The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 169

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

Chapter 169

I hurriedly headed to the Shopping District.

Tree and Emeline were really grabbing each other’s hair just as the ceremonial guard had said.

“Let go of this!”

“You let go!”

“We let go on the count of three, okay? One, two, three…!”

“I knew you wouldn’t let go, you liar!”

“You didn’t let go either. Ack, ack!”

I stared dumbfounded at the children who were spinning around in circles while grabbing each other’s hair.

They must have caused quite a commotion, having grabbed each other’s hair all the way from the Deep Alley where the children’s lodging was located to a place close to Main Street.

“You’re a bad girl, Emeline!”

“You’re the terrible one! You’re going to abandon all of us and leave!”

“I… I am!”

Emeline pushed Tree forcefully.

When Tree staggered and plopped down on the ground, looking up at her tearfully, Emeline gritted her teeth and grabbed a handful of sand from the ground, about to throw it at Tree.

I quickly grabbed Emeline’s wrist.

“Stop it.”

“Ah, so you’re that girl who fought with Max?”

Tree shouted “Emeline!” but Emeline glared at me with a completely flushed face.

“Because of you and Tree, that idiot, Max won’t come. He thinks you’re a noble, so Max got scared after fighting with you.”

“So what?”

“Kids like us can’t survive without Max’s protection!”

Emeline continued speaking while glaring at me fiercely.

“Do you think we lived with Max because we liked it? It’s because Max protected us from other gangs!”

“…”

“What are you going to do? If Max doesn’t come like this, other gangs will steal all the money we begged for. But Tree, that stupid girl, is leaving after causing this mess, saying she found her aunt!”

“…”

“Do you think you became a hero by saving Tree? No, you got us all killed. Tree is abandoning all of us and only cares about saving herself…!”

“The children will be moved to a shelter.”

“What?”

“A noble house has decided to sponsor them so they can grow up under proper adults until they turn 15. After that, we’ll arrange jobs for them. Now there’s no reason for you to be angry, right?”

Emeline bit her lips tightly.

After panting for a while, the child suddenly frowned and opened her mouth.

“That’s not everything…!”

“Right. That’s not everything you’re angry about. You’re upset that Tree found her aunt first, aren’t you?”

“No.”

“If it’s not, then stop. If you keep acting like this, others will think you’re taking out your inferiority complex on Tree.”

Emeline flinched and shut her mouth.

That Child with her pale complexion muttered, “You… what do you know.”

I let go of That Child’s wrist and helped Tree up.

Trading Company Workers who had been watching the situation from afar and relaying news through the ceremonial guard came running over to dust off Tree’s clothes.

“Oh my, such an honored person got covered in dirt and dust. Please come. We have a Doctor on standby.”

Tree glanced at Emeline for a moment, but bit her lips tightly and started walking.

I reached out my hand to Emeline.

“Let’s go. You need Healing too…”

“Let go!”

Emeline roughly swatted away my hand.

When a sharp slapping sound rang out against the back of my hand, Dubbled’s Knights who had been secretly guarding me came running.

“Young Lady!”

“I’m fine.”

“Fine? If His Excellency and the Young Masters find out, we’ll be in serious trouble.”

“Doctor! Doctor!!”

The Knights turned pale and panicked, while Emeline glared at Tree and me, twisting her Skirt Hem.

Then she spun around and ran far away.

I let out a deep sigh.

Tree spoke to me cautiously.

“Um…”

“What?”

“Emeline has strong pride, but she’s not a bad Child. So, so…”

She seemed worried that the Adults protecting Tree and me might harm Emeline.

I smiled brightly.

“Don’t worry.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

I had assigned people to Tree from before.

But why didn’t they come out while those Children were pulling each other’s hair and fighting?

“Children grow by fighting and making up.”

When I tilted my head up and said that, Tree’s eyes widened.

“Emeline says that often too!”

I know. Because I heard those words from Emeline too.

Emeline was someone who really taught me many things.

“What? You got hit again? Leblaine, you fool! You should go hit back too!”

“What if we really get into a big fight then.”

“Children grow by fighting and making up. If you just take it one-sidedly, you can never make up.”

“….”

“Oh my, you silly child. Come here. Let me see how badly you’re hurt.”

That child was the one who changed me when I was used to being bullied in my first and second lives.

* * *

Under the bridge, Max’s Beggar Gang children slowly approached Emeline, who stubbornly hugged her knees.

“Emeline, aren’t you going to pack? They say at the shelter they’ll give us food and clothes. We won’t have to beg in the cold anymore….”

“You guys go.”

“But….”

“Go! Just go away!”

When Emeline shouted while pulling up weeds and throwing them, the children turned around with dejected expressions and ran away.

Left alone, Emeline’s skirt became soaked with tears.

“My aunt came to find me. I’m going to live with my aunt now. Listen, Emeline. Come with me. If I ask my aunt, we can live together.”

“Oh my, such a precious person is covered in dust. Please go. We have a doctor standing by.”

“It’s not okay at all. If His Excellency and the Young Masters find out, we’ll be in trouble.”

Even foolish Tree had family come for her.

Well-dressed people called Tree, who was far inferior to me, a precious person and didn’t know what to do with themselves.

And that girl who helped Tree….

‘That voice…. It’s definitely that child who was with the boy at the fabric shop.’

“Her name is Leblaine. You know, she’s a young lady and she’s really, re─really cool!”

Cool, my foot. Tree really is a fool.

Anyone would look strong if they grew up being loved like that and raised so preciously.

