OMYBCV01

My Sibling is Not the Villain

Episode 1

Since the day my lies were laid bare, more than a fortnight had passed without me seeing Theo.

‘It’s not exactly like we had a falling out, but I suppose I need time to prepare myself before facing him again.’

I pushed back every date invitation with the excuse of being busy. Our only contact consisted of brief greetings, lasting barely a minute or two, exchanged through the communication orb.

After a week, even those brief check-ins began to slip.

I was truly, breathtakingly busy. Driven by the responsibility of ensuring my guild employees didn’t end up unemployed, I threw myself into my work. Yet, the situation with Theo remained in my heart like a dark, stubborn stain, haunting me.

‘I can’t keep doing this.’

The longer I avoided him, the harder the return would be. Even as I lived buried in work, time marched on steadily. The lukewarm breeze of early summer seemed to nudge my heart, urging me to move.

Returning from a short business trip with a leaden body, I headed toward the small bedroom attached to my office.

‘Tomorrow morning, I have to visit another supplier. That means I should clear some time in the afternoon to see Theo, even if only for a moment.’

I trudged up the stairs, mentally carving out gaps in my grueling schedule to make it happen.

Then, I spotted a figure standing near my door.

‘Who could it be at this hour? There shouldn’t be any urgent issues with the current projects.’

Thinking it might be an employee waiting with an emergency, I approached, only to realize it was Theo.

It was a completely unexpected visit. While he had walked me near the guild a few times after our dates, he had never stepped foot inside the headquarters until now.

“What are you doing here?”

The words jumped out of me, sounding sharper than I intended. I moved to apologize for my tone, but the moment our eyes met, tears began to spill from Theo’s ocean-blue eyes.

The wooden floorboards grew dark with his tears.

“Because you keep avoiding me.”

Theo replied in a voice hollowed out by suppressed sobs. He rubbed his tear-soaked cheeks roughly with the back of his hand, then began to plead.

“It’s all my fault. I’m sorry I lied. I was… I was just so scared.”

“Why are you crying?”

I must be losing my mind today. My words kept coming out like jagged glass despite my intentions. Theo’s tears, which had briefly slowed, began to pour even harder.

“I won’t cry anymore. I’ll tell you everything. Just… please don’t abandon me, Rebecca.”

The tears showed no sign of stopping.

“You little liar.”

But I meant it that time.

Afraid I was going to break the poor boy’s spirit entirely, I ushered him into my room. Relying on the dim light from the hallway, I sat him on my bed first before flicking on the lamps.

Under the bright light, he looked even more of a mess than I had feared.

“Sigh.”

At the sound of my sigh, Theo bit his lip hard.

“Don’t bite your lip.”

I sat beside him on the bed and gently tapped his chin. Once I’d rescued his lower lip, I noticed several more things that tugged at my heart. His eyes were bloodshot from crying, his lip was already wounded, and because he’d forgotten to take off his rings, his frantic face-rubbing had left faint scratches on his cheeks.

‘This is heartbreaking.’

I decided to be honest with myself. Mental preparation to face him? That was all nonsense.

The truth was, I was ready to love Theo regardless of who he was, but I had felt my pride sting because I feared he didn’t feel the same. I just needed time until I could hide that bruised ego.

But seeing him in such a state made me realize: Theo was far more important than my pride. However, I wasn’t eloquent enough to explain all these complicated feelings.

In the end, there was only one thing I could say.

“I love you.”

Year-end was the busiest season for any merchant guild.

When the wind turned chilly, we had to consolidate year-end reports from every branch and establish next year’s business strategy. On top of that, the Felice Guild was currently in the middle of an aggressive expansion. We were pouring everything into the tea business we’d ambitiously launched last year; I was so busy I wished I had ten bodies.

‘You have to row when the tide is in.’

Lately, I felt that even the time spent commuting home was a waste, so I was living and sleeping in the room attached to my office. I subsisted on sandwiches and barely found the time for basic necessities. Rebecca’s personal life had come to a full stop as I devoted myself entirely to the guild.

Naturally, I hadn’t seen my “Cutie-Pretty-Sexy-Kitty” in nearly two weeks. It was the longest we’d been apart since we started dating.

“I miss Theo…”

Languidly, I leaned my head on my arm at the desk, tracing his name on the calendar with longing. On the schedule I’d placed prominently in my line of sight, today’s date was marked in bold.

[Date with Theo – DO NOT FORGET]

I had circled it multiple times in red ink and added three or four stars. Normally, just looking at it would fill me with determination, but today, the effect was waning. The “Willpower Recovery” buff was only at about 90%.

