The Baby Villain Dreams of Conquering the World

Chapter 46

Episode 46

"Elena! I want to go for my walk right now!"

"Oh my, I'm afraid right this moment is difficult. I just left the snacks in the kitchen."

"Then I'll be in the usual garden! Come there!"

"……Yes, Young Lady. I'll be back as quickly as I can. Basilian, I leave the Young Lady in your care."

After earnestly instructing Basilian to stop Flora if she tried to go anywhere dangerous, Elena hurriedly walked away.

Leaving the retreating figure behind, the two of them also began walking towards the garden on the opposite side.

After walking a fair distance and confirming no one was around, Basilian cautiously opened his mouth.

"Flora. This is definitely going to sound strange, but……"

"Hm?"

Seeing her clear, worry-free face, Basilian stopped what he was about to say and began to hesitate.

"I mean……"

"Hm?"

"……It's just a thought, but. Your maid."

"Hm, Elena."

Flora nodded, looking straight ahead as she walked, and waited for him to continue.

Seeing Flora like that, Basilian suddenly began to feel worried.

'Should I say it?'

Even if she is mature for her age, wouldn't she be shocked and hurt to hear a warning about someone close to her?

Even though it hasn't been long, if she finds out that someone she's kept by her side is dangerous, she might get scared again.

'Just like back then.'

The image of Flora clinging to Elena's leg and sniffling in the study was still quite shocking, vividly imprinted in Basilian's mind.

'Maybe I should just monitor things myself.'

Hoping that Flora could remain an innocent, adorable child who knew nothing, he hesitated to speak.

"Ah, kitty!"

"Huh?"

"That gray kitty over there! I heard it's been seen often in the garden lately, and it's true!"

The short-haired gray cat in the direction Flora pointed stared at them blankly for a moment, then turned its body and disappeared from view.

"Ah, I wanted to pet it."

'……Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she were a little less pure.'

Looking at Flora, who was gazing at him with a completely unchanged, harmless face, Basilian let out a sigh and opened his mouth.

"Your maid, she seems a bit dangerous, you see. I think it would be good to be careful when you're alone with her."

'Well, if she gets startled, I'll just comfort her and tell her not to worry because I'll protect her.'

Contrary to Basilian's expectations, far from being surprised, Flora looked at him with a pleased smile, as if praising him.

"Hmm."

"What? Don't tell me you……"

It was Basilian who was surprised instead. He blushed, embarrassed by the assumptions he had made alone just moments before.

Just as he was about to ask when she had noticed, Flora stood on her tiptoes and whispered softly into his ear.

"Elena hates our family."

"……You really knew?"

"Yep! How could I not know? The look on her face when she first saw me was scary."

"I see. I didn't know you were aware."

Seeing his expression, which seemed both relieved and awkward, Flora smiled mischievously.

"Were you worried?"

"Well……"

Watching Basilian turn his head away in embarrassment, Flora grinned mischievously.

"If you're worried, then you can just keep staying by my side."

Of course, she understood he had his own personal circumstances, but that didn't mean she wasn't a little hurt by his implication that he would leave her side someday.

No matter how hurt she felt, seeing the look on Basilian's face, as if he were at a loss for words, wasn't very pleasant, so she decided to tease him just a little and then stop.

"If you're mine, why aren't you by my side?"

"Wh-who is yours!"

"If I save you, you're mine!"

"I-I am my own!"

Knowing it was a joke, he immediately raised his voice, and Flora laughed like a little trickster.

The sight of Basilian, his cheeks flushed red as he shouted loudly, was full of life and looked more his age than his gloomy expression from before, which was nice to see.

"Sigh, I guess I'll have to be the bigger person for now."

"Good? Who? You?"

"Yep, me."

At her words, spoken as if she were doing him a favor, he gaped at her in disbelief.

Watching him, Flora was able to push away the small loneliness she had felt secretly.

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Elena walked briskly, leaving the two young children behind.

Instead of heading to her destination, the kitchen, she went to her own quarters. After checking that the hallway was empty, she entered her room.

During the last subjugation incident, an unforeseen event occurred, preventing her from handing the Lucifer ducal daughter over to them.

'Perhaps this is the last chance.'

