A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 193

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Side Story 32
Side Story 5. Preparing My Heart
Three years had passed since I made that grandiose proposal in the Spirit Forest.
During that time, several important things had happened.
The first was that the Academy had been completed and begun accepting students. Everything proceeded smoothly with all my careful preparations, and surprisingly, a large number of graduate students from Riloni Academy, including Dennis, transferred over.
“Just because you’re offering more money…”
“We’re going to suffer anyway, so isn’t it better to work while earning more?”
“We don’t have work-life balance anyway. We can only trust the numbers.”
Experienced professionals didn’t fall for phrases like “excellent benefits and superior facilities.” They already knew they’d be grinding away their time, so they came trusting only the numbers. As always, my judgment had been correct.
With so many experienced hires, assembling the faculty became easy, and administrative processing moved quickly. For the Imperial Academy, it was an excellent development.
And second, Edmund and I got married during that time.
The wedding itself was incredibly chaotic and wild. First, it was noisy because of Father, along with Alex and Julius’s antics, which I had to prevent. Grandfather pretended to stop them while looking helplessly overwhelmed, making him practically an accomplice.
“Really…”
I sighed while reminiscing about the past and muttered to myself.
“If it weren’t for Daram, things could have gone very wrong…”
It was Daram who cleaned up that mess. Julius’s summoned creature Daram led Kitty and Wolf, subduing all three of them.
【I told you not to cry and throw a tantrum in front of all those people!】
Daram scolded loudly.
【I’m getting old, old! Really! When does this parenting nightmare end! What are you crying about!】
Anyway, we managed to hold the wedding safely. At that time, we pledged our love to each other before the guests, and I said this.
“I’ve discovered a remarkable way to prove my love for you, but I don’t have time to explain it all here.”
*
* A variation of ‘Fermat’s Last Theorem’
Some people in one corner laughed—wa ha ha ha ha—and they were all graduate students who had transferred from Riloni Academy. Everyone else didn’t laugh at all.
Edmund also firmly pledged his love for me before everyone.
“I will love you until I’ve discovered all prime numbers—numbers with no divisors except one and themselves.”
I was very satisfied with that pledge. Because the number of primes was infinite.
Of course, Seliet, who was among the guests, supposedly whispered to Joshua, “Ed’s social skills are quite developed, but if he can say something like that… I guess Lady Kiana is really the only important one at this wedding.”
And Joshua and Seliet’s baby was also at the ceremony. My first nephew. Back then, he was a tiny baby who could only blink and babble. But as the number of students kept increasing and the Imperial Academy kept expanding, my nephew grew just as quickly.
“Your Highness!”
And now.
“Kiki, Your Highness!”
My first nephew, Isaac, had grown to the boundary between baby and child—not only could he walk and run, but he spoke remarkably well too.
“Isaac!”
Isaac had silver hair just like his mother and red eyes identical to his father’s. He was truly beautiful, as if an angel had descended, and despite being still young, every line of his features was so elegant.
“I missed you, Kiki Your Highness.”
And he spoke much faster than children his age, which seemed to be hereditary too. Both Joshua and Seliet had impeccable speech.
I picked up the adorable child, warm in my arms. Isaac opened his red eyes wide and asked.
“Did Kiki Your Highness miss Isaac too?”
“Of course. I missed you so much. That’s why I came again.”
And Isaac was remarkably ordinary. That fact brought relief to everyone in the Prelai family. He was a pure and beautiful child his age, clearly growing up surrounded by love. Father was overjoyed, finally declaring that the Prelai household had a future.
“Kiki, let’s play with Isaac!”
I too found my nephew absolutely adorable. So whenever I had a moment, I rushed to the Duke’s residence to see Isaac. Today, I’d left work early and hurried over.
“Your Highness, the Crown Princess!”
Seliet, pregnant with her second child, approached with a smile, cradling her swollen belly.
“You’re not busy? Your visits have become quite frequent lately.”
“The Academy work has decreased considerably these days. Things are settling into place, and my subordinates handle their tasks well on their own.”
I answered while rubbing my cheek against Isaac’s chubby one. It was true—when I first started running the Academy, there was so much work, but after more than a year, everything began running smoothly.
“Ah, I see.”
