The Villainess in the Childcare Story Doesn’t Hide Her Personality - Chapter 46

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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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‘Ugh, what an exhausting day,’ I sighed.
I collapsed onto the bed, desperate for sleep, when a peculiar vibration—zing—pierced my ears.
‘What is that?’
I bolted upright and noticed the outer coat draped on the wall trembling violently.
‘Princess Melissa!’
I sprang from the bed instantly. The hand mirror I’d received from the Grand Duke’s butler and carefully kept in my pocket all this time—it was for this very moment of contact.
The instant I grasped the mirror.
“…!”
The room erupted in violet waves. A shield emblem blazed forth—commanding yet restrained—spreading across walls, floor, ceiling, and even beyond the window.
‘Everyone will see this! What was the Grand Duke thinking, giving me something like this?’
Fortunately, the violet light faded quickly.
At last.
A small face began to materialize in the mirror.
“Princess Melissa! What’s wrong?”
In my joy, I called out before the delicate features even fully resolved.
But the moment her complete image formed, I lost all words.
“S-sister….”
Her face was a wreck—tears and mucus streaming down, flushed red. Her small, trembling hands clutched a wooden rabbit doll. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably.
‘Something is terribly wrong.’
I opened my mouth, my voice quavering.
“Princess Melissa… what happened?”
Surely Grand Duke Cardicha hadn’t brought her all that distance only to neglect her.
Could one of the attendants be tormenting her?
“I… I’m….”
Princess Melissa whimpered.
“Scared….”
I understood instinctively.
Princess Melissa wasn’t suffering from mere bullying or neglect.
The child was gripped by genuine terror.
“Princess Melissa.”
I wanted to embrace her, to soothe her, but there was nothing I could do in this moment.
All I could offer was.
“Tell me what happened. I’ll help with anything.”
“It’s… it’s….”
Princess Melissa began speaking slowly, her voice trembling.
From the moment she first arrived at Mount Athos a month ago.
* * *
A lavish carriage, incongruous with the unpaved road, climbed the final stretch of the mountain path.
Princess Melissa’s small feet touched the cold stone ground as she descended. The wind caught her loosely fastened coat, revealing her thin dress beneath.
‘So this is… Mount Athos…?’
Princess Melissa stared blankly at the desolate fortress.
Oppressed by its grimy, shabby gray walls—so utterly different from the Capital’s resplendent mansions and even the Northern Territory’s magnificent Cardicha Castle—she felt suffocated.
‘I… I want to go home…’
But I couldn’t let Achilles see such weakness.
My brother would be saddened by it.
I followed Achilles as he led the way, casting furtive glances around.
‘…T-they’re all just scary knights.’
Fierce, burly faces with weathered, rough skin.
Their attire wasn’t the neat uniforms typical of knights, but aged leather garments—they looked like bandits at first glance.
Upon reaching the fortress’s heart, Achilles turned to me and spoke.
“I need to attend a meeting now. You should rest in your chambers.”
I nodded with a reluctant expression.
“O-okay… See you later, brother.”
‘Don’t go, brother…!’
Unable to voice the words trapped inside, I trudged along behind the intimidating knight.
“My goodness, young lady!”
A woman rushed over, fussing enthusiastically as she greeted me.
“Had I known you were coming today, I would have gone out to receive you properly, but those useless fools forgot to inform me! You must be terribly cold, aren’t you?”
A warm shawl was immediately draped around my shoulders.
I opened my eyes wide, looking up at the woman.
Brown hair, hazel eyes, a round-faced middle-aged woman with a kind demeanor.
“W-who are you…?”
“I’m Shuria. As you can see, I’m a native of Athos. I know this place better than anyone here.”
“Shuria! Shuria!”
Soldiers passing by cheered her name.
Shuria Alpen.
She was the last heir of a family that had served as caretakers of Mount Athos for generations.
Given how rare women were in this region, her parents had hoped she’d move to the city, but Shuria loved Mount Athos too dearly and instead married Jeto, a native carpenter, settling here permanently.
It was an open secret that several soldiers who harbored unrequited feelings for her shed tears in private on her wedding day.
It had been years since her two sons, both grown, had left for the city.
Having seen a small child after so long, Shuria found the little princess absolutely adorable and didn’t know what to do with herself.
“Come now, warm yourself up with some hot tea and bread.”
Shuria unhesitatingly took my hand and led me along.
Her fussing was so earnest that soldiers rushed ahead on their own, hastily lighting the fireplace in the reception room and beginning to dust.
Soon logs crackled merrily, and the rough wooden table was laid with hot tea, freshly baked bread, wild berry jam, and butter.
While hardly luxurious, the spread radiated warmth and comfort.
“How small you are. Come closer to the fireplace.”
Shuria seated me in the plushest armchair and draped a warm blanket over my lap.
I accepted all of this in bewilderment.
The servants had always been cold or indifferent toward me.
“Should I add a lot of milk? You like sweet things, don’t you?”
“…Yes.”
Shuria hummed cheerfully as she poured warm milk and generous amounts of wild honey, presenting a milk tea that barely carried the scent of tea.
“How is it?”
Princess Melissa carefully took a sip.
Sweet and warm—nothing more than an ordinary taste.
And yet.
“It’s delicious, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll get you more.”
Shuria continued with evident delight.
“I’ve happened to stock quite a lot of delicious things, so I’m relieved I can treat you to them every day. If the food doesn’t suit your palate, please tell me anytime. I’ll prepare something else right away.”
“…It’s delicious. Really.”
Princess Melissa drained every last drop of the sweet milk tea.
Warmth spread even to her fingertips, which had been completely frozen.
“Now let me show you to your room. Your belongings should all be brought in by now.”
The room I was led to by Shuria’s hand once more was small, unremarkable, and utterly ordinary.
Crude wooden furniture, drab wallpaper, and creaking floorboards.
Only the blanket embroidered with a fox and rabbit stood out conspicuously.
Shuria spoke with some embarrassment.
“It must seem far too humble to host a lady, doesn’t it?”
Princess Melissa quickly surveyed the room.
Small but immaculate—not a speck of dust anywhere.
Thick, inviting pajamas laid at the foot of the bed; a delicate bouquet of wildflowers arranged in a glass vase; a glass jar brimming with rustic cookies; and beside it, a wooden rabbit figurine adorned with a clumsy ribbon.
“I like it.”
“Really?”
Shuria’s eyes shone with genuine joy.
Princess Melissa pointed at the wooden figurine.
“What is that?”
“Ah, my husband made it… He’s been so busy that he hasn’t even properly introduced himself to you yet. When he heard you were coming, he worked hard on it in his own way. It’s not very pretty, is it?”
Shuria’s words about how he wasn’t the type to make delicate things and that there were probably many shortcomings for a lady to see faded into a blur.
Princess Melissa walked forward as if entranced and carefully touched the rabbit figurine.
It was far cruder and uglier than the toys piled high in Cardicha Castle and the Cardicha Mansion in the Capital, yet somehow it pleased me far more than all those toys combined.
And.
My eyes stung.
‘I think I’m going to cry… I can’t cry.’
Princess Melissa deliberately hugged the rabbit figurine tightly to hide her reddened eyes and nose from Shuria.
“You like the figurine too?”
Nod, nod.
Watching Shuria’s face brighten instantly, a whirlwind of emotions churned within me.
‘I don’t know… what is this?’
After a long moment of contemplation, Princess Melissa finally found an answer.
It was the feeling of being welcomed.
Without any reason at all.

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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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