The Oracle of the Villainous Baby - Chapter 157
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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 157
Kalbad chuckled softly and scratched his head.
“Bunny! That guy pulled out Giraffe’s ears, so his hearing got sharper. That’s how he heard it.”
Allen grew flustered and explained to Bunny. His eyes remained covered. He showed no intention of removing the blindfold.
“But you still opened it for him.”
“I-I would’ve opened it too if I were in Kalbad’s position!”
Allen cried out defensively.
Bunny folded her arms and wore a serious expression. Her words sounded grave, but to Kalbad, she was nothing more than a girl his age caught up in mischief.
“If it weren’t for Kalbad, I might never have seen Allen’s face again….”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant….”
“Maybe my one true brother really is only Kalbad….”
Kalbad noticed Bunny gazing at him with a mischievous expression and smiled back at her.
Kalbad quickly spread both arms wide.
“Bunny! My precious sister! Come here. Forget about that fool who doesn’t even know how to remove a blindfold. From today on, I’ll be your one and only brother.”
“Brother Kalbad!”
With a delighted cry, Bunny hurled herself into Kalbad’s chest.
Though he had spread his arms deliberately, Kalbad hadn’t expected her to actually leap at him like this, and his face flushed crimson in an instant.
My sister….
‘She’s so adorable it’s almost unfair.’
Kalbad held Bunny close as the thought crossed his mind. With a sister this cute, would he ever be able to find a woman he liked and marry her?
Kalbad felt a slight concern for the Household’s future, but he decided to push that worry aside for now.
After all, Bunny had recently crossed into adulthood and no longer readily allowed herself to be held like this.
For the first time in ages, Kalbad lifted Bunny effortlessly into the air as he embraced her.
“Insane—how can she still be this cute even after growing so much….”
“Am I cute?”
Bunny, having caught Kalbad’s quiet murmur, met his eyes directly and asked.
“W-what…?”
Kalbad’s face turned bright red.
“C-cute? I mean, just… uh…?”
Faced with such a direct question, Kalbad blurted out whatever came to mind.
“Uh? Just… every time I see you, my heart pounds like crazy, and uh? I want to punch things around me to pieces? Uh?! I just! Want to bite your cheeks. I-I just mean that much?!”
Kalbad, who had been rambling frantically, suddenly froze.
He realized his bad habit of spouting nonsense whenever he panicked had struck again.
“N-no, what I mean is, it’s not that I dislike you or anything, I just….”
Damn it.
Kalbad muttered a curse under his breath and roughly ran his fingers through his hair.
The flustered boy, breathing heavily, eventually averted his gaze slightly and nodded.
“Y-you’re cute, okay? Where else would you find someone as cute as you?”
Kalbad’s face, having barely managed to move his lips, turned a brilliant crimson as if it might burst at any moment.
Kalbad’s face flushed a bright red as if it were about to burst, his lips barely moving.
“Ahahaha!”
Bunny burst into laughter, her eyes red and swollen from crying.
“Bunny…?”
In that moment, only Allen, forgotten in the shadows, called out her name with pitiful longing.
It was then that Bunny, as if suddenly remembering, whipped her head around.
Allen stared at Bunny—without her blindfold, radiant and smiling brightly in Kalbad’s embrace.
“Allen.”
Their eyes met.
Allen went rigid.
A sickening unease thrummed through his chest, flooding his mind. Just as he’d feared, it was happening.
‘…It’s fine.’
Allen forced himself to take a deep breath.
Given that Kalbad had also secluded himself, he must have felt the same emotions toward Bunny. Yet here he was now, smiling so brightly without hesitation.
‘I can overcome this.’
And I refused to lose to Kalbad.
I couldn’t give up on something Kalbad had managed so effortlessly. I didn’t want to show Bunny such an ungraceful side of myself.
‘I’m the first.’
Kalbad might be older in years, but I am truly Bunny’s first brother.
After all, only Bunny and I are registered in Father’s household registry.
I’m not entirely sure how Shalone’s registry stands… but regardless.
‘Kalbad becoming her first brother?’
That couldn’t happen.
Kalbad constantly used the excuse of being older to call himself Bunny’s ‘first brother.’
