The Villainess Builds a Department Store - Chapter 47

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Villainess Establishes a Department Store

Chapter 47

Having enjoyed myself without noticing the time pass, my arms and legs were all stiff. But even while I was catching my breath, Antoine’s fingers were moving on their own, keeping time to the beat.

‘I’m hungry.’

A delicious smell was coming from somewhere. Through the acrid smoke came the sizzling sound and the smell of grilled sausages, making Antoine’s round belly rumble as well.

Antoine followed the scent as if enchanted, moving his steps.

“Welcome!”

The vendor greeted the little customer with a good-natured smile.

“I’m hungry.”

“Are you? One of these sausages will make that little belly of yours nice and full! Here, it’s 5 centimes!”

Antoine hurriedly searched through his pockets. But all that came out was a handkerchief covered in sandwich crumbs and completely broken cookie fragments.

“What? No money? Tch, wearing nice clothes and confusing people for nothing… Get lost!”

When the vendor realized the little customer didn’t have a single coin, his expression changed instantly and he wildly swung the tongs he’d been using to grill sausages at him. Antoine had no choice but to scream and run away.

Wherever he went, he was always a welcome customer. But the vendor treated him as if he were some shameless beggar.

His little heart pounded and his chest fluttered at the first mistreatment he’d ever received in his life. Looking back, it seemed like the furious vendor would chase after him wildly swinging those big tongs, so even though he was breathless, he couldn’t stop his legs.

“Huff… huff… huff…!”

He’s not chasing me anymore, right? This place should be safe, right? Antoine hid his body in the narrow gap between buildings and cautiously poked his trembling head out to check outside. Fortunately, no one was chasing him.

“Thank goodness…”

Phew. Antoine wiped his forehead and let out a sigh. As his tension eased, he missed his family terribly.

“…Where is this?”

But wait, where is this?

Under the same glass ceiling, the same columns – one, two, three… Even at a glance, there were more than ten of them. He tried to read the signs, but the fancy cursive decorations were too complex for young Antoine to read.

“Uh oh…”

Antoine, who had stepped out of the alley, froze in place and stood dumbfounded in the middle of the street.

* * *

“Father! Is Antoine here?”

“Adele?”

Since I was being carried like a document envelope in Laurent’s arms, my desperation didn’t seem to fully convey, and only question marks floated above Father’s face.

Oh, really! This isn’t the time for this!

“Antoine… Wait, didn’t he go out with you?”

I unconsciously covered my mouth.

Please, please, please. Mother must know where Antoine is, she has to know!

“Antoine! Are you there?”

But my hopes were cruelly shattered. Mother instantly turned pale and hurriedly climbed the stairs leading to the second floor.

Seeing Mother, who usually walked so gracefully like a noblewoman without even making footsteps, climbing the stairs with loud thumping sounds, Father also recognized the seriousness of the situation and followed her.

“Antoine!”

Thanks to Laurent becoming my legs, I was able to reach the top of the stairs almost simultaneously with Mother.

But Antoine’s figure was nowhere to be found.

In the bundle of blankets on the cot, behind the sofa, in the large jar from a foreign country, in the box embroidered with rainbow shells on a black background…

“Oh… Antoine… Antoine…!”

Letting out a scream close to a shriek, Mother’s body swayed dangerously. While Father hurriedly supported Mother, I too lost strength in my knees and collapsed to the floor with a thud.

Antoine had disappeared.

‘I have to find him…’

That was all I could think about.

My younger brother. My precious younger brother. Right now, I didn’t care at all about the fact that he was my reliable insurance for the future, or that he was the protagonist of the original story.

He was my younger brother.

My one and only younger brother that I had to protect.

So let me pull myself together. I lightly slapped both my cheeks with my palms and ran down the stairs.

“Ahhh!”

But because my heart was racing too far ahead, I missed a step and my body flew through the air. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced for the pain that would follow.

“Ugh!”

However, I didn’t feel the expected pain. My body ached from hitting something blunt and stars sparkled before my eyes, but this couldn’t compare to the pain of broken bones.

“…Bastian?”

When I opened my eyes, Bastian was lying beneath me with his face scrunched up in pain, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

Bastian’s nape seemed to be soaked with cold sweat, damp to the touch. I barely realized that the cause was tears flowing down from my face.

“Bastian…”

I need to stay calm. I’m the older sister, I have to protect him and be his guardian, so this isn’t the time to cry.

The moment I opened my mouth, it felt like the emotions that were turning my mind white and churning would burst out, so I just kept muttering his name countless times.

As if that child could somehow help me and my younger brother.

Even though Bastian in front of me was still just a child.

Monsieur Laurent helped me to my feet and then extended his hand to Bastian as well.

“People have gone to look for the young master, so Miss should stay here quietly.”

For some reason, there was emphasis on the word ‘quietly’. The moment I noticed that fact, my mind snapped to attention.

Right, I have to go look for him.

If I don’t look for my younger brother, who will?

“I want to go look for him. Please let me go too!”

“Hey, are you cra… Ahem, are you in your right mind? The adults said they’ll handle it, so why do you need to step in?”

“Because Antoine is my younger brother!”

“If something happens to you too, what about your parents?”

For a moment, I couldn’t say anything.

The adults around us also looked displeased with Bastian’s rough way of speaking, but they didn’t refute his opinion itself. If anything, they seemed to agree.

But this place was once the foundation of my life. I know not only the geography of these streets but also the big and small back alleys that will be created in the future and the fastest routes between those alleys.

So I have to go.

“Bastian! Please help me. Please?”

I grabbed Bastian’s hand tightly and clung to him.

“What, what? Why should I! No… but don’t cry!”

He was about to reflexively resist but then quickly changed his words when he saw the menacing looks from those around him.

“Father. Bastian has been in and out of the passage construction site as often as the construction workers, no. Really every single day, and he has a good memory too. I guarantee it. So…”

Father, who had been directing people with a serious expression, fell into deep thought with contemplative sounds for a while at my words.

After staring anxiously at Father’s mouth for a long time, Father finally lifted his head and opened his tightly closed eyes.

“Fine. But take Monsieur Laurent with you as well.”

“Thank you!”

Permission was finally granted. Before Father had even finished speaking, I grabbed Bastian with one hand and Monsieur Laurent’s wrist with the other, rushing out of the store.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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