The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 57

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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 57

If I said that I had dismissed the guards Father assigned me to take a walk, met Adrian who would become Dubbled’s nemesis, and made a mistake by using Isaac’s name, lightning would strike Dubbled.

Isaac went “Hmm,” and read the letter.

“…Looking forward to meeting again?”

I jumped up as if startled and said.

“W-w-wong place! More than that, eat cookies. Delicious.”

Then I tried to casually sit Isaac down and snatch the letter away…

Henri said with narrowed eyes.

“In this castle, the only girl who could wear those shoes is Leblaine.”

Then Isaac’s face turned menacing. Father said.

“What bastard.”

Henri and Isaac looked at Father with murderous intent.

“Please cast tracking magic, Father.”

“Father, I’ll take the vanguard.”

…Since when did they get along so well?

I desperately pretended to be sick.

“Owwww…”

When I clutched my stomach and groaned, the startled Dubbled people quickly rushed to me.

“Are you okay?”

“What’s wrong!”

“Lebu.”

Pretending to be sick was embarrassing and I felt sorry to my family, but it was the most effective method.

I pretended to groan and weakly mumbled “Tummy hurts…” and Father’s eyes widened as he swooped me up.

“Doctor!!”

And forgetting to call for one, he personally carried me to the medical facility.

The letter forgotten by everyone was left in the garden, and I sent signals to Lea with gestures.

‘That! Mine!’

And faithful Lea glanced around and discreetly slipped the letter into her apron.

* * *

My passionate and dedicated sick act worked perfectly, and the letter incident was forgotten.

Only Lea, who brought the letter, was looking at me with narrowed eyes.

“Made fwiend when went to shrine! But Lebu can’t wead letter so told to send to Second Brother.”

When I awkwardly made excuses while gesturing, kind Lea didn’t ask further and gave me the letter.

After Lea left, I sighed and fingered the letter.

I had the scary thought that Father and my brothers might just kill him even if they knew he was a prince.

‘He probably wouldn’t go that far, but anyway, I’m glad Dubbled and Adrian didn’t meet.’

The two were destined enemies in the future.

People used to say.

If one of them died, it would surely be the other one’s doing.

In fact, Dubbled had faced a great crisis because of Adrian, and Adrian had nearly died due to Dubbled’s schemes.

I unfolded the letter to read it.

The content was just the one line Isaac had read. It didn’t even say who the sender was.

From that alone, I could tell how much Adrian had agonized before writing the letter.

Adrian knows I’m a mage. And being as smart as he is, he would know well how dangerous it is to contact me.

It was obvious how much the Imperial Consort faction would hate him making contact with a mage.

‘The shoes… he saw my shoes.’

Noble children’s shoes have very soft leather. Since they rarely walk, they’re just decorative footwear.

Mine are much more comfortable than other shoes, and though they don’t have decorations, they were still made for noble children, so they wear out easily with just a little walking.

But that day I had walked earnestly and even hiked up the mountain, so they were in quite poor condition.

‘What a perceptive child.’

I smiled softly and secretly hid the letter where it couldn’t be seen.

Then I wrote a reply.

‘It’s unfortunate that I can’t meet you right now.’

Due to Adrian’s circumstances and my own situation, I couldn’t readily go visit him.

If he got involved with me, being both a Young Lady of Dubbled and the Child of Fate, the Imperial Consort’s surveillance of him would become even more severe.

Getting entangled in the succession struggle would also make Dubbled’s future uncertain.

But I was worried about him.

The image of him sitting there blankly like a withered old tree after losing his familiar kept lingering in my memory.

I tore a page from my sketchbook and wrote a reply.

[Thank you for the gifts. The shoes are pretty, and the flowers were so, so beautiful. I’ll think of you when I look at what you sent. Let’s exchange letters often!]

After finishing writing, I sealed the letter properly and asked the guard to deliver it to the shrine where Adrian was staying.

In the evening, Father came to visit.

“How’s your stomach?”

“Gwandpa’s medicine made me all better!”

“Good.”

Father gently rubbed around my eyes with his knuckles, then pulled a chair over to sit beside my bed.

“Leblaine, the temple has officially conveyed their wish to educate you. What do you think about it?”

They must be in a hurry since the Empress Dowager decided to withdraw her support.

At Father’s words, I fidgeted with my hands.

“Dubbled has many enemies. As long as you stay here, you’ll be plagued by danger. Most importantly, if you live at the temple, you won’t have to endure accusations of Dubbled being evil.”

“…”

“You’d also receive the Empress Dowager’s support and could develop your divine power in earnest. That would be good for your future too.”

“…Does Father want me to go to the shrine?”

Father smiled faintly.

“You’d be surprised if you knew what petty things your brothers and I did to keep you from being sent to the shrine.”

