The Teddy Bear Sends the Insomniac Villain to Dreamland - Chapter 08

Chapter 8

Emergency.

This was a full-blown emergency, Blake!

Caught completely off guard by a sudden crisis while my guard was down, I bit my lip hard.

“Brother?”

‘What do I do?!’

The instant I heard the door opening, I threw myself flat behind the office desk.

Just as I barely managed to hide my body, the door creaked open.

I cautiously cracked one eye open and peeked toward the entrance.

A round silver-haired head poked through the doorway.

“Brother! I came because I wanted to say hello…”

The little boy mumbled quietly before apparently gathering his courage and pushing the door open a bit wider as he slowly crept inside.

“…He’s not here?”

The silver hair of the child reflected the light spilling through the crack in the doorway.

And the moment I saw that shining silver hair, I immediately recognized who he was.

‘It’s Aaron Leblanc!’

Before long, Aaron approached close enough for me to clearly see his face.

Round violet eyes. Puffy cheeks.

A boy who looked exactly like what Blake must have been like as a child.

In the original novel, he was introduced as the younger brother of the second male lead—the one who pitied Blake the most as his older brother gradually fell into ruin.

‘And after Blake died, I think it mentioned Aaron becoming the next head of the Leblanc family?’

He was another character with a tragically unhappy story.

A child suffering from a curse who lost the older brother he loved and ended up inheriting the family alone.

‘Children are happiest when they get to grow up acting their own age.’

Thankfully, Aaron still hadn’t noticed me.

With a small sigh, he plopped down onto the sofa.

“Brother must be busy again…”

As the boy muttered while fidgeting with his fingers, silence settled over the room.

Tick. Tock.

Only the sound of the clock echoed through the room for a long while before Aaron finally spoke again.

“…I’m going to the monastery tomorrow to pray… so I wanted to say goodbye before leaving.”

Naturally, no answer came.

Blake wasn’t even in the room.

But Aaron continued speaking softly anyway, seemingly unconcerned.

“But honestly, that was just an excuse. I haven’t seen you in so long that I wanted to check whether you were healthy.”

‘……’

No way.

Was it even legal for a child to be this pitiful?

Even though he knew Blake wasn’t here, Aaron’s quiet monologue continued.

‘Aaaah, just look at those drooping shoulders.’

Watching those tiny shoulders, I swallowed down my sympathy.

Hold it in. I have to hold it in…

“Even if I can’t sleep, when I’m with you, Brother, the long nights don’t feel scary…”

Ah, I can’t take this anymore.

As a kind teddy bear—no, as the Great Witch of the West—I couldn’t just ignore a child like this.

Sorry, Blake.

This is your fault for not telling me to stay still… and Aaron’s fault for being too adorable.

Careful not to get caught, I tiptoed over and crawled beneath the bed.

Then, using the deepest, grandest voice I could manage, I called out:

“Aaron Leblanc.”

At the sudden voice calling his name, Aaron jolted violently and jumped to his feet.

“…W-Who are you?!”

Watching the startled child, I grinned mischievously.

Ah, I used to do this to scare Max sometimes.

“I am your guardian angel!”

“……”

An awkward silence followed.

Ahem. Maybe he wasn’t young enough to believe in guardian angels anymore?

‘…I think Aaron was around thirteen when the original story started.’

Which meant the Aaron in front of me now was probably thirteen years old.

That was basically still a baby.

Of course, I had absolutely no idea how kids that age actually thought.

But still—

Confidence was everything.

So I shouted once more:

“I am your guardian angel!”

“…Liar.”

“Huh?”

“Stop lying! I don’t know who you are, but… I’ll call the butler immediately. Reveal yourself!”

“Ahem. I told you, I’m your guardian angel. There’s nothing about you that I don’t know.”

“T-That’s impossible! Angels don’t exist!”

“There’s no such thing as impossible. Let’s see… You care deeply about your older brother. And oh? You struggle to fall asleep. In fact, aside from when you were very young, you’ve never really slept properly.”

“…Hmph. Even those stupid young nobles know that much.”

Smart kid.

Definitely Blake’s younger brother.

Impressed by how clever Aaron was, I clicked my tongue softly and searched for another memory from the original novel.

‘Ah, right. It said he missed the days before the curse manifested, when Blake used to help him sleep.’

It had appeared in a flashback near the end of the story.

I cleared my throat dramatically before speaking again.

“You miss the days when your brother used to read stories to help you sleep, don’t you, Aaron?”

At those words—something not easily known by outsiders—Aaron’s eyes widened.

“…What? A-Are you really an angel?”

“I told you I was.”

Aaron, who had looked skeptical the entire time, hesitated briefly before glancing around the empty room.

