Chapter 1
A suffocating silence hung over the dark dining room.
The only sound was the clinking of silverware.
Then the dining room door suddenly swung open.
A strikingly handsome man in a black military uniform walked in and sat at the lavishly prepared dining table.
After taking his seat, he slowly pulled out the chair beside him and carefully placed something on it.
His movements were so gentle, as if he were handling an invaluable treasure, that everyone stared at him in confusion.
“Blake. What exactly is that beside you?”
Duke Leblanc, who had been quietly eating until now, narrowed his eyes and pointed at the teddy bear sitting neatly in the chair.
“My comfort doll.”
“…Your what?”
“My. Comfort. Doll.”
As if to make sure there was no misunderstanding, the man repeated each word slowly and clearly before calmly beginning his meal.
Clang!
A knife fell onto the marble floor with a sharp metallic crash.
Duke Leblanc, who had dropped it, bit his tongue in shock.
His expression said he’d just heard something he never should have.
And understandably so.
The object in question was a worn, shabby teddy bear that looked completely out of place beside Blake, the Duke’s eldest son, whose appearance was as cold and flawless as a sculpture.
“Y-you… Have you finally gone insane from lack of sleep?”
“On the contrary, I’ve finally regained my sanity.”
“Then why in the world would you bring that filthy doll—”
The claim that Blake was sane lacked all credibility.
Everyone knew that Blake Leblanc suffered under a curse that prevented him from sleeping.
Even so, today’s behavior was far too strange.
Blake was the strongest knight in the Casdonia Empire.
In a nation constantly at war, he had earned fame by leading every battlefield to victory.
The Butcher of War.
The Grim Reaper.
The Bloody Commander.
Every title attached to his name sounded terrifying.
Countless knights revered him.
And yet…
Now he looked like a military commander who brought a cute teddy bear to dinner.
The absurd mismatch left Duke Leblanc speechless.
Beside him, a silver-haired boy cautiously spoke up.
“B-Brother… are you feeling unwell?”
“No, Aaron.”
“But… teddy bears are things insignificant young ladies and noble children carry around, aren’t they?”
At that, Blake’s sparkling violet eyes turned toward the bear.
He gently cupped one of its ears and said:
“Do not speak carelessly about my teddy bear. You’ll hurt its feelings.”
“Hic!”
The icy gaze he received was enough to make Aaron think he might be cut down on the spot.
He quickly covered his mouth with both hands and gulped down water to suppress the hiccup threatening to escape.
“If Brother likes teddy bears… t-then I’ll buy the exact same one!”
Aaron idolized Blake to an almost religious degree.
If Blake did something, Aaron wanted to do it too.
Blake shook his head.
“No.”
“…What?”
“You can’t buy this one.”
Aaron blinked.
“This teddy bear cannot be obtained anywhere.”
A strange pride appeared on Blake’s handsome face as he said it.
To be fair, judging by its condition, the bear truly looked impossible to find anywhere else.
A maid carrying a replacement knife for the duke paled in horror.
What kind of dreadful combination was this?
Blake Leblanc and a teddy bear.
Anyone witnessing this scene would surely spread rumors that the sleep-deprived commander had finally lost his mind.
The duke found it impossible to trust what he was seeing.
Blake looked completely enchanted by that ragged old teddy bear.
“Blake. It seems your inability to sleep has finally worn down your mind. Go rest.”
Seeing the maid’s horrified expression, the duke attempted to salvage the situation.
His tone was that of someone addressing a patient.
Blake frowned and set down his utensils.
“Why would I be unable to sleep?”
The duke stared.
This child… this child has truly gone insane.
His violet eyes swept over his apparently deranged son.
A deep look of concern settled over his face.
The curse afflicting House Leblanc did not affect Blake alone.
The duke and Aaron also suffered from the inability to sleep.
It was a hereditary curse passed down through the direct bloodline like a punishment.
Generations had spent fortunes trying to find a way to break it.
Yet almost no one even knew anything about the curse.
It seemed destined to remain for yet another generation.
And yet—
What?
Why couldn’t he sleep?
“Enough jokes. I have no desire to discuss the curse.”
“Is that so?”
Blake responded briefly and tapped beneath his eye.
The duke’s gaze followed.
Then his eyes widened.
“Y-your dark circles…!”
The heavy shadows that instantly identified a member of House Leblanc were gone.
Aaron shot out of his seat and rushed over.
“B-Brother! They’re really gone! I wish mine would disappear too…”
His eyes sparkled with hope.
Ignoring him, Blake gently stroked the red ribbon tied around the teddy bear’s neck.
“This teddy bear is the only reason I can sleep.”
Clang!
The trembling duke dropped a second knife.
For generations they had desperately sought a cure for the curse.
And now Blake was claiming a teddy bear had solved it?
It sounded absurd.
Yet the faintest glimmer of hope appeared in the duke’s eyes.
Blake certainly seemed mentally unstable.
But the healthy appearance beneath his eyes was undeniable.
“Is… is that true, Blake? Let me see that teddy bear.”
His silver hair whipped behind him as he sprang to his feet and reached out.
Just as his hand was about to grab the bear—
A strong hand brushed it aside.
Blake lifted the worn brown teddy bear into his arms and hugged it tightly.
Then he rubbed his straight nose affectionately against the bear’s head.
“No. Only I am allowed to touch this teddy bear.”
For a man known as the Bloody Commander, it was an astonishingly childish statement.
“…Brother?”
Aaron actually took a step backward.
He could not believe what he was seeing.
An unsettling obsession flickered in Blake’s violet eyes.
The teddy bear in his arms seemed to squirm slightly.
Blake hugged it even tighter and whispered:
“Isn’t that right, Vivian?”
“……”
And from inside the squirming teddy bear—
In other words, me—
I stared at this lunatic and screamed internally.
‘LET ME GO, YOU CRAZY BASTARD!’
But as if mocking my desperate cries,
the man’s eyes had already gone completely insane.
