The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 44

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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 44

When I tilted my head in confusion, Bune became dejected and fell silent.

Why did he get depressed again? I wondered what to do with this timid demon as I picked up a strawberry with my fork.

I spread plenty of fresh cream on it and put it in my mouth, and the sweet and sour juice combined with the rich and smooth cream made my mouth feel blissful.

‘I think I could eat a hundred of these without getting tired of them.’

Just as I was putting the last remaining strawberry in my mouth with regret, the door burst open.

It was Isaac.

“Let’s go see the gifts!”

Gifts?

Henri, who came in after him, said “Don’t startle her” and gently wiped the fresh cream from my mouth.

“What gifts?”

When I asked that, Isaac giggled like a mischievous child.

I had a strangely uneasy feeling.

I went to see the gifts with Henri and Isaac, glancing at them nervously.

Return gifts? …That couldn’t be it.

Children’s Day had passed, so it wouldn’t be toys either.

My birthday was still far away.

Then what gifts were they talking about?

After arriving at our destination, I confirmed that my uneasiness was not wrong.

Numerous retainers were kneeling before the Duke with their heads bowed.

“Please kill us, Young Lady!”

“Please spare us, Young Lady!”

On one side they were clamoring to be killed, and on the other side they were pleading to be spared.

I stood frozen stiff and only moved my eyes to look at the Duke, Henri, and Isaac.

The Duke looked at me with eyes asking if I was pleased, and Isaac had a proud expression.

“What is this…?”

“The bastards who made a fuss last time about adopting Cattleya Winston.”

At Isaac’s proud answer, I looked back at the kneeling retainers.

They were indeed the retainers I had seen in the audience chamber on the day I summoned Bune.

Some of them had wounds and bruises. Most of them looked fine but their faces were so pale yellow that they seemed like they would faint if touched.

“So this is… (So this is…)”

When I muttered, Isaac said “Ah” and grinned wickedly.

A few are missing, right? That’s right, exactly three are missing – two are in the torture chamber, and one is hanging from the castle as an example.”

Henri continued.

“The one who’s hanging is still alive. Though it looks like it’ll be over soon.”

Before going to the temple, I had struck back at Cattleya and implicated the retainers. I had expected it then. That the retainers would pay dearly for that day.

But I never wanted things to reach this point.

“Uncle. And Henri, Isaac.”

When I muttered quietly, the three men looked at me.

“Yes.”

“Should I have just cut off all their heads after all?”

Isaac’s excited words made the retainers’ faces turn deathly pale.

“No!”

I said with a deep frown.

“If you kill, I’ll hate you.”

The three men flinched.

* * *

“I don’t like this. I don’t like the gifts. Tell the retainers to go home!”

Dawn had arrived.

The kneeling retainers were deeply moved by Leblaine, who had rendered the Duke and his miniature versions completely helpless.

Two days ago, after Leblaine left for the Temple, Dubbled Territory had become a battlefield.

All those involved in the Cattleya Winston incident had been dragged to the castle.

“Y-Your Excellency. Why are you doing this?”

When someone tremblingly managed to speak, Henri smiled sweetly as he looked around at them.

“You tried to devour the family by making a branch member the Family Head, isn’t that a crime worthy of death?”

“T-That’s ridiculous. We simply couldn’t bear to see a Child of Fate, who’s nothing more than the Temple’s puppet, governing the Inner Castle, so we thought it would be better to have Young Lady Winston, who is at least blood-related…!”

The retainers voiced their agreement in unison with his words.

They had thought surely.

Surely he couldn’t do anything to everyone in the hall.

They were all descendants of noble houses with territories under their jurisdiction, people who had served Dubbled for a long time, so they couldn’t be easily touched…

“Kyaaak─!”

…is what they had thought.

Until one of the elders’ wrists went flying before their very eyes.

Five years since Theodore Dubbled inherited the position of Family Head. The retainers, who had grown accustomed to peace, finally realized.

That man was the ruthless person who had slaughtered his brothers and even brought down the mighty Previous Duke.

“Your heads are held too high.”

When the Duke spoke languidly, the pale-faced retainers immediately buried their heads to the floor.

And this was the result.

Duke Dubbled and his miniature versions spent several days pinning all sorts of charges on them.

[Embezzlement of Relief Center funds]

It was only 3 francs.

[Accepting bribes in the Shopping District]

It was just the flower shop owner insisting on giving him a single tulip to give to his wife.

[Refusing to report for duty]

It was exactly one day.

Though the charges were ridiculous, they were enough to send chills down the retainers’ spines.

It meant Duke Dubbled knew everything, even the most trivial matters they themselves had forgotten and that no one else knew about.

In other words, all the retainers were within Duke Dubbled’s sight.

Deliberately listing such minor charges was probably a hint for them to resign voluntarily. It meant that if he seriously investigated, even their distant relatives wouldn’t be safe.

It seemed they had no choice but to die like this.

But then…

“But little one, those guys cornered you.”

When Isaac said this desperately, Leblaine spoke firmly.

“You can’t kill people for dat kind of ding. (You can’t kill people for that kind of thing.)”

Beside her, Henri tried to persuade the child.

“Once a gear goes wrong, you have to remove it and break it. That’s the only way things work properly, Leblaine.”

