The Oracle of the Villainous Baby - Chapter 29

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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 29
“Haha… It seems the Marquis was quite sensitive about this matter. Please don’t trouble yourself, sir.”
“Y-yes, that’s right! After all… the Marquis never particularly favored the late Dios, did he?”
“Ah, he was certainly a remarkable man. A true hero—undoubtedly Dios himself.”
As the Retainers spoke one after another, each attempting to dispel the frigid atmosphere, Ludbreed Yudia’s face hardened into an icy mask.
He furrowed his brow in clear displeasure, clicked his tongue, and shook his head sharply.
“Tsk. Why keep dragging up a corpse already defeated by the Demon Clan? What’s the point?”
“No, we merely wished to honor the late Dios’s greatness…”
“If you’re going to babble uselessly, then get out. Or would you prefer another lesson in discipline?”
“Y-yes…? N-no, sir.”
The Retainers exchanged nervous glances, and when they caught Klein’s cold stare as well, they finally rose from their seats and bowed respectfully.
“All of you—disappear from my sight. Now.”
“You certainly have a way with words, don’t you?”
Klein Yudia chuckled softly and uncrossed his arms.
The muscular man regarded Ludbreed—who glared at him with a rigid, obstinate expression—with indifferent composure and shrugged his shoulders.
“Brother’s death wasn’t really your fault, Father. Don’t burden yourself. The youngest is just acting out because he’s immature.”
“Enough. Are you leaving or not?”
“What good is raising children if you won’t show them your vulnerable side now and then? No one will spread rumors about Father shedding a few tears.”
At Klein Yudia’s casual remark, delivered with such nonchalance, Ludbreed’s eyes narrowed further, the veins in his temples becoming more pronounced.
“Brother’s death was a tragedy. We all failed to protect him. So please, don’t torment yourself over it.”
“Impudent wretches, mocking your father like this. Enough—get out!”
“In any case… you’re not being honest with yourself.”
Klein clicked his tongue disapprovingly as Ludbreed glared at him fiercely.
“Well, I’ll handle this matter myself. I’m curious whether my nephew’s words hold truth… and if they do, perhaps I can uncover the principles behind how Dungeons are formed.”
Troublesome as it may be.
Klein scratched the back of his head as he added this, then grasped the Crystal resting in the center of the table, rose from his seat, waved lightly, and departed from the Conference Room.
“Why aren’t you leaving?”
“Just because. They say only a daughter can soothe a father like this.”
“Stop your nonsense and think about finding a husband. You show no signs of ever giving me grandchildren.”
“But my brother already has a son—he’s first in line, and unlike my brother, he has a good temperament. What more could you want?”
Salame waved her hand dismissively, then frowned and rose abruptly from her seat.
Tap, tap, tap.
As Salame walked toward the Conference Room door, she paused and glanced back over her shoulder.
“Don’t cry alone too much, okay?”
Salame added this lightly, waved her hand cheerfully, and left the Conference Room, closing the door behind her with a soft thud.
“They’re all such impudent brats… Who said anything about crying?”
Ludbreed clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, then slowly raised his large, calloused hand and buried his face in his palm.
“…Father never listens to my opinion. It’s as though I don’t matter at all. I wish I had never been born as his son.”
What use is it for someone unworthy to shed tears?
The echo of his son’s final words, so heavy with despair, had haunted him for years—belated apologies and atonement reverberating only within his own heart.
* * *
Kiriel had turned from the long corridor, intending to return to his room, when he pivoted instead toward the Holy Temple within the Dormitory Mansion.
As he strode forward with measured steps, something small and warm brushed softly against his cheek with a gentle tap.
Kiriel’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.
When he glanced downward, Bunny—awake at some point he hadn’t noticed—gazed up at him with unwavering attention.
Her eyes sparkled with a transparency so luminous they seemed to glow pink. Silvery water-like hair cascaded down her shoulders.
“Oh, did I wake you?”
“Marquis, your face is all stiff.”
At Bunny’s blunt observation, Kiriel faltered.
Amused by the child’s curt manner, he chuckled softly and gently stroked her hair with the arm not holding her.
“My face is stiff? I’m not angry.”
“Mm. Not angry. Marquis is sad. Why sad?”
