The Oracle of the Villainous Baby - Chapter 162

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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 162
“I’m not entirely sure why I became a Notebook, but it was probably because of Bunny. Luriel is a weak Demon Clan Member, so she couldn’t fully become human.”
That’s why Luriel cut off her horns.
But for Demon Clan Members, horns are the source of everything. They are the conduit through which magical power gathers, the very identity of being a Demon Clan Member, and simultaneously the source of life itself.
A Demon Clan Member whose horns are broken cannot live long. So….
‘…It’s my fault that Luriel ended up that way.’
Because I was so weak, Luriel had no choice but to survive in the cracks between the Human Realm and her own world.
That’s why she had to cut off her horns.
When I was a baby, I understood nothing, but now I could infer and comprehend so much. That Hila’s words weren’t entirely wrong.
“You know, Shalone’s Mother.”
“….”
Hila stared at me with a face struck by tremendous shock. Whether it was my words that shocked her, or the realization that her own words had failed to wound me at all—I couldn’t say.
“If I leave this house, will Shalone become happy?”
“Don’t say such obvious things. You were never meant to be here in the first place. You’re…!”
A Demon Clan Member, no less!
As Hila tried to add more, she caught sight of my bright, clear eyes and found herself closing her mouth without meaning to.
In the child’s gaze, there was no resentment, no hatred, no other malicious emotion. She wasn’t even angry. Only a profound quietness. As if she could guess what words remained unspoken. And simultaneously, as if such shallow tactics couldn’t wound her.
Hila slowly turned her head to look at Shalone. Her daughter—or rather, the girl who resembled her daughter—stared back with pallid, resentful eyes, yet clutched her collar and said nothing.
No, daughter was the wrong word.
She had never truly thought of Shalone as her child. To Hila, Shalone was merely a precious game piece to be moved across the board.
‘…What is this?’
How does one raise a child to become like that?
‘She says it’s fine?’
She hadn’t raised Shalone poorly either.
She couldn’t understand why Shalone had grown into such a foolish girl who wouldn’t obey her at crucial moments, unlike that other child.
“Right. I took Sister Shalone’s place.”
The child recited this calmly, showing neither signs of deep hurt nor childish tantrums.
I simply nodded to myself, then turned to face Shalone.
“Is that it?”
“…What?”
“Do you think I took Sister Shalone’s place? Is that why you’re unhappy?”
“….”
At my words, Shalone’s eyes widened.
The girl looked back and forth between Hila and me with a bewildered expression. Yet her lips trembled without forming any words.
“I….”
Shalone didn’t know what to do.
She didn’t want to disappoint Hila greatly. But if the time spent with me was something she hated, that wasn’t true. It had been joyful. She also realized that much of what Hila said was wrong.
And yet….
Hila was also Shalone’s Mother. The parent who created her and raised her until now.
Though their blood wasn’t connected, she had certainly grown up in her hands.
Hila had always told Shalone this.
“You will die if you are not loved. Your heart can only become real through love. That is the nature of a Homunculus. Without love, you are worthless… merely a fake.”
Years had passed since then.
Shalone was still alive.
The realization struck her suddenly, and her eyes widened in an instant. Now that she thought about it, it was strange.
‘I was supposed to need love to survive…’
At some point, I had stopped caring about that fact entirely. I had forgotten that my heart was fake, even forgotten that I was an artificial being.
Why had I forgotten?
The reason was unmistakably singular.
I had no time to dwell on such things.
Every moment spent with Bunny filled my entire life so completely that merely managing it all was overwhelming.
Even Simon Lotis, who had burrowed into my heart at some point, made everything feel as real as reality itself.
I cannot say with certainty whether I was loved or not.
“I am…”
But what I knew for certain was that since coming here and adapting, I had never once felt that Bunny had stolen everything from me.
Kiriel Yudia, Allen Yudia, and Kalbad Yudia had never rejected me or harbored hatred toward me. They did not distance themselves or show less interest simply because I was an outsider who had rolled in.
Though Bunny was such a troublemaker who caused accidents the moment my eyes left her, and was rather young, drawing much of their attention, I was always given the same care and consideration that they gave to Bunny.
I had never once felt that as love, but now, reflecting upon it, that too was love.
They entrusted the youngest troublemaker to me without hesitation, gave identical gifts when they had them, and praised without discrimination.
Bunny never received better things or more of anything. I was invited to every event without fail.
That’s right.
Not once since coming to this mansion had I been treated as inferior for being an outsider who had rolled in from elsewhere. Not even by the servants.
“…No.”
After a long while, I could only slowly shake my head.
No matter how much I retraced the events of the past years, I had never been unhappy.
There were many times I was troubled and inconvenienced because of Bunny, but that did not mean I was unhappy. It was within those troubles and difficulties that I met Simon Lotis.
Simon Lotis, who had been sickly, became healthy as if he had never been ill.
A time so fulfilling that I did not even need to worry about my heart… All of it came together to make me who I am now, Shalone Yudia. Not once was any of it painful.
“…No. Being with you, I was happy and joyful.”
“Shalone!!”
Hila cried out as if she had received a tremendous shock.
Shalone’s shoulders trembled greatly, and she hunched her neck.
“I… I’m sorry, Mother.”
But Shalone did not want to lie.
Not once had Bunny tormented me or tried to take what was mine. Even if Bunny’s place had been my place… my feelings would not change.
‘Would I have been able to spend such joyful times if Bunny had not existed?’
Who knows.
I could not say for certain, but I do not think I would have been happy to that extent.
The atmosphere of the Yudia Ducal House had been rigid. It was only because Bunny stirred up that household atmosphere and disrupted everything…
‘If that had not happened, surely…’
It would have been quiet, silent, and peaceful.
There might have been small moments of happiness, but would there have been times like now—chasing after Bunny, tackling her over a single book?
No, there wouldn’t have been.
“But…”
Shalone swallowed hard.
Every milestone in Shalone’s life had been given to her by Hila. The path to walk, the actions to take, the people she should befriend.
Yet since arriving at this mansion, nothing had gone according to plan. Bunny had interfered time and again. And even without following those plans, Shalone had already gained so many friends and family.
‘…It was all a lie from the beginning, wasn’t it? Me.’
An artificial creation.
That meant the man she considered her father was not Shalone’s true parent.
In a sense, it was Shalone herself who had come to steal Bunny’s place.
Hila said she was the protagonist of this world, but… from Shalone’s perspective, the true protagonist of this world was Bunny.

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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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