SDCTS| Chapter 10

Episode 10

I was so startled by the sudden apology that I couldn’t react right away.

Thinking my silence came from anger, Aphelion began begging me for forgiveness.

“I– I really tried to lose the match like you asked, noona… I was about to surrender, but then the referee stepped in, and…”

Only then did I realize what Aphelion’s apology actually meant.

He was apologizing because he won when he was supposed to lose.

“Oh, no… that’s not—”

Once I finally understood the situation, I struggled to speak.

I wanted to say it was fine, but the words just wouldn’t come out.

Things had gone exactly the way I wanted.

The duke agreed to negotiate and even started treating me like a real daughter. All I had to do now was build up Chloe Leheven’s reputation, find a suitable marriage partner, and run away.

They say getting started is half the work.

If that was true, then my plan was already 50 percent complete.

If things continued smoothly like this, my survival was basically guaranteed.

But the soft-hearted child in front of me, who knew nothing about that, was worried about me.

All because of one promise we made that day.

“No… it’s not like that…”

Even though he was the one who’d been harshly scolded today.

Even though he knew perfectly well that even harsher training awaited him.

He still apologized to me first, thinking about me before himself.

And at the same time, he was afraid I might not forgive him.

It was foolish to the point of being pitiful.

“I… I’m the one who’s sorry…”

In the end, I pulled out the emotions I’d been deliberately ignoring.

Instead of him, I was the one apologizing, and I wrapped Aphelion tightly in my arms.

The child, who had stiffened up like a rock, started hiccupping in surprise.

Trying not to be noticed, he held his breath and waited for the hiccups to stop, and I gently patted his back for him.

After only receiving the hug passively at first, Aphelion finally and cautiously wrapped his arms around my waist.

With hands covered in cuts and scrapes.

We cried in front of the room door for a long time.

Aphelion sniffled quietly, trying to act like an adult even though he wasn’t one, while I sobbed loudly enough to shake the world.

Only after we were both exhausted did we finally let go.

Facing each other after pouring out all those emotions was pretty embarrassing.

For Aphelion especially, who was experiencing something this personal for the first time, even his ears had turned red.

“Do you want to sleep over?”

Honestly, there was no longer any reason for me to build a bond with Aphelion.

Now that the duke, who craved knowledge of the future, had promised to cooperate with me, I no longer needed Aphelion’s authority.

Which meant I didn’t need to pretend to be close or play the role of a caring noona toward someone who was practically my enemy.

But still…

I couldn’t just walk past him anymore.

Maybe it was because that child was too used to being alone.

“My bed’s really big.”

I shrugged at Aphelion, who didn’t answer.

Since he didn’t deny it, he probably felt awkward about agreeing outright.

“It’s big enough for five people to sleep on.”

“One more person won’t make it uncomfortable.”

So I started bragging about my bed for no reason.

Even though Aphelion probably had a much bigger one.

“…Really?”

After I kept saying it was fine, Aphelion finally gathered the courage.

He said he’d sleep over if noona allowed it and followed closely behind me.

When we went into the bedroom, I had Aphelion lie down on the far right side of the bed.

I lay down on the far left and turned my body toward him.

Aphelion must’ve felt the same way, because he was already turned toward me.

When our eyes met, I finally asked the question I’d kept buried in my heart.

“Aphelion… didn’t you hate me?”

“Hate you? Me?”

“Yeah. Because of my request, you ended up being disliked by Father. I heard your training time is going to double too…”

I trailed off and looked at him again.

After thinking over my words, Aphelion hurriedly waved his hands.

“Not at all!”

“Not at all?”

“Yeah! You’re more important to me, noona!”

“…More than your family?”

“You are my family.”

“No, I mean… more than Father or your siblings?”

“Yes!”

There wasn’t even a trace of pretense on Aphelion’s face as he said that, which only made me more confused.

“Why?”

I was just someone he’d spent barely a month with.

We weren’t related by blood, my name wasn’t even in the family registry, and I was nothing more than a ‘noona’ in name only.