“People aren’t objects.”

Duke Dubbled called out “Leblaine” and reached out his hand.

“No.”

“Why!”

Leblaine looked around at the three restless people and frowned deeply.

“I won’t play with Duke, Henri, and Isaac anymore.”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

Seeing the three people freeze as if they had heard a bolt from the blue, the retainers gasped.

‘Ah, Young Lady…’

The words about being the Child of Fate who would bring hope were not false.

How could our Young Lady be so merciful!

* * *

The retainers were safely released.

In front of the Imperial Palace, it was noisy with the crying of families – children, husbands and wives, parents – who had been stamping their feet in worry that their loved ones might die.

“Oh my, you fool! Didn’t I tell you it would be better to go dragon subjugating than to oppose His Excellency!”

“Honey, my wife! I was just worried you might die… *sob*!”

“Father, are you alright? Your wrist is dangling? Thank goodness it’s not your neck dangling!”

Bune seemed displeased as he watched them.

[They deserve to die, so why are you letting them live?]

‘It wasn’t enough to warrant death.’

They didn’t abuse a child like Teramore, nor did they force themselves on a woman like Urso.

And above all, I could understand the reason why the retainers tried to drive me out.

While some may have wanted to register Cattleya in the main family to get scraps, at the bottom of it all was surely loyalty to Dubbled.

I am the Child of Fate established by the Temple, so it would certainly be dangerous for me to hold full authority over the inner castle.

Above all, if they were swayed by the orders of a commoner-born child called a fake, Dubbled’s prestige would plummet.

‘Besides, if I killed them all, the Senate Chairman would have stepped forward, right?’

Jean-Marc Nouanok, Duke Dubbled’s greatest political enemy.

[Who is this person?]

‘Well, to put it simply… a very scary person?’

The reason the Previous Duke, famous for his tyranny, yielded to the Senate wasn’t just because they worked for him.

The bigger reason was that the Senate Chairman was Jean-Marc Nouanok.

Nouanok, who had been with Dubbled since its founding, had strong ties with the Imperial Nobles, and the Temple would prioritize his words over even Duke Dubbled’s.

[Why does a mere retainer have such power?]

‘Someone at the Chairman level isn’t just a retainer. He’s Dubbled’s second-in-command.’

Moreover, in the not-so-distant future, he would completely ally with the Temple and boast even more formidable power.

‘But why has he been so quiet lately?’

At any other time, he should have already made his move.

As I was pondering this, the Young Masters who had been watching my mood asked quietly.

“Little One, are you still angry…?”

“Leblaine, it’s a nice day, shall we take a walk?”

I was sprawled on the sofa and only moved my eyes slightly to look at them.

The two of them looked dejected.

“You won’t go around hanging people up anymore, right?”

Their faces brightened as they quickly ran over.

“We won’t hang anyone up!”

“Yeah.”

I let out a sigh and hopped down from the sofa.

“Then let’s take a walk.”

“Shall we go to the garden?”

“How about the greenhouse?”

I left the room flanked by the Young Masters on both sides, who seemed to be wagging invisible tails.

The two of them bickered a few times, then decided on the garden as our walking place.

This was because Isaac had strongly insisted that there was a flower he wanted to show me.

When we went out to the garden, I was amazed.

“Wow─!”

The flower bed that had been full of tulips just a few days ago was now filled with primroses and violets.

Wild flowers like primroses and violets were rare to see in noble flower beds. Most preferred expensive, high-maintenance flowers like tulips.

But I preferred modest wild flowers. Violets in particular were my favorite flower.

“These are flowers Lebu likes.”

Isaac became triumphant.

“I knew exactly what to have planted!”

“Thank you.”

When I excitedly smelled the fragrance, Henri chuckled.

“What’s gotten into this idiot to do something so thoughtful?”

“I’m not an idiot.”

“Fine, I’ll acknowledge it today. Can’t say about tomorrow though.”

As the brothers started bickering again, I tugged on both their sleeves.

Then I made flower rings for Henri and Isaac, who had crouched down beside me.

I was trying to divert their attention before they started fighting in earnest.

Isaac took interest in the flower ring as I intended.

“Little One, how do you know how to make things like this when you’re so small?”

“I learned at the owphanage.”

Isaac looked curious about why the orphanage would teach something like flower ring making.

I picked off some small dried grass attached to the flower ring stem and said.

“Nobles put rings on babies when they’re born, right?”

“Yeah. Ruby rings.”

It meant to grow strong until the day they could wear the family insignia.

“Commoners make flower rings and put them on fingers like this. Orphanage babies don’t have mothers, so the older orphanage children who were there first make them and put them on.”

“Why do commoners bother with flower rings that aren’t even worth money? How troublesome.”

“Because they love them.”

It meant that even if they couldn’t give their children expensive ruby rings like nobles, their love for their children was the same as nobles.

“So that’s why the orphanage teaches children how to make flower rings… Huh?”

The two weren’t even listening to my story and were staring intently at the flower rings I had made for them.

“If flower rings mean love…”

“Since Leblaine gave these to us…”

“She loves us…”

Then their faces turned red as they hugged their hands wearing the flower rings protectively.

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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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