I Just Wanted Revenge, But Everyone Loves Me - Chapter 36

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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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Chapter 36
It struck him as odd, even in his own estimation.
The Library in Bangcadium was a place permitted only to the Direct Line—and until just a few years ago, it had belonged to a single person.
It had been his wife’s space alone, for she loved books so dearly that she’d collected them separately.
Since her death, however, it had become a place no one entered.
Even Veronica, who’d shown him around the estate, had deliberately omitted mention of the Library.
But the child had asked to go there first, or so he’d been told.
‘We never closed it off.’
After his wife died, everyone simply stopped going in—as though they’d all made a silent pact.
He’d never issued an edict forbidding entry or threatened punishment; technically, anyone of the Direct Line ought to have access.
Though in reality, the only Direct Descendant besides himself was his sister Veronica.
Besides, the Library contained merely books of various kinds—no family secrets or confidential documents—so security wasn’t a concern.
‘……Strange child.’
What sort of magic had she worked to make him do something he’d never done before?
As Rodrigo walked the long corridor, he found himself awash in a sensation he couldn’t quite name.
“Y-Your Grace?!”
The servants standing watch outside the Library’s entrance widened their eyes the moment they saw him. They too were bound to Bangcadium, loyal retainers who followed the Patriarch to each new residence.
Precisely because of that loyalty, they knew it all too well.
That he hadn’t set foot in this place since the Duchess’s death.
His arrival here himself was something that hadn’t happened in years.
‘Could he have come to see the young lady?’
Every person present thought the same thing.
And simultaneously, none could hide their astonishment.
“We greet you, Your Grace.”
“The child.”
Rodrigo stated only the essentials, his gaze turning toward the door. Io answered swiftly.
“She is inside now. Mary entered with her to retrieve some books.”
At those words, Rodrigo’s hand moved directly to the door handle. The servants flanking the entrance parted to either side.
Click.
The door, which he opened himself for the first time in years, swung open with almost anticlimactic ease.
“…….”
Through the slightly ajar door, a cool breeze carried with it the distinctive scent of paper, brushing his nostrils.
It was a fragrance he hadn’t smelled in far too long—a scent heavy with nostalgia.
‘I thought I’d never breathe it again.’
Rodrigo stepped slowly inside and surveyed the Library, finding it utterly unchanged.
‘It’s all the same.’
Painfully so.
Every detail was preserved exactly as it had been—the placement of books and furniture, every visible corner.
Except for the absence of one person.
“…….”
For a moment, he considered turning back. But he pushed the thought away, gathering the memories that had threatened to anchor him in place, and moved forward slowly.
“Your Grace?!”
Mary, who happened to be nearby, jumped at the sight of him as though startled from a deep reverie.
It was only natural—the Patriarch himself, not Veronica, had appeared without warning.
Rodrigo ignored her reaction and turned his head.
“Mary… huh?”
The child, who’d been absorbed in a book, made a confused sound. She seemed quite startled by this unexpected visitor.
“Y-Your Grace?”
The child scrambled down from her chair.
It wouldn’t be proper to remain seated when the master of the house had arrived.
But in her haste, with such short legs,
“Oh!”
her chestnut-small frame lurched forward in an undignified stumble.
“Young lady!”
Seeing this, Mary lunged forward urgently.
But someone had already moved.
“……Tch.”
The dragon caught Karin neatly before she fell, clicking his tongue in mild reproof.
How light she was. The body he held for the first time in so long felt fragile as dust.
“Careless.”
He set her back on her feet with a curt remark.
Karin, who’d barely escaped an embarrassing tumble, quickly lowered her head.
“Thank you so much!”
“…….”
Upon receiving her gratitude, Rodrigo released a small, awkward cough. Noticing his own mood had grown strangely unsettled, he deliberately averted his gaze.
“Don’t be a nuisance.”
Meeting those bright, gleaming eyes, Rodrigo spoke quietly as a warning.
“I find it bothersome if you injure yourself.”
“Yes!”
Karin nodded as though she understood perfectly.
After all, she’d boasted that she could manage everything on her own, then nearly fell like a fool.
His words not to create extra trouble by getting hurt made complete sense.
Yet her earnest acceptance only deepened Rodrigo’s mood into darker waters.
All she’d done was nod her head at his comment not to be bothersome—nothing more should have mattered.
“…….”
What was the problem, exactly?
That unhesitating, determined promise grated on him inexplicably.
‘Sigh…….’
Mary, watching the exchange between them, swallowed a soft lament.
‘He’s so poor at expressing himself.’
He could simply have said he was worried.
She took a step back and lowered her head.
Ever and always the same.
The proud dragon had never learned to voice his true feelings.
* * *
‘That was a shock.’
I was just as startled by the dragon’s sudden appearance as anyone.
‘I never expected him to come.’
The Duke was an extraordinarily busy man.
Even if he were wanted, as Patriarch of a great house, he naturally had much to attend to.
Since arriving at the estate, I’d scarcely seen him—perhaps once or twice during meals.
Usually, I was only with Veronica. Running into him like this was incredibly rare.
“I hear you’ve been holed up in the Library all day.”
The Duke tilted his head, regarding me with suspicion.
“What were you doing?”
His golden eyes swept sharply across the desk piled with books, as though investigating my activities.
Though I had permission, under the weight of that piercing gaze, I felt myself shrink.
To be examined so closely was nerve-wracking in itself.
‘Dragons truly are formidable creatures.’
I wished I possessed even a fraction of that commanding presence.
Had I inherited even half of Bangcadium’s authority, the Count surely wouldn’t have treated me so cruelly.
“I was just reading whatever caught my eye.”
“Whatever caught your eye.”
Rodrigo examined the titles embossed on the spines of the bound volumes.
“The Brosia Empire Tax Laws, The Empire’s Overall Industrial Outlook and Development,”
“…….”
“And A World Dominated by Capital: Industry and Hegemony, to boot.”
He scanned the thick tomes quickly, then spoke with decisive finality.
“Your tastes run higher than I’d have thought.”
His remark about high tastes wasn’t purely praise—it carried an undertone of question: why would a four-year-old be reading this?
‘Doesn’t everyone read at this level?’
To me, who’d spent my entire life reading in the attic, it seemed perfectly ordinary.
The books the Count had occasionally given me were all cast-offs he and his family had already finished, after all.
Mary had seemed a bit surprised earlier, but her reaction was more astonishing to me.
“I thought it would be good to read through them at least once…….”
“Are fairy tales not to your taste?”

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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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