“You taught me everything for the first time!”

“I did?”

“Yes! You’re my first noona, and you’re my first friend too.”

“And you were the first person to ever give me a gift. You were the first to say it was okay to be scared of training. You were the first to tell me it was okay to rest when things got hard.”

All I’d done was give him some ordinary advice, telling him to take things slowly.

But Aphelion praised me as if it had meant something huge, like it had been incredible comfort.

While he was busy explaining how much I meant to him, Aphelion suddenly shifted his gaze.

With the same look he’d had the first day we met, lying alone on that hill, he gently stroked my hand.

“You know… family was kind of scary to me.”

“My father, whom I love, was always too strict. Someone I had to try hard not to disappoint. And my siblings didn’t like me, so I couldn’t even approach them.”

His slowly moving eyes finally settled on me.

“But noona was different.”

“…Me?”

“You said you’d be my noona the moment we met, and you really became my family.”

“You’re my only family.”

Aphelion Leheven was just part of my plan.

A stepping stone toward my ultimate goal.

The promise to become his family, the kindness I showed him, all of it had been nothing more than a strategy.

Watching his fragile heart melt from just a few words and gestures made my feelings complicated.

‘Could this Aphelion really become the dark mastermind in the future?’

In the novel, Aphelion’s choice to abandon Chloe Ritz was portrayed as justified because he had “lost his emotions” or “never formed a deep bond with Chloe Ritz.”

Then how would an Aphelion who hadn’t lost his emotions react to the sacrifice of a Chloe Ritz who had formed a deep bond with him?

At the scene of Aphelion’s end, the narrator stated with certainty that if he hadn’t lacked so much from childhood, that tragedy would never have happened.

‘If I become the one who fills that lack… will Aphelion’s future change?’

I didn’t expect Aphelion to stop my death.

I just wanted his future to change.

I wanted him to grow up as a normal young man, not a tragic villain.

‘If I help this child… will Aphelion become happy?’

Why was it that if I just tried a little, it felt like someone chosen by God could truly draw a beautiful future?

‘I don’t know. I don’t know why I’m seriously thinking like a typical possession-story heroine.’

He’s not even an ordinary villain.

And I’m just Extra Number One, the one who gets sacrificed because of him.

“Aphelion, what would you do if I was in danger?”

“Like what?”

“If I died… or got seriously sick. What would you do then?”

“I’d save you, of course!”

Even though I knew it was like a mouse worrying about a cat, I still couldn’t help but feel hopeful.

When I woke up the next morning, Aphelion was gone.

According to the maid assisting me, he had headed to the training grounds early in the morning.

Melly, who became my temporary maid today, helped me get ready and introduced the siblings who would be attending the breakfast gathering.

“Young Master Hexion is eleven this year and the oldest in the ducal family. Since he entered the academy last year, you won’t see him often except during vacations.”

Hexion Leheven.

The unfortunate figure who’d been pushed aside because of Aphelion, the first or second son of the Leheven ducal family.

He had a fiery personality and always envied Aphelion.

“Young Master Garcian is six this year, one year younger than Young Master Aphelion. He likes reading, so if you share that hobby, you should get close easily.”

Garcian Leheven.

The youngest of the Leheven family. His personality was the complete opposite of Hexion’s, but that didn’t mean he was any less troublesome.

At a glance, he looked kind, but…

‘He was definitely a sociopath.’

Someone who enjoyed casually spitting cruel remarks with a blank face.

“I’m sure you’ll get along quickly, Lady Chloe. His Grace favors you, and Young Master Aphelion does as well.”

Listening to Melly’s encouragement, I headed to the dining room.

My seat was immediately to the duke’s right, which also happened to be directly across from Aphelion’s seat.

‘Looks like both the duke and Aphelion are absent again today.’

I made a small promise to myself to just eat as much good food as possible and leave, and was tearing into the pre-meal bread when—

“Ugh, the stench of commoners is so strong I can’t even eat.”

A petty provocation came flying my way.