The Oracle of the Villainous Baby - Chapter 197

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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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Side Story: Episode 1
First year of marriage.
“…This isn’t it.”
Even as Roel and I clung to each other, kissing and embracing as though it could never be enough, we hadn’t properly laid eyes on one another for an entire month!
Was it only this past month?
Throughout the entire year, aside from brief glimpses at night and holding hands as we slept, there had been no real progress between us.
The reason was simple.
Roel had been overwhelmingly busy with countless requests pouring in from all directions and visits from foreign delegations—an endless stream of inexplicable demands.
And I, in turn, was equally occupied with the handover from Kiriel Yudia.
“What do you mean it isn’t?”
“…It’s boring.”
Bunny pouted her lips and grumbled with clear dissatisfaction.
“Life is bitter…”
At Bunny’s words, Kiriel Yudia chuckled softly.
“Iji, life is bitter indeed.”
That peculiar speech habit of hers had scarcely changed since childhood.
How could she remain so utterly unchanged?
Kiriel Yudia always found it remarkable whenever he looked at Bunny—his daughter, who had walked a path desperate enough to make anyone despair, yet remained brighter than anyone else.
“Shall I fetch you some chocolate?”
“Do you still think I’m some little child?”
Bunny scoffed at Kiriel Yudia with an expression of bewilderment.
Kiriel Yudia shrugged his shoulders and headed toward the Break Room, speaking with unhurried ease.
“Pang-pang chocolate?”
“Yes. Three pieces.”
“Piiiii-!”
The Phoenix, who had been dozing in a patch of sunlight on one side, suddenly soared into the air and began fluttering frantically before Kiriel.
The creature, still resembling a Small Bird in shape—plump and bouncy—flapped its wings and struck its own chest with resounding taps.
“The Phoenix gets one piece.”
“Piiit-!”
The Phoenix shook its head vigorously. Then it raised one wing, then two wings, and finally stretched out one leg as well.
“….”
As Bunny stared blankly, the Phoenix thrust its chest out proudly.
What’s the problem?
That was precisely the pose it struck.
Slightly irritating.
Kiriel Yudia opened his mouth with the ease of long familiarity.
“Since it’s before mealtime, you both get only two pieces each.”
“…Ugh, how stingy. Father’s being cheap.”
“Piiit, pit-! Piyong!”
The Phoenix flailed its arms about as though deeply wronged.
“Now that my daughter has grown up, there’s nothing she won’t say to her father.”
Bunny melted into her chair with a heavy sigh.
“And I still don’t know how to understand what the Phoenix says.”
Whoosh.
The Phoenix collapsed beside Bunny in an equally boneless heap.
Kiriel Yudia shook his head at how perfectly his daughter mirrored him.
Bunny opened her mouth with a disgruntled expression.
“Children naturally change when they grow up. It’s puberty, you know.”
“You’re well past the age for puberty.”
….
Bunny’s lips sealed shut at the direct hit.
Bunny narrowed her eyes, glanced sideways at Kiriel Yudia, and pouted her protruding lips.
“I slept through puberty, so it’s coming slowly.”
He placed a chocolate into Bunny’s mouth.
Bunny melted again and collapsed face-first onto the table.
“Chirp!”
He set two more in front of the Phoenix. The Phoenix excitedly wagged its tail feathers and wings while munching on the chocolates.
‘I’m still not entirely sure if birds should eat chocolate.’
But I figured a Divine Beast would be fine.
Kiriel Yudia placed a second chocolate into Bunny’s soft-featured mouth and spoke.
“Is it hard?”
“Incredibly… It’s boring.”
Bunny said flatly.
As a child, her dream was to become the great Demon King, but now that she had become the great Demon King, she couldn’t fathom why she’d ever dreamed of such a thing.
Nothing was fun, there was a mountain of work, and she was frantically busy every single day.
And that wasn’t all—no time to play, couldn’t laze around like before, couldn’t run around all day!
