The Baby Villain Dreams of Conquering the World

Chapter 26

Episode 26

"I, I'm okay."

"You're sure you're not hurt anywhere?"

"Mm, Dad caught me, so I'm okay."

Flora quickly hugged Athanas.

This was a method she had learned at the orphanage. A habit ingrained to avoid getting into more trouble right after causing an incident and before being scolded.

This method worked well with Mrs. Finny, but Lian had tried to stop it, saying it was a bad habit, even banning snacks to get rid of the behavior.

Shaking her body as if terrified, she heard a sigh of pity from above.

"It's alright, Dad is here with you."

Athanas patted Flora while checking her arms, legs, and all over her body for injuries.

His natural way of comforting a frightened child and checking for wounds was very meticulous.

Seeing the lingering worry on Athanas's face, Flora, with a 'here goes nothing' feeling, tried to ease his concern.

"Mm, I'm not hurt anywhere."

"That's good, what a relief."

Even as he said that, Athanas checked Flora over again, worried there might be some unseen injury.

Even the way he held her was a position that wouldn't be uncomfortable for a child.

'It's comfortable, I tell you.'

He doesn't look the type, but he seems to have a talent for childcare.

Just as Flora was thinking you shouldn't judge people by appearances, a sharp gaze fell upon her.

"Flora, why did you do something so dangerous?"

His voice was kind, but his tone was firm.

Flora's mind started racing.

The best way to get out of this situation was to pretend to be hurt, but given her earlier statement, the chance of being caught in a lie was high.

Then she had to use another method.

"But..."

Flora lifted her head with a tearful face.

"What if people here think I'm ill-mannered and start to dislike me?"

"What?"

"I haven't been here long, so I don't know who's who. What if I ask for help and get rejected?"

It was a sudden excuse she came up with, remembering Elena's hostility, but her acting was superb, as if she had prepared it in advance.

Flora grabbed her own hair and thrust it towards Athanas.

"Dad and Oppa and I look so different, don't we? What if people think I'm not Dad's daughter? Flora hates being disliked."

Yes, with such different appearances, that maid hadn't recognized her immediately, right?

Wait, thinking about it, it's a bit irritating.

'What did I do wrong to be looked at like that?'

To prevent her expression from twisting, Flora buried her head in Athanas's shoulder again.

Making a sound akin to a sniffle, Athanas, looking flustered, began patting Flora's back again.

'He probably can't scold me too much now.'

She could tolerate scoldings from Mrs. Finny or Lian, but she couldn't bear being scolded by a Lucifer.

Flora, who grew up spoiled and loved, rationalized that this much was okay from the descendants of her enemies.

Unlike Flora, however, Athanas was in a state of shock.

'Come to think of it, I haven't been able to take proper care of her since I brought her here.'

The thought that this small, lovely child had been living alone in this dark, huge castle, watching her step, made his heart ache.

His past self, who thought it would be fine to just finish work and then go spend time with her, seemed pitiful.

'She probably hasn't met many of the staff yet.'

Zamira's words, reminding him not to forget to pay a bit more attention to Flora even when busy, came to him belatedly.

Guilt made his chest feel even heavier.

'What should one normally do in such a situation?'

It was only three years after Nersha's death that the Marquis Aisolrn allowed him to visit her grave.

And through the will he received three years after her death, he learned that the child he thought had died was alive somewhere in the Empire.

Driven by the desire to reclaim his lost child, he traveled across the continent.

He hadn't expected the miracle of the child returning to his arms, but ultimately, he found Flora as if by a miracle.

He thought everything would be solved just by finding her and keeping her by his side.

But Flora was a young child who knew nothing, from the fact that she had an older brother to the nature of the Lucifer territory.

Right after arriving, she fainted, and on her first outing, she almost encountered a monster attack.

Moreover, how confused must she have been to see the older brother who was slowly opening up to her get seriously injured?

But this was Lucifer, the home of the lords of a barren land who must block the monsters coming from the Demon Forest.

Wasn't Athanas the one who wanted to pay attention to Flora and give her love more than anyone else?

However, he was the Duke of the Lucifer territory before he was Flora's father.

As the lord, he couldn't abandon his duties for the safety of his people.

Remembering that Benio also bore the Lucifer mission just like him made Athanas's heart feel heavy again.

He would have been less upset if he himself had been injured instead.

'Would it have been different if there were Executors in the territory?'

The resentment towards the family that had tormented him since childhood surged up once more.

Why did the ancestor try to revive the Great Demon, forcing such karma upon his descendants? Why couldn't he escape this fate? And why must even his precious children shoulder this duty?

Just as the rising bitterness was about to torment him.

"Dad?"

Athanas grasped his fading spirit at the sound of his lovely daughter's voice from his arms.

"...Yes."

Seeing her wide-eyed, questioning look asking what he was thinking about, Athanas simply smiled instead of answering.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking it would be nice if we all had dinner together tonight. What do you think?"

"I'd like that!"

Seeing Flora's brightly answering face, Athanas smiled, wiping away his sorrow.

'I mustn't break down here.'

Haven't I been proving what kind of family the Lucifers are until now?

If we live honestly as we do now, the Lucifers will someday shed the insult of being called betrayers and escape the heavily pressing duty.

Isn't Benio also striving so hard to awaken his divine power in place of his lacking father?

'For the children, I must do my very best.'

Hoping that at least for his children, the world's coercive standards and duties would not be imposed, he hugged Flora tightly.

"Let's go to Benio."

"Okay."

Flora raised her hand and answered cheerfully.

Of course, despite her casual demeanor, she was sweating bullets inside.

'His expression was so fierce... He's not upset by what I said, is he?'

I thought it would work since I'm young and have a cute appearance...

It seems he, who seemed proficient in childcare, saw right through her true intentions.

Flora poked her own chubby cheek and let out another small sigh.

'I guess I'm not as cute as I thought.'

A small regret washed over her, thinking she might have been too spoiled, but it was too late to take it back now.

'I should tone it down a bit from now on.'

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Flora smartly retrieved the diary she had dropped while falling, and when Athanas asked what it was, she brushed it off as a secret and left the library.

When she went with Athanas to see Benio, he suddenly brought up an unexpected topic.

"Can you give me a little more time?"

"Huh?"

Wondering what he meant, Flora tilted her head.

Then she soon understood he was asking for an extension on the deadline for the answer to the question she had posed.

'What do I do? I'm not really that curious anymore.'

"It might sound like an excuse, but you came back much sooner than I thought..."

Under Flora's persistent gaze, Benio added excuse after excuse.

"I thought you'd be upset and at least not come today."

"...Flora isn't a bad child, though."

She had just thrown him a question to make him think, wanting to tease him a little.

'But if he knew the truth, he'd be really disappointed, wouldn't he?'

Our little bear might be like that.

Naming Athanas 'Big Bear' and Benio 'Little Bear' in her mind, Flora nodded with a pleased expression.

"Then is it okay if I give you the answer a bit later?"

Flora decided to exercise the virtue of an elder.

"Mm, okay."

Nodding solemnly, a faint smile bloomed on his previously anxious face.

"Can you tell me what kind of conversation you two are having?"

At Athanas's question, Benio firmly closed his mouth.

"Oppa says it's embarrassing."

"Is that so?"

The moment Flora finished speaking, Benio nodded his head vigorously.

'Right, it must be difficult to utter words that deny the duty passed down in the family in front of his father.'