The Baby Villain Dreams of Conquering the World

Chapter 65

Episode 65

When there was no response to the repeated knocking, he flung the door open, but unfortunately, the room was empty.

Benio, who had been quietly watching from behind, glanced at Flora's expression and spoke.

"Oh dear, it seems like it'll be difficult to meet him today."

"Don't you know where he went?"

She asked out of disappointment, but there was no way he would know the whereabouts of the missing Basilian.

When Benio quietly shook his head, Flora closed the wide-open door.

"Can't be helped, I guess. He must be busy."

'Her reaction is more subdued than I expected?'

Surprised internally by Flora's unexpectedly calm reaction, Benio felt a sense of pride as he withdrew the hand he had stretched out to grab her in case she threw a tantrum demanding to go find him immediately or ran down the hallway.

'Has she grown up in that short time?'

But that thought was brief, and when it occurred to him that this change might be due to her kidnapping experience, his expression automatically darkened.

At that moment, Flora trudged ahead to return to her room.

While he was pondering what to say, he finally noticed Flora's slumped shoulders.

'...Oh dear.'

It seemed she was just pretending to be fine.

'Of course. She still has a long way to go to grow up.'

Benio smoothed his furrowed brow and quickly caught up with Flora, who was walking ahead. Then he naturally scooped her up and held her in his arms.

"What? I can walk by myself."

The voice that came immediately was also more gloomy than usual. Perhaps noticing this herself, Flora's voice grew smaller toward the end.

"I want to carry Flora, that's why."

'What? Why is he like this?'

Flora looked at him suspiciously for a moment, then comfortably leaned against Benio's embrace.

"Phew, fine, fine then."

She was already in a bad mood from not seeing Basilian's face, but feeling someone's body temperature made her feel a little better.

'What on earth is he doing that he doesn't show his face even after hearing the news of my return?'

When he was crying so desperately and calling for her, and now they keep missing each other, she didn't understand why.

'...I came to see him first because I was worried.'

Maybe it was because she had confirmed Elena was safe, but now the image of Basilian just before he collapsed from injury kept floating in her mind.

She felt she would only be at ease after confirming he was okay with her own eyes. Basilian, this guy, where does he keep wandering off to without knowing how I feel?

If she had known it would be like this, she should have come back a little earlier.

"Oppa, Basi was really hurt, right?"

"...He wasn't unhurt."

True to the unnecessarily honest Lucifer nature, Benio wasn't good at lying.

"Right, so where did he go when he was so hurt?"

"...Hmm, maybe he went looking for you because he wanted to see you? And our paths just crossed."

But he was an excellent older brother who knew how to comfort his sullen younger sister.

"If he rests in his room, he might hear the news and come find you. So let's go back to your room today. You need to eat too. Shall we have some warm potato soup?"

"Uung."

At the affectionate, soothing words, Flora nodded as if giving in.

Since she had gone to find him twice now, it seemed like it was Basilian's turn to come.

Since she was tired anyway, it was perfect timing for a rest. Flora melted skillfully into Benio's embrace.

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'...Why isn't he coming?'

Let's assume he didn't come yesterday because he thought she might be tired.

Even when the next day came, Basilian still hadn't come to find Flora.

Wondering if he might be angry and no longer wanted to see her, she went to Basilian's room one last time, but this time too, the room was empty.

In the end, Flora had to return to her room with no results.

'Is this right?'

Where on earth did Basilian disappear to, and why couldn't she meet him even though she wanted to?

'Even when I ask the people in the castle, they all say they don't know.'

Thinking that others might know his whereabouts besides her, she tried asking around, but everyone just said they didn't know.

Some even said it was strange that he wasn't visible, which was unbearably frustrating.

'He didn't leave without saying anything, did he?'

Just in case, though it couldn't really be, but what if he left disappointed after seeing her use demonic energy in that situation?

'He could have seen it since I briefly lost control right before Janet appeared...'

