The Baby Villain Dreams of Conquering the World

Chapter 62

Episode 62

"Alright, bring the Lucifer family's personal physician as well."

"Yes, understood!"

At Athanas's command, Sir Roern and Sir Solta answered with happy faces and quickly exited the castle.

'If it's going to be like this, why do they say they're okay?'

Flora pouted and turned away from the two fathers approaching her.

Their thick clothes were torn in places, and blood was splattered about.

And beneath the torn clothes were wounds full of cuts from sharp ice.

From head to toe, there wasn't a spot that wasn't injured, and seeing them act like this was unbearably frustrating.

'Fools.'

Flora turned her head with a "Hmph!" and started walking forward, ignoring both of them. The knight holding her hand followed, not knowing what to do.

"F-Flora."

"Let's go together, Flora."

She didn't look back, even at the pitiful gaze she felt from behind.

Maybe for them, it really was nothing, which is why they answered that way.

Because the wounds were familiar; they had been in the past, they were now, and they would be familiar in the future.

Or perhaps it was because they didn't want to spend money on just these kinds of injuries.

'But that shouldn't be the case.'

As long as they were on her side, she couldn't tolerate such things happening from now on.

'First, I need to tell them that if they get hurt, they must receive treatment. Phew, I really don't know how these big bears would manage without me.'

But they say a good beginning is half the battle.

Flora smiled sweetly, remembering the two fathers who had said they would receive treatment while watching her reaction.

She thought again that she definitely needed to be by their side.

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The underground staircase created in the center of the hall seemed to be about two stories high.

When Flora tried to run down while humming, the startled knight hurriedly picked her up in alarm.

"Wah?"

At her look asking why he was stopping her, he answered with a flustered face and a trembling voice.

"The stairs are made of ice, so you might slip. So I was hoping to... just carry you like this while we go down..."

Under Flora's intently focused, bright gaze, he gulped. Holding her in his arms allowed him to see her plump, pink-tinged cheeks even closer.

Not only that, her cute, pouty duck-like mouth, which was sticking out adorably as she concentrated on sizing him up, made his heart tremble.

'She's cute.'

The cold wind that always blew fiercely through his heart had become soft and pliable from the quaintness and cuteness he had never found in the Lucifer household.

He was feeling proud under the envious gazes of his other colleagues from behind, but his heart started beating fast with worry that the precious Young Lady might suddenly cry and say she disliked him.

Feeling a surge of confidence from Flora not rejecting him yet, he blurted out.

"P-please permit me to carry you, Young Lady!"

"Hmm."

'They're all like Dad… stubborn and considerate.'

He could have just said it lightly, but he was being unnecessarily dramatic.

Flora wrapped both arms around the knight's neck and, while being held, looked back.

Athanas and Benio were watching them, unable to hide the shocked expressions on their faces.

Just looking at their faces, she could read exactly what they were thinking.

A mischievous impulse naturally welled up inside her.

"Hey. Knight-ajeossi, what's your name?"

"Ah, my name is Jarsen Rendol."

"Sir Jarsen!"

"Yes, yes. Young Lady!"

"My feet hurt, so I'll allow you to carry me."

"Gasp, th-thank you!"

The eyes of the two Lucifers widened to a point where they couldn't possibly get any bigger.

For a moment, Flora's heart softened, but a word once spoken had to be honored.

'So that's why you should bring medics along on the next mission too.'

It's not like they were going to their deaths; why didn't they include medics among the elite troops?

Flora smiled brightly, hoping the two Lucifers would gain a great enlightenment.

After descending all the stairs, a massive ice door was waiting for them.

Athanas stepped forward and tried pushing and pulling the door handle himself, but unfortunately, the door didn't budge an inch.

"It won't open."

After a long struggle, Athanas finally gave up and let out a sigh.

"It seems we probably need that key from earlier."

Their gazes naturally fell upon Flora.

It was ridiculous that they only remembered her and the key now, but she didn't show it and instead tapped Jarsen's arm, asking to be put down.

"Ah, yep."

As Jarsen gently set Flora down on the floor, she ran to the door.

She slipped between Athanas and Benio, who were guarding the door, and stretched her arm out to put the key in the lock.

But unfortunately, Flora was small and short, while the door was big and tall.

Even stretching her arm until it trembled, she couldn't reach the lock.

"...Dad, you do it."

When Flora reluctantly spoke up, Athanas happily took the ice key, inserted it into the lock, and turned it.

Then, a clunk sound was heard, followed by the sound of the door opening.

As if quickly forgetting that Athanas had opened the door for her, Flora immediately puffed up her chest proudly.

"You're both fools. You could have used the key from the start."

When Flora spoke with her hands on her hips, the two laughed awkwardly.

And the reply that came back was something she hadn't expected.

"We thought this way, you might come to us and talk to us."

"Huh?"

"We thought Flora, being kind, would come to help us right away. Thank you."

At Athanas's words, Flora blinked.

Athanas turned his head as if embarrassed, and Benio nodded with a shy expression.

"From now on, I'll definitely get treatment. I won't cause you worry, so could you please forgive me?"

At Benio's following words, Flora was struck with a shock as if she'd been hit on the back of the head.

'This is trouble.'

She was already weak to them, but now these family members, several times larger than her, were starting to look pitiful!

Because of that, she felt like she had suddenly become the bad person.

Flora wanted to be a villain, but she never wanted to be a bad person who tormented her own allies and the weak, so she was engulfed in a great sense of dissonance.

'...Right, they got hurt because they were dragged into the play I arbitrarily planned from the start, so I'll stop throwing a tantrum just because they don't listen.'

It also seemed like they had quickly realized what she wanted, and it seemed like if she acted more spoiled, it would only upset the two of them.

'And then I'd probably feel bad too.'

Flora sighed internally and spread her arms toward Athanas and Benio.

"Dad, please hold my hand. Oppa, you hold my hand too."

"...!"

The faces of Athanas and Benio brightened up as if flowers had bloomed.

Entrusting both hands to the two fathers, Flora looked up at them as if to say, let's go in now.

"Then I'll go in."

Athanas, who had somehow hardened his expression, placed his hand on the half-open door.

As the door creaked wide open, lights turned on in the dark basement, and the sight that unfolded drew gasps of amazement from everyone.

"It's beautiful..."

Someone spoke up, unable to contain their fascination, but everyone gathered here was too busy being amazed by the new space to have the leisure to reply.

They quietly uttered words of admiration while looking at the Shalias filling the basement.

"Father, what are these trees?"

Benio, who was walking at the front, stopped under a large tree, looked up, and asked.

"...It must be your first time seeing them. They are Shalias."

"Shalias... You mean those expensive ornamental trees?"

Athanas nodded. His gaze turned to Flora below him.

"Flora, do they look like Shalias to you too?"

"Ung! They're Shalias!"

Flora, who had answered confidently as if to show off, let go of the two men's hands and ran forward.

"It's just like snow falling!"

"Ah, the petals..."

The petals fluttering softly and drifting around settled on the two men's faces.

Flora, who had been running forward while looking ahead, turned back and burst into a gleeful laugh.

"The flowers must like Dad and Oppa too!"

Against the backdrop, gorgeous and beautiful as if painted in oils, and amidst the white flowers, the sight of Flora smiling brightly left the two Lucifers staring dazedly at the child.

Just moments ago, they had felt a cold so intense it chilled their bones, but strangely, at this very moment, why did this space made of ice feel warm?

The two fathers smiled as if enchanted by something.

Seeing Flora calling out to them with a radiant smile, they could finally feel the reality that they had completely saved her.

"Come slowly. You might fall."