First of All, Let’s Hide My Younger Brother

he spirits whispered the most pleasant things to Astaire.

 

Astaire, who had to wear girls' clothes since childhood, thought he was a real girl.

 

He played with dolls and toy tea boxes like a normal girl.

 

He also loved the princess stories he read every night before bedtime.

 

Among the tales, Astaire's favorite was the story of a knight who came to rescue a princess who was trapped in a tower.

 

— Will a knight like this appear to me one day?

 

Astaire thought the cursed life he is having resembled that of the princess trapped in the tower.

 

So there was a time when he thought his second cousin, Ritaus, would be the knight to come to his rescue.

 

— I will be Ritaus' bride.
I will wear a wedding dress the same color as my hair, and I am going to make the bouquet the same violet color as my eyes.

 

As the adults watched adoringly as seven year old Astaire gibbered, eleven year old Ritaus spoke in a cold voice.

 

— You can't marry me.

 

It was the first time the direct, but affectionate Ritaus had turned him down.

 

— Why, why can't you marry me?

 

— You are a boy.

 

A moment of silence passed.
Astaire had never thought of himself as a boy.

 

— I'm a girl!

 

— You are a boy.
You took a bath with me.

 

— So what!

 

— The girls don't have chili peppers3.

 

Astaire collapsed on the floor.
Count Aizar and his wife began to scold Ritaus harshly.

 

— He still doesn't know anything.
Can't you just humor him? 

 

Seeing that, Astaire became even more convinced that he was not a woman.

 

Even the spirits that were always whispering in his ear didn't say that it was a lie.

 

He is a man.

 

He always thought he was a woman, but he was a man.

 

Later, when he grows up, he wished to marry Ritaus, but he is a man.

 

Even if he grows up in the future, he can't marry Ritaus.

 

Because he is a man…

 

It could have been since that moment.

 

When Astaire's endless obsession with Ritaus began.

 

At first, he hated every woman in the world who could marry Ritaus.

 

So, if there was a girl in the family who wanted to be his friend, Astaire would go around messing up, interrupting everything.

 

After that, Astaire bullied the maids who served him.

 

At first, they seemed to be like his little pranks, like when he would make a person fall down using magic, induce them to make a mistake so they would break all the stacked dishes, or cut the clothesline so the wet clothes could get dirty.

 

 

But gradually, the intensity began to get worse.

 

He caused boiling water from a kettle to gush out and end up covering a maid's face, causing severe burns, caused a maid who was sewing to poke her eyes, and caused a maid who climbed up high stairs to fall while dusting sculptures hanging from the ceiling.

 

The maid suffered a back injury and was unable to use her lower body for the rest of her life.

 

It was only then that Count Aizar and his wife realized the gravity of the situation.

 

It became clear to them what kind of evil the boy could do with the 'power of the Spirit King' when his mind was twisted.

 

So they decided to replace all the maids serving Ritaus with men.

 

When the women surrounding Ritaus disappeared, Astaire seemed to have stopped his evil deeds, and that calmed Count Aizar and his wife.

 

But that was a big mistake.

 

The Count Aizar and his wife could not have imagined that this time his target would be the men surrounding Ritaus.

 

Astaire's maternal grandfather, Duke Lische, was busy with the administration of the territory, so there were many days when he could not take care of Astaire.

 

So he used to entrust Astaire to Ritaus, the eldest son of Count Aizar, his relative.

 

Ritaus faithfully obeyed the orders of Duke Lische and Count Aizar.

 

He didn't know what Astaire might do if he didn't get what he wanted, so he did what he wanted.

 

He had to read books to him, play hide and seek with him, play roles as Astaire wanted, and play house with him.

 

If he wanted to dance with him, he would dance, if he asked for a hug, he would give him a hug, and if he wanted to kiss him, he would be willing to kiss Astaire's lips without any emotion.

 

 

 

TL: Yse

 

N/T: 

 

 

 

1) In this last sentence it didn't say 'net', but I still put it in since I couldn't understand what it really meant.
징을/ gong, I could see it had several meanings such as 'nails', 'bells' and 'bells'.

 

2) Reference to Gulliver's Travels, when Gulliver is dragged to the Island of Lilliput.
When he wakes up, he is completely tied up and tiny little men shoot him with tiny little arrows. 

 

 

 

 

3) N/T: 고추 means chili pepper, as it may also be slang for male genitals, its English equivalent for it would be 'weiner'.