“Reality is bitter….”
“You’re eating chocolate right now…?”
At his languid voice tinged with amusement, Bunny let out a heavy sigh.
The dream had been sweet.
“They say the world becomes bitter when you grow up, and it’s really true….”
“Mm.”
“My dream was to become the great Demon King….”
“It would have been the great great Demon King.”
“Anyway!”
Boom!
Bunny struck the table and jerked her head up, eyes wide open.
Whether it was the great Demon King or the great great Demon King didn’t matter to Bunny! The real problem was that right now she couldn’t do anything and her life had no fun in it whatsoever!
“I want to go back to when I was cute and fluffy like cotton candy….”
“You’re still cute.”
“Well, that’s true enough….”
Bunny readily agreed.
Watching my daughter nod her head with rather shameless confidence, I reached over and stroked Bunny’s hair.
“Do I really have to live life so earnestly?”
At Bunny’s words, I blinked slowly before letting out a soft chuckle.
“Not at all…?”
After a long while, I spoke in a languid, drawn-out tone as I flopped onto the Sofa in my Office.
I gestured to Bunny.
“There’s no need for that…?”
“Huh…?”
“A ruler can do as they please, after all.”
“But Father said I should work hard.”
With her eyes wide, Bunny scurried over and plopped down beside me on the Sofa. That still wasn’t enough—she quickly curled up with her head on my lap.
“Yay, this is nice!”
“I never said that directly. I only said you were working hard, that you were diligent. That’s all.”
“…Mm.”
Now that I thought about it, I’d never directly told her to work hard.
“…That’s right?”
“You were working so hard that I thought you wanted to, so I simply helped you along….”
“Mm-hmm.”
“If you don’t feel like doing something, then don’t. If a kingdom collapses just because its ruler takes a strike and rests for a few days, then it was never a true nation to begin with.”
At my words, Bunny blinked.
That’s Father for you.
She gave a thumbs up.
“Would Roel’s Kingdom be the same?”
“They have someone there who was quite active as a reigning ruler.”
“The King, the big boss!”
Oops.
Bunny grinned and gently tapped her own lips with her palm.
“Roel’s Father!”
“Exactly.”
Bunny’s eyes sparkled.
“Then it’s okay if I kidnap Roel and go play for a while?”
“As long as you don’t stay away too long, I don’t mind.”
“Really? Truly? Would Roel be okay with it?”
“Surely the Previous Emperor wouldn’t let the kingdom fall?”
I shrugged my shoulders with an indifferent expression.
Come to think of it, that made sense too.
Bunny rubbed her chin with a serious expression, grinned, and nodded.
“Mmm-hmm.”
Bunny pondered for a moment—about a minute or so.
And then she reached her conclusion.
Father is always right!
“Then I’ll go! Our honeymoon was cut short anyway.”
Right after the wedding, constant messages kept arriving from abroad, so she’d only managed to enjoy half of the planned month-long trip.
Three weeks lost—she had to make up for them.
“You should leave a letter so the Previous Emperor won’t be startled.”
“Yes!”
Bunny sprang to her feet, grabbed a random piece of paper from the scattered pile, and scrawled a message across it.
[Kidnapping Roel! The rest is up to you! Father!]
Kiriel Yudia gazed at the artlessly simple one-line note and smiled faintly. He could already imagine how bewildered the Previous Emperor would be upon reading it.
Of course, it wasn’t his concern.
“I’m off!”
“Aren’t you packing anything?”
“Heh.”
Bunny grinned mischievously.
“Father’s daughter is completely loaded!”
With that succinct remark—implying she could simply purchase whatever she needed—Bunny vanished in an instant.
Kiriel Yudia rubbed the back of his neck as he watched her spread her wings and soar out through the Window. Before him lay mountains of unprocessed documents.
“…Being a father isn’t easy either.”
Kiriel Yudia murmured with a sigh and quietly left the Office.
After all, his habit of procrastinating on work was no different from Bunny’s.

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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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