The razor-sharp blade was a breath away from slitting his throat. Elian’s eyes wavered. The Calix standing before him was not the man he knew. Eyes stripped of focus. An arm swinging a sword on pure mechanical impulse.
This is… real. He’s actually being forced to act against his will!
In that instant, something flashed through Elian’s mind. The words Eden had said just moments ago. “The original genre of this novel is a tragedy of ruin.” And those horrifying words carved into Calix’s body — and the phrase the System had shown him. ‘Creator.’
That slimy little bastard was the author.
The creator of this godforsaken world. The root of all evil who had planted the Cold Curse in a young Calix and condemned him to a lifetime of suffering. That perverted god was now, right before Elian’s eyes, destroying the character he loved.
“Kill….”
Calix raised his sword once more. But his arm was trembling so violently it looked ready to burst. What little reason remained seemed to be holding the blade back. Yet even that reason was about to be snuffed out.
There was truly no escape now. Elian bit down on his lip. Setting aside his own death — what would happen to Calix when he came back to his senses and realized he had killed him with his own hands?
He would spend the rest of his life tearing himself apart, crumbling exactly the way Eden wanted.
I can’t let that happen. I won’t let my treasure be broken!
Elian screamed into the air.
“Hey! You insane System! Are you just going to sit there and do nothing?! You’re supposed to protect my treasure!”
Had his desperate cry reached it? The blue window that had gone dark flickered back to life like a miracle.
[Detecting a ‘powerful will’ resisting the Creator’s authority.]
[A ‘tremendous affection’ from beyond the page envelops the world.]
[A ‘chorus of thousands of voices’ refusing tragedy resonates.]
[A ‘collective wish’ to alter fate activates.]
[Limited ‘narrative editing rights’ over the primary contractor (Calix) are granted.]
“Editing rights?”
[Tip: You are the ‘Savior’ of this story. Will you overwrite his past?]
“Obviously!”
The moment Calix’s sword came flying down, Elian’s cry rang out — and the world flashed white.
***
Whoosh.
Calix’s sword, cleaving through the air, stopped dead. The hallway, soaked in bloody crimson, shattered and scattered like fragments of data.
“…?”
Elian opened his eyes. The towering man who had been before him was gone. In his place stood a being impossibly small and fragile.
“…I’m sorry.”
A child who looked to be around seven years old. Black hair. Red eyes. Unmistakably a young Calix. The boy stood barefoot on frozen ground, trembling, dressed in nothing but a thin, long sleeping gown — without even a pair of trousers.
“Don’t hit me… I won’t go to hyung anymore… Mom… I won’t make anyone cold….”
The child was pleading to empty air. He curled into himself as though watching a vision of someone beating him. It was the deepest layer of Calix’s subconscious — the very point where his trauma had begun.
This… is Calix?
Elian stared blankly down at the child. The Grand Duke of the North, always so imposing, arrogant, and larger than life. But stripped of that shell, curled inside was still a small boy trembling under the weight of abuse.
In that moment, Elian felt a strange pang — and a shocking realization struck him.
I — I was older than the Grand Duke!
He had lived thirty years in the modern world before possessing this body. Calix, on the other hand, was said to be twenty-seven. He’d forgotten it entirely because of the man’s overwhelming aura and standing — but the truth was, Calix was younger than Elian.
And as his hyung, I had no idea my little brother was going through this.
Something ached deep in his chest. At the same time, a burning sense of responsibility ignited within him — the responsibility of an older brother. Elian bent his knees and met the child’s gaze.
“Hey, kid.”
The child flinched and stumbled backward.
“S-sorry….”
“What are you sorry for. Come here.”
Elian pulled the child into his arms. The small body was ice-cold. It was because Eden’s ‘memories of abuse’ still dominated this space.
[Narrative edit initiated: Deleting unhappy memories and overwriting with new data.]
Elian closed his eyes and imagined. Everything this cold and dark room needed most. The things he had given Calix — the things Calix had loved most.
“You’re cold, aren’t you? Hyung will warm you up.”
Hummm—!
Golden Mana surged from Elian’s body. Everywhere that light touched, the scenery began to change.
The cold stone floor transformed into the warm ondol room that had been laid in Elian’s manor. The switches used for beatings and the bottles of bitter medicine disappeared, replaced by a basket of yellow tangerines. The howling blizzard fell silent, filled instead with the gentle sound of water he’d heard at the hot spring.
“Huh…?”
The child’s eyes grew wide and round. The soles of his feet were warm. A sweet scent drifted through the air, where pink wisps of steam floated. Elian scooped the dazed child into his arms and set him down on the warmest spot of the ondol floor — right at the heart of it.
“There, sit here. Warm on your bottom, isn’t it?”
“Yes….”
“Eat this. The adults kept feeding you bitter medicine and things like that, didn’t they? You don’t have to take that anymore. Hyung will block all of it. Now, open up. Ah—.”
Elian peeled a tangerine and placed a piece into the child’s small mouth. The child chewed carefully — then broke into a bright smile. That smile was exactly the same one adult Calix sometimes showed Elian. He hadn’t noticed it before, but now that he was aware Calix was younger, he could feel it.
That smile meant… shyness.
“Who are you, hyung?”
The child asked. Elian chuckled softly and ruffled young Calix’s hair.
“Me? Your future furnace… and guardian.”
“Guardian?”
