The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 12

The Duke left for his territory inspection the next day as he had said.

According to Lea, it would take about twenty days even using magic to tour the entire vast Dubbled Territory.

Those twenty days were training days for me.

‘I must succeed and get adopted.’

So I was diligently pulling up my socks again today.

‘Ah, I’d succeed if I could just get past the heel, but this is so difficult.’

It was because I couldn’t control my muscles delicately.

As I focused intensely on training, it was already noon. It was time to eat lunch.

I left my room to find Lea.

She was usually always by my side, but for some reason she was away today. Even the maids had been frantic since dawn.

“They might stay… the guest room…”

“The young lady… they said they’re leaving right away…”

The butlers and maids were busy discussing something. The expressions of the retainers walking through the corridor were also tense.

‘What’s going on?’

I tilted my head in confusion, but soon my stomach growled, so I grabbed a butler.

“Yes, young lady.”

“I’m hungry.”

“I see. Let me find Lea.”

“I’ll come too.”

The butler smiled kindly and took my hand. I was toddling down the corridor with him when it happened.

“What kind of nonsense is that!”

‘Ah! That startled me!’

A loud shout erupted from far away.

My heart started pounding, so I gripped the butler’s hand tightly with both hands.

Something really must be happening. There’s even someone getting this excited.

‘What could it be?’

As I was thinking that, another shout was heard.

“How can a priest from the Religious Order cross the castle gate without His Grace’s permission!”

“They say it’s to take the young lady.”

“They could take her after His Grace returns. This could be an excuse to spy on the inside of the castle.”

“We can’t refuse them coming to take her. Currently, isn’t the Pope the young lady’s legal guardian? How can we refuse when her guardian comes to take her?”

“But taking her without even informing His Grace.”

“A guardian doesn’t need the homeowner’s permission to take their child.”

The Religious Order is coming?

To take me?

My blood ran cold in an instant.

My fingertips were cold and my shoulders trembled violently.

The butler holding my hand called out “Young Miss?” as if asking what was wrong, but I was in no state of mind to answer.

If they took me to the capital, I would immediately be sent to a new adoption home.

Moreover, the fact that the Religious Order was coming to get me instead of the Empress Dowager meant I would go to the adoption home they had chosen.

I knew this because I had heard about it in my previous life. The place the Religious Order recommended as my adoption home was─

‘Valois.’

When Duke Valois, who had grabbed my hair while grinning wickedly, came to mind, my vision turned yellow.

* * *

House Dubbled.

The reason House Dubbled, with its particularly short family history, had achieved such prosperity was due to their unique educational methods.

Everyone in Dubbled was born covered in the blood of their kin and raised as killers.

The current Duke Dubbled, Theodore Dubbled, was the most complete Family Head in Dubbled’s history.

Unparalleled mana.

A perfectly balanced body as if sculpted by God.

The intuition and intelligence that doubled the family’s wealth within just a few years of becoming Family Head.

A man with such talent who thoroughly excluded emotions instilled eerie terror in anyone.

The same was true for the retainers and administrative officers who accompanied Theodore on his inspection.

Throughout the lunch prepared by the regional inspection office, the dining room remained silent.

Then, a faint wave of mana was felt.

Theodore and the elite soldiers simultaneously turned their gazes toward the source of the mana.

Theodore’s adjutant, receiving all their stares, broke out in cold sweat as he clutched his pocket.

“N-no, this is…”

The knight sitting on the right grabbed the adjutant’s wrist.

“I’ll check it.”

The knight roughly pulled the adjutant’s hand onto the table.

What came out with his hand was a small gem, and the adjutant was sweating profusely.

“It’s a magic tool that’s popular these days.”

“For protection?”

“That’s not it…”

“Possession of magic tools other than protective ones is prohibited.”

Sharp hostility filled the gazes of Theodore and the knights.

“I… well, it’s for communication. A maid from the castle asked me to buy fabric for a child.”

There was an extremely soft fabric made from special crops that only grew in that region.

Then the burly knight asked.

“Do you have children?”

“No. It’s fabric for the Young Miss.”

“You mean the Child of Fate that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager sent?”

“Yes. She’s practicing putting on socks, but it seems quite difficult for her, so the maid appears to want to make socks that are easier to put on.”

“But why does she need a communication magic tool for that?”

Finding it suspicious, the knight reached out to confiscate the magic tool.

