The Villainess in the Childcare Story Doesn’t Hide Her Personality - Chapter 14

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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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“…?”
A look of bewilderment crossed the Marquis’s face.
“It means I have a duty to protect any child regardless of their status. That includes Timothy.”
“Heh.”
The Marquis let out a hollow laugh, then continued in a voice so sickeningly sweet it made my skin crawl.
“I know your superior, Director MacGuffin, quite well. I can picture exactly what reaction he’d have if he learned what his subordinate has been up to.”
“My superior would have acted the same way.”
The Marquis laughed aloud.
“Ha, ha ha… ha.”
Then he abruptly stopped and fixed me with a cold stare.
“Let’s drop the jokes. Fine, Vice-Director. I’ll be more careful about how I treat Timothy from now on. So couldn’t you abandon this ridiculous talk of separation?”
I shook my head.
“I’ve witnessed the abuse Timothy suffers not just once or twice. And given how much longer he appears to have endured it, my decision won’t change.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
The Marquis replied coldly.
“But I can’t forcibly take Timothy away, so I’ll need my son’s consent… Timothy, what will you do?”
Timothy was now trembling so violently it was painful to watch.
‘Poor thing.’
I was leaning slightly toward the boy to offer him courage and reassurance when—
Leopold kicked me with all his strength.
The violence came without warning, and I stumbled badly before crashing to the ground.
“Tessa!”
Timothy cried out and tried to catch me, but I fell completely, my head striking the marble floor hard.
‘…This damn well hurts.’
I couldn’t help but curse. When I unconsciously touched the wound, warm blood came away on my fingers—my head had split open quite badly.
“Call a doctor, quickly!”
“This is madness! Miss, are you alright?”
People who had been watching the scene unfold approached and spoke to me, but the dizziness made it impossible to respond.
Thud.
Something fell to the ground.
Rolling only my eyes toward the sound, I saw a heavy-looking purse of money lying on the floor right beside my right hand, which was braced against the marble.
“…That should cover the medical expenses. Timothy, let’s go.”
The Marquis tapped Timothy’s shoulder lightly with his cane.
I was fighting through the dizziness to say something when—
“…I won’t go.”
“What?”
Timothy spoke in a clear, measured voice.
“I won’t go. I’m staying with Tessa.”
“So you’ve finally lost your mind, Timothy.”
The Marquis tried to sound composed, but he couldn’t hide the agitation in his tone.
“Is it because you’re worried about this woman? A doctor would treat her far better than you ever could.”
“…No. I want to go with Tessa. She can…protect me. Even if I’m Father’s child, she can protect me from him…”
My chest tightened painfully.
I had thought he was merely trembling, but Timothy had been listening to every word I said.
The Marquise Dever interjected.
“Timothy, do you truly believe this commoner will treat you well after taking you away? She shares no blood with you—she could simply abandon you at an orphanage and be done with it.”
“Yes, Timothy. Are you truly foolish enough to choose a stranger over your own family?”
Timothy’s answer came slowly, hesitantly.
“…Tessa…”
Timothy drew a deep breath.
“She was the first to care for me. The first to wonder what I wanted, what I liked…and she respected my opinions.”
Tears streamed down his large jade-green eyes.
“Meanwhile, my parents, Regina, and Leopold…they never once treated me that way.”
Timothy’s voice was soft, yet unmistakably clear.
Clear enough for everyone in the Lobby to hear.
“I’m…not stupid. I know what Leopold thinks of me, but I’m not foolish.”
Timothy gripped my hand tightly.
As if pleading with me to give him strength.
I squeezed back, offering him the support he needed.
“All this time, I only…Mother, Father…Leopold and Regina…”
Timothy’s voice began to tremble. He was finally voicing the truth he had always known but desperately refused to acknowledge.
“I thought of them as family.”
The child lifted his head, his gaze fixed upon the Marquis and Marquise Dever.
That look was unwavering and resolute.
“So please, let go of those who are not family, Your Grace.”
In that exact moment.
A title suddenly burst into my mind.
I barely managed to stanch the blood trickling down with my hand, my dizzy head struggling to form a coherent thought.
What was that title…?
The moment I thought it, memories of reading that novel flooded back into my consciousness.
‘You’re being too unnatural.’
The title surfacing. And the memories of reading it flickering through my mind like a lantern show…
It was exactly the same as when I remembered 『Save the Villain Brother』.
But I had no time to dwell on this, for the plot rushing into my mind was far too intense.
The Marquis and Marquise Dever were an ordinary couple. They married without love, fulfilling their duties to one another.
But among the nobility, love was a luxury, and so they lived contentedly.
Until after Regina’s birth, when the Marquise Dever was informed of her practical infertility.
The Marquis Dever could not accept the choice of raising his only daughter as a boy.
『You must bear another child! We’ll succeed next time.』
In the end, the Marquise Dever succeeded in becoming pregnant again, but the price was severe toxemia during pregnancy.
Everyone in the Marquis Dever’s household had believed without question that the second child would be a son.
But the result was, naturally, a daughter.
All resentment fell upon Timothy.
The Marquis Dever, who had desperately wanted a son, certainly felt this way, as did the Marquise Dever, who had been unable to leave her bed for some time after giving birth to Timothy.
However, since an heir was necessary, the Marquis declared Timothy to be his son and, unlike other noble houses, thoroughly concealed the daughter’s gender.
Miraculously, the Marquise Dever became pregnant again the following year, and even after finally giving birth to Leopold, the hatred and resentment toward Timothy never disappeared.
The reason they continued to treat her as a son was a form of punishment.
A punishment meant to say: never forget what you almost did to our house.
This could only mean one genre.
That’s right.
Timothy was the protagonist of a family-regret story.
A tale where wickedly cruel family members gnash their teeth and beat the ground in remorse!
But “I Became the Villainess” was not merely a family-regret story that ended here.
The keywords included #revenge.
Timothy, who had grown up being pushed around from all sides, entered the Border Knight Order at the age of twenty.
Because of her family’s pressure—that surely she couldn’t be worse than Leopold, who had never even held a sword—Timothy didn’t even think it strange that she was going to the Border Knight Order.
But it was impossible for Timothy, whose body had grown frail from prolonged abuse, even weaker than ordinary noble ladies, to survive in the military.
And so Timothy was torn apart alive by monsters and died….
Then I returned five years into the past.
To the year I turned fifteen.
I staggered as I gazed upon the Marquis Dever’s family.
Now everything made sense.
From the very moment Leopold was born, Timothy had been a sacrificial lamb.
A carefully cultivated sacrifice over many long years, lest their precious “true” son enter the Border Knight Order and return injured.

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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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