Isn’t Being A Wicked Woman Much Better? - Chapter 215

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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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Special Side Story 12
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Children grow up in the blink of an eye. Not long ago, these little ones could barely crawl, yet now they were standing on their own and toddling about with determination.
It was endearing to watch them walk on those tiny feet, but the downside was that their mischief was increasing by the day.
“This rascal—I thought being the firstborn meant he’d be well-behaved, but he just picked up his mother and dropped her.”
This morning, when I heard that Bares had suddenly disappeared, I abandoned my preparations to receive guests and rushed out in a panic.
Upon hearing of the child’s disappearance, Knight Isidore hastily summoned the household staff and even deployed Blanche’s intelligence network, yet Bares was found within less than an hour in the most anticlimactic manner possible.
He had ridden on Cookie’s back into the Forest near Townhouse Castle, eaten fallen fruit with gusto, and then leisurely returned home.
“Sigh.”
Watching Bares with his lips stained red from fruit juice, clutching Cookie tightly to his chest, I couldn’t help but exhale deeply.
“Cookie. Love. Mama.”
“Meow~”
Cookie purred contentedly from within Bares’s embrace.
Ever since Bares had instantly healed Cookie’s hunting wound with his holy power not long ago, the creature had been inseparable from him—and now look what trouble it had caused.
Faced with such innocent and adorable behavior, I couldn’t bring myself to scold him, so I simply collapsed in defeat.
The fact that Vanessa had knocked over all the decorative items displayed in the corridor like dominoes was merely the tip of the iceberg.
“Deborah, why do you look so pale?”
The Fifth Princess, who had visited the Townhouse as a guest today, looked at my complexion with concern.
“The twins have been causing quite a bit of trouble ever since they started walking.”
“Oh my, what a handful. But both Vanessa and Bares are so adorable. It must be difficult to scold them when they’re so mischievous.”
The Fifth Princess, who regularly sent the twins lavish gifts, had promised to become Vanessa’s chaperone later and to accompany her to her debutante ball.
The Crown Prince had agreed to become Bares’s godfather when he came of age, and Thierry, who had taken up composing as a side pursuit, promised to personally perform a new lullaby he had composed for the twins’ birthday.
Fortunately, there were many people around us who cherished the twins dearly.
“Grandfather!”
“Great Duke!”
Duke Simour was always eager to do anything for his grandchildren whenever they came to visit.
“Deborah, I’m telling you this now, but I actually knew you would bear twins. Your mother appeared in my dream and handed me two brilliant lights before departing.”
Moreover, since these were children he had dreamed of himself, he seemed to hold even greater affection for them.
The Simour twins, who would normally detest children, surprisingly treated Vanessa and Bares with kindness.
‘I never thought I’d hear Beleck Simour say the word “peekaboo.”‘
Enrique had been shy at first and didn’t know what to do, but these days he would bring storybooks and read them aloud to the babies, or entertain them by waving toys.
Watching a child care for other children, I had the urge to kidnap the Imperial Court’s painter and threaten him to immortalize that scene.
‘I’ve already had him paint several portraits because of Countess Basslein.’
Countess Basslein adored the twins so much that she had requested their portrait as a birthday gift.
“Vanessa looks exactly like Knight Isidore when he was young! Look at those butterfly-like long eyelashes! She’s truly an angel. And I’ve never seen a child as dignified and imposing as Bares. He seems destined to become a great figure who will shake the Empire.”
Everyone tactfully avoided saying that Bares had a fierce expression and instead described him as imposing.
‘The problem is that while Bares looks like that, his personality is nothing like a Simour at all.’
Despite his expressionless face and fierce eyes, my firstborn was timid and possessed a gentle nature—he couldn’t even kill a single insect.
I had a feeling that Bares, like me, would be misunderstood because of his cold appearance.
‘Well, misunderstandings aren’t necessarily always a bad thing.’
Sometimes, that misunderstanding was comfortable and pleasant.
