The Baby Villain Dreams of Conquering the World

Chapter 33

Episode 33

Flora let out a scoffing laugh.

"What's my name?"

"If you're going to tell me, just tell me."

"This feeling of not wanting to tell you because you're curious."

"Why is your personality so eccentric, unlike your appearance? Your face is so pretty..."

Basilian raised his voice crankily but soon realized his mistake and shut his mouth.

"What? Eccentric?"

Flora had already heard everything, though.

"Ah, I won't tell you! I'll just call you fairy!"

As the teasing from earlier continued, Basilian's face turned bright red again.

"You were going to tell me originally. Tell me!"

"Oh dear, I'm an eccentric fairy who doesn't want to tell you, what should I do!"

Basilian's shoulders trembled, then he squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.

"...Spring!"

"What did you say?"

"I said you look like a spring fairy, not an eccentric one! I wanted to ask then, but I held back on purpose because I wanted to make a promise to meet next time!"

'This is more fun to tease than I thought. But if I tease him more, he might cry.'

Flora, with a kind heart, thought that was enough and was about to let it go, but...

'Oh...'

Seeing his face, red as a ripe apple, with his hand covering his mouth, that intention completely vanished.

"I see. You wanted to see me again."

"...No, I didn't."

"What? The sound is too small, I can't hear you well. You wanted to see me so much you wanted to make a promise to meet?"

"Grrr."

At the sound of his teeth grinding, Flora finally burst out laughing, unable to hold it back any longer.

"Puhahaha."

She laughed so joyfully, holding her stomach with her empty hands, that Basilian soon began to fume.

"Stop teasing me!"

"Ahaha, okay, okay."

"Ah, don't come closer!"

When she approached closer to soothe him, Basilian shouted in a sulky tone and started walking ahead quickly.

Oh no, I laughed too much and made him sulk.

"Are you sulking?"

"I'm not sulking."

"Mr. Gentleman who isn't sulking. If you really want to know my name, stop and look at me, please."

"...You're really bold, honestly."

Basilian let out a sigh with a face that seemed to regret bringing Flora along.

When the boy stopped walking, a cool winter wind blew through the dark, sunken forest.

Cold moonlight filtered down through the rustling, moving leaves.

Because it was dark, his warm green eyes stood out even more clearly.

His eyes, filled with complex emotions, were waiting for Flora to say something.

Strangely, Basilian's face was stiff with tension.

Seeing that he looked rather pitiful, Flora didn't hesitate any longer and opened her mouth.

"Flora."

Flora, who had somehow gotten right in front of Basilian's nose, smiled sweetly and whispered affectionately, as if to show off.

"My name is Flora."

"Yeah, Flora. Let's go before we delay any further. For now, we'll stay here until we reach the next village."

Although he was pretending to be nonchalant, she could see the tips of Basilian's ears turning red as he turned away.

Flora decided to pretend not to notice this time and followed him.

"For now, we'll stay here until we reach the next village."

"Okay, but it's so cold here."

"Even though it's the west, it's an area bordering the north. Of course it's colder than the east where you lived."

"Brrr."

As Flora shivered, Basilian, who was watching her, let out a sigh.

Then he took off the leather coat he was wearing and draped it over Flora's body.

"Is this a little better?"

"But Basilian, you'll be cold."

"It's fine. I'm probably sturdier than you."

It seemed he knew a little about manners, but this action actually made Flora uncomfortable.

'I've taken a child's outerwear.'

Wouldn't it be a big deal if Basilian caught a cold because of me?

'But if I refuse, he'll feel hurt.'

Flora slightly tightened the leather coat and grinned.

"Thank you."

"I would have been disappointed if you hadn't said that."

Although he was pretending to be fine, Basilian's hands were redder from the cold than before.

'We need to hurry.'

Flora moved her feet vigorously, and thanks to the increased speed, they soon arrived at their destination: the mercenary band.

What appeared after pushing through the bushes was a cluster of khaki-colored tents.

The men gathered around the large bonfire in the center turned at Basilian's appearance and were all startled.

"Kid, who's the even younger kid behind you?"

"You didn't get bewitched by something strange and bring it back, did you?"

A wary look settled in the eyes of the rough-looking men.

This was the Demon Forest, a place that couldn't be considered for civilians, so it was a natural reaction.

"Ah, she's..."

Before Basilian could continue his explanation, Flora rushed out in front of them.

"Hey, hey!"

A flustered Basilian tried to stop her, but she had long since arrived in front of the warm bonfire.

"Brrr, brrr."

Flora held out her hands toward the bonfire, then grinned at the gazes directed at her.

"Hello, my name is Flora. It's so cold, so I'd like to borrow some fire."

At the cheeky response, everyone, including Basilian, blinked in confusion.

"Oh, and I'm Basilian's friend. I followed my Dad and got lost, and Basili saved me."

"Who's Basili?"

"Basilian's name is too long. So I'll call you Basi."

"Ugh."

Basilian held his forehead and sighed, and the mercenary band was utterly bewildered by the sight of the two bantering children.

"I'm not a monster, not a witch, and not a creature either. I'm just Flora."

Still, Flora didn't forget to introduce herself politely.

A single small flower that had appeared before the Red Serpent mercenary band, known for their cruel methods against monsters, naturally settled down beside them.

"I'll leave soon, so please take care of me, okay?"

She said this while radiating a genial smile not commonly seen within the mercenary band.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · · · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

During the peaceful moment when Flora was getting acquainted with the Red Serpent mercenary band, Lucifer Ducal Residence was in utter chaos.

"She's not in the kitchen either!"

"Not in the library either!"

"We've checked all over the rooms, but we can't find her!"

"The training grounds and the stables are the same!"

Amid the panicked servants, Zamira held her head.

"Ah, ah."

She staggered as if she might collapse at any moment, startling the maids who rushed to support her.

"I, I should have been more careful and watched closely."

Elena, Flora's personal maid who had disappeared, shook her head with a pale face.

"Could the Young Lady really have... followed the subjugation team?"

"Since a day has already passed, the probability of that seems high."

At Zamira's words, Elena squeezed her eyes shut.

"Th, then she could be attacked by monsters..."

Although she had thought about taking the Young Lady's life for revenge, she didn't wish for her to be torn to shreds by monsters.

'No, Elena. You should consider it fortunate that the Duke will feel the same pain.'

Despite such thoughts, her body was trembling pitifully and relentlessly.

"We must send a telegram to the Duke immediately! If the Young Lady has already been found, that would be fortunate, but she's so playful she might be hiding very well! If she gets left behind by mistake, it would be a real disaster!"

From behind Elena, whose face had turned pale, Daphne voiced her opinion.

"That's right. We can't just stay panicked like this forever. I will send a telegram to the Duke. You all must search the ducal residence more thoroughly. If you find the Young Lady, inform me immediately!"

"Yes!"

Zamira abandoned her usual dignified demeanor and rushed out hastily, and Daphne also set out to look for places where Flora could be hiding.