The Oracle of the Villainous Baby - Chapter 20

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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 20
I had merely stepped out for a brief walk when I noticed the child fidgeting about, weaving magic to extract something from a tree and collecting it in a container. I found myself halting in my tracks.
If it were a demon child, there would be no need for further deliberation—it would simply need to be eliminated.
If it were an unusual ability wielding both magic and divine power, it would need to be reported.
Either way, my life would hardly proceed smoothly.
However, I could choose not to concern myself further. Continuing to pay attention was tedious and exhausting.
“Mister, Bunny! Will you raise me? Right now it’s a special sale!”
“Bunny, future king, great demon…! Looking for a guardian!”
It would have been sufficient had I simply declined the child’s proposal and observed from a reasonable distance.
‘Had I lost my mind?’
Perhaps I had been enchanted in that moment.
By the desperate words offered by a small, helpless child—one trembling slightly with fear, yet gleaming with hope—and those clear, bright pink eyes that harbored not even a trace of darkness.
By eyes so utterly different from my own—eyes of such unwavering clarity.
“Bunny wants to be raised by an adult…. I heard that to be raised, there needs to be a guardian.”
“Then… shall I become Bunny’s guardian…?”
I blinked slowly with an unperturbed expression.
‘Come to think of it, I was already the guardian.’
Kiriel Yudia let out a soft chuckle.
“I haven’t even heard him call me father yet—it would be a shame to end it here.”
Perhaps I should observe a bit longer.
Nothing has been confirmed yet, and the child is far more endearing than I anticipated.
‘Still, I’m curious what he was doing.’
It seemed he had been collecting something like tree sap.
As I pondered this, I yawned and slowly made my way toward the Main Mansion, tilting my head slightly.
‘Interestingly, he hasn’t asked for help even once.’
Despite saying he needed a guardian, he hasn’t sought me out. Or has he?
Only briefly, when he pressed that inexplicable money wrapped in tattered cloth into my hand. Even then, he vanished immediately after.
‘I don’t quite understand children.’
Scratching my head in thought, I moved forward slowly. The world remained tedious, dull, and relentlessly monotonous.
‘The child is well-behaved. It might be nice if he were a bit more childlike.’
Kiriel Yudia chuckled softly at this thought.
My unspoken wish returned as a result the very next day.
* * *
“…What did you say?”
“According to your orders, word has come from the escort you secretly assigned that Young Lady Bunny and Young Master Allen have been apprehended by the Guard Force within the Territory.”
At the words delivered by one of my attendants who had suddenly appeared, my eyebrows twitched slightly.
“What business did the Guard Force have in apprehending those children?”
“…It appears they were selling unlicensed illegal food products.”
Kiriel Yudia, who was rarely surprised by anything, faltered. Simultaneously, my sharp mind recalled it.
That small head of Bunny’s, grinning widely as she extracted tree sap.
“They’re saying a guardian needs to visit, so I was thinking we could first reveal that she’s from the Udiah Duke Family Estate and then send an assigned maid or knight to handle it…”
As the servant added that she had come to request permission as her guardian, Kiriel Yudia slowly rose from his seat.
“…No, I’ll go myself. Tell Lebon to come with me.”
He stood up with a look of sudden resolve.
It was the moment when Kiriel Yudia’s heavy frame—who never left his room, let alone the Dormitory Mansion or the Holy Temple—finally lifted from his seat for the first time in years.
* * *
“Ahem. As I said, food sales and similar businesses require permits. Of course, since taxes must be paid, you naturally need a Commerce Guild business license as well.”
Bunny’s pupils trembled faintly as she sat in an iron chair in the small, musty room. She couldn’t understand a single word he was saying.
“….”
“Tsk. What kind of parent makes children this young go out and earn money…? Call your father, mother, or guardian right now. Otherwise, you could end up as a criminal and live as a slave.”
At the Guard Officer’s stern words, delivered with a rigid expression as he shook his head, Bunny swallowed hard.
Her imagination began to unfold wildly in her mind.
