The Villainess in the Childcare Story Doesn’t Hide Her Personality - Chapter 28

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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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Fabian’s affection for his younger sister was touching, but there was one matter I needed to address first.
“Were you eavesdropping?”
“Not intentionally.”
Fabian didn’t deny it.
I smiled at him.
“That sounded like a rather transparent lie.”
Fabian looked caught off guard.
“…Really?”
In truth, I wasn’t particularly bothered by the fact that Fabian had deliberately eavesdropped on my conversation with the Duke.
Having grown up under Duke and Duchess Beiretz, Fabian would naturally be curious about what I intended to say to the Duke, and worried as well.
Therefore, I had no intention of reproaching him for using magic to listen in.
If anything, it presented an opportunity.
“I understand your concern. But in exchange for overlooking this breach of propriety, might I ask one thing of you?”
Fabian showed a hint of discomfort.
“That depends on what it is.”
“It’s nothing much.”
I held my head high as I faced him.
Beneath golden hair that gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight, his large, clear blue eyes gazed at me, as though my reflection shone within them.
Unlike the suffocating oppression of Grand Duke Cardicha, I felt a quiet, crushing pressure—like the serene weight of an untouched snowfield.
But still.
I had to speak for Estella’s sake.
Even if it meant incurring the Mage Tower Master’s wrath.
“I don’t mean to blame the Duke and Duchess. However, they possess a tendency to inflict unintended wounds upon children. My guidance may change them somewhat, but…”
I hesitated for a moment.
In truth, Fabian bore no obligation in this matter.
It was Duke and Duchess Beiretz who sought to adopt Estella, and it was they who failed to be good parents to their three sons.
Could I truly impose such a burden on him, merely the eldest son?
Yet I decided to wager on the character I had witnessed in the novel.
After all, he was the one who had awakened Estella from her despair, even as she remained in paradise without realizing it.
He alone had noticed Estella’s suffering that no one else perceived, and had shown her love slowly, meeting her at her level.
Surely I could reasonably expect him to fulfill at least that role from the story.
“Would the Mage Tower Master be willing to continue watching over your siblings and Estella?”
Fabian regarded me with a contemplative expression.
“Typically, when one makes a request of the Mage Tower Master, one asks for something that benefits one’s own circumstances.”
I shrugged.
“I don’t particularly need such help.”
Of course, that was a lie.
Sitting in the precarious position of Vice Director, where I could be dismissed on a whim, I desperately needed assistance.
But it would be wrong to extract personal compensation in exchange for rescuing an abused child and bringing her to the Duke’s Residence—in other words, for performing my duties at the Child Protection Bureau.
To demand private favors from a great noble under the guise of duty fulfillment?
It was something that violated Imperial law—something everyone but me would break—and it was something my conscience and pride alike would never permit.
“I understand.”
Fabian nodded.
“My siblings… would it be alright if I thought of Estella as my sister now?”
“That depends on Estella, doesn’t it?”
Of course, a month from now, I didn’t think Estella would reject the Duke and Duchess Beiretz.
The Duke and Duchess Beiretz weren’t fools, and since Fabian had overheard my conversation with the Duke, he wouldn’t make the same mistakes as their counterparts in the novel.
Estella was the kind of child who would repay even the smallest gesture of affection with her whole heart—all they needed to do was express themselves properly.
‘Surely expressing oneself isn’t that difficult?’
I’d framed it to the Duke and Duchess Beiretz as though it were a test lasting a month, but in reality, I was thinking of it as an adjustment period.
But there was no need to tell them that in advance.
“Then I’ll do my very best for Estella and my siblings.”
“That’s reassuring.”
Fabian hesitated for a moment, then said something unexpected.
“I had no idea that someone like you—that the Vice Director was still in the Imperial Court.”
For a moment, I nearly burst out laughing.
My entire former team should hear this—no, everyone in the Finance Ministry should!
“Someone like me?”
“You’re a good person.”
Me, a good person?
My entire former team, and even the Mage Tower mages who had been driven out after failing to secure their desired budgets and had cursed me for it, would scoff at such a claim.
“That’s the first compliment I’ve heard. In any case, thank you.”
“…You’ve never heard that before?”
Fabian’s eyes widened.
I let out a small laugh.
“The Imperial Court gossip must be slow. I used to work in the Finance Ministry, and back then my nickname was the Villainess of the Finance Ministry.”
Fabian’s clear eyes blinked slowly, and the chill that settled over his previously gentle face hardened the soft curve of his lips into a rigid line.
It seemed he truly was hearing this for the first time.
“…The Villainess of the Finance Ministry, you say.”
Despite clashing with the Mage Tower mages so many times, he didn’t know my reputation.
Well, it wasn’t particularly strange that the Mage Tower Master—someone who made the sun rise in the west, a noble of the highest rank—wouldn’t know about the trivial disputes between low-ranking mages and minor bureaucrats.
“What was the reason?”
“The reasons? Well, there were many. Things like being a lone wolf, stubborn as a mule, having a terrible personality… that sort of thing, I suppose.”
I smiled at him.
“Funny, isn’t it?”
“No.”
Fabian answered firmly.
“Not funny at all.”
“…Ah.”
At the chill that had settled over the atmosphere, I felt awkward and averted my gaze.
Fabian didn’t seem to appreciate self-deprecating jokes, especially when they came from someone he’d only met a handful of times.
It didn’t matter that the person making them was a stranger.
Fabian spoke with a stern, serious expression.
“If you hear such words directed at you again, don’t simply accept them.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“But I can’t exactly fight them over it, can I?”
Fabian fell silent.
A chill wind swept through the heavy atmosphere between us.
Perhaps because of it, when Fabian finally spoke again, his voice carried a distinctly cold edge.
“Don’t fight them. Come find me instead, and I’ll cast an appropriate spell on whoever said such things.”
“An appropriate spell, you say…”
“Yes, perhaps a spell to turn them into living compost would be fitting.”
I blinked.
Mages seemed to possess a rather peculiar sense of humor.
Even as a joke, suggesting he’d turn someone into living compost was extreme.
For the Mage Tower Master—who descended to earth with the appearance of a breathing angel—to say something so violent was decidedly excessive.
Of course, since he’d never actually do it, he could afford to say such things.
Ha ha.
…That was a joke, right?

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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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