The Oracle of the Villainous Baby - Chapter 146

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 146
“What on earth are you doing?!”
“So you’d send a child out alone? An eleven-year-old? That’s absurd.”
“Kiriel, you’ve been enchanted by the Demon Clan.”
At Ludbreed’s words, Kiriel let out an amused chuckle as if he’d heard something ridiculous, and shrugged his shoulders.
“Father’s right. Step back and think about this for a moment.”
Even Klein Yudia, his expression hardened, moved to stop him. It was laughable, really. By that logic, everyone in this place had been enchanted by Bunny.
“You don’t seem to remember all the fuss you made every year about giving Bunny gifts, Father.”
“…Kiriel!”
“If the child had harbored any malicious intent, she would have acted on it by now. Besides… what has ever been different about her compared to any ordinary child?”
Klein Yudia spoke.
“She is human. It’s not a matter of race—it’s that her heart is more human than anyone else’s.”
At Kiriel’s firm words, Ludbreed let out a hollow laugh. His words had been cut short, leaving him with nothing to say.
It had been a long time since I saw Kiriel, who had always lacked motivation and found everything tedious, take such a firm stance.
“And Bunny is…”
Kiriel reflexively opened his mouth, but when his eyes met Ludbreed’s, he slowly closed it again.
“…Bunny is a child of our household.”
“I’m not saying we should kill her. The question of the child’s danger is something the Imperial Court, the Mage Tower, and the Holy Temple must discuss together.”
Kiriel chuckled softly and blinked slowly.
That statement clearly meant subjecting her to heresy interrogation or heresy trial. And such trials rarely produced fair verdicts.
‘Yes, this is what this place is.’
Regardless of affection, love, or sentiment, this was the Udiah Duchy.
A place where the doctrines and duties they had learned since birth were paramount.
The heart of the Holy Temple, a place that must be more righteous than any other, and simultaneously… a place that must be safest of all.
“And we should first investigate who the parents are…”
“There’s no need to investigate.”
Kiriel spoke firmly, cutting off Ludbreed’s words.
Ludbreed’s brow furrowed. At his questioning expression, Kiriel slowly opened his mouth.
“Because they no longer exist in this world.”
“You’ve found out who the parents are?”
At Ludbreed’s question, Kiriel silently pulled the child into his embrace.
Then he slowly turned his body.
“I will raise this child. Until she becomes an adult.”
Kiriel spoke with conviction.
She had said she wanted to become an adult.
She had said she wanted to be by my side until she safely became one. As if I had resolved on my own to stay by her side only until she reached adulthood.
“I must report this to the Imperial Court. The Crown Prince is involved.”
Kiriel silently looked at Ludbreed and nodded.
The child in his arms had stopped making those ragged, gasping sounds at some point. With a composed expression, he gently patted the child’s back and spoke.
“Do as you see fit.”
“You intend to let her go just like this?”
High Priest Michael, who had been observing the entire exchange, interjected in shock.
Ludbreed turned to look at Michael.
“That child is undeniably the Demon King’s offspring! I don’t know who the father is, but she is the Demon King’s daughter! If you let her go like this… another Holy Demon War might break out. Are you truly prepared to simply stand by and watch?”
Ludbreed’s expression darkened at Michael’s pallid words.
He parted his lips to speak, then stopped. Instead, his gaze fell upon the child his son held tightly in his arms, and he closed his eyes very slowly, then opened them again.
“Hello! Grandfather, the head of the household. I’m four years old, and my name is Bunny.”
“Grandfather!! Chocolate!!”
“Grandfather!!”
The bright, innocent face of the child nestled against me remained vivid in my memory. Though not radiating warmth, the child possessed a gentleness distinctly unlike the Demon Clan.
Unable to deny it all, Ludbreed finally reopened his sealed lips.
“…In truth, during these past years spent together, she has caused us no harm. In fact, having grown up in human arms since childhood, she is no different from a human.”