Seliet nodded with a knowing smile.
“Then shouldn’t you be busy in a different way?”
“…Pardon?”
“You adore Isaac so much. How much more would you cherish a child of your own?”
“Ah…”
“You’ve been putting off having children because you were so busy, haven’t you?”
That was true. When we married, Edmund and I agreed not to have children for a while because we were both so occupied. At that time especially, I was opening the Academy and completely overwhelmed.
I held Isaac even tighter and blinked. He smelled wonderful.
“Isaac was waiting for his cousin, but it looks like he’ll meet his younger sibling first.”
Seliet laughed softly and stroked her belly once.
I swallowed hard. More than two years had passed since I married Edmund, and I’d thoroughly enjoyed our newlywed days while the Academy was settling in. The empire that Hitten and Dolores had faithfully ruined was slowly returning to a stable course through the Emperor and Edmund’s efforts.
“Ed must want children, doesn’t he?”
Seliet asked carefully. I nodded readily.
“Yes. He said it was similar to how he felt about marriage before.”
He’d always wanted to marry, so once I made up my mind, we would marry. It was the same with children.
“Since I’m the one who goes through pregnancy and childbirth, I said I’d choose the timing myself.”
I was genuinely curious about what a child who resembled both Edmund and me would look like. Well… now that everything’s no longer busy… though…
“I should start thinking about it seriously. But mentally… I’m just not ready somehow.”
“My goodness, do you think I was mentally prepared when I had Isaac?”
Seliet laughed cheerfully.
“Once you make up your mind, you prepare slowly. That’s why there are nine months, after all.”
My mind… making up my mind… I think I could manage that?
“Thank you for the advice. Now please go inside and rest, Your Highness.”
I spoke with a smile to Seliet, whose body had grown much heavier with her second pregnancy.
“I’ll play with Isaac. He keeps looking out the window wanting to go outside, but it’s gotten cold lately, and I can’t have a pregnant woman catching a cold because of me.”
Seliet smiled brightly as if making a request. At the mention of going outside, Isaac waved his arms and laughed.
“Piyak too! Piyak wants to come with us too!”
“Yes, Piyak will come with us too.”
Piyak, perched on my shoulder, chirped happily, and so the three of us went out to the garden together.
‘A child… a child, indeed.’
Piyak whispered, as if sensing what was on my mind.
“Kiana, I want to see your child too. Let’s raise that child properly from the start, not like you were raised. Alright?”
“Well… I suppose so. When I see Isaac, he’s just so adorable…”
The moment we arrived at the garden, Isaac took off running on his short, chubby little legs—the sight was absolutely precious. The weather turned out colder than expected, so I grabbed the coat I’d prepared and chased after him.
“Isaac! Put on your coat!”
Isaac’s eyes widened as he asked.
“Why do I have to wear clothes?”
Good heavens. Just last week when I saw him, he couldn’t even say “why,” yet now he was using the word so naturally. I laughed in surprise, and the wet nurse following behind me smiled and spoke.
“He’s been saying ‘why’ quite a lot these days. It’s that age where he asks ‘why’ about everything.”
“Is that so? How fascinating!”
“Once he starts, the ‘whys’ never stop—there’s no winning against it. His speech really is developing quickly.”
The wet nurse explained with a proud smile. I found Isaac growing by the day so remarkable that I gently caressed his flushed cheeks before answering.
“Because it’s cold, so you need to wear clothes.”
“Why is it cold?”
“Because winter is coming, that’s why it’s cold.”
“Why is winter coming?”
“Because there are seasons.”
“Why are there seasons?”
“Because the Earth’s axis is tilted.”
That’s when Piyak and the wet nurse’s expressions began to turn strange.
“Why the… the… the Earth’s axis?”
Hearing the unfamiliar words, Isaac began to stammer. I looked into his eyes and spoke.
“The Earth’s axis.”
“…”
“The Earth’s axis is tilted, so the angle with the light source changes.”
“…”
“Of course you can’t understand it yet. But that’s the truth nonetheless.”
Isaac stopped asking “why” after that. And so I had completely won against the “why” hell that even the wet nurse couldn’t overcome.
Piyak clicked his tongue at me.
【Before we even start co-parenting, I hope magical engineering collapses somehow.】

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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