The Oracle of the Villainous Baby - Chapter 85
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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 85
“I told you that you were still too young to do it, but the Emperor was quite insistent. He was more stubborn than I expected, so I had no choice but to proceed. I hope you understand. I’m sorry.”
“…?”
Bunny tilted her head in confusion, unable to fathom why he was apologizing.
“It’s okay! Bunny is a super genius!”
At the sight of Bunny giving a thumbs up, Kiriel silently stroked the child’s hair before suddenly pulling her into a tight embrace.
Then, with an expressionless face, he patted Bunny’s back and spoke.
“Why is our daughter so kind and adorable?”
“Bunny’s not kind?! Bunny’s evil! Super evil!!”
Bunny shouted, placing her hands on her hips with determination.
At that, both Allen and Kalbad, who had been standing at a distance, quietly approached and began gently stroking Bunny’s hair.
“Eek?!”
“Hey, little one. Don’t go wandering around alone. I have a feeling you’d get kidnapped in a heartbeat.”
Kalbad spoke with a serious expression, and Allen nodded beside him before opening his mouth.
“That’s right. Bunny, no matter where you go, you can’t go alone. You have to call me.”
“I-If you’re busy, you can still call me. Well… I c-could make time for you. It’s not like I’m worried about you or anything—I’m just going because I happen to have some free time….”
Bunny, held by one hand each from Allen and Kalbad, nodded as she swayed back and forth between them.
“Bunny, ignore all that nonsense. When you go anywhere, you take Father or Lebon with you, or at least an adult escort knight.”
And in that moment, Kiriel interjected with a composed expression.
Allen and Kalbad looked at Kiriel in disbelief, but he gazed back at the two boys with a shameless face as if nothing had happened, then smirked.
“…!”
“…!”
Seeing the two boys’ eyes widen like lanterns, Kiriel seated Bunny on his lap and spoke.
“Bunny.”
“Yes!”
Bunny answered energetically, and Kiriel gently smoothed her slightly tousled hair before speaking.
“How exactly do you understand that elf’s words?”
“Heu-Gyeom…!”
Bunny almost reflexively answered “Heu-Gyeom Dragon” to Kiriel’s question but stopped herself.
‘I can’t hide anything from Father!’
Remembering the promise, Bunny fidgeted with her fingers before quickly opening her mouth.
“Luri taught me!”
“Luri….”
That name again.
“Do you know where this person named Luri is?”
At Kiriel’s words, Bunny shook her head vigorously.
Luriel had said she was going on a very dangerous mission. So dangerous that she couldn’t take little Bunny with her.
So when Bunny became a wonderful adult and a great Demon King, she would find out where Luriel was and could come find her then.
“No, Luri was very sick, so she went on a super dangerous mission to get better. When Bunny becomes a wonderful adult, Bunny will know where Luri is. So Bunny is becoming a super wonderful adult right now.”
Bunny gave a thumbs up and giggled.
“…It hurt?”
At Kiriel’s question, Bunny nodded her head gently.
He gazed at Bunny in silence for a long moment before finally speaking.
“Did Luri raise you? Did she teach you Ancient Elvish as well?”
“Yes!!”
“I see.”
I knew that the Demon Clan were beings who lived for extraordinarily long lifespans. It wouldn’t be strange for them to know Ancient Elvish, a language that had vanished thousands of years ago.
Lost in thought, Kiriel eventually opened his mouth again.
“Then Bunny, how did you communicate with Luriel?”
At Kiriel’s sudden question, Bunny’s body trembled visibly.
“…B-Bunny didn’t talk with Luri….”
“Yesterday… you said you heard from Luri not to get close to Father. I’m not angry, so don’t worry and tell me.”
At Kiriel’s gentle inquiry, Bunny’s lips quivered before she slowly lowered her head.
Young Master, what I and my notebook discuss must remain absolutely secret! Someone might take this notebook away, and I might never see you again.