If she revealed her connection to the Udiah Duke Family Estate here, word would reach them, and then the Marquis would come all the way here to find her.
‘Ha! My daughter isn’t the genius Bunny—she’s the troublesome Bunny…? And she couldn’t even earn money? She can’t summon the Black Flame Dragon, can’t earn money, and can’t even solve this problem on her own—she’s just a troublesome child. I don’t need such a troublesome daughter. From today on, you’re not my daughter!’
‘Hmph. Our household has no need for slaves! A disgrace to the family! Get out of this house at once!’
Kiriel Yudia and Ludbreed Yudia turned away from Bunny and Allen, walking further and further away.
—This was Bunny’s imagination—
Bunny had seen such scenes many times in the fairy tales Luriel read to her.
‘Bunny… if it’s discovered that I’m a Young Lady of the Udiah Duke Family Estate, it’ll be a family disgrace!’
Her guardian might disappear, and she might be cast out from the Duke’s House.
“Being honest about it is how you get off with just a fine.”
Sniff.
At the Guard Officer’s threat, tears welled up in Bunny’s eyes.
‘A fine…?’
Suddenly, another lightbulb flickered in Bunny’s mind.
Money!
‘Bunny has money!’
Bunny swallowed and carefully placed her Elephant piggy bank and the premium mana stone she’d bought from the street vendor earlier on the table.
“Bunny… has money… Mom and Dad… are busy…”
Bunny spoke in a trembling, sorrowful voice.
The Guard Officer covered his mouth, fell silent, and slowly turned away.
* * *
“Bunny… has money… Mom and Dad… are busy…”
Drip, drip.
As tears like chicken droppings finally began to fall, the Guard Officer lost his words and slowly turned his head away.
“Bunny, if become slave… no use… scary… hiccup…”
Luriel spoke.
Slaves are locked in prison and beaten by bad people every single day until their bottoms turn red while chopping onions and scallions, tears streaming down, and they don’t even give you a towel—you have to clean with rags and eat only peppers and paprika, it’s such hard work.
“Why are you making the child cry?!”
Allen ground his teeth and glared fiercely at the Guard Officer.
Startled by Allen’s sudden motion—as if he were about to summon a divine beast—Bunny quickly grabbed his sleeve and shook her head frantically.
Allen froze mid-action.
“Don’t worry! I’ll take you out of here.”
“No, no… *sniff*. Wait, you dummy…”
I needed to leave quietly, so why did he keep shouting? Allen’s refusal to cooperate was utterly frustrating.
“Bunny won’t cry. *Sniff*…”
As Bunny shook her head, wiping away tears that fell sorrowfully with her sleeve, the Guard Officer’s eyes rolled in their sockets.
He had only meant to frighten them a little and warn them to summon their parents so this wouldn’t happen again—a light fine would have sufficed. But somehow the situation had become awkward.
“This money… Bunny earned it… I only had a little left, and I was saving it to buy something for the child… I bought high-grade fabric because of that… *sniff*. I’ll pay the fine…”
“I understand, I understand. I won’t tell your parents, so please, stop crying. There, there.”
“You… you promise…?”
“Y-yes, I promise.”
*Sniff*.
“There…”
*Sniff*.
Only after hearing the Guard Officer’s promise did Bunny wipe her eyes vigorously and sniff.
“You two don’t have parents?”
“No, sir…”
Bunny nodded weakly, carefully gauging the Guard Officer’s expression.
‘As expected, Luriel!’
A woman’s tears were a wicked weapon that could fell any man.
The Guard Officer, too, ultimately succumbed to Bunny’s tears.
*Heh*.
No one could ever defeat Bunny.
*Sigh*.
Bunny wiped her brow theatrically, rubbed her eyes, and looked at Allen with a mischievous grin. Allen stiffened, then quickly turned his head away, his ears flushing crimson.
*Knock, knock*.
The door burst open with the knock.
Bunny, her eyes red from tears, spun around and gasped, her mouth falling open.
“Bunny, Allen.”
It was Kiriel Yudia.

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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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