The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 82
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 82
“What do you mean… Mireille doesn’t understand…”
Then you shouldn’t let your eyes waver like that.
I stepped away from the child and smiled brightly.
“I’m fine. You’re fine too, right?”
“…Yes.”
I looked at my family members.
“We’re both fine, so don’t worry.”
With that, the fight came to an end.
* * *
Returning to my room, I immediately communicated with the butler. Upon hearing about what happened at the herb garden, the butler let out a hollow laugh.
[Valois, is it.]
“Most likely.”
[You should inform His Excellency.]
“There’s no evidence.”
Whatever method they used, that child had the silver hair and blue eyes that were symbols of Dubbled, and looked very much like the Duchess.
Moreover, the Magic Director judged that Dubbled’s aura flowed through her.
In this situation, saying “Mireille is fake!” would only hurt me.
[Just because the Magic Director was loyal to Dubbled in Young Lady’s previous life doesn’t mean we can completely trust that he’ll be the same in this life. People can change depending on circumstances.]
“I should call Veronica to the Imperial Palace. Since she’s a mage superior to the Magic Director, she’ll be able to reconfirm.”
[Yes. I’ll investigate the Magic Director and Mireille’s surroundings.]
“The retainer who discovered Mireille too. And tomorrow I’ll formally introduce you to Veronica, so come to the Imperial Palace.”
[Yes.]
After ending the communication, I immediately wrote a letter to Veronica.
The next day, afternoon.
Veronica came to the Imperial Palace. With a completely excited face, she grabbed my hands and shook them up and down.
“Thank you for inviting me! This is my first formal invitation, so I was really excited.”
“Not at all. I’m happy you came. Would you like to go to my room?”
“Yes!”
I held Veronica’s hand tightly and went up the stairs.
We happened to encounter Mireille who was coming down. The child flinched upon seeing me, then quickly turned her head away.
Veronica and I passed by her. After we had gone quite far, Veronica glanced back.
“Is that the child? The one I need to check.”
Since I had briefly explained in the letter, she understood the situation. I nodded.
“As discreetly as possible. Can you do it without an Activation Seal?”
“Of course. If you just give me time to meet them, I can do it without the person being examined even knowing. Covert Operations are my specialty…”
She smiled shyly as she said this.
‘She really is a talent suited for Dubbled.’
I grinned.
Then we went into My Room together. Since a guest had come, the Maids were standing by the wall to attend to us. Yuni and Dahlia were with them too.
“You can go out.”
“But…”
“We’re going to have a secret conversation here.”
When I deliberately whispered, the Maids blinked their eyes.
“A secret conversation, you say…”
“Why are you asking? If it’s a secret conversation that needs to be had alone, there’s only one thing it could be.”
When Yuni said this with a sly smile, Dahlia, who had been blinking and thinking about something, exclaimed “Oh my, oh my!” and covered her mouth.
“Has spring come to our Young Lady?!”
“Shh, shh.”
Yuni herded the Maids out of the room and laughed, “Hehe.”
“Have a pleasant time.”
The excited voices of the Maids leaked in from outside the room.
“You’re being tactless. We should pretend not to know about such things.”
“But who could it be?”
“Perhaps one of the young lords she met at the tea party?”
“I heard that the Eldest Son of Viscount Misenk is quite handsome.”
The Maids saying this let out small screams of “Kyaa.” They seemed to think they were having a discreet conversation among themselves, but we could hear everything.
At that moment, Veronica’s eyes sparkled.
“Come to think of it, Young Lady, don’t you have any men you like?”
When I imagined holding hands with little kids my age and saying “That star is my star, this star is your star,” I got goosebumps.
I rubbed my arms and shook my head firmly.
“Absolutely not.”
“How disappointing.”
I looked at the dejected Veronica with half-open eyes.
“I’m not interested in men.”
“That’s possible at Young Lady’s age.”
“Isn’t it the same at Veronica’s age?”
“I always dream of love. But there’s no gentleman who suits my taste…”
Sometimes when I’m reminded of Veronica’s actual age, I flinch.
Then, there was a knock-knock sound.
‘It must be the doctor.’
“Come in.”
The door opened and the doctor entered. Veronica got up. She seemed about to greet him.
Just as she was raising her head, I saw it.
Eyes that sparkled dreamily with a different meaning than when looking at me.
“…Veronica?”
“Ah! Yes, yes!”
“This is the Chairman of the Dubbled Senate.”
She spread her skirt wide and lightly bent her knees.
“I am Veronica Dubois. I’ve only heard of you and am meeting you for the first time.”
“I am Jean-Marc Nouanok. Pleased to meet you.”
The Chairman explained the situation in detail as we had agreed beforehand, excluding only my three regressions and ability to summon demons.
“I find House Valois suspicious. So I’m conducting an investigation, and if the Family Head could check Mireille….”
