The Baby Fairy is A Villain Chapter 34

Ishuel was the third child of the Basilian family.

Though he and Karha were twins, he had been born slightly later, making him the third.

But that only applied in name.

Ishuel had never truly thought of himself as the youngest.

It was because he had always been much more mature than Karha.

He clearly accepted Belzeon as an older brother and relied on him, but when it came to childish Karha, Ishuel always thought of himself as the elder one.

Ishuel’s perspective began to shift after their mother’s death.

On the day when the funeral hall overflowed with white lilies, he watched the ceremony in silence.

At the time, young Ishuel couldn’t quite understand what death meant.

All he felt was a deep curiosity about where his mother had suddenly disappeared to.

So, every single day, he would go out searching for his mother.

Even when his small feet blistered and his legs ached from wandering, no one stopped him.

No, they couldn’t stop him.

All the members of the Basilian family had blank expressions.

Kiern, Belzeon, even the castle’s servants.

None of them had the time or freedom to look after Ishuel.

Especially Kiern…

It was a relief in itself that he hadn’t taken his own life to follow their mother.

Belzeon gradually began managing the household in place of the grieving Kiern, and the castle servants did their best to support him.

Everyone worked hard to ensure the Basilian household didn’t collapse. Even when Kiern collapsed from emotional exhaustion, they held on to keep things running.

Young Ishuel, wandering around the castle day after day in search of his mother, was simply too much for them to deal with.

They had no time or energy to spare.

The only one who tried to look after Ishuel back then was Karha.

“Hey, where are you going alone again?”

“I’m going to find Mother.”

“I told you, she’s gone.”

“That’s why I have to find her!”

When Ishuel stomped his feet and insisted, Karha would pretend to give in and follow him around.

Though he was a stubborn little brat, Karha still made an effort to act like an older brother during those times.

He didn’t seriously consider he was older, but Ishuel began to see him as someone he could lean on, even if just a little.

When they quietly came back in the evening with tired steps, with small feet dirty with dust.

He would feel grateful to Karha.

He should be good to him, too.

That thought often crossed his mind.

And he really did try.

Whenever he looked after Karha, Ishuel felt proud.

Though the absence of their mother left a gaping hole, it still felt like, with just the two of them, they could make it through.

It didn’t take long before the illusion shattered like a brittle mountain.

It was the day Ishuel wandered alone around the outskirts of the castle.

While slipping quietly through the bushes, he overheard some people who had come to the castle to offer help.

“Did you see what they were wearing?”

“Fyuh. What a sight.”

“Don’t even get me started. I feel ashamed just knowing they walk around under the Basilian name.”

The moment Ishuel heard the word Basilian, his heart plummeted.

He pressed himself deeper into the thicket.

“I mean, they’re from a noble family, but… but they don’t even seem to know what shame is.”

“Well, things have been bad lately. Poor thing, really.”

Even in their attempt to sound sympathetic, their voices carried thinly veiled mockery.

A few of them even chuckled.

Someone shrugged and muttered,

“Sure. You can tell they are motherless.”

At that moment, it felt like someone had slapped Ishuel across the face.

His cheeks burned from the sting of humiliation, his face flushing red.

Though he desperately wanted to shout back, he couldn’t even raise his voice.

Afraid they might realize he had overheard them, he fled in silence.

When he returned to his room, a figure stood in front of the mirror.

‘….’

Reflected in the mirror was a small boy, covered in dust.

His hair was messy and uncombed.

A poorly knotted ribbon.

A frayed shirt collar.

Wrinkled pants with one knee torn, obviously not his size.

Dusty, worn shoes from walking around the stone floors.

A face tinged brown from the sun.

There was nothing about him that resembled a noble young lord of the Basilian house, one meant to stride through the black forest with pride.

What should I do?

Ishuel stared blankly at the ends of his messy, unkempt hair.

Then, cautiously, he raised a hand to his head.

He ran his fingers through his matted hair and noticed a few spots where it seemed longer, possibly from lack of grooming.

Feeling slightly more confident, Ishuel attempted to re-tie the ribbon.

But it was awkward, he had never done it before.

He tried several times, but none of the shapes looked quite right.

