The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 60

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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 60

“Sam, the second butler, was a drug dealer. Jane from the laundry is a famous pickpocket. She even stole some count’s seal ring.”

I etched Laura’s words into my mind and nodded repeatedly.

“Then what about Laura?”

“I don’t have a criminal record yet!”

“Planning to make one?”

“Not yet… but sometimes I get the urge to crack the skulls of people who piss me off, so I think I might earn a mark soon.”

Laura smiled shyly as she said this.

“Laura, you need to watch your language in front of the Young Lady.”

When Lea spoke sternly, Laura gasped and covered her mouth.

“Sorry! I don’t have a record, but I was born in prison so my speech is a bit rough.”

“You were born in prison?”

“Yes. My mother was the leader of a cult. She found out she was pregnant after being arrested. So she gave birth to me in prison, and I lived with her until I was three, then my aunt took me in when I was four.”

Because of that, Laura said it was difficult for her to find work.

Even when she barely managed to find jobs, she was soon found out and had to move between noble families in the Imperial Capital.

“So I know most of the employees. I know all the Five Ducal Houses, and the employees of the Marquis and Count Houses too. I’m probably the fastest to hear any rumors circulating in the Imperial Capital!”

Seeing Laura speak proudly, my eyes sparkled.

“Then tell me. What rumors are going around these days?”

“The most interesting one is about Constantine Young Master. He’s having an affair with his fiancée’s mother!”

Gasp!

Sharp intakes of breath erupted around us. Everyone seemed shocked.

What kind of new soap opera is this?

This wasn’t really what I was curious about, but even I was stunned by this fascinating story.

“All the employees were wondering when they’d get caught, but the surprising thing was that she was cheating back. The fiancée is with Constantine Young Master’s uncle…!”

Gasp!

Another sharp intake of breath was heard.

I felt like I should bring some popcorn. I swallowed repeatedly as I listened to the story.

“Besides that. Any other interesting rumors?”

“Lord Rain’s story is interesting too. Lady Roavang has completely fallen for this truly wonderful woman. She even canceled her own tea party to go see her…”

“Something else.”

“Something else… Baron Mollywood defied his retainers and elderly mother’s opposition to marry an opera singer in a noble-commoner marriage, but it turns out the opera singer was also a man. What’s more surprising is that the baron found out after their wedding night.”

Then the maids unconsciously shouted, “How is that even possible!”

Laura crossed her arms and spoke seriously.

“They say the wedding night took place in a dark opera house where not a single ray of light came in…”

The employees covered their mouths and screamed silently.

I listened intently, trying to remember Laura’s story.

Just then, something vibrated faintly inside my pocket.

‘It’s the communication magic tool.’

This was an extremely expensive magic tool I had recently purchased while shedding tears of blood.

It was so eye-poppingly expensive that I thought I would literally shed tears of blood when paying for it.

Even the magic crystals that went into the communication magic tool were extremely expensive.

On top of that, I didn’t just buy one but purchased Seria’s and the Chief of Staff’s as well, and was supplying the magic crystals, so my back was about to break.

Since these were such items, the three of us rarely used them unless it was truly important.

I secretly glanced inside my pocket and saw it was Seria’s code.

[The bait has been taken.]

It seemed the Empress Dowager had finally purchased the Luminus medicine.

I patted my pocket and immersed myself in Laura’s story again.

* * *

Adolf, one of the 21 priests who managed the Central Temple, prostrated himself before the Empress Dowager.

“I greet Your Majesty the Empress Dowager.”

“Please sit.”

The Empress Dowager welcomed him with her usual benevolent face.

Adolf rose and sat in the chair while scanning her expression.

‘Damn old woman.’

She appeared gentle as a lamb on the outside, but he knew well how greedy that old woman was.

Five years ago, Adolf’s subordinate who had gone to the prison to perform a rest prayer for a wanted criminal facing execution returned with a pale face.

“I found where the original scripture is.”

“What are you talking about? We searched so extensively but couldn’t even find a clue.”

“The wanted criminal knew the whereabouts of the original scripture. It’s in the Empress Dowager’s secret library.”

“That can’t be… If the Empress Dowager had found it, she would have naturally handed it over to us.”

“When we went to the place the wanted criminal told us about, the Empress Dowager’s people were guarding some warehouse. There’s definitely a library we don’t know about.”

The wanted criminal’s words were credible.

As a test, when he casually mentioned the secret library to the Empress Dowager, she immediately moved the library’s location.

Upon further investigation, they even secured evidence that workers had dug up the ancient plateau seven years ago on the Empress Dowager’s orders.

‘Pretending to trust the temple so much while scheming behind our backs to steal away the scripture?’

The Empress Dowager knew best that the temple was combing through the entire Empire like searching for lice to find the original scripture.

He had to get his hands on it somehow.

If he could get his hands on the original scripture, he could enter not just the Central Temple but even the Papal Court.

So Adolf had spent a full five years trying to manipulate the Empress Dowager while keeping it secret from the temple.

The Empress Dowager picked up her teacup with an nonchalant expression.

“I hear the Child of Fate will be participating in this year’s Sowing Festival banquet. The Papal Court will surely take interest as well. I was curious how she had grown, since Dubbled never shows her to us.”

Adolf answered with a lukewarm “Yes, well…”

The orphan girl who had luckily become the Child of Fate by being born with divine power on February 29th in the year the oracle descended failed to capture his interest.

Fortunately, her divine power had grown enough to save face for the temple, but that was all.