But Father told Bunny that he doesn’t dislike me. He also said he hoped I wouldn’t lie anymore going forward.
Yet the thought of never seeing Luriel again was something I simply couldn’t bear.
“….”
Bunny’s face began to crumple little by little.
My mind spun in circles until the world before my eyes began to shimmer and blur.
Bunny’s fingers fidgeted as she made a small whimpering sound, then bumped her forehead gently against Kiriel’s chest.
“Is it difficult to talk about?”
Kiriel rose from his seat while cradling the child in his arms. It didn’t seem like the sort of matter to share with Allen and Kalbad.
When he glanced at Allen and Kalbad, the perceptive boys promptly lowered their heads.
“We’ll talk again at evening tea time.”
“Yes, we’ll go.”
At Allen’s composed reply, Kiriel chuckled softly and gently stroked the child’s head with his free hand.
“Good boy.”
Allen’s face flushed crimson.
Allen’s expression grew flustered as his lips parted soundlessly, his hands fluttering uncertainly through the air before, after a long moment, he nodded very slowly.
“Yes….”
It was just as Kalbad glanced at Allen, crossed his arms, and turned his head away sharply.
Kiriel’s hand came to rest gently atop Kalbad’s head as well.
“Thank you for understanding too, Kalbad.”
At Kiriel’s words, Kalbad’s eyes widened considerably before his lips pressed firmly together.
Kalbad’s lips trembled slightly as his cheeks flushed deeply red, and he opened his mouth hesitantly.
“…It’s, it’s nothing special.”
“Allen and Kalvada’s faces are red.”
Bunny, nestled in Kiriel’s arms and looking downward, pointed her finger at the two of them and spoke.
Allen quietly buried his face in his palms, while Kalbad let out a strangled cry of protest.
“W-who’s red!! I’m not!!”
“Gasp. Right now I’m all red as a tomato.”
Kiriel patted Bunny’s back a couple of times as she fidgeted, unable to fully conceal the faint smile playing at his lips, and slowly left the Annex Dining Hall.
He returned to his room and lifted Bunny onto the bed, then sat down beside her.
“So, is what you need to tell me about Luri something difficult to say to Father?”
At Kiriel’s drowsy voice, Bunny hesitated for a long while before burrowing her small fingers into his chest.
Kiriel settled Bunny back onto his lap and gently patted her back, waiting patiently.
Soon, Bunny buried her face and spoke, showing only the back of her head.
“…If Bunny tells, will Father take Bunny’s thing away?”
At those words, spoken in a small, dejected voice, Kiriel paused for a moment before slowly shaking his head.
“No, of course not. I promise I won’t do anything you dislike.”
“Pinky promise with two fingers?”
Bunny raised her pinky finger high among her short fingers.
“…Two fingers? What’s that supposed to be?”
As if Bunny couldn’t believe he didn’t know, she raised her index finger straight up as usual and made a tsk-tsk-tsk sound with her tongue, then shrugged and opened her mouth.
“If you hook fingers like this, you gotta keep the promise! If you don’t, horns grow on your butt and, uh, uh… anyway, you go all broken and the old man with the sack catches you and it hurts.”
I had no idea what her rambling words actually meant, but it seemed to be about not telling lies.
Or perhaps it meant keeping promises.
Soon, as Kiriel nodded and extended his hand, Bunny hooked her short pinky around his long one and shook them up and down.
After doing the same with her other hand, Bunny giggled.
“Luri and Bunny’s secret notebook! Luri is a genius king-king that Bunny acknowledges, so Bunny tells her everything!”
“Everything? How so?”
“Bunny goes, oh no, what if I can’t do this? And then when I open the notebook, it’s like, if you do it this way and that way, it works! And she tells me.”
As Bunny flailed her arms about and then sighed, Kiriel’s brow furrowed.
Most of what Bunny said was incomprehensible, but if he grasped the context correctly, he could usually figure out what she meant.
“…So the notebook is what tells you?”
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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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