The Villainess Builds a Department Store - Chapter 7

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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 7

While Father was meeting with Mr. Hedebo, I thoroughly reviewed my plan.

From now on, there were three main things I needed to do.

1. Repay debts of gratitude

2. Get revenge on enemies

3. Create a happy future for my precious people

The most urgent thing right now was number 1.

To be precise, I had to save Bastian, who would be picking up rotten apples from the sewer around this time.

Sebastian Bellueur. Bastian for short. Or Sep.

He was a discarded prince of the royal family.

Unlike fairy tale princesses who marry neighboring princes and live happily ever after, reality was never romantic.

The royal marriage between Loiret and Albion, who had been notoriously hostile for ages, was a miracle achieved through the blood, sweat, and tears of diplomats.

And Sebastian’s birth between them was undoubtedly also a miracle of the brainwashing-like early education that the heirs of both kingdoms had received since childhood.

But Sebastian, the miracle child born this way, was immediately switched with a stillborn baby and abandoned in the slums.

It was the doing of the king’s mistress, Violeta Diane de Satin.

I wanted to rush to the Royal Palace with him right away if I could.

But I hadn’t been granted permission to enter the Royal Palace yet, lacked evidence, and most importantly, Violeta was at the Royal Palace.

Rather, I’d be accused of insulting the royal family and our family would fall even earlier than in my previous life.

Then the second method.

Employ him at the estate, raise him well, then take him to the Royal Palace.

It was more realistic than the first method, but this was also nearly impossible.

The young lady of the estate, who had never gone out in her life, suddenly brings home a filthy child from the back alleys one day and orders them to raise him?

It would be more believable to insist on picking up and raising an abandoned puppy.

“Then… I guess there’s only the last method after all.”

The method that would take the longest and be most painful, but was at least safe.

Go out to the streets myself and become acquainted with him.

And whether by chance or design, consistently encounter him and help him escape the slums.

So that his abilities could sprout and bear fruit much earlier than before.

“…Let’s go to the market for now.”

If I can’t save him right away, I’ll make someone else save him instead of me. Father or Uncle Guillaume would surely recognize his abilities.

To do that, I first needed to know what state he was currently in.

“Antoine, want to go look around the market with Older Sister?”

“The market?”

They said life insurance, dental insurance, and savings accounts were better made sooner rather than later.

I headed to Father’s study to get permission to go out and meet my future pension insurance.

I wonder if he’s finished talking with Mr. Hedebo by now?

Just as I was about to knock on the door, I heard the two of them arguing beyond it.

“I’m thinking of giving my daughter a toy as a gift.”

“A toy? Are you joking right now? You called me here for something so trivial?”

Perfect timing. I cheered inwardly and threw open the door.

“Father! Can’t we go buy that toy ourselves?”

“No.”

Before I could even explain the purpose of visiting the market, a firm answer came back as if cut with a knife.

“Why would the young lady go to the market? For what? If you wait quietly at the estate, Uncle will bring you the prettiest doll in the world.”

Mr. Hedebo also blinked his eyes as if he couldn’t understand at all and agreed with Father’s opinion.

It was the reaction I expected, but Antoine and I both put on disappointed expressions, drooping our eyebrows and shoulders downward.

“But I want to choose it myself…”

“But there’s no nanny right now, is there? What if something happens when you go outside the estate without a guardian?”

So that was the reason after all.

The nanny position was currently vacant, and I couldn’t go with Mother since she was lying down again this morning due to her poor health.

And going with just a maid wouldn’t look very good to others either.

Then well, there was only one answer.

‘I didn’t want to use this method if possible…’

Sigh. I had no choice.

I positioned my legs slightly pigeon-toed, tapped the floor with my shoe tips, put my hands behind my waist, lowered my head to the floor, and finally swayed my body side to side while pouting my lips like a duck and blinking my eyes wide.

“Adele wants to go on a date with Papa though…”

I am ten years old right now. I am ten years old right now. This is a cute performance to make Father happy. I am currently proposing a filial piety tour to Father…

“Hedebo, sorry, but let’s forget about that request from earlier.”

“What? Excuse me, Viscount Charmeuze?”

The effect was killer. So much so that if I used it twice, my soul would really die.

* * *

Father, who was ready to go to the market with me right away, changed his mind at the last moment and decided to stay by Mother’s side.

“My goodness, I’ve never seen Charles make such a face before. Maybe I should have had a daughter after all…”

“It’s not too late even now, Mr. Hedebo.”

Mr. Hedebo looked serious as if wondering what I had just heard, then immediately grabbed his stomach and burst out laughing.

“What? What does a little kid know… Still, thanks. But what can I do, the woman who would bear my daughter has gone far away.”

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

Ugh, suddenly such a heavy atmosphere.

But did Mr. Hedebo have a deceased wife? I’m sure in my previous life…

“No, you don’t need to be sorry. She divorced me and is living abroad.”

“…”

This man really! Don’t tease a child with such heavy topics! It’s because it’s me that I just widened my eyes and left it at that!

In my past life, I thought Mr. Hedebo never lost his boyish mischievousness even as he aged, but seeing him now, that must have been after he became much more refined with age.

“And what’s with a little kid stiffly calling me Mr. Hedebo, Mr. Hedebo? If you’re Charles’s daughter, you’re no different from my niece, so call me Uncle.”

At the word uncle, my shoulders flinched without me realizing it.

To me, uncle was a title that could never remain as a good memory.

“…Sorry. I was too informal with the young lady of the Charmeuze Viscountcy. I apologize, Mademoiselle Charmeuze.”

When I became serious and closed my mouth, Mr. Hedebo hurriedly corrected his posture and even tried to speak formally to me.

“No! It’s a misunderstanding. I was just, surprised… If you’re Father’s friend, then you’re someone who can treat me cas… casually too! So, um… Ah! I’ll call you Uncle Guillaume. Would that be okay?”

Oh, whatever.

“Oh? That’s not bad at all?”

Uncle Guillaume’s face instantly brightened again. It was fortunate he was such a simple person.

Hmm, Uncle Guillaume. Not bad for something I blurted out?

“Let’s see. You guys should go to Riere, right?”

There were two main shopping districts closest to the Charmeuze Estate.

Riere Street and Riforme Street.

Riere, an upscale shopping district where guilds and workshops gathered like ivy vines that didn’t just cover the walls but became the walls themselves.

And Riforme, a traditional market that opened early in the morning like morning glories.

Naturally, we were going to the former.

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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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