But Bunny called everyone equally by their names, and Allen had been confident enough in himself not to stop Kalbad’s behavior. After all, no matter what, I would still be first!
Yet today, Kalbad had struck exactly at that nerve.
I myself had heard Bunny call me ‘Brother Allen’ only a handful of times!
“Brother Kalbad!”
And then Bunny—
Of all people—
Called not me, but Kalbad!
Not just ‘Brother Kalbad,’ but ‘Brother Kalbaaad!’—with the ending drawn out slightly.
‘Brother Aaa!’ was a word Allen had never heard before. And spoken in such a voice, with that playful, affectionate lilt.
‘I can’t lose.’
Allen slowly closed his eyes and took a measured breath.
Allen loved Bunny. That feeling remained unchanged. His desire not to be hated was undeniable. Yet… troubling thoughts kept surfacing.
A reluctance to reach out, an unease, a discomfort.
But he had no intention of being toyed with by such emotions.
He opened his eyes and looked at Bunny.
“I’m the first.”
Allen met Bunny’s gaze and spoke through gritted teeth.
Bunny stared at me with her eyes wide open.
Looking into her pupils, my heart stirred—but the source of that turbulence was not joy, but displeasure.
“Huh?”
“I’m your first older brother. You should call me ‘older brother’ first, not Kalbad! How could you call that man ‘older brother’ before me?”
“That man…? Hey, what are you saying to your brother?”
Kalbad’s face crumpled as if he’d been struck, and he shouted.
Allen let out a scoff and turned his head away sharply.
“I like you, Bunny. How could I dislike my little sister?”
“…”
Bunny’s hands clenched into tight fists.
I pretended otherwise, but my heart was genuinely wounded. How could it not be? Allen had been with me since the moment I first set foot in this place as a child.
“I’m really sorry, Bunny.”
“You should say that to my face. If you run away and hide, how am I supposed to understand why you’re doing this?”
Bunny spoke, loosening her grip slightly as she heard the apology.
Allen’s eyes widened a little.
The boy gnawed at his lower lip, then slowly approached and carefully pulled Bunny into an embrace. His fingertips trembled.
I kept thinking I should distance myself from Bunny. My heart raced far too quickly.
But I didn’t want to. I knew all too well how much pain even that small action would cause her.
“I’m sorry. From now on, I’ll look you in the eyes and speak properly.”
“…You can’t hide and run away. That’s bad for me, and it’s bad for you too. If you don’t like something…”
Tears streamed down Bunny’s cheeks.
Just thinking about it made me feel wronged and sorrowful.
“You have to say it honestly if you don’t like something.”
“W-wait, wait. Bunny? Hold on, hold on. Bunny, I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
Allen’s eyes widened, and he clumsily wiped her tears with his sleeve.
Kalbad hadn’t expected Bunny to cry again and stood frozen in place.
“Why, why are you crying again?! I just barely calmed you down!”
Kalbad growled and raised his voice. Allen, who would normally have growled back, knelt before Bunny without a word, helplessly wiping away her tears.
“I was wrong. I’m crazy. Yeah? Your brother’s crazy. I’ll keep my door open from now on! Wide open! So anyone can come in. Okay?”
Allen began spouting words carelessly. Kalbad looked at him with an expression of utter bewilderment.
Allen gently rubbed Bunny’s cheeks.
“Okay? I’m sorry, Bunny. I won’t do it again. I’ll keep my door open.”
Sniffle.
Bunny rubbed her eye sockets and looked at Allen.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. I’ll never close my door. Whenever you call, I’ll come right away.”
“…Sniffle.”
Bunny’s eyes rolled around in her reddened gaze.
Growwwwl—
A loud sound erupted from Bunny’s stomach. Only then did Kalbad and Allen quickly call for someone.
“Prepare a meal! Get something delicious ready!”
“And fill it with everything Bunny loves.”
“Yes, yes! Of course, understood.”
The servants who had been waiting outside in bewilderment finally scattered at the command, rushing about in a flurry of activity.
The young noblewoman who always wore a smile had broken down into sorrowful tears—a shock to them all.
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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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