The Oracle of the Villainous Baby - Chapter 148

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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 148
“Would you like to sleep with Father tonight?”
At Kiriel’s words, Bunny scrunched up her face and let out an exasperated sigh.
“Why?”
“Father.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m not a baby anymore. I’m a grown woman now. How could I sleep with Father? You’re being ridiculous.”
Listening to Bunny speak with such earnest conviction, Kiriel couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. There was something oddly amusing about watching her suddenly draw lines of adulthood—a shift that had begun not long ago.
“But you just said you were a child?”
“Well, I’m definitely not a baby!”
With her cheeks puffed out indignantly, she pressed her point. Kiriel simply shrugged his shoulders.
Still, something felt unsettled. On a night like this, leaving the child alone didn’t sit right with me.
“Your father feels lonely and frightened at night, you know? A truly dutiful daughter should know how to show filial piety to her father.”
“W-well…”
Bunny had indeed read about filial piety in books before.
It spoke of how, as one grows older, time spent with parents inevitably diminishes, so one must make an effort to cherish those moments together.
But more than anything, the fact that Father needed her filled her with profound pride and joy.
Bunny suppressed the corners of her mouth from twitching upward, cleared her throat with an “Ahem!”, and opened her mouth slightly.
“Does Bunny need to be there?”
“I do.”
“Then I suppose I have no choice. I’ll keep watch while Father sleeps soundly!”
Despite occasionally displaying maturity, in moments like these, she was unmistakably a child.
Yes, Bunny was not the sort of child to bear the heavy burden of a title like Demon King. She was far too pure for such a thing, and her heart was far too tender.
“Then shall we head to Father’s room right away?”
“Oh, can I bring Ma-Gom and Toto? And Luriel’s notebook too?”
At Bunny’s request, Kiriel nodded readily.
Instead of heading to his own room, he turned toward Bunny’s Room.
“It’s not here?”
“It’s not… but what exactly are you looking for?”
“You mentioned there was some unpleasant book—an artifact, you said. They’re claiming it’s proof of collusion with the Demon Clan or that she herself is a Demon Clan member, and that immediate judgment can be rendered on the spot…”
Voices leaked through the slightly ajar door of Bunny’s Room. Kiriel’s expression hardened instantly.
He thrust his hand through the gap and yanked the door open.
“What are you doing?”
“P-Prince Kiriel!”
The Priests in pristine white robes went pale at the sight of Kiriel and stood rigidly in place.
“This is the Young Lady’s bedroom. What business do you have here?”
“W-well, that is…”
The Priests, their faces ashen, exchanged nervous glances with one another.
Kiriel’s arm tightened around Bunny as he held her.
“I asked what you’re doing.”
Shing—
Kiriel slowly drew the sword from his waist. The silver blade gleamed as it caught the light.
“Did you break into the Marquis Estate without permission? And then commit theft on top of it? You’re a caught criminal—I’d be well within my rights to sever your hands on the spot….”
His brow furrowed in displeasure as he let his words trail off, and the Priests rapidly shook their heads, their faces draining of color.
“W-we had permission! From the High Priest….”
“Since when did the High Priest become a member of the Yudia Ducal House? If your intelligence is so lacking that even the master of this house can’t recognize it, wouldn’t it be better to just die and start anew?”
“N-no. Shalone! The Young Lady Shalone came with her mother, Hila, and granted us permission!”
One of the Priests cried out, squeezing his eyes shut.
The blade that had gleamed with lethal intent froze mid-swing.
“…Who did you say?”
“S-Shalone, the Young Lady, is a member of the Yudia Ducal House, so we did receive proper authorization….”
At the High Priest’s hurried words, spoken with a pale face, Kiriel Yudia suddenly fell silent.
“Shalone gave permission?”
“Y-yes. She definitely came to us. She said there was a book inside that proved this one was an evil Demon Clan member, and told us to find it….”
At the Priest’s words, Kiriel let out a hollow laugh. His scalp tingled.
“The room has a proper owner, yet you’re telling me you ransacked someone else’s room without permission?”
“That is… as you well know, Prince Kiriel, matters concerning the Demon Clan are extremely serious….”
