The Villainess Builds a Department Store - Chapter 48

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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 48

“O… Older Sister…?”

I called out to Older Sister, but there was no response. The passersby who walked past him did glance briefly at the sight of a young child standing alone, but soon hurried on toward their destinations.

“Mother…?”

In the distance, I caught sight of a blue skirt hem. Mother’s favorite dress was also blue. It had to be Mother.

“Mother!”

Antoine ran over and grabbed onto the blue skirt hem, clinging to it.

“Eek! Who, who are you…?”

But that person wasn’t Mother. The unfamiliar woman was startled when the little boy who suddenly appeared called her Mother, and hastily snatched her skirt away.

“Good heavens, what kind of trouble is this…?”

Antoine’s small heart sank at the bewilderment and irritation on the stranger’s face. No one had ever looked at him with such cold eyes before.

Both the sausage vendor from earlier and this unfamiliar Noblewoman before him – for Antoine, it was literally the first time in his life feeling such hostility.

Antoine unconsciously stepped back hesitantly. His heart pounded as if it would burst and his knees trembled weakly. Though it wasn’t even the season for cold winds yet, his fingertips grew cold.

The space that had been filled with joy just moments before became distorted in an instant and transformed into an unfamiliar place he’d never seen.

The people who had been dancing and playing together were no longer visible, and the singing was drowned out by the footsteps of passersby.

Antoine stood frozen in place, blankly looking around. Then he stamped his feet where he stood and finally began spinning in circles.

“Mo, Mother… Mother…”

But no matter how much he turned his head this way and that, there were only unfamiliar buildings. No, with each turn, it was as if the buildings’ positions had changed, revealing scenery he’d never seen before.

He needed to ask for help. But from his mouth, overwhelmed by extreme anxiety and fear, only continuous sobbing poured out.

‘I can’t see Older Sister.’

It felt exactly like being trapped in a maze. Finally, thick tears streamed down Antoine’s face, and everything around him swayed wildly like when he played with paints.

“Mother. Mother! Father! Older Sister… *sob*… Camille…”

Anyone would do, please just answer. Antoine cried his heart out and walked forward aimlessly.

What if he never met his family again?

What if they were separated forever?

Camille had taught him that children without parents, siblings, or relatives were called ‘orphans.’

Then was he now an ‘orphan’? Would he have to go to an orphanage now? How was he supposed to get to the orphanage?

The limitless imagination unique to children fed on Antoine’s fear and grew wildly.

The ‘orphans’ in fairy tales were always separated from their families by unfortunate accidents and raised in places called orphanages.

There, they had to eat hard bread and thin oat porridge for every meal, and couldn’t have toys or soft teddy bears.

He didn’t want that. Having to fight with unfamiliar children every night over a single blanket and pillow!

Just the thought was as terrible and frightening as the orphanage director who tormented the protagonists.

After walking for who knows how long, his legs hurt so much he could walk no further, and only then did Antoine stop walking.

An unfamiliar shop whose sign he couldn’t read occupied the end of the alley, facing Antoine.

Looking back, he could see the arched entrance leading out of the alley. He thought he had walked straight, but apparently he had mistakenly entered a side street off Main Street.

But somehow, retracing his steps felt incredibly daunting.

What if he went back and got lost again? What if this time he really ended up on a completely different street, in unfamiliar alleys and cities?

“I want to go Home…”

*Waaah!* Antoine finally collapsed on the shop’s steps and buried his face in his knees.

I’m sorry, I’ll never come out alone again. I miss Mother, I’m hungry…

With each sob, pleas directed at no one in particular poured out.

That’s when it happened.

“Oh my, are you lost?”

The shop door opened and someone hurried outside with a kind voice.

* * *

If I were Antoine, where would I have gone?

Coming outside, I hesitated for a moment before the crowd that had become much more complex than in the morning.

“I’ll try going this way. All roads lead to this Town Square anyway, so let’s meet here.”

Bastian spoke in one breath without pausing, then weaved through the crowd and disappeared in an instant.

As I stood on my tiptoes with all my strength looking around, a sudden thought made me crouch down instead.

“Miss Adele?”

“Antoine is a young child shorter than me. So if I look from Antoine’s eye level, I might see something different.”

Ah, just as I thought. Between the legs of the busily moving people, I could see something fluttering like flower petals in the distance.

“Monsieur Laurent, can you see what’s happening over there?”

“Yes. I can see it.”

For a moment, I stared at Monsieur Laurent with disbelieving eyes. That’s not what I was asking about, you know?

“…It looks like there’s dancing going on at the Cafes and Restaurants.”

“We need to go there.”

Monsieur Laurent immediately lifted me up by my side. Ugh, does he really have to carry people around like a document envelope? There are other ways!

Thanks to his height that was a head taller than most people and his build to match, Monsieur Laurent began making his way through the crowd without much difficulty.

The distance that would have taken me quite a while to walk alone was covered in the blink of an eye thanks to Monsieur Laurent’s long legs.

Hmm, that’s good, but the ride quality is really poor.

I immediately charged toward the first Waiter I spotted along with Monsieur Laurent.

“Have you seen a young boy about this tall?”

“Welcome… Huh? A young boy? Well. As you can see, it’s been crazy busy all day, so I don’t even know who’s come or gone.”

When the Waiter realized I wasn’t a customer, he erased the stiff smile that had been on his lips and immediately let out a long sigh.

Despite the not-so-hot weather, the Waiter kept fanning himself with his hand and stretched long. Then he hurried off to answer a customer’s call.

As if nothing had happened, he was smiling brightly again while serving, looking too busy to even straighten his back.

“We should check the back alleys too.”

“Back alleys? Were there back alleys?”

Oops. I slightly furrowed my brow at my slip of the tongue.

“Since it used to be an alley, wouldn’t there be traces left? Or maybe they bulldozed everything during construction?”

I turned my head away from Monsieur Laurent’s suspicious gaze, pretending it was just a casual remark. Just then, the Itinerant Musicians who had finished performing were collecting their earnings from inside their hats.

“Those people might know something.”

That’s when it happened.

“Adelaide! *gasp*, *pant*… There you are.”

Bastian spotted me and came running.

“This is your Younger Sibling’s handkerchief, right? It had initials embroidered on it.”

He held out a dirty piece of cloth covered in sauce stains and shoe prints. Looking closely, Antoine’s name was indeed there.

But what caught my eye first was Bastian’s swollen red knuckles.

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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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