Once Duke Lucifer, the Young Master, and the aide, Isaac, return, they won't leave the castle empty until after winter passes and they depart for a new subjugation.

'The northern winter is fierce, so they would never leave the ducal daughter alone.'

If they didn't have business at the Imperial Bank headquarters, they wouldn't have come to the Imperial Capital, and there certainly wouldn't have been an opportunity.

Elena took out a small, rolled-up piece of paper from a drawer.

If she wrote a message on this, a letter would be delivered to those who had led her to the ducal castle.

"Ah."

Perhaps she had come in too much of a hurry, but her tied-up hair had come loose, and her hair cascaded down.

Elena hastily grabbed her hair and looked around frantically.

Then she spotted a long ribbon that had fallen on the floor and picked it up with a relieved expression.

"Thank goodness. It doesn't seem damaged."

Normally, she would have tied it up high or left it long and loose, but today was different.

While getting dressed to see her family off, Flora had insisted on dressing Elena up too, fidgeting with her small hands and tying her hair herself.

Of course, her skills were clumsy, so it came undone very easily.

〈It looks good on you, Elena, so I'm giving it to you!〉

The face that had brightly smiled while handing over her cherished ribbon was pretty and truly lovely.

"……Haah."

She knew she had to write the letter immediately, then stop by the kitchen before heading to the garden, but strangely, the hand holding the pen wouldn't move.

The image of Flora smiling brightly and hugging her flashed through her mind.

The memory of Flora clinging to her, saying she liked Elena, not knowing she might be hated, and the way she was picky and honest only in front of Elena, keeping it a secret from everyone else, came to mind.

The small ducal daughter, who smiled brightly yet seemed sad somewhere, had already naturally seeped into Elena's heart.

Elena's gaze drifted to the corner of the desk.

There was a small frame there, containing a flower picture her daughter, Lisa, had drawn for her.

And next to it was another frame, placed together, containing a drawing Flora had made of Elena.

With vacant eyes, Elena brushed her hand over the frame containing Lisa's picture.

"Lisa, my beloved daughter……"

Then, the image of Flora that had filled her mind disappeared, and an afterimage of Lisa surfaced in her thoughts.

The little lady, who resembled both her and her husband equally, had left with a bright smile, saying she was going out to play, and never returned.

Yes, her daughter had not returned.

So it was only fair that the daughter of Lucifer also departed to a place where he could not find her.

As if having made up her mind, she smiled brightly.

"Don't worry. Mother will come to your side soon too."

With that, Elena lifted the pen again.

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"Is it true that Duke Lucifer is coming to the Imperial Capital?"

"He has business at the Imperial Bank. I hear he's planning some new venture."

"Oh my, he must be struggling to maintain his current businesses properly. A new venture?"

The ladies gathered in the salon began to chatter about the open secret, hiding their mouths behind their fans.

"So he's coming because of a loan. I thought he was staying quietly up north where he belonged all this time. What is he thinking?"

"I heard he found his lost daughter."

"Good heavens. That Duke had a daughter? I thought he only had a son carved from the same stern wood!"

At that remark, the lady who had brought up the topic lowered her voice and whispered.

"Well, you know the rumor that the Duchess was pregnant when she ran away. It seems she had the child in secret, without the Duke's knowledge, and then died."

"Oh my, oh my. How could the Duchess have been so bold? She must not have been afraid of the Betrayer."

"She probably thought it was better to die than share a bed with the Betrayer of Humanity and ran away. I would have done the same."

Delighting in the sudden gossip, the gathered people laughed and chatted, making Lucifer's misfortune their conversational appetizer.

The ladies, having grown tired of this topic at some point, changed the subject and began chattering about new stories.

Duke Hermannus, who had been quietly observing from a distance, clicked his tongue.

Leaving the epicenter of high society rumors behind, he went inside to accomplish the purpose of his visit here.

A short while later, three men sat facing each other in a hidden room concealed within Marchioness Sheolli's salon.

They were the heads of the three ducal houses, excluding Lucifer.

"Just what was His Imperial Majesty thinking, approving Duke Lucifer's business proposal?"

Duke Hermannus, who had arrived last, voiced his complaint without hiding his rising irritation.