The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 163

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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 163

‘Her name is Triloni?’

Resting my chin on my hand, I tapped Saint Cecil’s documents with my finger.

“You know, my real name is actually Triloni. I said it was Tree because I was worried the kids would tease me because of the fairy tale about the beggar Trilli, but I like the name Tree. Because I want to become a precious person who provides shade in summer and becomes firewood in winter!”

Triloni was the name of a city that appeared in the scriptures, and it was definitely not a common name.

The scriptures were written in the ancient language, so they had never been fully translated. Moreover, the part where Triloni appeared was very far back.

The parts passed down to the common people other than nobles were only the beginning sections, so unless one was a noble, they wouldn’t give their child the name ‘Triloni.’

In the Empire, the fairy tale of the beggar Trilli was very famous, so anyone would think of Trilli.

As I furrowed my brow, the aide asked.

“Would you like to meet Cecilia Olga?”

“I would, but I’ll hold off for now. I’m not confident I could persuade her.”

“Hmm…”

“If she was a knight under Father, she would have had money that someone born to a humble noble house could never imagine, but seeing how she left it all behind means she can’t be persuaded with wealth or power.”

“That would be the case.”

“If I approach her carelessly and get rejected, it’ll be hard to recover from. If it becomes known that I’m looking for Imperial Consort candidates, it’ll ruin my relationship with Empress Yvonne and Marche.”

That’s why I compiled a list of people to contact first.

The aide nodded and presented another document.

“Then Lady Bestia would be most suitable. She was also the first to react to the rumors that the Emperor would take a new Imperial Consort, and recently Count Bestia arranged a meeting between his daughter and the Emperor, which caused friction between the Emperor and Empress Yvonne… Young Lady.”

The aide stared at me as I became lost in thought.

“Yes.”

“Do you have something on your mind?”

I held my head in both hands and groaned.

“Leblaine, are you also from a private orphanage?”

“Mm-hmm…”

“Me too! I came from the Westian Region Orphanage over there.”

The Westian region was where Saint Cecil had started her healing.

The name Triloni.

Tree who came from an orphanage.

‘No matter how I look at it, she seems to be Tree from Max’s Beggar Gang.’

At times like this, I hate the damn good memory that’s an advantage of regression.

“I really don’t want to make contact with the Beggar Gang children.”

“You don’t have to. There’s a reason you haven’t looked for those children all this time, isn’t there?”

Those kids are like Duke Amitie. Annoying, but I can’t completely hate them.

“In my third life, the priests eventually tracked me down.”

“How is that possible? At that time, Young Lady had run away from the orphanage and wouldn’t have received Divine Power Verification.”

“The Beggar Gang children told them. To get food and clothes from the priests.”

At that time, the Temple was desperately searching for ‘a 13-year-old child with blue eyes from Teresa Orphanage.’

The reason was that among children born on February 29th, I was the only one who hadn’t received Divine Power Verification.

“I starved to death because I ran away from the Beggar Gang.”

“Pardon?”

“A plague broke out then, so no one wanted to come into contact with beggar children. The Imperial Palace started a support program for starving children in the Imperial Capital, so if you stayed with the Beggar Gang you could get at least a piece of bread, but alone it was impossible.”

“….”

“If I went to get bread and revealed that I was a parentless orphan, the Temple would find me.”

The captain’s expression turned fierce.

“Don’t meet them. Don’t try to help them either. Aren’t they the ones who contributed to Young Lady’s death?”

I let out a sigh.

“Don’t hit her! Don’t hit Leblaine! Leblaine was just sick. That’s why she couldn’t go out begging!”

Tree protected me when Max was beating me for not meeting my quota, and got beaten together with me.

It was Tree and Emeline who shared their bread with me when I couldn’t go to the shelter for fear of being discovered by the priests.

And Tree always longed for family.

“Emeline is lucky. She has someone waiting for her.”

‘The fact that she couldn’t meet Saint Cecil until the plague broke out means she couldn’t find Tree.’

“Hans and Duke are at the Trading Company Office, right?”

“They’re always working hard.”

“Disguise them as beggars and send them to Max’s Beggar Gang. Tree might be the child Saint Cecil is looking for.”

I let out a deep sigh.

* * *

A week later, I visited the Trading Company Office. It was to receive a report from Hans and Duke.

I sat on the sofa and waited for a moment, and soon the children came in.

“Ugh….”

I was startled and stared at the children who looked like beggar kings.

“We dressed up for perfect infiltration!”

“That’s right!”

I blinked at the children speaking so energetically.

‘Still, they weren’t quite that shabby….’

The children were wearing sacks turned inside out and had all kinds of soot smeared on their faces.

Seria covered one cheek with her hand and made a troubled expression.

“The children have a romantic notion about infiltration.”

“…As long as we didn’t get caught, that’s what matters.”

“Don’t worry about that. We’re not beggars, but we’re people who’ve lived like beggars, so we can act the part.”

Seeing Seria smile brightly, I was slightly flustered. Zachary giggled, asking if there was actually someone who could fluster me.

‘Seria is a formidable opponent.’

“Alright, then report what you found out.”

Then Hans and Duke pulled out their notebooks with very serious expressions.

“Tree is indeed from the Westian Region. She lived with her mother until she was two, then when her mother died, she went to an orphanage.”

“The Westian Region is really far away, but she escaped because the orphanage director beat her every day! She hid in a cargo wagon. Amazing!”

“Amazing!”

I waved my hand to stop the children who were looking at each other with wide eyes.

“And then?”

“She fights with Emeline every day.”

