This Villain Is Mine Now - Side Story 3

“Let go first.”

“You let go first!”

The voices hurled at each other were anything but pleasant. In the tiny hands clutching short black hair were already a few strands yanked loose—and the same was true of the other child.

“[Both of you, let go.]”

“No! Bella started it by picking a fight with me first.”

“Me? No way! Kyren did it first!”

“Didn’t I tell you to call me big brother?”

“Didn’t I say nooo?”

Kyst let out a deep sigh. He had hoped for a peaceful afternoon. So why had these children come into his room just to start fighting?

He briefly considered using teleportation magic to escape, but quickly realized these absurd twins would only track him down again.

“[Kyren Grant, Bella Grant. I’ll count to three. Let go of each other.]”

“Let go!”

“You let go first!”

“[One.]”

“Didn’t I tell you not to call me ‘you’?”

“You, you, you! Nyeh! Nyeh!”

“[Two.]”

“Why you little—!”

“Aagh! You wanna die?!”

“[Three.]”

Kyren and Bella released each other the moment Kyst counted to three. Though their glares at one another remained fierce, his tone was far too intimidating for them to keep resisting.

Another heavy sigh spilled from Kyst’s lips. Just what had gone wrong with these kids?

Eight years ago, there was a great celebration in House Grant. Elaina had become pregnant—with twins.

The boy was born first, followed by the girl. Elaina and Lyle named them Kyren and Bella.

Unlike her brother, Bella had been born rather frail. If not for Kyst, who had cast numerous blessings on her, she might not have grown up so well.

“The grown-ups are always nicer to Bella.” Kyren pouted as he complained to Kyst.

His father, the knights’ captain Colin—they all claimed Kyren was the heir to House Grant and treated him with strict discipline, while being soft and gentle with Bella, as if she were made of sponge.

“That’s a lie!”

The sharp cry nearly split the air. Bella, her pink hair tousled from the scuffle and stuck to her tear- and sweat-dampened face, stomped her feet in a mess.

“The grown-ups are always nicer to Kyren.”

Annoying Kyren. At last, tears began to fall from Bella’s eyes.

“They never let me go outside! But Kyren gets to play sword fighting every day…!”

“Hey! That’s training! I don’t even like it!”

Kyren’s voice rose in frustration. But Bella couldn’t hear him.

Always. Always Kyren was allowed what she wasn’t. She wasn’t even allowed near the training grounds, let alone touch a sword. Her father would give a stern look and forbid her immediately.

He said it was because he worried she might get hurt—but wasn’t that the same for Kyren? They were twins, born together. Why could one do things and the other couldn’t? It was an unfairness Bella could never accept.

“And you—you just sit around playing with Mom all day!”

Kyren’s face turned bright red. Tears welled up in his eyes. Did she really think he enjoyed that grueling, miserable sword training? Always relaxing indoors with music and fun, while he…

Feeling the argument reigniting, Kyst quickly issued another warning.

“[If you fight again, I’m banning you from coming into my room.]”

At those words, both Kyren and Bella’s heads snapped toward Kyst.

Kyren, with black hair and red eyes just like Lyle’s. Bella, with the same eyes as her brother but soft pink curls like Elaina’s.

Though the two fraternal twins didn’t resemble each other much overall, the matching expressions they wore in moments like this reminded anyone that they were indeed twins.

“No fair!”

“Me neither!”

“[Then don’t fight. That’s what I’m saying.]”

There weren’t many people who could get these two to behave. Only their parents, Lyle and Elaina, could truly manage it. Aside from them, Kyst was the only one who could break up their quarrels.

“[…Maybe I cast too many blessing spells when they were little.]”

Perhaps it was because of that, Kyst muttered to himself, that the children had turned out so headstrong.

To Kyst, the children were special too. Elaina’s children were like gifts left behind by a departed friend. And the people he came to know through her had become a new family for someone who had long lived in solitude.

Naturally, the children of such a woman were dear to Kyst as well.

“[You both know Elaina worries about you a lot, don’t you?]”

At the mention of Elaina’s name, the children immediately fell silent. The way they began glancing around nervously made it clear they were aware they had done something wrong.

“[You both understand the reason the adults haven’t been strict with Bella is because she was often ill as a child.]”

“But she’s not sick anymore.”

“That’s right. I’m fine now.”

Bella tensed her arms to show off her strength. She was trying to show she had muscles like her father or the knight captain, but her thin, pale arms looked no different from delicate twigs, with not a hint of muscle in sight.

Though she had become healthier than when she was born, it only meant she had reached a normal level of health. She didn’t get sick anymore, but compared to her peers, Bella was still quite frail.

Instead of pointing this out to Bella, Kyst turned to Kyren.

“[Kyren, it’s because you’re the heir to House Grant that everyone is strict with you.]”

At the word “heir,” Kyren cringed.

“Why do I have to be the heir? Bella could do it too.”

“That’s right! I can do it too! Um, what was that… Right! It’s gender discrimination!”

Bella protested in her shrill voice. At the mention of gender discrimination, Kyst raised an intrigued eyebrow.

“[Do you truly feel this is discrimination?]”

“Yes! I can do just as well as Kyren. But the adults never let me do anything.”

“I don’t even want to be the heir. If Bella wants that annoying job, she can have it.”

The endless sword training, the constant lessons. There was no reason to miss those exhausting days.

Watching Kyren nod vigorously, Kyst narrowed his eyes slightly.

Gender discrimination, they said. If there were ever people least associated with such a concept, it would be Lyle and Elaina.

The children didn’t want to admit it, but the truth was clear—each had their own nature, and the current arrangement was the result of much thought and careful decision-making by everyone involved.

“[Sometimes that’s just how it is.]”

People often don’t realize how precious something is until they lose it.

Kyst smiled faintly. The children tilted their heads at his cryptic words.

“[If you truly feel it’s unfair, how about this.]”

Kyst lifted a finger. At that moment, the children began to float.

“[You’ll switch bodies.]”

Kyren and Bella looked at each other in shock.

I’m going to be Kyren…?

I’m going to be Bella…?

But the surprise didn’t last long. Floating in the air, the children flailed their arms and nodded eagerly.

“I love it! If I become Bella, I can play every day and no one will scold me. Everyone always forgives her.”

“I want to be Kyren! If I’m Kyren, I can spar with Father and ride horses too.”

Their eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky.

“[No regrets?]”

“None!”

“Not at all! Never!”

The children nodded again and again, sealing the promise with their tiny hands.

“[If that’s truly your wish…]”

Kyst looked at the two with a gentle smile. With a snap of his fingers, the bright orbs surrounding the children began to emit light in midair.

As the glow filling Kyst’s room faded, the floating children slowly descended.

“[Let’s hope this helps you get along better.]”

Murmuring to himself, Kyst carried the two—now sleeping like logs—over to the bed.