Michael’s eyes widened at Ludbreed’s words. He was shocked that Ludbreed, whom he had naturally expected to take his side, was instead defending Bunny at this crucial moment.
He could not accept this reality.
To spare the Demon Clan that had taken everything from him?
Peace had barely been restored, and he could not bear to believe that a single child might destroy it.
“What are you saying! This is the Demon Clan’s method! They approach as family, as friends, as those to be respected, as those to be loved—and their pleasure is witnessing despair!”
Michael clenched his fists and shouted vehemently.
Michael’s words held merit, yet Ludbreed remained silent.
He could not believe that every moment spent with the child had been a lie… that her true nature being exposed meant she would turn in an instant. Already, the child was a member of the Yudia Ducal House.
‘Since the child has not directly caused any incident, I must find a way to save her…’
Ludbreed, lost in thought, rubbed his face roughly.
“I, as High Priest, cannot accept this situation. That child must be brought to trial for heresy.”
Michael blocked the doorway and spoke coldly.
Klein Yudia, who had been watching Michael quietly, let out a soft laugh.
“You?”
He added his words with utter disdain.
“Try it then.”
Klein Yudia, cradling Bunny, walked leisurely past Michael with a gentle push, brushing past him.
“If you can, that is.”
Snap.
Michael grabbed Klein Yudia’s wrist.
“The Demon King may be resurrected! Weren’t you the one who resented the Demon Clan most?”
“….”
“You lost your family just as I did. You lost your brother! The Demon Clan is what you should resent most! Yet you defend not even an ordinary Demon Clan member, but the Demon King herself! Klein Yudia!”
“I thought the same way once…”
Klein Yudia’s eyes grew distant.
He could not believe that his brother, whom he had thought would have died resenting the Demon King above all else, was instead sharing love with that very Demon King.
What had changed that person? What had transformed the Demon King?
“But I was wrong.”
The Demon King had not killed Kiriel’s Brother.
His brother had chosen death of his own accord.
He had chosen to live a short life and depart—all for a love that could never be fulfilled.
The Demon King, too, had likely sealed her fate the moment Kiriel arrived. Or perhaps she was already waning.
If that were not the case… the confrontation with the Demon King could never have ended so easily.
“What…”
“If you’re going to bring this child to trial, you’ll have to kill me first.”
Thud.
Kiriel left the room with those cold words.
The moment he stepped outside, the child burrowed deeper into his chest.
At the sound of her small heart pounding frantically, I walked silently down the corridor before finally coming to a halt.
“…Young Lady, you’re awake.”
“…Did I get caught?”
At her careful, hushed question, I patted the child’s back without a word and continued walking. Rumors seemed to be spreading wildly among the servants already.
‘They didn’t seem light enough to gossip about something so unconfirmed…’
Someone had likely made a commotion, or deliberately raised their voice.
‘…That woman Hila and that fellow Barrian are both strange.’
The same goes for High Priest Michael. And the Demon Clan essence that was supposedly in the holy water the child drank.
Everything from beginning to end was aligning too perfectly, too conveniently. It was hard to believe.
“…Father?”
“Yes, I got caught somehow.”
There was much I could have said, but instead I kept my answer brief.
At my words, Bunny nodded slowly in silence, then gripped my sleeve tightly.
“Can’t I stay here anymore?”
“…Well, perhaps not. Would you dislike living outside with just me? And Phoenix, too.”
“What about Allen and Kalbad…?”
At Bunny’s words, I patted the child’s back silently and opened my mouth.
“Well, I suppose I should ask them. They might want to study here a bit longer.”
At my words, Bunny closed her mouth firmly.
I’d heard they were deliberating whether to take the Academy entrance exam. Both of them love learning, so that could well be the case.
“…I see.”
Thousands of words swirled on my tongue, yet there was little I could actually say.
Even as I carried the child in my arms, I felt keenly the tense, fearful gazes pressing in from all directions.
It was a sight Bunny had thought through and resolved to endure many times before… yet it still felt far from pleasant.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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