The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 24

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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 24

My vision blurred and someone’s voice flowed into my head.

It felt just like when I saw the Newit.

My heart raced and I felt dizzy.

[My child.]

“Ah…”

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

The sound of my heartbeat filled my ears. My lungs felt constricted and I couldn’t breathe. My vision kept narrowing.

The world spun around me and my body swayed. Then with a thud! I collapsed.

At that moment.

“Little one!”

“…Laine!”

I thought I heard Henri and Isaac’s voices.

As I lost consciousness, I thought.

‘Who on earth is it.’

Why does that voice always call out to me so desperately?

* * *

How much time had passed?

My eyes felt dry and stinging, making them hard to open, and my body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds – I couldn’t even move a finger.

“There’s nothing wrong with her, so why won’t she open her eyes?! Did you check properly? Do you want to die?!”

“Check again. Find the reason she collapsed. If you want to keep your head intact.”

I heard an extremely agitated voice and a quietly furious one.

And then.

“Drag them out.”

Duke Dubbled’s voice?

Soon I heard the sharp, dull sound of footsteps along with men’s desperate pleas.

“P-please, it’s true. It’s really true, Your Excellency! There’s nothing wrong with the Young Lady’s body!”

“Anyone could say such things.”

“B-but it’s really…!”

“If you can’t find the cause of Leblaine’s collapse, behead one doctor every hour.”

‘What?!’

I snapped my eyes open.

“Little one…!”

“Leblaine!”

Two handsome faces were right in front of me. It was Henri and Isaac.

‘Wait, why are these guys stuck so close to me?’

I blinked and slowly looked around.

I was lying on the bed, with Henri and Isaac on either side of my bed, and behind them I could see Lea’s teary face.

And on the floor, there were what looked like at least thirty doctors kneeling on the ground.

The person standing in front of the doctors was the Duke.

“Duke…”

That’s what I called him, but my voice was completely hoarse.

At my thin, barely audible voice, the Duke approached me.

“Are you alright?”

When I nodded, a faint sigh escaped through the Duke’s teeth. Then he immediately turned his head toward the kneeling doctors and North.

I swallowed a sigh inwardly.

‘Phew, thank goodness I woke up at the right time.’

Since the Child of Fate sent from the temple had collapsed in Dubbled territory, it seemed the doctors were being reprimanded.

But they weren’t at fault. If anything, it was my fault for secretly entering the West Wing.

The Duke opened his mouth.

“Since Leblaine has awakened─”

Yes. Please send away the innocent doctors quickly.

“Kill them all.”

‘What?’

I looked at the Duke in shock, and North called out “Y-Your Excellency…!”

Needless to say, the limbs of the kneeling doctors were trembling violently.

“There’s no salary to give to incompetent fools who couldn’t even find the reason for her fainting.”

─said the Duke, who claimed he only had money.

Henri and Isaac, who had somehow moved to stand beside him, were also agreeing with cold eyes.

‘No, really?!’

North desperately tried to persuade the Duke, but he was resolute.

“Your Excellency, even if we try to bring people from the Imperial Capital, it will take at least two weeks.”

“So what.”

“If something happens to the Young Lady’s body again, who will you turn to until people arrive from the Imperial Capital!”

At that, the Duke flinched.

Realizing this argument was getting through, North, like someone who had found a ray of hope, forcefully…!

Used me as an excuse.

“If the Young Lady’s body isn’t sick but cursed, or if it’s a problem with divine power, there’s no way doctors could find the cause. However, if she developed body aches as an aftereffect, doctors could help the Young Lady in that regard.”

After saying that, he looked at me desperately with eyes that said ‘Right?’

Everyone in the room turned their gaze toward me.

The Duke and the Young Masters, the maids, and even the doctors who looked like they had found a lifeline.

I rolled my eyes around and then slightly opened my mouth.

“…Achoo.”

“…!”

The Duke’s eyes widened as he let out a thunderous roar.

“Isn’t it a cold! Hurry and examine Leblaine!”

“Quickly!”

“Right now!”

As Duke Dubbled, Henri, and Isaac each shouted, over thirty doctors rushed to my bed in perfect unison.

After that, I continued to passionately pretend to have a cold, and thanks to that, the doctors were spared from execution.

* * *

My desperate acting of being a sick child with a cold fooled Duke Dubbled, so the doctors were fortunately able to save their lives.

Of course, there was no way the doctors, being professionals, wouldn’t know that I wasn’t sick with a cold at all.

Perhaps because of that, whenever the doctors saw me, they would look at me with wistful eyes and say “Young Lady…” while trembling their chins.

Baron Mor, the director of Dubbled Castle’s medical facility, was especially moved.

“This Adam Mor will dedicate his life for Young Lady in the future.”

He cried out that I was his benefactor, saying he almost died without being able to see the birth of his only son born after 10 years of marriage.

