The Baby Villain Dreams of Conquering the World

Chapter 4

Episode 4

"Finny Orphanage. That's right."

He read the nameplate on the orphanage gate and then looked down at Flora quietly.

Was it just her imagination that his sparkling golden eyes seemed somehow sorrowful?

"It's getting late, so you should go in now."

"Okay."

She was actually feeling awkward about bringing him inside, so Flora answered cheerfully in her relief.

And she would have gone in without hesitation.

If only Athanas hadn't tightened his grip on her hand.

"Will you let go of my hand?"

"Ah, I'm sorry."

At Flora's words, he seemed startled and loosened his grip.

"Thank you for the ice cream; I ate it well. Next time, if an uncle like Jex picks a fight, call the guards! Well then, Ajeossi. Bye-bye!"

This time, she went in without looking back.

After Flora disappeared so coldly.

A long while later, Athanas called her name with a faint, distant expression.

"Flora......"

It was a plaintive voice, but no answer came.

Eventually, after a long while, Athanas lifted his heavy footsteps and left the orphanage.

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

"Found you, Flora."

Flora, reading a book alone in the library, flinched at the voice that reached her.

Slowly raising her head, using the book as a shield, she saw Rosaria looking down at her, though she didn't know when she had arrived.

Rosaria familiarly took a seat next to Flora.

"Where did you go yesterday?"

"I went for a walk in the town."

Flora closed the book with a regretful expression.

"Are you going to stop reading?"

"Because Rosaria is here."

"You're prioritizing me over a book. I'm glad."

Rosaria swept her purple hair back and smiled softly.

"It's been too long. Have you been well?"

"Yep."

"What have you been doing?"

"Reading books, playing hide-and-seek, playing tag, drawing pictures......"

"And?"

Rosaria's eyes, filled with expectation, sparkled.

This girl really likes me.

Swallowing her annoyance, Flora smiled brightly.

"I was waiting for Rosaria to come! So I was really sad that I couldn't meet you yesterday."

"Is that so? I'm sorry. Lately, some unwelcome guests have appeared in the territory, so I've been a bit busy."

So I ask you, where does this sound like the speech of a seven-year-old?

'When will my speech become proper like that? Will it get a bit better if I'm just one year older?'

Unaware of Flora's worries, Rosaria familiarly pulled her into her embrace.

I really don't know why Rosaria likes me this much.

To understand Flora's second piece of luck and the beginning of this unwelcome, troublesome connection, we have to go back to last year.

At that time, the orphanage was poor.

So much so that they were grateful not to starve to death.

But Flora, who had never experienced poverty as the Great Demon, couldn't bear it.

To be precise, she couldn't bear to watch the orphanage people suffer from poverty any longer.

'I'm starting to feel sorry for them. This is dangerous... I'll get attached in no time at this rate.'

Flora didn't want to give her affection to humans.

'I planned to quietly just receive protection until I became an adult, but it seems a big problem will arise before that.'

Who's to say a similar end won't come again?

'I heard there's a Demon Forest nearby. I should go there.'

That was the reason she always refused any adoption inquiries and held out until the end.

'I didn't want to go find them in this awkward, immature body where it's hard to accumulate power.'

Thinking that the demons who once followed Mors might see her incomplete power and laugh at her, treating her like a child, she kept putting it off.

So she planned to go find the demons in the Demon Forest after becoming an adult and regaining her power perfectly, to subjugate them and bring about the world's downfall...

Well, maybe being laughed at is better than starving to death.

Three years old.

Flora left the poor orphanage behind for the first time.

Escaping the old orphanage was easily accomplished with the small amount of demonic aura she possessed at the time, but...

'Where is this?'

She got lost.

She was clearly trying to go to the Demon Forest, but it seemed she took the wrong path.

And there, she met Rosaria.

To be precise, she met Rosaria who was being chased by a monster.

A dark forest, and a child who looked only a year or two older than herself.

Perhaps it was because the sight of her holding back tears and running away in fear reminded her of the orphanage children.

When the child fell, Flora let out a sigh and wielded her demonic aura to drive the monster away.

And then she appeared before Rosaria as if nothing had happened.

〈An angel...? Am I dead?〉

〈You're alirve.〉

〈H-how?〉

〈Didn't a fairy help you?〉

Flora didn't let on that she had saved her.

She just pretended to be a lost child too and stayed by Rosaria's side.

And so the two overcame hardships and adversity together, eventually being rescued by the adults who came looking for Rosaria.

To be precise, Rosaria alone faced hardships and adversity.

If she had known then that Rosaria was from the Hermannus family, she would never have saved her.

Why would she save the descendant of her nemesis, what's so pretty about that?

And so, because of the utterly unhelpful descendant of her nemesis, Flora ended up returning to the orphanage.

She thought about running away again right away, but...

〈I shouldn't have taken my eyes off you. I'm sorry, Flora. I'm sorry I'm such an inadequate teacher.〉

Seeing Mrs. Finny holding her and crying, Flora, instead of pulling away, buried her head in her embrace.

'Sigh. My fate.'

Maybe she had already gotten a little, just a little, attached.

Being held by the crying Mrs. Finny, she lost the desire to run away again.

In the end, Flora just decided to live well again and set a new life plan to formally leave the orphanage once she became an adult.

She thought that would be the end of her connection with Rosaria, but...

〈Hello, Flora.〉

Rosaria did not want that.

〈Since you saved me, I think I'll make you my playmate.〉

She even came to the orphanage and offered something ridiculous under the guise of a reward.

〈Eh, I don't wike it.〉

At Flora's rude remark, Rosaria's maid was about to raise her voice in shock, but it was no use.

〈I knew you'd say that. Then, instead of being playmates, how about if I come to visit sometimes? Will you play with me each time?〉

Rosaria hugged Flora familiarly and laughed.

'I taught her the wrong habit.'

Back in the lost forest, she let Rosaria hug her whenever she said she was scared; how was she to know she'd be like this outside too?

〈I don't wike that eiver.〉

〈Now that I think of it, the orphanage building is quite old. I suppose we should build a new one?〉

〈I will gather excellent builders, Young Lady.〉

〈Ah, and you said you weren't getting proper meals? I'll have groceries supplied to the orphanage. My father said if you receive a kindness, you must repay it.〉

Hmm, thinking about it again, having a friend come to visit might be okay.

〈It's okay if a fwiend comes to visit.〉

After that, Rosaria began sponsoring the orphanage under the Hermannus name.

Thanks to that, the children no longer went hungry and could wear clothes suitable for the season.

The leaky roof and the thin walls that let in the cold wind were all repaired, making it a reasonably livable house.

Regardless of her gratitude, Rosaria, who visited once a month, was quite a bother.

'And that's already been going on for a year.'

Even though she was a sponsor, Flora didn't want to give her affection to her nemesis, so she deliberately kept her distance and avoided her, but Rosaria endured Flora's iron wall.

She was so tenacious that even after Flora's coldness lasted for two months, she didn't mind and persevered steadfastly, and in the end, it was Flora who raised the white flag.

Her expression, which had been stiff, softened whenever she saw her, and hardened again whenever she left, making it difficult to keep ignoring her to the end.

'I should have maintained that iron wall until the very end.'