Then he carefully clasped his hands together and immediately adopted a solemn posture.

“Then… please grant my wish!”

Aaron suddenly dropped to his knees and cried out desperately.

“A wish?”

“Yes! If you’re really a guardian angel, then surely you can grant at least one wish, right?”

“Uh… well, of course!”

I definitely hadn’t expected him to make a wish all of a sudden.

Though flustered, I answered confidently anyway, and Aaron immediately stated his wish with determination.

“Please help my brother get a full night’s sleep, even if it’s just for one day!”

“…Uh?”

An awkward reaction slipped out before I could stop it.

Aaron’s expression dimmed slightly.

“…Is that impossible? Honestly… out of everyone in my family, I worry about my brother the most. At this rate… my brother might never smile again.”

Other than the rare occasions when he smiles at me, he never shows any expression at all.

With that, Aaron squeezed his eyes shut tightly and made his wish with all his heart.

“So please… let my brother sleep! That’s my only wish.”

“…You sweet kid.”

How could he love his brother that much?

Even while suffering from the same curse himself.

And yet Blake’s well-being came first to him.

“Is it impossible?”

“Impossible? Of course not! I’m the guardian angel born from Blake’s love for you.”

Naturally I could do it!

I was already destined to put your brother to sleep anyway.

“A guardian angel born because my brother cherishes me…”

Aaron trailed off, looking deeply moved.

Then he rose from the sofa and walked steadily toward the window.

And suddenly shouted:

“Very well, Guardian Angel! Then I’ll trust you! And in return for this kindness, I, Aaron Leblanc—the second son of House Leblanc—will never forget this debt!”

His brave declaration echoed loudly throughout the room.

“So please keep your promise. Because if this fails… then I won’t have anything left to rely on.”

After saying that, Aaron disappeared from the room.

And somehow, I couldn’t stop replaying those final words in my mind.

That pitiful gaze that couldn’t hide its desperation, even while standing straight and speaking proudly.

“Damn it… why are all the children in this family such old souls?!”

The affectionate heart of that tiny child—who couldn’t even take care of his own sleep because he worried so much about his brother—kept painfully stabbing at my chest.

A full day passed after Aaron left.

“…So basically, it’s already been a whole day since Blake abandoned me here?”

Still, thanks to all the time alone, I’d achieved at least one meaningful discovery.

The previous night, while full of determination, I’d realized something important.

While inside this teddy bear body, unlike when I was in my original form, my magic power wasn’t leaking away.

‘During my dormant period, gathering magic like this should normally be impossible… how strange.’

The teddy bear was tightly containing my tiny reserves of magic.

There was definitely something special about this teddy bear.

“Mmm… no idea.”

Well, there was no way to figure it out immediately, so I’d investigate it slowly later.

For now, I should rest a bit more.

I’d stayed awake all night waiting for Blake to return, so my body felt unbelievably heavy.

“This bed is amaaazing.”

If there was one thing I’d loved most while exploring the room yesterday—

—it was this bed.

Kicking my legs happily atop the enormous mattress—large enough for me to do five forward rolls across it—I grinned in satisfaction.

Maybe being small wasn’t so bad after all.

Lying sprawled out like this felt like heaven.

‘Hwaaaahm… oh right, there’s something I forgot to tell Blake. What was it again…?’

Ah, right.

The sleep spell only worked while holding hands tightly.

And no, it wasn’t because I had weird ulterior motives—that was simply how the spell functioned.

Long ago, witch mothers created the spell to help put their children to sleep, so physical contact was necessary to activate it.

Though honestly, for someone like me—who rapidly recharged magic whenever touching Blake—it was kind of the perfect spell…

But would Blake understand that?

How could I explain it without making him uncomfortable?

My vision repeatedly blurred and sharpened.

I couldn’t fall asleep.

Maybe I should practice the sleep spell in case Blake returned to the room.

The spell itself wasn’t difficult.

“Kororong, koo…”

It was admittedly a ridiculously childish activation phrase because the spell was ancient.
(And once again, I’d like to emphasize: I did not invent it.)

Anyway, to fight off the drowsiness and get used to the embarrassing chant, I continued mumbling the spell over and over.

“Kororong, koo. Kororong, koo…”

“Kororong koo…”

“Koo… koo…”

That night, I had a dream.

A breathtakingly handsome man as beautiful as an angel descended from the moon, gently holding my hand while whispering:

“This crazy teddy bear…”

And I desperately clung to his hand while chanting the spell.

“Kororong koo…”

Then, early the next morning—

I woke because something was hugging me so tightly I could barely breathe.

“Uuung?”

A stunningly handsome man with snow-white silver hair was asleep while holding me in his arms.