In any case, I’m glad I saved the innocent doctors.

‘But what exactly was that voice?’

The voice that I’ve been hearing occasionally since touching the Newit, causing me to faint.

‘Is it a curse after all?’

If it’s the price for breaking a sacred relic, it makes sense.

I’d need to show my condition to a priest to know for sure, but I didn’t want to get involved with the temple if possible.

It would be troublesome if they caught me and tried to take me away to lift the curse.

‘I’ve worked so hard to become close with the Dubbled people.’

I heard that Isaac and Henri were the ones who immediately moved me on the day I collapsed.

Both of them apparently pressured the doctors.

‘That was unexpected.’

Especially Henri.

I thought our relationship had soured after hearing those incredibly murderous words last time.

Duke Dubbled, who was always cold about everything, was equally unexpected.

‘They don’t dislike me.’

Rather, at this level, wouldn’t their feelings be closer to fondness?

I covered my mouth with both fists and giggled, “Ehehe.”

It was worth following them around persistently and building up their affection.

If that’s the case, then I’ve now fastened the first button of my exile preparations.

Dubbled Territory was like heaven to me, but hardships would come again as I grew older.

The real Child of Fate would arrive.

And I would become a sacrifice in the ritual to seal the evil god.

This wasn’t something even Duke Dubbled could do anything about.

‘How much money do I have?’

I crawled up onto the bed while carrying my elephant bag.

“One button, two, three… twenty-something.”

I looked at the buttons with a satisfied expression, having collected quite a lot, then carefully put them back in the bag.

‘Once I save up money, I need to go straight to the Information Guild to get forged identity papers made.’

This needs to be done as soon as possible. Starting around the year after next, the law will be revised to strictly manage territorial citizen records.

‘Right, time is short, so I can’t keep making money just from buttons forever.’

Now it’s time to create a slush fund.

I don’t have the capital to do Iron Speculation or Gold Speculation like Henri, but I’ve already thought of ways to make money.

I grinned and looked at the calendar.

‘Soon a wanted criminal will sneak into Dubbled.’

He’s someone even the Imperial Palace is paying attention to, and since his face hasn’t been revealed, the bounty amount is enormous.

And I’m going to turn him over to the country and collect that bounty.

‘They give bounties even to children!’

But how did he get in again? I think he was working at Dubbled Castle when his identity was discovered.

Was he a servant?

‘Since I’m thinking about it, I should go find out what opportunities there might be for new people to enter the lord’s castle.’

Just as I was about to leave through the door, I ran right into Lea who was coming in.

“You woke up early today.”

Lea asked kindly, so I answered energetically, “Yes!”

“I’m happy you’re getting healthier. But where are you going?”

I couldn’t tell her I was going to sneak into the servants’ break room where the castle’s event schedule was posted.

I rolled my eyes around and mumbled.

“Li-bary. (Library.)”

“But you borrowed lots of fairy tale books yesterday?”

“Not dat, um… study! I wanna study.”

Lea lightly cupped one cheek with her hand as if gauging something for a moment, then soon nodded.

“I see. You’re at the age to start learning letters. Then I’ll tell the master. He’ll arrange a good teacher for you.”

‘No!’

I’ve learned the Imperial language three times already.

I’m at a level where I could write it backwards with my toes if asked, so it’s completely, com-pletely unnecessary.

But Lea went off humming “What a wonderful Young Lady” to meet the Duke.

* * *

The Duke immediately sent a teacher.

Someone who graduated at the top of his class from Imperial University, passed the difficult Imperial Palace administrative exam at the youngest age, and had experience teaching children from famous families─

“North.”

North.

Of course, the famous family’s children he had taught letters to were Henri and Isaac.

“Don’t you have work to do?”

“If Young Lady knew how many documents are piled up on my desk, you would cry along with me…”

North muttered with haggard eyes.

Well, from the Etoile salvage case to handling the aftermath of the Teramore incident, how much work must there be.

‘He’s suffering a lot because of his cold-blooded boss.’

When I patted his shoulder out of pity, North made a pitiful expression.

‘Since I feel sorry for him, I should pretend to focus and learn quickly.’

“First, you’ll need to learn the alphabet. Now, please look at these cards.”

North was definitely a capable talent.

Not only was he good at handling documents, but he was also good at teaching children.

His explanations were easy and his examples were appropriate, so other children would be able to learn easily too.

“Now, repeat after me. Gale.”

“Gail.”

“Gale is pronounced as ‘g’. So what words use gale?”

“Bear, puppy, thank you, and, and…”

When I spoke while rolling my eyes around, North, who had become completely absorbed in the lesson, laughed heartily as if he found me adorably cute.

“You’re truly bright, Young Lady. I hope administrators are recruited soon so I can focus solely on Young Lady’s education.”

Administrator recruitment?

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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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