Frustrated, he fumbled with the ribbon, fingers trembling.

“Hey, what’re you doing?”

Karha burst into the room, eyes narrowing in suspicion as he saw Ishuel standing at the wardrobe.

“Not going out today?”

Ishuel looked meticulously at his twin brother.

It was Karha, who always did everything half-heartedly, except for sword training.

He was surely in even worse shape than Ishuel.

Seeing Ishuel staring blankly, Karha tilted his head and asked,

“Are you okay?”

“I’m not okay!”

Suddenly, something boiled up inside him.

The ribbon that wouldn’t tie right, Karha’s calm voice, the people mocking the Basilians, and himself, for running away.

He hated it all.

Ishuel burst into tears.

“It’s not true that we don’t have a mother! It’s not!”

Karha, flustered, squatted in front of the crying Ishuel and fumbled awkwardly.

“Why are you like this…”

He hesitantly pulled out a handkerchief to comfort him.

But Ishuel noticed it wasn’t ironed, and the edges were twisted into loose loops. That only made him cry louder.

“I really haate this!”

That day, Ishuel cried his eyes out and made a firm vow.

This must never happen again.

Never.

 

***

 

“Well, that’s pretty much how I ended up caring about dressing up.”

Ishuel continued calmly, as if it were nothing special.

“Funny, right? At first, it was just a sense of duty. But not now… I’ve started to actually enjoy it a little. Once I began paying attention, it got kind of fun.”

He arrogantly raised his chin.

“I mean, I like pretty things. I was born with this appearance, shouldn’t I at least put it to use for the sake of the continent?”

It could’ve sounded arrogant, but when she looked at Ishuel’s face, there was something strangely persuasive in his tone.

Chesha, without realizing it, already nodded.

Hata, sitting next to them, did the same in agreement.

“I wish the hat shop had something worth using. It’s the Basilans’ first official debut. I wanted to make sure no one could look down on us.”

Ishuel poked Chesha’s cheek and said,

“I want to put on the prettiest dress for my little sis.”

Seeing him smile so brightly, Chesha was suddenly struck with emotion.

Ishuel, unaware of what was on Chesha’s mind, just smiled slightly.

“This is the first time I’m sharing that story.”

He gave a small shrug, not even Karha had heard this from him.

“It’s strange, right? I always feel like I want to tell you everything. Just having you nearby makes me feel calmer. Karha, our oldest brother, even Father… everyone seems to soften when they’re with our youngest.”

It was natural for the words to fall within the boundaries of family.

Chesha hugged the puppy in her arms tighter and said quietly,

“I will go to my yoom.”

“Why? Just because the talk’s boring?”

Ishuel tried to stop her, saying he would play with her, unwilling to let the moment end.

“I’m tiwed. I go to bed now.”

She was clearly tired and more subdued than usual, offering no further resistance.

Eventually, Ishuel gave in to Chesha’s whining.

“Alright, I’ll walk you to your room.”

Chesha hugged the puppy, and Ishuel carried her in his arms like that.

As he slowly carried Chesha to her bedroom, Ishuel subtly coaxed her to play along the way.

He even offered, rather boldly, to read her a fairy tale until she fell asleep if she was too tired.

But Chesha only pursed her lips tightly, pretending not to hear.

Left with no other choice, Ishuel gently set Chesha down in front of the bedroom door.

“Good night, little sis.”

“Yes! Orabeoni too.”

Click.

The door closed.

Inside the room, Chesha set Hata down on the floor.

Then, standing still for a moment, she fell into thought.

Ishuel, who had casually revealed fragments of his past…

But she recalled the clothes that were supposed to be for the Basilians, but another house had taken them.

‘I meant to pretend I didn’t care…’

But her heart continued to stir restlessly.

“Hatta.”

“Yes, Richesia-nim!”

Hata lifted its front paws and responded loudly.

Chesha spoke to him with a resolute look.

“Yet’s open the shop fow a bit.”

“Yes!”

Hata, who had answered reflexively, flinched in surprise a moment later.

The tiny puppy jumped up from his spot with a yelp.

“…Whaat?!”

“We need to contact Miya’s boutique too.”

Chesha declared with a solemn face.

“I gotta wear da pweettiest cwothes.”