The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 66

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

66

The game of Hide and Seek continued without pause.
With so many players, as the game dragged on, everyone began to anticipate where the others would hide, making it progressively harder to find fresh spots.
Yet something struck her as odd.
‘Why haven’t I been caught even once?’
No matter who else was discovered, Reponya always emerged as the winner.
She couldn’t venture far—all she did was squeeze into grass thickets or tuck herself behind nearby trees—yet she outlasted the knights who scrambled all the way up to the canopy.
‘Maybe it’s because I’m so small they can’t see me.’
The knights and Fellens were all tall, their gaze trained high; a small child like Reponya simply fell outside their line of sight.
You had to squint and search deliberately to spot a tiny ant, after all.
‘But why does Rudeuum keep getting caught?’
Rudeuum was a child too, and yet unlike Reponya, he was caught almost every round. Whenever Fellens was the seeker, he hunted Rudeuum down with particular ferocity.
Watching him play so eagerly now made his earlier refusal to join all the more baffling.
‘Maybe he finds it no fun losing all the time.’
Reponya studied Rudeuum’s face. Unlike before, something tight and strained had crept into his expression.
When children lost repeatedly, it was only natural they’d lose interest. She wished the others might cut their guest some slack, but the knights of House Craitan—bred on taking everything seriously with no concept of “going easy”—showed no sign of mercy.
“Fellens.”
Reponya whispered his name softly.
“Let Rudeuum win just once.”
“Reponya. The world of competition is merciless.”
“Even so, he’s our guest.”
“In a world where only the strong survive, guest and host alike mean nothing.”
“You’re being really petty right now…”
“This too is a lesson in life.”
Reponya shook her head at the sight of a grown man taking pride in beating a nine-year-old.
‘Then.’
She nodded with grim determination, and the next round began.
The knight chosen as seeker closed his eyes and started counting.
“Rudeuum.”
In that same instant, Reponya grabbed Rudeuum’s wrist and pulled him along. Fellens, heading off to hide himself, spotted them and opened his mouth to shout a question.
But when Reponya brought her index finger to her lips with a sharp “Shh—” and fixed him with a stern look, he fell silent.
Reponya giggled as she led Rudeuum into a deeper thicket of grass, tucking them both completely out of sight.
“What—why are you dragging me—”
“Hush.”
Reponya pressed her index finger to her own lips with perfect seriousness, shaking her head. Rudeuum fell quiet.
“Look how I never get caught, even once.”
“…”
“You keep getting caught. You don’t need to be shy about it. Let me help you. Take my help.”
“…”
Rudeuum looked at her gleaming with confidence, almost ready to protest, then held his tongue.
“Now I’m coming to find you!”
The knight’s clear voice rang out, declaring the search begun. Immediately, the sound of found players being caught echoed loudly across the field.
At the same time, the seeker’s footsteps passed close by.
Reponya pressed Rudeuum’s head down firmly with her small hand, keeping him hidden beneath the grass.
“Ah, ha-ha. Nothing here. Nope. Nothing at all. Where’d they go. This spot’s really—even with my eyes wide open, there’s really nothing here.”
The knight’s loud voice receded into the distance.
‘Just as I thought—they can’t see me because they’re too tall.’
Reponya boasted as she whispered close to Rudeuum’s ear, still crouched low.
“Did you see what just happened?”
“That was only because if they find me they find you too, so I’ll—wait, no. Right. You’re right. You’re really something else. You’re an authority on Hide and Seek.”
An authority on Hide and Seek? It was such a silly thing, yet somehow it sounded kind of magnificent.
Being called the authority on a game everyone was playing so seriously felt… actually rather wonderful!
While this was happening, the seeker called out loudly that he couldn’t find Reponya and Rudeuum anywhere, having already caught everyone else.
“Let’s go, Rudeuum.”
Reponya pushed through the grass and rose to her feet, extending her hand to him. Rudeuum hesitated briefly before clasping her hand and getting up alongside her.
“We’re here!”
The winners of this round were Reponya and Rudeuum.
After that, Reponya continued to hide with Rudeuum, and the knights—unable to bring themselves to admit they’d found her—along with Fellens, had no choice but to pretend they couldn’t locate the pair.
Naturally, Rudeuum and Reponya’s winning streak continued.
“It’s fun, isn’t it?”
Reponya turned to Rudeuum with a radiant smile.
“…Yeah. It’s fun.”
With you on my side, I’ll never have to die or lose.
Rudeuum gazed blankly at Reponya’s smile and nodded.

