Chapter 7
‘What was that just now?’
Calion blinked slowly in confusion, staring down at the box.
“Ow…”
“…!”
As if confirming that what he heard wasn’t an illusion, a faint groan leaked out from inside the box. Calion immediately turned around before even finishing opening the other gift boxes.
“Have I finally gone crazy?”
He muttered quietly and began walking quickly, heading in no particular direction.
Ever since opening the gift Vivi had given him, he had felt uneasy. It was clearly a bizarre, ugly human-shaped doll that seemed designed to insult him.
Compared to the other eerie or cruel-looking gifts he had received so far, it might have been less extreme—but it was still ugly enough to make anyone frown.
He was about to put it back into the box when—
“He’s… really, seriously handsome…”
A strange voice was heard.
Calion quickly looked around, rolling his eyes, but there was no one around him. That was only natural. It was his birthday today, but how many people here were actually celebrating it?
‘Probably none.’
There couldn’t be. If there were, they wouldn’t be treating him like he was invisible.
That thought made a sharp pain spread in his chest. He clenched and unclenched his fists without thinking.
‘I thought I was used to this.’
To suppress the emotions flooding back after so long, he shook his head slightly.
But then, the voice echoed again in his ears.
“It’s truly a masterpiece. A sight to behold. If your eyes hurt, why go to a hospital? Just look at this face—it feels like my vision is being purified. What is the Empire even doing? This face should be designated a national treasure!”
At this point, Calion decided it was not his imagination.
The loud voice was definitely coming from the doll in his hands.
And then he thought—
He wasn’t just hearing people’s thoughts… but even a doll’s voice.
‘Unsettling.’
‘I don’t want to get involved. What if I make a bad impression on the Duke?’
‘There might be value in using him.’
‘That kid is coming into our house?’
Calion recalled the malicious thoughts he had been hearing from Henry and the Duke earlier, and the voices around him, and suddenly started walking faster—until he broke into a run.
Eventually, he stopped in a quiet place.
An old annex building. Overgrown vines had completely swallowed the structure, bricks were missing here and there, and finely carved statues had collapsed.
Calion stared at the eerie building with complicated emotions.
It was the most painful and terrifying place to him—but also the only place where he could breathe. He still remembered the despair and resignation he had learned there.
As he blankly stared at the old annex, his heart suddenly tightened.
The pain made him wince, and then a voice echoed in his mind.
— “Because of that bastard, I got yelled at by Father again. That plan got exposed at the worst time! So why did you drag that trash out of the garbage and try something like that?”
Henry Button.
His thoughts.
At that moment, Calion furrowed his brow sharply and swore under his breath—just as Henry appeared from the forest ahead.
Henry grinned unnervingly.
“There you are, Calion. I’ve been looking for you. I came here because I suddenly thought of you.”
Calion looked at him with empty eyes. Henry, two years older, casually draped an arm over Calion’s shoulder and pulled him closer.
“I’m a little stressed about something. You can help me with it, right?”
It sounded gentle—but it wasn’t a request.
In the end, Calion was forcibly dragged into the annex.
Deep underground, they reached the basement. When the door opened, a foul stench filled the air from the garbage dumped here from the main building.
But neither the furious Henry nor the hollow-eyed Calion seemed to notice it.
Soon, Calion collapsed under Henry’s hand and slowly closed his eyes, hoping this would end quickly today.
Then Henry’s shoe came down on his back.
“So! Why did you make such a fuss about throwing a birthday party for this trash…!”
Calion tightly suppressed the spark of mana flickering in his palm.
If he was going to be hit anyway, it was better to endure it silently.
I let out a small groan, rubbing the sore area around my hips.
Just earlier, Calion had panicked like he had seen a ghost and stuffed me back into the box—because of me.
Well, I guess I got an eye feast.
Feeling a bit disappointed, I clicked my tongue—but as soon as I was back in the box, reality sank in.
So what now? Am I still destined to be torn apart and killed?
‘If I’m going to stay obsessed like this… I can’t be this weak.’
Thinking back to how excited I had been to meet Calion again just moments ago, I pressed my head lightly against the box.
After a brief moment of self-reflection, I firmly decided I would never be shaken again by that handsome face.
But even after waiting… the box didn’t open.
My determined posture slowly collapsed.
“Why isn’t it opening…?”
Did I upset him?
That thought came to me, and I reluctantly accepted it.
Objectively and subjectively, I was a terrible gift. A gift is supposed to make someone happy—but I was just an ugly doll that made people frown.
Even adults frowned at me, so of course a child wouldn’t be happy receiving something like this for his birthday.
‘Am I… being abandoned by my favorite character?’
It made sense from others’ reactions—but the pain in my chest was undeniable.
“There’s nothing more pathetic than that.”
I sighed deeply.
Time passed, and I mentally prepared myself for being discarded.
Eventually—finally—the box opened.
Sunlight didn’t blind me this time. The sky had already turned red, meaning a lot of time had passed.
I steeled myself again.
‘Don’t be shocked even if I’m thrown away.’
‘Don’t get blinded by his face and ignore reality.’
And then I slowly focused my vision.
“…Huh?”
I froze.
“Ugh—another failure.”
“Yeah. As expected of Calion’s gifts. They’re all trash.”
Instead of Calion’s face, there were dull-looking servants.
Before I could react, I was roughly grabbed.
My expression hardened.
And then I was thrown somewhere.
I frowned immediately.
Smell—
A foul stench filled the air so strongly I couldn’t help but react.
When I looked around carefully, I realized I was on top of a large garbage container.
‘A trash bin?! Seriously… living outside is suffering.’
I sighed internally and listened carefully.
The servants’ voices became clearer.
“More of it is getting thrown away this time.”
“Yeah.”
“Hey, but we managed to take some usable clothes. I’ll give them to my son.”
“Wow, the lady really told us to share Calion’s gifts? She’s so kind.”
From their words, I quickly pieced together what was happening.
Everything Calion received as gifts was being treated as garbage.
I felt something inside me tremble.
‘You feel the same, right?’
The stuffing inside me trembled more violently—as if agreeing.
Even though I couldn’t cry, my body was crying for me.
“…Should we keep at least something? If he loses control of his mana like last time and hurts someone again…”
“The lady said it’s fine to punish him if he becomes uncontrollable or disobedient.”
Their words about Calion’s past and future made my chest ache unbearably.
For a moment, I thought—
I’m not a protagonist who changes the world… but maybe I can at least be an extra who changes Calion’s world.
Of course, that thought disappeared as the garbage bin started moving.
It traveled for a long time.
Eventually, we entered a damp building.
‘Are we there?’
But they kept going further down.
Finally, they reached a place deep underground.
Dripping water. Moss-covered walls. No sunlight at all.
“This place always makes me feel sick.”
“Just hurry up and finish it.”
With a creaking sound, a heavy iron door opened.
Inside was pitch black.
The smell of blood and rot filled the air.
Then the bin was flipped over.
Thud.
And the door closed.
Silence.
I slowly stood up and slid down from the pile of trash.
‘Run first.’
Even if I was thrown away, at least I could escape.
I carefully planned my escape toward the barred window.
“It’s times like this that being a doll is useful.”
I muttered and began stacking trash to climb out.
And then—
When moonlight finally broke through the clouds and spilled into the room…
“….”
Before I saw Calion.