I let out a soft chuckle, gazing at Bares with his hat tilted askew.
“You have to wear your hat straight like this.”
“Yes? Like this?”
“Like this.”
“Me too!”
As I adjusted Bares’s fedora, Vanessa, standing beside us, deliberately twisted her hat at an odd angle and dashed down the stairs with a clatter.
“Vanessa! Where are you going?”
Vanessa’s ambitious plan to start a game of tag in the hallway before our outing was immediately thwarted when Knight Isidore caught her.
“You little troublemaker.”
“Dad! My hat! Give it back!”
He snatched away Vanessa’s hat with the red flower dangling from it and placed it high on the windowsill—his playfulness was every bit as mischievous as hers.
As I watched Knight Isidore smile at Vanessa bouncing like a rabbit trying to reach her hat, he returned it to her with impeccable timing, just before she could explode.
“The flower hat is mine!”
“Yes, it’s Vanessa’s.”
“Hmph! I’m going to be even bigger than a dragon!”
“I’ll give you a piggyback ride. You can grow right now.”
“Yay!”
He immediately hoisted the pouting Vanessa onto his shoulders. As her perspective suddenly soared higher, the child squealed with delight.
“Should I give Bares a piggyback ride too?”
Holding Bares’s hand as he shook his head, I followed Knight Isidore toward the carriage.
After so long, our House Visconti family was going out for an outing.
When the children were smaller, traveling far felt burdensome, but now the thought of going on a picnic filled me with emotion.
The carriage traveled through Visconti’s Townhouse for quite some time before turning toward the Private Estate where a large lake lay.
“Yay!”
The moment we stepped out of the carriage, Vanessa excitedly ran about the Forest here and there, while Bares, seemingly impressed by the lake that reflected the scenery like a mirror, sat quietly and admired the surroundings.
Twins with such different personalities—it never ceased to amaze me.
That was when it happened.
“Vanessa!”
Seeing his sister fall on her bottom after tumbling from a tree, Bares rushed toward her but ended up tumbling himself, rolling across the grass.
“Brother! Are you okay?”
Vanessa shook the prone Bares frantically, calling out anxiously.
“Get up!”
“….”
Watching the scene, I burst out laughing.
“I think he’s not unable to get up—he’s just too embarrassed to move.”
They’d fallen onto soft grass, so it couldn’t have hurt much, yet they were putting on quite the melodramatic performance together. It was adorable.
Despite their opposite personalities, moments like these showed just how deep their bond truly was.
“By the way, didn’t Vanessa just call him ‘brother’ for the first time?”
“I heard. A historic day indeed.”
“Dad!”
Isidore scooped up Bares, who was squirming in his prone position.
Having tumbled three times over, Bares was covered head to toe in grass, and the moment he nestled into his father’s arms, he began to whimper.
“Such a crybaby….”
As if nothing had happened, Vanessa immediately abandoned her brotherly affections and refocused her attention on climbing the tree.
After running about to their hearts’ content, the children’s eyes grew heavy as they devoured every sandwich and piece of fruit from the picnic basket.
The eldest fell fast asleep using Isidore’s thigh as a pillow, while Vanessa breathed softly with her face buried in the folds of my dress.
Whether from the warmth radiating from the children’s small bodies, my own frame began to emanate heat. Each time their gentle breathing touched my eardrums, a peculiar tickle bloomed in my chest.
Today, this tranquility and peace seemed to etch themselves vividly into my senses. And I found myself anew with gratitude—for my tender companion who builds this warm and harmonious home alongside me.
“Here, lie down.”
Isidore patted his firm arm invitingly.
I rested my head upon his arm, gazing up at the azure sky where fluffy clouds drifted lazily past.
“…This is wonderful. I’m happy.”
At my murmured words, Isidore responded with tenderness.
“I’m… happy too.”
A soft breeze, tickling the heart, swept between us.
It was a spring day as sweet as biting into cotton candy.
The End

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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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