The Oracle of the Villainous Baby - Chapter 44

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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 44
“…Mother?”
The Emperor’s eyes widened as if he’d heard something completely unexpected. Kiriel looked equally taken aback.
“Wait, Bunny. You don’t need to say any more than that….”
“Yes! Daddy is a man who wasn’t chosen. That’s why he needs a mommy. But Daddy really needs to have a mommy!”
“Heh….”
The Emperor turned slightly to the side, his shoulders beginning to tremble.
He couldn’t bring himself to laugh outright in front of a child, so he turned away and did his best to stifle his laughter.
‘So being an unchosen man was something sad enough to make one cry.’
Bunny looked at Kiriel with a sympathetic gaze.
Seeing Kiriel’s pupils trembling, it was clear he’d received quite a shock from learning he hadn’t been chosen.
‘I’ll make sure to find Daddy a mommy somehow.’
Bunny clenched her fists tightly.
After all, I had successfully found a guardian candidate and melted him into becoming my daddy!
‘Bunny… I failed to summon Heugyeomryong, so no one lined up behind me.’
But Bunny didn’t give up—I took my allowance and approached a daddy candidate I liked directly, selling myself as a ‘rental service’.
‘Daddy didn’t give up either.’
And I deployed my cute charm offensive on my guardian, turning him into my daddy.
‘Besides, Daddy just stays in the room all the time.’
I need to go outside and show everyone how amazing Daddy is….
‘Hmm.’
But what’s so amazing about Daddy anyway?
Super strong black hair and super cool red eyes.
A really rich guy who can buy mountains of clothes with seven zeros on the price tag.
And he’s handsome like the human big boss. But the human big boss is a bit more sparkly.
“Heh. So… Bunny wants a mommy who’s as pretty as a doll.”
“Yes! To give to Daddy!”
“Right, right…. That’s how it should be. The Marquis of Yudia already has two children, so it’s time he got married and started a family. Let me… look into it. Heh.”
“Thank you so much!”
Bunny bowed her head slightly while clinging to Kiriel.
Hmph.
With her nose held high, Bunny lifted her head to look at Kiriel.
How’s that? I did well, didn’t I?
At Bunny’s expression that seemed to ask just that, Kiriel quietly closed his mouth.
Strange things happened all the time, but Bunny always exceeded his imagination.
“Let’s go now.”
“Yes!”
“Bunny, I’ll send a mommy candidate to your daddy soon.”
“That’s pointless….”
“Yes!”
Kiriel had been about to snap back at the Emperor, who was grinning with that smooth, ingratiating smile, but the moment he heard Bunny respond with such bright, spirited enthusiasm, he quietly closed his mouth.
As Kiriel fell silent, the Emperor’s expression shifted subtly.
He rubbed his chin and watched Bunny waving her hands excitedly, his eyes widening in surprise.
“Bunny! Let’s see each other again soon.”
“Okay. Goodbye.”
Bunny, nestled securely in Kiriel’s arms, caught sight of Roel waving over her shoulder and waved back at the boy with equal enthusiasm.
The moment Bunny vanished from view in Kiriel’s embrace, the bright smile faded from Roel’s face.
The Emperor rubbed his chin thoughtfully before speaking.
“My son.”
“Yes, Abamama.”
“Don’t you want a younger sister?”
“You’ll have to persuade the Empress yourself, Abamama. I have lessons to attend to now.”
“My boy has absolutely no charm about him.”
The Emperor shrugged his shoulders, bowed his head slightly, and chuckled softly as he watched the Crown Prince disappear into the distance.
The child, who had finally recovered after a long illness, had lost much of the cuteness he once possessed in his younger years.
His bedridden existence must have worn him down. It was only natural.
I never thought he would recover.
As the curse weakened the boy day by day, even the Empress—notorious for her vicious temperament—began to wither away gradually.
The sharp-tongued woman who had constantly provoked him and acted harshly had vanished somewhere; she reduced her interactions with others and lived as though merely breathing in silence.
Where had her malice gone? Every time I saw that lifeless face, my insides twisted—but on the day the news came that the boy had recovered, she smiled brightly for the first time in years.
It was a strange thing.
A political marriage with the Marquis’s daughter, born of contract and mutual interest alone.
After producing an heir, we had never shared a bed again.
It was fortunate the child came quickly after the marriage; otherwise, I would have had to endure countless uncomfortable nights sharing a bed with her.
The Marquis’s daughter—called a villainess by society, arrogant, haughty, and cunning, lacking any of the broad-mindedness befitting an Empress.
There was nothing about her I found appealing, yet on that day when she smiled so brightly… she appeared to me in a different light.
A daughter, then.
If something as small as Bunny clung to me calling “Daddy, Daddy,” it would certainly be adorable.
The problem was that clapping alone wouldn’t produce a child.
Perhaps I should arrange for the Empress to meet Bunny.
Even if I broached the subject, the Empress would need to experience the child’s charm for herself.
Thinking thus, the Emperor leisurely rubbed the back of his neck.
“But that’s not the pressing matter right now.”
Poison.
Who had dared to target me, and for what purpose?
“The Demon Clan… remnants still linger?”
The Emperor clicked his tongue.
“I’ll need to find them again and root them out completely, or this will become troublesome.”
The Emperor murmured softly and slowly left the Reception Room.
* * *
“Daddy.”
“What is it?”
“Um, did you scold the Chef?”
Kiriel, carrying Bunny in his arms as he walked toward the carriage after leaving the Imperial Palace, paused at her words and slowly shook his head.
“No. I didn’t scold him.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. As you said, the Chef wasn’t bad—he was bewitched by something bad. I can’t hold him responsible for that.”
“What’s bewitch-bewitch?”
Bewitch-bewitch?
Kiriel pondered for a moment how his words had been interpreted that way, then gave up.
Bunny’s thoughts often veered off in strange directions.
“It means he became dazed and confused.”
“Dazed and confused!”
“Yes.”
Still, he wouldn’t be able to work at the Imperial Palace anymore.
Giving the Demon Clan Member an opening meant he harbored dissatisfaction with the Imperial Palace. The Demon Clan Member exploited it, but it was the Chef who provided that gap to be exploited.
What the Demon Clan Member exploited was malice.
A tiny discontent, perhaps something that could pass as mere thought—a small malice that they burrow into, giving one the courage to actually act on it.
Of course, this time the probability that he was toyed with according to the Demon Clan Member’s will was somewhat higher.
Of course, Kiriel didn’t bother explaining all that to Bunny.
“Then what’s the bad thing?”
“The Demon Clan Member.”
A slight flinch.
‘The Demon Clan Member!’
Bunny’s shoulders trembled.
‘Daddy didn’t bewitch the Chef?!’
“I was chasing traces trying to find that bad Demon Clan Member, but lost them.”
“Oh.”
So it wasn’t Bunny. Relief.
Bunny wiggled her fingers nervously before carefully opening her mouth.
“Daddy.”
“What?”
“Do you dislike the Demon Clan Member?”
At Bunny’s question, Kiriel blinked once, then slowly nodded.
“I do.”
“How much?”
“Enough that I’d want to erase every last one from the world if I could.”
At Kiriel’s cold answer, Bunny’s eyes widened, then she nodded with a deflated expression.
‘…Daddy’s words are a little harsh.’
“But the Udiah Duke Family Estate where you live is safe, so don’t worry.”
Thinking that Bunny, who had gone limp, was frightened, Kiriel tightened his hold around her and gently patted her back to soothe her.

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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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