“Then why don’t you want me to go to the shrine?”

“Perhaps it’s because you’re someone who belongs in the light.”

My family seemed to think that if I got used to that place, I wouldn’t come back.

Dubbled doesn’t discriminate when accepting territory residents. Just like how administrator and employee exams don’t consider social status or background. Naturally, it’s a good place for criminals to hide.

And to make the family prosper, past Duke Dubbleds did whatever it took. The retainers and territory residents followed them.

The Empire’s citizens called such Dubbleds villains.

Father seemed troubled that I, who should be protected by the shrine and called a hero, would be pointed at alongside them.

Since this was a thought the original Theodore Dubbled would never have had, my heart ached a little.

I leaned my head against Father’s large hand.

“I like it here.”

“….”

“I like being with Father and my brothers and the Dubbled people. So I don’t want to go to the shrine.”

Father smiled faintly while stroking my hair.

“You remind me of when I thought I would become a good father.”

Looking into Father’s gentle eyes, I thought.

‘I’m going to live here with my family.’

Safely, after achieving my goals.

So I need to prepare to go out into the world.

Time flowed like water.

Like that, 5 years passed. I became nine years old.

* * *

On a sunny morning.

Sitting in a chair and quietly letting Lea tend to my hair, I looked in the mirror.

My fingers, which had been short like maple leaves, had grown quite long, and my fluffy hair that used to bounce at my shoulders now reached my back.

“Should I braid your hair, or tie it with a ribbon?”

“Hmm, a ribbon would be nice.”

Goodbye to my babbling, lisping speech!

Through desperate pronunciation practice, I had become able to use quite elegant speech.

I covered my mouth with both fists and held back my desire to giggle, straightening my back properly.

The maids brought a ribbon while chuckling softly.

“You’re very well-behaved today.”

“Lebu, I’m nine years old now… I mean, I am nine years old now. I’m all grown up.”

When I lifted my chin and spoke, the maids turned their heads and trembled slightly at the shoulders.

‘I pretended to be a little kid too much, so third person speech stuck to my mouth.’

That won’t do, it won’t do.

I’m now nine years old. A fully grown lady.

The past five years, how much I had suffered. Days when tears blurred my vision.

Living as a beggar, I had almost forgotten noble etiquette and had to endure Madame Confine’s hellish training.

Now beyond being regional doting fools, the employees had become continental doting fools, and I had to endure their ‘You can rest today! Children should play!’ attacks while silently studying.

‘The hardest thing was divine power training…’

In my past life, I was a well-known divine power beggar, so actually using magic myself was a first.

Since I couldn’t receive help from priests, Dubbled’s mages put on hoods every day and thoroughly studied divine power-related books to teach me.

But as mages, they couldn’t fully understand divine power, and sometimes when divine magic failed, my knees would get scraped.

Every time that happened, Father and my brothers would go wild.

Days when I had to soothe Father and my brothers who were raging about cutting the mages’ throats, saying ‘Lebu, if mages die, sad every day.’

Recalling those days, I drooped my shoulders with a haggard face.

That’s when it happened.

“You have arrived!”

The butler’s bright voice could be heard.

I quickly got down from my chair and left the room. The maids followed behind me.

Heading toward the castle gate, I could see the Dubbled knight order returning after finishing their victory parade in the Imperial Capital.

At the very front, I could see a man riding a sleek black horse with an ash-colored mane.

Armor supporting his solid body and a luxurious fur robe flowing down his shoulders.

More striking than his beautiful attire were his handsome features and cool intimidating presence.

“Father!”

It was Father, who had returned after conquering the Kruger Kingdom and then subjugating foreign tribes and eleven other kingdoms.

Last year, when the Empire was pushed into a defensive position by the self-destruction of allied mage knights prepared to die, they requested support from Father, who had subjugated the Kruger Kingdom in just 8 months.

And after one year, the Allied Nations surrendered with white flags and knelt at Dubbled’s feet.

“Little One!”

“Leblaine!”

My brothers who had participated in the war with Father jumped down from their horses and ran toward me. I also quickly ran toward them.

Toward my brothers who spread their arms wide for me… not, but toward the spoils chest.

I rushed over and without hesitation stuck my hands in and rummaged through the chest.

After hearing the victory report, I had been waiting only for this day to come.

‘You brought it, right? Right? You didn’t present it to the Emperor, did you?’

As I was rummaging through the chest with an earnest face, I finally discovered it.

A cloth pouch containing what I wanted.

‘Hooray!’

As I was preciously hugging the pouch, somehow the temperature around me seemed to have dropped.

I stealthily looked to the side.

“It’s been a year since we’ve seen each other…”

“The tribute comes before us…”

I could see my brothers looking at me with gloomy expressions.

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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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