That girl wouldn’t know. What it’s like to beg, what it’s like to live as a beggar, what it’s like to have no parents….

‘No. I have a father. Father will come find me soon.’

But when?

Emeline lost her mother on her fifth birthday.

Though it was an impoverished household, Emeline didn’t know poverty until her mother passed away.

Her mother’s hands were all blistered, and though she groaned in pain at night, she always dressed Emeline in good things and fed her good food.

If Emeline tried to get even a drop of water on her hands, her usually gentle mother would scold her with bloodshot eyes.

“You’re a precious child. How heartbroken your father would be if he knew his precious daughter was suffering.”

After her mother died and she went to the orphanage, there were several opportunities to go to new families.

Many parents wanted Emeline, who was cute, lovable, and even knew how to write.

But Emeline believed her mother’s words and ran away.

She didn’t change her name so that her father could find her.

He embezzled the money that should have been given to Max, offering it monthly as donations to the shrine while asking if anyone was looking for her.

Emeline bit her lip and sniffled.

She actually knew the truth.

The fact that no one had looked for her until now meant they either didn’t know of her existence, or had no intention of finding her.

‘Mother was a liar. In the end, no one is looking for me.’

Emeline tightly gripped the necklace her mother had left her when she passed away.

“This is proof, Emeline, that you are your father’s daughter. You must keep it without letting anyone discover it.”

Emeline was glaring at the thin pendant with curved ends, just about to throw it down below the bridge when it happened.

“Emeline!”

An unfamiliar voice called out.

“Are you a priest?”

Since he was wearing priest’s formal wear, it wasn’t difficult to guess his identity.

‘But that’s a carnation emblem.’

The hierarchy of Neriad’s shrines can be briefly explained like this.

1. 【Numerous local temples located by region】

These places are managed by temple masters selected by the Central Temple.

2. 【Central Temple】

The Central Temple that manages the local temples is administered through majority decisions by those called the 21 Priests.

3. 【Papal Court】

The center of Neriad’s faith, where only the Cardinal, the most powerful priest, and the Pope, the supreme leader of Neriad’s faith, belong.

And that carnation emblem is something only the highest-ranking priests called the 21 Priests can possess.

“You’re Emeline, aren’t you? So you were here. I’ve been searching for quite a while.”

The priest approached with a kind face, knelt down, and looked at Emeline.

Emeline unconsciously hid the necklace in her pocket and looked up.

“What’s the matter?”

“Rejoice, child. Your father is looking for you.”

“…Excuse me?”

Emeline’s eyes trembled slightly.

* * *

Having stayed at Hope Trading Company’s office until late at night, I returned to the mansion with a tired face.

“My whole body aches…”

As I spoke while tapping my shoulders and knees like an old man, the ceremonial guard who was getting off the carriage with me looked at me with bleary eyes.

“The feeling of watching this as an actual old man is quite something.”

“Cut me some slack. Since I have Pur summoned, even a little overwork is tough.”

“Then send him back quickly.”

“You don’t know how stubborn Pur is. Even if he dies, his wish is still my heart.”

“If I hadn’t received divine power from the Second Prince, it would have been a disaster.”

“Right? As expected, now I should gradually start making moves against Pur…”

While I was chattering away, my three maids approached with urgent expressions.

“Young Master Johan has arrived.”

“Really?”

My face brightened as I quickly jumped down from the carriage.

But something was strange.

‘Why is the atmosphere like this?’

I narrowed my brow and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“There are people who came with him.”

“Who?”

“A priest and a child presumed to be Baby Bird.”

After receiving the story from the maids, I ran to the inner palace with a hardened face.

People were densely gathered in the central courtyard.

Among the adults who were two or three spans taller than me, I could see Father and the priest.

‘Priest Augustino.’

One of the 21 priests, same as Adolf who had stolen the youth potion I made and gave it to the Empress Dowager, causing her to collapse.

Excluding the cardinal, he was the highest-ranking priest who had been in charge of my theology lessons in my first life.

‘That Augustino came?’

Now the shrine was also starting to lift their heavy bottoms.

“To think there was a youngest young lady in Dubbled, I was so surprised to hear the news that Young Master was looking for the young lady. But because of that, I was able to bring this child to Dubbled.”

“Evidence?”

When Father asked, Augustino waved his hands and laughed heartily.

“Circumstantially, this child perfectly matches Baby Bird. A woman who appeared to be a noble house’s lady-in-waiting settled in some village and started raising a child. Her birthday is the same as Baby Bird’s too. This child seems to have considered that woman her real mother until now…”

“…”

“The woman repeatedly warned her. She said a noble father would come looking for his daughter someday. Now, child, you must greet them.”

Pushing through the people to approach Father and the priest, I let out a hollow laugh seeing the child whose shoulder was held by the priest.

The priest smiled brightly and said.

“This is Emeline.”

Emeline looked at Father and my brothers with hardened eyes and mumbled, not knowing what to do.

“H-hello…”

The priest who noticed me letting out a chuckle bowed his head as if pleased and said.

“I wonder if you remember meeting me once when Young Lady was very young. I am Priest Augustino.”

“…I remember.”

“How joyful it is that you’ve gained a new sister.”

“…”

After a moment of silence, I smiled brightly and hugged Emeline.

“Nice to meet you, Baby Bird! I’m Leblaine!”

The stupid Augustino’s expression brightened.

I pulled Emeline into my arms and whispered to her.

“You’re not Baby Bird.”

“….”

“And I know who your father is.”

Because I definitely saw him in my past life.

He’s someone I know well.

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