The Oracle of the Villainous Baby - Chapter 118
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 118
The notebook floating in mid-air gradually ceased its sparking display.
As the notebook grew quieter, Belial opened his mouth once more.
“After you disappeared, I thought about it often. You always spoke in those cryptic, meaningful ways as if living in a different world entirely, as though you might scatter into nothing at any moment.”
Crackle.
The notebook now hovered gently above Belial’s palm, emitting only the faintest static charge.
“Speaking as though you knew what others didn’t, reciting unrealized events as if you’d already read them, offering counsel to the King and to us as though you possessed a dozen lives to spare….”
Belial’s sharp nails scraped across the leather cover of the notebook with a harsh, grinding sound.
Though small wounds appeared, they healed instantly, and he continued to move his lips as he watched the leather restore itself.
“Arrogant, ignorant of your place, pathetically weak….”
Belial leisurely released his magic and seized the notebook that had been floating.
“Insufferable woman….”
This time, no sparks flew. There was no violent resistance.
Belial narrowed his eyes, then opened the closed notebook.
The pages fluttered carelessly—every single one was blank, as though never written upon.
The fluttering pages finally stopped at the last sheet.
Scratch, scratch.
Words began to inscribe themselves across the pristine white page.
* * *
“…Therefore, I hereby announce the engagement of Bunny Yudia of the Yudia Ducal House and my son, Roel. A grand engagement ceremony shall be held shortly.”
Before the banquet began, the Emperor’s announcement of auspicious news sparked murmurs throughout the hall.
Sighs echoed, and here and there, the sound of stifled weeping could be heard.
This was, in fact, the first official banquet held with Crown Prince Roel as the central figure, and countless nobles had come hoping to arrange matches between their daughters and the Crown Prince.
But rather than even attempting to compete, the announcement had driven a nail through their hopes before the banquet had truly begun—declaring him already taken and warning against any pointless advances. The disappointment was immense.
“I hope you will all celebrate this joyous occasion for the Imperial Court and the Yudia Ducal House.”
The moment the Emperor finished speaking, applause erupted from all corners.
The Emperor smiled faintly and continued.
“A most auspicious banquet indeed. Please, enjoy yourselves freely.”
As the Emperor’s words concluded, the orchestra in one corner began to play.
With the elegant melody filling the air, all eyes turned toward Bunny.
Bunny blinked at the attention, then burst into laughter and rubbed beneath her nose with a grin.
“Father, everyone’s staring at Bunny. Bunny’s become super popular!”
“Indeed, so it seems.”
“But can Bunny make friends now?”
“There’s no objection, but….”
Would there even be any children willing to befriend her in this atmosphere?
Most of the Young Ladies her age attending today had clearly come hoping to catch the Crown Prince’s or a Prince’s eye.
But would Bunny obediently listen if I tried to discourage her with such reasoning?
Of course not.
Having reached his conclusion, Kiriel simply released the child.
After all, I knew full well that Bunny wasn’t the sort to be wounded by the taunts of children or the sharp words of a few Young Ladies.
“Yes, do as you please. But don’t you dare wander outside the Banquet Hall on your own. If anything happens, call for Father. And don’t cause any trouble, understood?”
“Yes!”
Legally liberated from Kiriel’s embrace, Bunny wriggled free and shook her head left and right.
A crowd of people had gathered around Roel. When Roel, who had been wearing a tired expression, caught sight of Bunny, his face suddenly bloomed like a flower as he waved his hand.
Bunny waved back and swept her gaze across the Banquet Hall.
‘Friends, friends.’
I would make so many human friends that even when Bunny became the great Demon King later, we would remain friends.
Bunny trotted away from Kiriel and began searching among the children clustered together for one at a similar height to her own.
It was as Bunny bounced and bounded across the Banquet Hall.
“H-hey, hey, over there…!”
At the youthful voice suddenly calling from behind, Bunny’s steps came to an abrupt halt.
Turning her head, she saw a Shaggy-Haired Boy with light brown hair, tense and gripping the front of his clothes tightly.
His pallid face, his lower lip clenched firmly, and his trembling shoulders looked quite pitiful.
The boy pushed his slipping glasses up with his palm and carefully lifted his head to look at Bunny.
“Hehehehe…”
“Look at the state of him.”
“Don’t those two clueless ones make quite the pair?”
A few steps behind the modest-looking boy with freckles scattered across his cheeks, a group of boys and girls led by a handsome boy were giggling.
