scolding me.
“I told you to wake up so many times!”
“…Ah. Sorry.”
I liked it when a beautiful girl woke me up, but when that beautiful girl might also kill me, I’d rather pass. I swallowed the rest of that thought. Saying it out loud could actually get me killed.
‘Is it already time to get up?’
There was a window covered with iron bars. When I turned to look, bright daylight poured in. My face went slack.
“Huh?”
“Do you know how long you slept? You slept forever!”
Leviart stomped her feet, clearly trying to express her annoyance. It still looked cute, though.
‘I… actually slept?’
I had been exhausted, but it was still strange. In my original world I’d had insomnia, and I’d barely slept in prison. Yet here I’d fallen into a deep sleep right in front of Leviart, who could kill me at any moment.
‘Is it the bed?’
Well, in prison I’d been sleeping on a cold stone floor.
“Ughhh, sorry. Sorry.”
I stretched my arms and let out a big yawn. After such a deep sleep, I actually felt refreshed.
‘It’s on a completely different level from that stinking prison.’
Anything was better than a guard banging on the bars and yelling at me to wake up.
I glanced at Leviart. She looked extremely displeased.
“Did I sleep too long?”
“Humans do too many useless things. Isn’t sleeping for a long time scary?”
“I guess…”
I had no idea what was supposed to be scary about it. I shrugged it off.
‘At least I’m still alive.’
When I woke up, I desperately wished I could go back to being a modern person, but being alive was still a relief. Leviart huffed loudly and turned her head away with an exaggerated motion.
‘What am I supposed to do in this situation?’
When she acted like this, it meant she wanted something. I’d suffered a lot in the past from not knowing what.
I smiled awkwardly and asked, “What will make you stop being mad?”
“Make me food.”
Leviart narrowed her eyes at me. There was clear expectation in her gaze.
‘Huh?’
She suddenly wanted me to cook? When I tilted my head in confusion, she added,
“Or I can make it for—”
The moment she nodded, thinking that was also fine, I answered without a second’s hesitation.
“I’ll make it! Yeah! I’m so excited!”
Fuck.