Kiriel composed his expression and resumed walking slowly with an air of indifference, yet his eyes widened slightly.
“If Marquis is sad… Bunny is sad too.”
At the small, resonant voice, he came to a complete halt.
“Why do you think I’m sad? Father said something that made me angry, so I was upset. That’s all.”
“…Almost a lie.”
Bunny spoke softly.
“Bunny knows everything. Not a baby.”
Bunny stretched out her tiny hands and wrapped them around Kiriel’s neck with surprising firmness.
As the child nestled against him, Kiriel drew in a deep breath without thinking.
“Luri says so. If you don’t say sad things are sad, then, um. Then they rot inside. So when you’re sad… you have to cry.”
“…That’s strange. I’m not particularly sad.”
Kiriel laughed softly and carefully stroked the child’s back as she clung to him, then stood slowly before the Holy Temple, tilting his head back to gaze upward.
The Holy Temple was Kiriel Yudia’s refuge.
When he shut himself away in the Prayer Chamber, no one would disturb him, and no one would come looking.
After Dios’s death, when Kiriel had barricaded himself in the Temple Prayer Room and languished in helplessness, Ludbreed, unable to bear the sight, had forbidden him from entering the Holy Temple.
Expelled from the Holy Temple, Kiriel had been discovered in his room on the verge of starvation more than once.
After being found that way two or three times, Ludbreed lifted the prohibition on entering the Holy Temple.
After that, an unspoken rule took hold within the Holy Temple.
When Kiriel Yudia entered the Prayer Chamber, no one was to disturb him.
At the very least, it was reasoned that Kiriel would not die in the Holy Temple—the place his mother had cherished and his brother had frequented often.
Kiriel lowered his gaze to see the child in his arms looking up at him with bright, clear eyes.
“See, crying isn’t something only babies do—grown-ups have to do it too.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes! It’s not about not crying that’s really big—it’s about crying hard and then getting back up and eating breakfast tomorrow and going boom-boom-boom and doing all your things and brushing your teeth too that’s the really big thing!”
“I see.”
Watching Bunny wiggle her fingers and suddenly thrust out her thumb, Kiriel let out a low laugh.
“So Bunny cries too when sad. And tomorrow Bunny will work hard and do all the things! Boom-boom-boom too!”
“You’re remarkable. My daughter is better than I am.”
“…Hehe.”
Bunny rubbed her face gently against Kiriel’s sleeve.
Kiriel stroked the child’s hair a couple of times.
“But even when I cry really, really hard… I put Toto by my pillow and hug Ma-Gom tight before sleeping. Toto eats away my nightmares, and Ma-Gom keeps saying it’s okay, it’s okay…”
Bunny puffed out her small chest, striking it proudly with her tiny hands.
“Bunny’s grown up now, so I’ll lend the Marquis to you.”
Isn’t that impressive?
Her upturned nose seemed to pose the question itself.
A faint smile bloomed at the corners of Kiriel’s lips.
“Have you experienced sadness too, daughter?”
“Yes!”
“What happened?”
Recalling how she had wept when the quail egg appeared, Kiriel spoke lightly, thinking it must be something quite endearing.
“Bunny got separated from Luri… Dad and Mom are busy too… When I was alone, I felt a little sad…”
At words he hadn’t anticipated, Kiriel’s eyes widened.
He lowered his gaze, wondering if she might cry, but Bunny wasn’t crying. Rather, she was smiling.
“So to become a great grown-up, I needed a really strong dad, and when the Marquis said he’d be my guardian, I was so happy.”
As she twisted her body and spoke, Bunny suddenly threw her arms around his neck. Kiriel silently stroked her back, then tilted his head upward.
A brilliant blue sky stretched above.
A blue as vivid as his brother’s and mother’s hair color.
Now that I think about it, the child’s hair held that same aquamarine hue.
Perhaps I accepted this child precisely because her hair color stood out so distinctly in that Hall of Blessings?
“Daughter, shall we return to the room?”
“Yes!”
At the child’s spirited reply, Kiriel, who had been standing tall before the Holy Temple, slowly turned and made his way back to the Dormitory Mansion.
Spending the entire day in the room with Allen, who had been lingering by the door, the three of them eating, sleeping, and rolling about playing games was hardly anything new.

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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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