The Villainess in the Childcare Story Doesn’t Hide Her Personality - Chapter 35

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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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This would be easy.
Let’s take her to the Montina Duchy right away!
Then we’ll uncover what blood relation exists between them!
…or so I thought, but the world rarely unfolds as one wishes.
As it turned out, Duke Montina had been missing—or rather, not quite missing—for over a year.
And the reason was….
“The Duke has been traversing all manner of treacherous terrain in search of the young lady, so we’ve had difficulty maintaining contact.”
Count Clark, who managed the affairs of House of Monstina, released a weary sigh.
“When did the young lady go missing?”
“Five years ago.”
Five years ago—around the time I had just possessed this body.
There was no way I could have known of such a sensational incident as the young lady’s disappearance.
Back then, I was consumed merely with the act of survival.
“Is there perhaps a portrait remaining?”
“…Please follow me.”
Count Clark led me to a small room.
It was filled with items that might have belonged to an infant.
But what captured my gaze was the large portrait hanging on the wall.
In the arms of Duke Montina, whose long pink hair fluttered about her, lay a small baby.
Golden eyes and a peachy complexion.
The infant’s eyes were identical to Cici’s.
Having confirmed all the necessary information, I opened my mouth to Count Clark.
“If I were to bring a child who might possibly be the young lady, could you verify it?”
The baby in the portrait was pristine and hairless.
‘Still, as someone closest to the family, surely they could recognize her.’
Count Clark shook his head with a troubled expression.
“She disappeared just after her first birthday, so I have no idea what she looks like now.”
“What if the child has a peach-colored complexion?”
Count Clark’s expression grew heavy.
“Do you know how many children with peach-colored complexions I’ve seen? Every single one had no relation whatsoever to the Duke. Some ruthless individuals even went so far as to manipulate children’s eyes to artificially create that complexion.”
Ah.
Chills ran down my entire body.
With magic, such a thing would certainly be possible.
‘Still, Cici doesn’t seem to be that sort of case.’
I continued attempting to persuade him, but Count Clark remained resolute.
“I cannot recognize the young lady even if I see her! That is why the Duke searches for her himself. Only Montina can recognize Montina.”
I examined the portrait carefully.
This time, rather than the infant, I observed Duke Montina’s appearance intently.
The image of Duke Montina, her hair cascading to her waist, dressed in an elegant gown, cradling her daughter in one arm and wielding a greatsword in the other, was profoundly symbolic.
Succession and power.
It meant I had obtained both.
Unlike other noble families, House of Monstina followed the principle of matrilineal succession.
She had even refused to marry, fearing her husband might threaten her power.
While some heirs’ mothers occasionally revealed the father publicly, the current Duke Montina had thoroughly concealed the child’s father.
Unlike the Duke Montina in the portrait, confidently wielding her sword, the current Duke Montina was….
‘She had lost them both.’
It was a bitter reality.
Having lost a child barely past her first birthday, Duke Montina had gone half-mad, entrusting all management of the family to Count Clark while she wandered every corner of the continent searching for the child.
“I understand. So you have no idea where the Duke is currently?”
As expected, Count Clark’s answer was yes.
* * *
On the road back to Sophia’s House.
After hours of driving through still-rough roads, I took a deep breath at the gate.
‘I can’t keep neglecting Cici like this.’
Moreover, I needed to bring her to the Capital to show the Imperial Palace’s Doctor or Fabian Beiretz.
‘I’ll have to drag her right in front of Count Clark if necessary.’
But there was one thing I needed to confirm first.
“Did you know that Cici’s eyes are flame eyes?”
“Flame eyes, you say…?”
Joanna answered with a somewhat blank expression.
“Flame eyes… those flame eyes that only appear in old stories?”
“Extremely rare, but not exclusive to old stories. Flame eyes are inherited from parents to children, so they’re symbols of certain families.”
The most well-known among them was House of Monstina, but I deliberately didn’t voice that fact.
“So I plan to take Cici and visit those families. There might be a blood relation.”
“I didn’t know.”
Joanna answered with a vacant expression.
I couldn’t help but furrow my brow.
‘It’s common knowledge for any citizen of the Empire… and she didn’t know?’
Joanna fumbled for words.
“I didn’t know what flame eyes were… I just thought they looked like beast eyes. Yellow and red….”
“….”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
Beast eyes? She thought they were beast eyes?
Those beautiful eyes?
Should this person really be running an orphanage?
Just as I was about to say something scathing, I opened my mouth.
“Waaaaaah!”
“Waaah! Director! Boohoo!”
Sporadic cries erupted from down the corridor, nearly bursting my eardrums.
Joanna quickly ran toward the source of the crying.
Of course, I followed after her.
“I-I said I had to wait and endure even when I was hungry, but Cyril… It’s all because of Cyril!”
“Waaah, I’m so, so hungry….”
Children who appeared slightly older than Cici were crying their eyes out, tears and snot streaming down their faces.
Potatoes were scattered everywhere around the children.
“All of you, stop it right now.”
Joanna spoke in a stern voice.
“If you don’t stop within ten seconds, your teacher will be angry. One, two, three, four….”
As if by magic, the children stopped crying before Joanna even finished counting, and looked at us with embarrassed faces.
“What happened here? Jessie, tell me.”
“Even though I told him not to, Cyril said he was hungry and rummaged through the cupboard! Then he found a sack and pulled it, and potatoes came tumbling down….”
Joanna shook her head.
“If you’re hungry, you should come tell your teacher. Not rummage through the cupboard.”
“Because we have a guest….”
“Even with a guest, you can come and tell me. My job is to take care of you all.”
Joanna, gathering the potatoes back into the sack, appeared remarkably composed.
A stark contrast to the irritable and emotional demeanor she always showed me.
“No matter how hungry Cyril is, he can’t eat raw potatoes, can he? I’ll give you each half an apple.”
“An apple!”
The children’s eyes sparkled.
Joanna rummaged through the cupboard and pulled out a single apple from the very back, cutting it precisely in half.
“Here. Eat this and there’s nothing before dinner, understood?”
“Yes!”
Jessie, who had been eagerly biting into the apple, suddenly stopped and stared intently at Joanna.
“What about you, Director? You didn’t eat breakfast or lunch.”
“You should say ‘You ate with the adults,’ and besides, I’ve eaten plenty.”
Jessie pouted her lips.
“You didn’t eat. You were right next to us the whole time.”
Joanna sighed.
“I forgot because I was busy. That’s just how adults are.”
“Then eat, please, right now.”
At Jessie’s firm insistence, Joanna grimaced helplessly and pulled out a small box from the cupboard.
Inside were yellowish lumps shaped crudely like cookies.
‘…Wait a moment.’
They weren’t cookies.
These ball, flower, and rope-shaped lumps were….
‘Those flour dough pieces I saw before, baked!’
Joanna, as if familiar with them, quickly consumed one of the baked flour dough pieces.
Cyril stared intently at her.
“I want to eat that too.”
“Ahem.”
Joanna’s voice turned rigid and stern.
“Children shouldn’t eat this. This is only for adults, and it will upset your stomachs if you do.”

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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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