Even though she wanted to ask clearly, without Basilian there to ask, there was nothing she could do.

All she could do was vaguely wait, and wait some more.

'...Is this how it felt?'

Just half a day, at most a full day.

Vaguely waiting for someone whose whereabouts were unknown and who couldn't be contacted was harder than she thought.

'And perhaps...'

Basilian might have waited for Flora with even more earnestness than this feeling.

Thinking that, she felt awkward about getting angry unconditionally.

"...I'll wait a little more, I guess."

Thinking that she, being broad-minded, would endure it, Flora flopped down onto the bed.

She had even sent Daphne, who had returned as a temporary maid, outside, so she decided to rest in a quiet place since things had turned out this way, and was about to close her eyes when─

「My Lord.」

A familiar voice rang in her ear, and when she opened her eyes wide, she saw a small magic circle right below the ceiling.

Soon, something light fell from the sparkling magic circle with a plop.

Without realizing it, Flora sat up abruptly and reached out to catch the falling white, cotton-like lump.

'A sparrow?'

Flora's eyes widened at the appearance of the bird from an animal encyclopedia she had seen at the orphanage sometime ago.

「As expected of my Lord, your reaction speed is extraordinary.」

The familiar address and voice, plus a splendid compliment that was not just polished but sincere.

Though it looked like a white fluffball, it was definitely Janet.

"What's with this form?"

「It seemed I could no longer remain here in the form of a cat.」

She proudly spread her white wings wide, but they were too small. At least her tail feathers, which were the same deep gray as her hair color, allowed her to be recognized.

'If she gets buried in snow, I won't be able to find her. With this size, could she hide even without using demonic energy?'

She was so small and white that she would probably be impossible to find if she were in a snowy field.

「It seems that a cute appearance is good for lowering humans' guard, so I chose this form. Does it suit me?」

"Well, I suppose so."

Just looking at Flora was proof.

Even knowing this little sparrow's true identity was Janet, she kept wanting to touch and fiddle with it.

'So soft.'

Wondering if it was well implemented, she stroked the round head, and the feathers touching her fingertips were velvety and had a very pleasant texture.

「Though it may be lacking, from now on, I will serve you wholeheartedly in this form.」

Whether she knew Flora's feelings or not, Janet deliberately bowed her head with a serious expression.

"Alright, do as you wish."

After stroking the small head a few more times, Flora, who had lost interest, flopped back down onto the bed.

Unlike Flora, Janet seemed full of passion.

The figure of a bird spreading its small wings and flying around with a pporong sound came into view.

As if very curious about something, she looked around here and there in the room for a while, then returned to Flora's side.

「The room is small.」

"For a young child like me, it's not bad."

「And the room's wallpaper, furniture, decorations, even the rug on the floor… they're all wretched! Nothing but cheap items unbefitting my Lord's status!」

Even at the voice expressing despair about how she could stay in such a place, Flora remained serene.

Since she had experienced it on her first day arriving at this castle, she was even quite composed.

"This place is poor, so that's how it is."

「...Damn those Lucifers! Even after my Lord sacrificed herself, they should be making the household prosperous and letting her live luxuriously, but they're not even doing that properly!」

The little sparrow was furious.

As she hopped around angrily, Flora tapped the small head with her finger as if to tell her to calm down.

"It's okay. Thanks to Janet, we're going to become rich now. So..."

It was the moment she was about to continue her words.

Tap, tap… a small sound of something knocking on the window was heard.

"...What is it?"

Thinking it might be a tree branch hitting the window in the wind, she turned her head toward it, and the sound stopped.

"Must be a tree or something."

Just as she was losing interest and about to continue the conversation, tap, tap… the same sound as before was heard.

No, it seemed slightly louder too.

「Shall I check it out?」

Janet's deep gray eyes sparkled.

She seemed ready to go beyond checking and straight to killing, so Flora shook her head as if to say it was fine.

'It's not like it's an assassin or anything.'