At that moment, a faint noise came from the magic tool and a flickering screen appeared in the air.

[Now, little miss. Try saying ‘Duke.’]

[Dook!]

[Duke!]

[Dook!]

[One more time. ‘Duke.’]

[Dook…]

The baby with fluffy light brown hair became dejected and fidgeted with her hands.

“Oh, this person is that…”

“What on earth is this?”

Recently, it had become trendy among Dubbled’s employees to exchange cute videos of Leblaine.

This was Lea’s secret video footage, which had been used as payment for a deal with the adjutant. He had sent the video in exchange for buying fabric.

The expressions of the knights who had been standing rigidly at attention relaxed.

“How cute.”

The video continued.

[Why do you look so dejected?]

[What if Dook doesn’t like me because I can’t say Dook properly?]

Hearty laughter erupted throughout the dining room.

The middle-aged knight spoke to Theodore.

“It must be nice to be so loved.”

“Nonsense.”

“The little miss is truly a unique person. Even the three young masters don’t easily approach our lord, yet she thinks of you so fondly.”

Recently, Leblaine had been constantly approaching me.

“Dook, give me candy pwease.”

She would put her tiny hands together and hold them out.

“Here…”

She would stare at the chicken with an extremely troubled expression, then hand it to me with a look as if she were giving away her heart.

It was so absurd that I accepted the grimy chicken she had kneaded with her hands.

“She is quite a peculiar child.”

One hearty knight asked with a sly expression.

“Honestly, isn’t she cute?”

Theodore’s gaze turned cold.

Silence fell over the dining room again, and the others hurriedly focused on their meals.

She’s not cute.

He had never once thought of anyone as cute to begin with.

That small, pitiful thing just caught his eye because it waddled around his castle all day long.

His gaze often went to it simply because he found it amusing that something that looked like a squashed human could actually move around.

The mole on its neck had a funny shape. It was heart-shaped, and when that thing looked up at him, the skin would stretch and the mole would grow larger.

Theodore extended his hand toward the adjutant. The adjutant, who had been putting pheasant meat in his mouth, flinched and froze.

“Hand it over.”

“Pardon?”

“Possession of magic tools other than those for protection is prohibited.”

But it’s not even for attacking!

The adjutant wore a briefly aggrieved expression, but unable to withstand that cold gaze, he placed the magic tool on Theodore’s palm.

Theodore, uncharacteristically, carefully tucked the magic tool inside his robe.

‘There’s a common belief that you’ll be cursed if you damage a magic tool.’

That was all.

After that, only the clinking sounds of tableware filled the silence in the dining room.

Just as the meal was coming to an end, the security captain spoke up.

“By the way, Your Grace. I’ve heard that this area has been quite unsettled recently.”

“What’s the matter.”

“It’s beyond our territory, but I hear a bandit gang has been running rampant.”

Bandits wouldn’t have any reason to enter the territory.

“Do I need to concern myself with other people’s affairs.”

“Well, that’s true, but I heard they frequently kidnap children, so I thought I should mention it just in case.”

Then North also nodded and added his words.

“I hear they sell the kidnapped children at slave markets.”

“Children with mana or divine power are said to be used as materials for alchemy too. It’s a terrible thing.”

In that moment, Leblaine shouting “Duke!” flashed through Theodore’s mind.

Leblaine toddling along.

Leblaine being kidnapped by some bandit-like fellow.

Leblaine bursting into tears with “Duke…” and wailing inside a slave market.

“…I can’t leave alone those who dare to run wild near my territory’s borders.”

“Then…?”

“Kill them.”

“How far should we clean up?”

“Up to the border with Roxiel Territory.”

Other territories could handle their own affairs.

Theodore, who had been thinking that way, suddenly stopped his hand.

‘When that thing grows up, might it want to go flower viewing?’

Roxiel Territory had a decent flower garden, and he’d heard that noble young ladies often went there for outings.

“While we’re at it, take care of Roxiel Territory too. It wouldn’t be bad to bestow favors on the surrounding areas.”

Come to think of it, when it grew up more, it might want to go horseback riding.

Past Roxiel Territory, there were plains good for horse riding.

“No. The plains.”

Behind the plains, there’s a river perfect for water activities. It’s good for floating boats and playing.

“Leave the Nojis River area alone for now.”

The knights’ faces turned pale at the thought of having to embark on bandit suppression across hundreds of kilometers just because they said the wrong thing.

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