According to the oracle, a child who would save the world would descend bearing God’s mark.

However, when re-verified, that child’s divine power was far too ordinary to be called world-saving.

Moreover, she didn’t bear God’s mark, and there were ambiguous aspects to the “descending” part.

Even though the child had increased her divine power, there was much debate within the temple about whether she was real or fake.

“More importantly, how is your condition today?”

“Much better. Winter was always difficult for me, but now that spring has come, it’s bearable.”

“I’ve prepared holy water. If you bathe with this, you should feel much more comfortable.”

“Oh my, how grateful I am.”

Seeing the Empress Dowager laugh with a “hohoho,” Adolf spoke in a subtle voice.

“However, Your Majesty. About the library you said you would show me the other day…”

“Come to think of it, I felt embarrassed to show it. There aren’t any particularly precious ancient books there.”

Adolf’s eyes hardened sharply.

‘This old woman…!’

When her skin condition was severe, she acted like she would do anything if only she could receive his treatment, and now she was completely shutting her mouth.

Adolf smiled awkwardly and said,

“Any book touched by Your Majesty’s hands would be a precious treasure. If I could read the books you own, I might be able to find something that could help Your Majesty’s condition even more next time.”

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t need to come separately to help with treatment anymore.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I discovered a good medicine, you see.”

“Medicine?”

“They call it a youth potion.”

The Empress Dowager placed a medicine bottle on the table and said,

“It might be a sales tactic, but the effects are good. It’s much less itchy than a priest’s treatment.”

The priest’s face contorted.

That was a medicine the temple was keeping a close eye on.

Already, the number of nobles seeking treatment had decreased because of that medicine.

As a natural consequence, donations were also declining, making it difficult to maintain dignity when reporting to superiors.

‘Hope Merchant Guild, was it?’

A continuously bothersome place.

Five years ago, when they tried to pressure Dubbled with spinel, they ruined everything because of that merchant guild that appeared out of nowhere.

Not only that, they unreasonably lowered the market price of spinel, causing the value of the temple’s spinel mine to plummet.

Eventually, they had no choice but to sell the spinel mine that had lost its utility, and currently the Hope Merchant Guild was practically monopolizing the spinel market.

‘Bastards I’d like to tear apart and kill.’

Adolf clenched his fist tightly.

* * *

Before the banquet, I came out to the shopping district with my brothers to buy a dress.

As it was the Empire’s most bustling area, it was crowded with people despite being a weekday.

“You have to walk without letting go, okay?”

Isaac said, gripping my hand tightly.

“That’s right, if you look away even for a moment, you’ll get swept up in the crowd.”

Henri also grabbed my other hand and warned me.

I answered “Yes!” and put strength into my hands.

‘This is near the shrine, so I absolutely must not let go of my brothers.’

With that resolve, I walked energetically. Fortunately, the dress shop was close, so despite the crowds, we arrived without incident.

As we entered the store, a clerk and a long-haired man who appeared to be the owner came rushing out.

“I greet the noble children of Dubbled. I am Melbaine of Melbaine Boutique.”

A man with a face shiny with pomade rubbed his hands together as he spoke.

‘Melbaine?’

Melbaine was a designer popular among the wives of dukes and marquises.

His dresses were very expensive, so only high-ranking nobles could even look at them.

That’s why wives from ordinary families would alter and wear Melbaine’s dresses for years.

“The young master and youngest master are dazzling as always today.”

At Melbaine’s words, Henri and Isaac casually sat down on the sofa.

“I happen to have a design that would suit the young master perfectly. It’s embroidered with silver thread on pure white fabric, a two-button suit…”

“Never mind my clothes, take care of my younger sister.”

At Henri’s words, Melbaine finally turned his gaze to me.

“Is this person that fateful…”

“The Young Lady of Dubbled.”

When Isaac frowned and corrected what was about to be said, the startled Melbaine nodded saying “Ah, yes!”

“My shop has many lovely clothes that would suit the young lady as well. Aliana!”

When he clapped his hands twice, clerks wearing green dresses approached.

“Young Lady of Dubbled, we will show you some clothes.”

The woman who approached with a bright smile led me toward the clothing racks.

Meanwhile, Melbaine was sticking close to Henri and Isaac, chattering away.

“I heard you valiantly annihilated the enemy in your first battle. This Melbaine was so moved when I heard the story…!”

It seemed he had absolutely no interest in me, who wasn’t the Duke’s real daughter.

News from Dubbled, which was far from the Imperial Capital, wouldn’t have spread here, and besides, Dubbled was a very closed-off place where rumors didn’t circulate well, so he didn’t know that I was truly loved like a real daughter.

“How about this dress? The lace on the chest was designed with great care by Master Melbaine…”

She showed me various dresses, but nothing particularly caught my eye.

Since my reaction was lukewarm, the clerk left saying she would bring designs that hadn’t been displayed yet.

I was looking at the dresses hanging on the rack when my eyes widened.

‘Ah, that’s what I wanted to wear in my second life.’

It was a dress with a lace collar and puffy sleeves.

‘So that was a design from this period.’

This dress hanging in the Melbaine Boutique shop window looked just like something a princess from fairy tale books would wear.

I remember thinking, would I look like a princess too if I wore it?

I really liked that design. It was just as I was holding the dress up to my body.

“That one!”

A young voice called out.

It was a girl around my age with sleek black hair and amber eyes.

“I like that one.”

At the girl’s words, I blinked my eyes.

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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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