“Emeline is a strange kid. She just keeps getting irritated… No, she wouldn’t come out to beg, so Tree covered for her because she was worried Emeline would get scolded by Max, you know? But then she got angry at Tree. Saying stuff like ‘I’m not doing this anymore!'”

“Right. She’s always losing her temper.”

I opened my eyes wide.

“Emeline didn’t take care of her?”

Although Emeline has a prickly side, she’s also a caring child who looks after new kids joining the gang.

She doesn’t take care of them as obviously as Tree does, but she teaches them various things to help them get used to street life.

That’s why the Beggar Gang kids called Tree their mother-like figure, and Emeline their sister-like figure.

“Yes! Yesterday she scratched Max and almost got kicked out! If Tree hadn’t stopped her, she would have been thrown out.”

“Tree is a good kid. She shares bread. Though she’s a bit stupid.”

“Yeah. Just a little bit. Tree doesn’t know letters and keeps making mistakes in calculations. But she’s strong. And she also knows how to treat sick animals…”

When Seria clapped her hands saying “Kids,” Hans and Duke became serious again.

“Tree wants to have a family, but she doesn’t have one.”

“No, she said she has an aunt. But the aunt didn’t get along well with her mother, so she didn’t even come to the funeral. She said her aunt won’t look for Tree. That’s why she said she can’t wait.”

I made eye contact with the attendant who came with me. He frowned and nodded.

Meanwhile, Hans and Duke laughed, saying “We don’t have an aunt, but we have a sister. Sister Seria!”

Seria patted the children’s heads. Then she looked at me.

“It seems to match.”

“I should meet with Saint Cecil.”

“I’ll arrange a meeting in the name of Hope Trading Company. Perhaps thanks to your ‘companion,’ we might obtain the perfect Imperial Consort candidate.”

Seria’s eyes sparkled, and I nodded.

* * *

At that moment, in a deep alley of the shopping district.

“Emeline, are you really not going to eat? It’s been two days. Are you trying to starve to death?”

Tree, who had brought food, shook Emeline who had covered herself with a blanket up to her head. After a long silence, Emeline suddenly exploded in anger.

“I won’t eat! I’m just going to starve to death! Get lost!”

“You really…!”

“What’s the point of living like this!”

As she shouted angrily, the children in the abandoned building stopped eating and glanced nervously at Emeline.

“This girl really… The siblings are getting scared!”

“Siblings, what siblings. Just because you’re all in the same gang doesn’t make them all siblings? You all listen carefully too! You’re going to have to live like this your whole lives anyway. Kids without guardians can’t even get jobs, and at best you’ll either become thugs or get sold off to some distant farm! It would be better if we all just died…!”

Smack!

Emeline’s head turned. She covered her burning hot cheek and glared at Tree.

Tree frowned while choking back tears.

“How could you say such things… They’re still just children. How can you curse kids who aren’t even seven years old like that.”

“…I’m right though.”

“You’ve been acting strange ever since you met that Young Master at the fabric shop.”

“…Shut up.”

“I’m sorry for hitting you. But Emeline, please stop now…”

“Shut up! Shut up! What would you know when even your aunt abandoned you! I’m different from you! Father said he would come find me!”

Emeline pushed Tree away and lay down on the floor, pulling the blanket up over herself.

The image of the boy who kept turning cold toward her flickered before her eyes.

She had never seen such a beautiful boy before. He was exactly the kind of boy she imagined when she pictured herself as a noble young lady.

She knew there was a girl next to him, but what did that matter?

The girl who had been beside the boy was wearing a cloak from the fabric shop. Her circumstances were probably similar to her own.

Then she couldn’t be better than herself. Besides, she was a noble who would live luxuriously someday once she found her father.

‘Because I’m not a noble yet.’

Did he ignore me because Father hasn’t come yet?

“When you turn ten, Father will come for you, Emeline.”

Liar.

He’s not coming.

‘I turned ten but Father still hasn’t come.’

Feelings of inferiority kept bubbling up. The family she had been waiting for wasn’t coming, and it felt like she would spend her whole life wandering these dark, shabby back alleys, living off handouts.

Tree let out a deep sigh as she looked at Emeline’s faintly trembling back.

* * *

The capable Seria easily obtained an opportunity to speak with Cecilia, who didn’t meet with trading company officials or high-ranking nobles.

And today was the day we were supposed to meet Cecilia.

I was checking myself in the mirror and about to leave the room when Father came in.

“Are you heading out now?”

I glanced at the employees standing at a distance and whispered to Father.

“Yes. I’m going to where Lady Olga is with Seria, the captain, and Zachary. You know her, don’t you Father? Cecilia Olga.”

“Yes.”

“She was a knight under you, wasn’t she?”

“She was Lisette’s escort.”

I was startled when the Duchess’s name came up.

‘She was a guard for the same Duchess as Lea…’

When I turned my gaze to Lea, she smiled brightly as if asking what was wrong.

“When you meet her, tell her this. That she doesn’t need to worry about us anymore.”

I didn’t understand what he meant, but Father’s eyes had grown somber, so I slowly nodded my head.

Father smiled faintly and stroked my head.

“You should give me a goodbye greeting.”

With that, he lifted me up in his arms, and I kissed Father’s cheek and said.

“I’ll be going now!”

“Yes.”

After greeting my Brothers as well, I headed to the greenhouse. Then, together with Seria disguised as an old man who had secretly come to the mansion, and the ceremonial guard, I tore the Long-Distance Teleportation Circle.

Brilliant light enveloped my body, and when I opened my eyes again, I was inside the reception room of what appeared to be an inn.

A black-haired woman who had been sitting on the sofa stood up.

“Are you Vice Merchant Guild Leader Hope?”

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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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