“That’s right. So don’t worry. You’re not alone.”
Elian held the child close and patted his back.
“It might be cold and hard right now, but just wait a little. Someday you’ll meet someone who cherishes you deeply.”
“Really?”
“Of course. You’ll meet a very capable and handsome hyung who will move mountains, pave roads, and tear up floorboards just for you. So….”
Elian whispered into the child’s ear.
“…just hold on until then, even if it hurts. Okay?”
Elian stroked the child’s back. The young Calix nestled in his arms lifted his head and looked up at him.
His red eyes were glistening with tears. The child was gripping Elian’s clothing as though terrified of letting go. As though afraid this warmth was a dream he might wake from.
“Um… hyung.”
The child’s small lips parted.
“…Yeah?”
“Is it… is it okay for me to be happy?”
Elian’s hand stilled.
The child wore the face of someone about to burst into tears, asking the most desperate question in the world.
“People told me. That I was cursed from the moment I was born. That everyone gets hurt and cold because of me. That I deserve to be unhappy.”
The cruel configuration Eden had planted. Elian felt it to his bones — just how long it had been gnawing away at this small child’s soul.
“So I thought it was only natural to be cold and in pain….”
The child pressed his small fern-like hands against his own chest.
“But it’s warm here, and it feels strange. I keep wanting to cry.”
“….”
“Even someone like me — a monster — is it really okay to sleep somewhere warm? Can I… actually become happy?”
That innocent question shattered something in Elian’s chest. He was furious. Rage surged toward the author who had forced ‘unhappiness’ as destiny onto this small child, and resentment welled up at the world that had left this child alone. Elian held the child tightly, as though he were something precious.
“Of course you can.”
Elian swallowed the tightness rising in his throat and spoke firmly.
“Who said you have to be a monster. Who said you have to be unhappy.”
“….”
“Listen carefully. You are not a monster. You are the most precious, valuable, and warmest person in the world.”
Elian wiped the child’s tears and held his gaze.
“If anyone ever tells you that you deserve to be unhappy, come tell hyung right away. I’ll work them to the bone at a construction site.”
“…Okay.”
“So rest easy. You will absolutely become happy. Because I’m going to make it that way.”
Only then did relief spread across the child’s face. Like a small bird that had been shivering in the cold for so long, finally finding its nest.
“…Thank you, hyung.”
The child buried his face in Elian’s chest. Within the warmth of the ondol and the comfort of those gentle words, the child’s eyelids grew heavy. It was the deepest sleep without nightmares he had ever known.
In Elian’s arms, the form of the small sleeping child slowly transformed back into adult Calix. But the smile resting on his lips remained just as radiant as a child who had finally been saved.
***
Creak—.
A moment later, the firmly shut door swung open.
“Oh, what do I do. I can’t stand the sight of blood-soaked things. Gore really isn’t my taste.”
Eden stepped inside with a gleeful smile on his face, an eerie excitement in his eyes. According to his script, Calix — consumed by madness — should have slashed Elian to death, and should now be screaming in agony before the corpse. That was the only way the tragedy of ruin would be complete.
But.
“…?”
Eden’s footsteps came to a dead stop. The scene inside the room had completely defied his expectations.
Far from the stench of blood, the sweet fragrance of tangerines filled the air. The bone-cutting cold was nowhere to be found, replaced by a gentle warmth that cupped his cheeks.
And in one corner of the room — Elian sat leaning against the windowsill, and Calix lay with his head on Elian’s lap, fast asleep without a care in the world.
“…What is this.”
Eden couldn’t find the words. Calix’s face. That face which had always been twisted in pain or frozen cold… wore a smile. The most peaceful and happy expression — one that Eden had never once permitted since the moment he created him.
“Shh.”
Elian pressed a finger to his lips and fixed Eden with a glare.
“Get out. You’ll wake him up.”
“You… just what are you….”
Eden’s hands trembled. His configuration hadn’t taken hold. No — it had been completely deleted and overwritten. This foreign element had dared to surpass the authority of me, the author, and saved my character?
“I refuse to accept this. This is a setting error! You’re a bug!”
Eden shouted and tried to draw his Mana. But the warm energy filling the room repelled it. This space was already dominated by Elian’s narrative.
[System Notice: Ownership of this area has been transferred to ‘Elian Valeria.’]
Strange letters Eden had never seen before floated in the air like a game window.
“Damn it!”
Eden bit his lip. Not now. If he forced his power here, the world’s recoil could fling him out entirely.
“Just you wait. This story isn’t over yet. I will absolutely kill you in the next chapter.”
Eden stormed out of the room as though fleeing, fuming with every step.
Bang.
The door slammed shut, and once again only quiet peace remained in the room.
“What a joke.”
Elian scoffed, looking down at the sleeping Calix on his lap. Over the face of adult Calix, the face of that seven-year-old kid he’d seen earlier overlapped in his mind.
“…You’ve had it rough, little one.”
Elian wiped the sweat beading on Calix’s forehead. Now he finally understood. Why this man had accepted him so easily. He was simply a lonely child who had felt warmth for the very first time.
“Sleep well. I’m handing you the bill when you wake up.”
Elian patted Calix’s shoulder and let his own eyes drift shut. With the tension released, drowsiness washed over him. The two of them — having turned Eden’s prison into the warmest bedroom — leaned into each other’s warmth and slipped into a peaceful sleep.
