The Villainess in the Childcare Story Doesn’t Hide Her Personality - Chapter 49

—————

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

—————

It felt like I’d been struck on the head.
This was already a burden for me, yet I’d nearly asked a mere ten-year-old child to bear it.
A ten-year-old’s greatest hardships should be nothing more than quarrels with friends or scolding from parents for neglecting homework.
“Um, big sister…? Are you angry…?”
I quickly shook my head.
Reassuring Princess Melissa was my immediate priority.
“Not at all. I was just thinking about how to handle this.”
Princess Melissa’s lips trembled.
“I’m… I’m scared… I want my big sister. It would be better if you were here beside me. Sister…”
“…”
My heart ached to rush to Princess Melissa immediately, but unlike wealthy, leisured noble ladies, I had a job I needed to keep.
Taking an extended leave without clear justification would mean my already precarious position would vanish like a mayfly.
“I… I miss Princess Melissa too.”
I didn’t tell the child to stop crying. My own eyes had grown moist at some point.
“But I can’t come see Princess Melissa. I have things I must do here.”
“…You’re busy, aren’t you.”
Princess Melissa nodded.
“But… what should I do now?”
“Just do exactly as I tell you. Then everything will be fine.”
Well, whatever.
“Really?”
“Yes. You know your big sister is clever, don’t you? If you just calmly follow my instructions, everything will work out.”
The child’s crying had stopped at some point.
Instead, Princess Melissa stared wide-eyed at my reflection in the hand mirror.
“Get paper and a pen.”
“Okay.”
Princess Melissa wiped her face roughly with her small hands and disappeared, returning moments later with paper and pen.
“Listen while you write this down. Princess Melissa won’t need to persuade anyone.”
I took a moment to collect myself.
“When your brother gives an order, everyone will follow despite their doubts. So what does Princess Melissa need to do?”
“…Ask my brother to give the order?”
Bingo.
Achilles Cardicha—not Princess Melissa—would take responsibility and proactively solve the problem.
That was the “real solution” I’d devised.
“Exactly.”
I smiled.
“Smart girl, our Princess Melissa.”
“…My mother used to tell me that all the time! She said I’m smart like her, so if I just work hard on my workbooks, everything will be fine. But I didn’t really do my workbooks well…”
“That’s okay. Doing well at this right now is better than solving a hundred workbook pages.”
I explained everything to Princess Melissa, one step at a time.
How to persuade Achilles Cardicha, how to demonstrate it, how to explain away my knowledge of all this—I had to think through every detail.
Since this was my only chance, I explained everything meticulously.
I made sure to tell Princess Melissa to ask if there was anything she didn’t understand.
Fortunately, the child seemed to grasp it all far more easily than I’d expected.
And Princess Melissa had written it all down…
‘In Hangul, no less.’
Even if someone discovered it, they would assume it was nothing more than the child’s meaningless scribbles.
I impressed upon Princess Melissa most earnestly.
“You can’t tell anyone about what I said. It has to be your own idea. Do you understand?”
“Why…?”
Princess Melissa seemed utterly confused.
“But you told me everything… Everyone would be grateful to you.”
A bitter smile rose unbidden. How wonderful it would be if the world were as simple and clear as it existed in this innocent child’s mind.
A commoner bureaucrat who has never set foot in Athos, proposing such a brilliant scheme?
In a field that isn’t even my area of expertise.
‘No, this should all be credited to the Cardicha siblings.’
If they learned these were my ideas, there would be many quick to object first and ask questions later.
They would question how to trust the word of an Imperial Bureaucrat.
Above all, if Achilles Cardicha discovered my involvement in this matter…
‘Ugh, it’s best to avoid suspicion of being a puppet master.’
I spoke in a stern voice.
“Either way, you can’t. Please do this for me, Princess Melissa.”
“Okay… I’ll do whatever you want, sister. You’re so much smarter than me.”
I looked down at the memo Princess Melissa had written so carefully.
Beads of perspiration dotted the bridge of the child’s nose as she concentrated deeply.
“Sister… if I just do it exactly like this, that’s right, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
In truth, I had no certainty, but I had to give the child certainty.
That was the only way success was possible.
“Just do it exactly as planned. You trust me, don’t you?”
“Yes!”
For the first time, a bright smile bloomed across Princess Melissa’s face.
* * *
Princess Melissa Cardicha.
The precious younger sister of the formidable Grand Duke Cardicha.
The most noble lady in the Northern Territory.
…The moment the hand mirror went dark, this ten-year-old child bearing all those titles burst into tears.
“T-Tessa sister… *sob*, *sob*…”
Her crying spiraled beyond her control.
‘My dad used to call me a crybaby too.’
My teacher said third grade was the year when older sisters got younger siblings in first and second grade, so I had to be more mature.
But Princess Melissa cried far more easily than other children.
She was naturally timid, disliked anything unfamiliar, and clung to her parents like glue.
Still, I had to hold back now.
I didn’t want to disappoint Tessa.
I hated seeing her face harden every time I cried.
I wanted to make her smile.
‘I wish she could be proud of me.’
To make that happen, I had to complete everything she’d asked of me.
‘It’s scary, but… I can do this. Because she said so. I can do this.’
【Princess Melissa can do this. Princess Melissa is strong.】
【Me… strong?】
【That’s right. If I’d been thrust into an unfamiliar world like you when I was in elementary school, I would have cried and run away long ago.】
【B-but Princess Melissa ran away a lot too.】
【But you were managing fine even before you met me. As Princess Melissa Cardicha.】
【…】
【I can’t save anyone. Only Princess Melissa can save everyone. You and your brother working together—that’s how people get saved.】
【…I’ll try.】
Most importantly, I’d made a promise with my sister.
That I’d see it through.
‘I’m g-going to do this!’
Princess Melissa approached the wash basin and splashed water on her face, then scrubbed it dry with a soft towel. She changed into fresh clothes from the wardrobe all by herself.
Other noble children always had servants help them, but for Princess Melissa, doing it alone was far easier.
‘Adults only need to help babies. I’m not a baby.’
Ten years old.
Even at school, there were many younger siblings in first and second grade.
The teacher said that from third grade onward, you were an older sister.
‘So I have to do well. I can do this!’

—————

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

—————