Among them, I could also see a Young Lady who had been with the girl who had picked a quarrel with Shalone earlier.
The light brown-haired boy’s face had turned bright red as he clenched his lips. When the boy glanced nervously behind him, the boy in the center made a fist and mimed a punching motion.
“Eek!”
The boy’s shoulders trembled greatly, his head a full head taller than Bunny’s.
“W-would you… d-dance with me…?”
With his lower lip clenched tight, the boy spoke in a voice that seemed to creep forward, his expression nearly on the verge of tears as he kept his head lowered.
“D-dance… wouldn’t you like to dance…?”
“Dance?”
“…Y-yes. I’m, I’m sorry. If you don’t like it, that’s fine…”
“Bunny doesn’t know how to dance very well…”
When I turned my head, the music began and the center of the Banquet Hall gradually cleared.
Boys and girls slightly older than Bunny were dancing there.
“I’m, I’m sorry. I’m being presumptuous… That is… over there…”
“Okay.”
Bunny gazed intently at the people dancing, then grasped the boy’s wrist and gave it a gentle tug.
“Huh…?”
“But listen, let’s dance on the third one! Bunny needs to learn.”
At Bunny’s words, spoken with a serious expression, the boy tilted his head with a bewildered look.
“Uh… learn…?”
“Here.”
Bunny held snacks in both hands and leaned against the wall with a soft thud.
As the music flowed forth, the boy and girl began to dance.
Bunny’s eyes sparkled brilliantly, and soon her pupils elongated ever so slightly. Her pupils had narrowed from intense concentration.
Bunny rarely forgot anything she saw once. Especially when it came to movement—she could often replicate it after watching just once.
Because….
‘Bunny, still a genius even as an adult.’
Munching on snacks held in her hand, Bunny stared intently at the people dancing.
Andre Philip, the boy, blinked his eyes in bewilderment.
The troublemakers who always pestered him whenever they met had forcibly pushed him to ask Bunny to dance. They threatened that if he didn’t, they would make him suffer terribly next time.
The ringleader of this mischievous group was the sole heir of the House of the Marquis, and rumors abounded that the Marquis and Marquise doted on him immensely.
It was harassment that a mere boy from the House of the Baron could do nothing about. There had been more than one occasion where touching the boy’s feelings had caused grave problems for a family.
However, he knew well. Asking someone to dance who hadn’t even danced with their betrothed yet was a terribly rude thing to do.
Of course, Bunny knew nothing whatsoever of such unspoken rules of High Society.
‘…What a strange girl.’
She had caused such a commotion earlier too.
One of the Young Ladies who had suffered at Bunny’s hands happened to be the Young Lady favored by that heir of the House of the Marquis, so Bunny had certainly made a bad impression.
Most Young Ladies and Young Lords of High Society tried hard to make a good impression on that heir of the House of the Marquis.
He was quite close with the successful people of High Society, and the boy’s mother, the Marquise, had an excellent reputation in High Society.
Being marked in High Society meant that regardless of a family’s rank, situations would unfold in very inconvenient and unreasonable ways.
“Let’s go.”
While Andre Philip sat lost in pale, weary thought, the second song had already ended.
Bunny pulled Andre toward the center of the Banquet Hall.
“Can you dance well?”
“Uh…? W-well… just a little….”
“Since it’s Bunny’s first time, you have to do well.”
“Uh…? First time? Really the first time…. No, so learning means it’s the first time learning….”
Bunny rose up on her tiptoes, rubbed her nose briskly, then thrust her face right in front of Andre’s and burst into mischievous giggles as if playing a prank.
“Wait, if I mess up, I’ll definitely be mocked…!”
“It’s fine.”
The music began and they started their greeting bows. Bunny too realized her mistake and bowed her head a beat late.
“Pfft.”
Laughter erupted from somewhere. That voice rang in Andre’s ears like tinnitus, echoing through his mind. And that was only the beginning—he could feel gazes from all around.
His fingertips grew cold, and beads of cold sweat trickled down his pallid face.
Andre had turned so ashen that it was noticeable even from a distance.
‘I’ll be mocked. I’ll become a laughingstock. For the rest of my life, I’ll just be ridiculed like this….’
He faltered.
It was the moment Andre took a step backward.
With a snap, Bunny seized him and pulled the boy along with the music, moving her feet.
Since it was a dance he had learned until he was sick of it during dance lessons, Andre reflexively followed Bunny’s lead and assumed his posture, his eyes widening dramatically.
‘…Huh?’
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————