‘I’ve gone too long without seeing the real Theo.’

It was like a diet that fails after just one bite of chocolate. Once his name caught my eye, the face of my lover of six months began to flicker before me.

Theo, who had smiled and said video calls were enough because he didn’t want to disturb my work, hadn’t been able to hide his dejection once ten days passed without an in-person meeting. Every time I tried to end a call, his disappointment was palpable.

But since I was barely managing to see his face by cutting my four hours of sleep down to three, ignoring his puppy-dog eyes made my own heart ache.

“Maybe I should just shrink him down and carry him in my pocket.”

So I could take him out whenever I missed him. In my caffeine-addled, sleep-deprived brain, a tiny Theo began to frolic about.

‘He’d be so damn cute. I’d put a flower crown and wings on him.’

It was the kind of loveliness that made my inner fangirl’s heart swell. I closed my eyes and fully committed to the fantasy. The imaginary Mini-Theo, with his eyes curved into a mischievous smile, trotted across my desk.

As if telling me to stop working and play with him, he hugged my quill—which was as large as his entire body—and blinked his long, fluttering eyelashes at me. It was the exact expression Theo used when he wanted something from me.

I groaned, suffering under the weight of his imaginary aegyo like a hopeless fool.

The real thing would be even cuter. At this point, shouldn’t this be considered a workplace injury? Oh, wait. I’m the boss.

I couldn’t focus on work. I wanted to run out right now, throw my arms around him, and roll around in bed. But being an adult means doing things you don’t want to do.

For the sake of the date that had now technically become “today,” I forced my sluggish body up and picked up the quill again.

‘You can do this, Rebecca. Finish this and go on that date.’

This was the first free time I’d had in two weeks—a window created solely by the “Document Processing Speed Buff” powered by the force of love. To spend even one more minute with my adorable boyfriend, I had to clear this pile now.

I brewed a cup of strong tea for a caffeine boost. Before touching the pen, I took a deep, habitual gulp of the dark liquid.

“This isn’t the right taste.”

It felt lacking.

“I don’t want black tea. I want an Iced Americano with an extra shot.”

I startled myself, hearing Korean tumble out of my mouth after so long. I looked around frantically.

‘Good thing I’m alone.’

Only after confirming no one was nearby did I soothe my racing heart.

That’s right. Like so many others, I am a “possessor.”

I don’t know how I ended up here. I wasn’t hit by the classic Reincarnation Truck, nor did some mysterious being from another world appear saying, “At last, I have found you.”

I had simply finished another day of overtime and returned to my studio apartment. As always, I’d pushed the laundry and dishes to the weekend and collapsed into bed after a quick shower. I had been reading a web novel on my phone before drifting off.

Before I fell asleep, I had muttered my usual mantra: “I don’t want to go to work. I’d do anything to not have to go to work.” “Then just quit.” “No, not like that.”

I was just having a typical internal monologue. Don’t all office workers live like that?

When I opened my eyes the next morning to an unfamiliar ceiling, the shock was indescribable. I still remember every single detail of the patterns on that ceiling from the moment I woke up.

Fortunately, I seemed to have received a “Possessor’s Buff.” Along with a slight headache, information about the original owner of this body, Rebecca Felice, flashed through my mind like a panorama.

The person I possessed was Viscountess Rebecca Felice. A character in the R-rated romance fantasy novel, Your Majesty, Please Marry Me Instead of My Sister.

Her name before marriage was Rebecca Vanessa, the fourth child and youngest daughter of Baron Vanessa, born to his second wife. Her father, who was old enough to be her grandfather, died of heart disease when she was three.

Her mother, who had married the elderly Baron only to escape a life of scrubbing floors as a maid, promptly remarried and left young Rebecca behind in the Vanessa estate.

By a stroke of luck, Rebecca’s eldest brother, who inherited the title, was a responsible man.

‘Though, considering he remarried a commoner maid younger than his own daughter three months after the Baroness died—and Rebecca was born five months after that—it’s no wonder the siblings didn’t get along.’

Still, he considered her kin and raised her in a corner of the mansion until she reached adulthood. Thus, Rebecca Vanessa grew up feeding on “the bread of spite” rather than baby food.

‘Her childhood was so tragic that at first, I thought I was in a different genre. You know, the kind where the FL is doted on after a contract marriage with the cursed heir of a Northern Grand Duke.’

But…

‘It turns out Rebecca’s life wasn’t exactly a romance fantasy.’