He let out a soft chuckle before speaking.
“I have no interest in hearing pointless excuses. The dead have no need for justifications.”
“W-what are you saying! As a Priest, if a report comes in about the Demon Clan, it’s naturally lawful for us to investigate…!”
Just as Kiriel Yudia, staring at the Priest with an expressionless face, slowly raised his sword to bring it down in a horizontal slash—
“Father.”
At the small voice that reached him along with the sensation of his robe being tugged, his movement came to an abrupt halt.
Kiriel slowly turned his head to look at Bunny.
“I’m fine. So please don’t be angry.”
Bunny, her cheeks flushed red, spoke with a bright smile. She seemed delighted that her father had fought on her behalf.
“And ransacking someone else’s room is wrong. How can you not know that as an adult?”
As Bunny turned and spoke directly to them, the Priest’s shoulders trembled. His face hardening like stone as he stared at her, he furrowed his brow and turned his head away sharply.
“A Demon Clan member daring to….”
At the Priest’s quiet muttering, Kiriel’s face hardened, and Bunny’s expression became subtle.
“Racist!”
“…?”
At Bunny’s words, Kiriel faltered. The Priests looked at her with expressions of disbelief.
Bunny, her expression quite indignant, let out a deep sigh and furrowed her brow.
“Bunny, where did you learn such a word?”
“From a book. It said if you say mean things to someone just because they’re different from you, you’re a racist. These people are being racist.”
“That’s… true.”
Though technically it would be more accurate to call it racial discrimination.
At Bunny’s words, Kiriel chuckled softly, then gently patted the child’s back as he slowly surveyed the room.
The child’s room was in complete disarray. Furniture lay scattered across the floor, and the dolls the child treasured were strewn about everywhere.
“Get out.”
At my words, the Priests exchanged glances.
They still hadn’t found the “relic” that the High Priest had ordered them to locate—something shaped like a book. But when I reached for my sword again, they finally bowed hastily.
“We… we apologize for our rudeness.”
Regardless of what others might think, Kiriel Yudia was undoubtedly the hero of the Udiah Duchy—the hero who ended the Holy Demon War.
“B-but… the Demon Clan is the Demon Clan. Humans cannot coexist with them.”
That Priest, muttering his objections even as he left, irritated me intensely.
“Father, put me down.”
“…”
At Bunny’s request, I set her down carefully without a word.
Bunny rushed over to Toto and gathered the rabbit and bear plushies scattered across the floor, then fastened her rabbit bag to her front.
Then, clutching the rabbit bag to herself, she suddenly flattened against the ground and crawled beneath the bed.
“Bunny?”
“Just a moment, okay?”
Rustling sounds continued from beneath the bed.
After hesitating briefly, I knelt down, placed my hand on the floor, and lowered my upper body to peer underneath.
Just as I was looking under the bed—
“Whoa!”
Poof!
Bunny burst out from under the bed in a cloud of dust.
Whatever she’d been doing, her rabbit bag was now bulging and lumpy. Her once-pristine clothes had turned a dusty gray from tumbling through the dirt beneath the bed.
“What are you doing?”
Bunny tilted her head, observing me in my awkward, half-prostrate position.
“Ahem.”
I rose quickly and brushed the dust from my knees and jacket.
“Something just fell, and I was…”
Despite my feeble excuse, Bunny merely tilted her head once more before breaking into a grin and opening her mouth.
“Let’s go to Father’s room now. My room is too messy.”
“What did you pack to make the bag so full?”
“It’s a girl’s secret.”
At Bunny’s words, I paused and pressed my forehead. Lately, she’d been saying things that made my neck tense.
I scooped Bunny into my arms and spoke casually.
“Where on earth did you learn to say such things?”
“From a book.”
“May I ask what book you’re reading?”
At my question, Bunny blinked, then grinned and shook her head.
“No, it’s a secret!”
“I see…”
I answered with a note of disappointment in my voice.
It seemed that as a child grows into adulthood, there are more and more things about them that one comes not to know.
‘It feels a bit lonely, somehow.’
After all, the child was only eleven years old now.

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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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