* * *

True to his word, Rudeuum kept precise track of the date and time, arriving at the Estate each time to attend Havelian’s lessons together.
Rudeuum’s learning was remarkably swift—though in Reponya’s case, she wasn’t actually five years old, and besides, she’d already learned everything from the Pope.
Yet Rudeuum learned just as quickly as Reponya despite his circumstances.
Even Havelian’s attitude, which had started out teaching only what was strictly necessary, began to shift.
Watching Rudeuum grasp and accept even difficult concepts with complete understanding, Havelian felt ambition kindle—and soon began teaching in earnest.
“Has there been an explosion of geniuses among children these days, or have my standards simply fallen?”
Havelian was impressed by how well Reponya and Rudeuum followed his lessons.
The fact that the curriculum grew progressively harder and the pace had begun to split according to their respective ages made it clear enough.

And today was finally the day they would begin sword training with Fellens, as Rudeuum had requested the second time.
‘At least from what I saw at the inheritance celebration party last time, she’s not without swordsmanship skill.’
Reponya, who had nothing to gain from sword training, decided to watch quietly from the sidelines.
Of course, there was no harm in learning alongside him, but if she so much as grasped a sword, old habits might surface—and that would be disastrous.
“Young Noble Lady, shall I ask the pastry chef to prepare more Financier?”
Since her hands would only grow restless from mere watching, Reponya decided to keep busy demolishing desserts while observing.
“It’s fine. This is enough.”
Meanwhile, Rudeuum drew his sword.
‘The Spirit can’t be revealed, so I won’t use it.’
So this would be her chance to purely assess Rudeuum’s swordsmanship skill.
Reponya cut a piece of Financier with her fork, popped it into her mouth, and fixed her gaze upon Rudeuum.
“Since this is your first time, let’s keep it light.”
Fellens drew a wooden practice sword without wreathing himself in Aura, and swung it gently.
‘I wonder how much skill he actually has.’
Still, as the head of a swordsmanship family, even if he’d received no training at all, he should at least be able to wield it to some degree.
It was precisely as Reponya’s eyes sharpened.
Thwack—whoosh—!!!!
The wooden practice sword, swung with speed, struck Rudeuum’s wrist lightly with a dull sound, and the sword in his hand flew backward with a helpless whine.
“……?”
It all happened before Reponya had even finished swallowing the Financier she’d just put in her mouth.
“I yield.”
And Rudeuum conceded cleanly.
“What?”
Even Fellens seemed flustered, quickly adjusting his stance and retrieving the sword that had flown far away, offering it back to Rudeuum.
It seemed he was second-guessing himself—thinking he’d been far too harsh with a nine-year-old.
“I suppose I lack talent for swordsmanship.”
“No. If the head of House Billemen admits that so readily—”
“I think I need to go back to basics and relearn from the start.”
“Ah, no—it’s just that I rushed in without thinking. Your form when you let go of the sword just now was excellent. You were every inch the head of House Billemen.”
Fellens, who had shown such sharp responses to Rudeuum all this while, was now earnestly trying to console him.
“If I need to learn basics from the beginning, it’ll take quite a long time, won’t it?”
“No, no, it won’t. House Billemen is a famous swordsmanship family, after all—it won’t take long. I, I’ll teach you well.”
“Fundamentals are important, so even if it takes time, I’ll learn steadily and diligently, whatever.”
At Rudeuum’s composed attitude, Fellens flustered about, earnestly reassuring and coaxing him.
‘Did he… intentionally throw the sword back farther?’
Reponya tilted her head thoughtfully.
‘No. What good would come from doing something like that?’
Reponya soon turned her attention back and cut another piece of Financier, popping it into her mouth.

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