“….”
“Family Head Dubois?”
“Ah, yes, yes!”
That was the second “yes, yes!” I looked back and forth between the two with an anxious expression.
On the surface, a girl and a grandfather. In actual age, Veronica was about twenty years older than the Chairman.
I couldn’t root for either side.
While Veronica went to the bathroom, I tugged on the Chairman’s clothes.
“Do you happen to like women twenty years older?”
“What do you mean….”
“Then what about girls?”
“I believe all adult men who target girls deserve to die. The same goes for older men who dream of romance with young women.”
Very reasonable words.
While I was nodding, Veronica returned.
She sat down and asked.
“So what exactly do I need to do?”
“It’s almost Mireille’s snack time. She’ll come out to the terrace, which is about 10 meters away from my room’s terrace. Can you check from that distance?”
“Of course.”
Seeing Veronica smile confidently, I grinned broadly. I really did pick the right person.
After the Chairman, who had gotten acquainted with Veronica, left the room, we decided to wait for Mireille on the terrace.
Veronica watched the Chairman passing below the railing and let out a groaning sigh, “Haaa….”
“Um, Veronica….”
“Yes, Young Lady.”
“Do you happen to like the Chairman?”
When I asked with an anxious expression, Veronica quickly replied.
“How did you know?”
I gripped my skirt hem tightly with an “oh no” expression, while Veronica continued with a dreamy look.
“He’s the perfect handsome older man to place among my dolls!”
“…Dolls?”
“I collect dolls that look exactly like real people. He’d be perfect to play the grandfather of the new child I recently acquired! Ah, where could I get a doll like the Chairman? Should I commission a dollmaker to create something with a similar feel?”
Watching Veronica cup her cheek and tilt her head thoughtfully, I let out a sigh of relief.
‘Thank goodness.’
I almost ended up packing lunch and following them around to stop them.
As I was nodding my head while thinking about this, I heard sounds of movement from the direction of Mireille’s Room terrace.
‘It’s snack time.’
I signaled to Veronica and hid inside the Room. I thought Mireille would quickly leave if I was there.
I briefly heard the voices of Veronica and Mireille talking.
“So young yet the Family Head of Dubois? How fascinating!”
“She’s not as young as you think, Miss.”
“Still. Oh, but where did sister go?”
“Young Lady stepped away for a moment.”
“Leaving just the Client behind. How mean. Hey, Veronica. Why don’t you come over here and have snacks with Mireille? You know, Mireille had something upsetting happen. Yesterday sister said to Mireille…”
While Mireille chattered away by herself, Veronica remained silent.
‘She must have started the examination.’
And about 3 minutes later.
“It seems Young Lady has returned. I’ll go inside now.”
“Really? That’s too bad… Next time let’s play together in Mireille’s Room.”
Veronica returned to the Room, shut the door tightly, and lowered her voice.
“I’ve confirmed it.”
“How was it?”
Veronica spoke while furrowing her brow.
“Even I would have said it was Dubbled’s aura like the Magic Director did.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t say definitively that it’s Dubbled’s aura, but it felt very similar to Eldest Young Master’s aura.”
“Johan?”
“I was called by the Previous Duke as soon as Eldest Young Master was born to appraise his mana. It was almost the same sensation I felt then.”
“And there was no Appearance Transformation Magic?”
“No.”
Then could it really be that Mireille was the real Baby Bird?
While I was thinking deeply, a conversation I had with Veronica suddenly came to mind.
‘A doll?’
A Doll…
The pieces that had been tangled up in my head came together.
I bit my lips tightly.
* * *
Deep night.
A Shadow Figure that emerged from the darkness ran quickly down the Corridor.
The Shadow Figure secretly made its way Outside past the Central Courtyard, heading to the Disposal Site built near the Forest for dumping the Territorial Castle’s wastewater and garbage.
The Shadow Figure reached the foul-smelling Disposal Site, disposed of the garbage, then grabbed the large water container placed there for washing hands.
It reached into the small gap between the water container and the Wall Surface and felt around. But the item that should have been there was missing.
“What the…”
The flustered shadow figure lit the lamp they had brought to illuminate the water container.
That’s when it happened.
“Looking for this?”
A small voice came from right beside them.
The startled shadow figure backed away and dropped the lamp. As the flame from the wick spread to the grass, small feet stomped on the embers with firm steps.
The shadow figure covered their mouth upon seeing the face illuminated by the dim lamplight.
“You…!”
“You shouldn’t play with fire at night. Lea will scold you. …Mireille.”
Mireille clutched her skirt hem with a start as she looked at Leblaine, who was smiling brightly.
“S-sister, why are you here…”
“I thought you might be looking for this, so I came to return it.”
Leblaine tossed something onto the grass with a thud. Mireille gasped sharply when she saw the object rolling around.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————