The Villainess in the Childcare Story Doesn’t Hide Her Personality - Chapter 5

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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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I quickly racked my brain.
Was there similar content in “Black Five Murders”?
‘I don’t remember a thing.’
It couldn’t be helped. No matter how famous “Black Five Murders” was, I’d only read it once like any other work and moved on.
“Princess Melissa.”
Grand Duke Cardicha called to Princess Melissa without further explanation.
“Don’t impose any more on Vice Director Harrington.”
I swallowed hard.
One thing was certain.
Grand Duke Cardicha didn’t dislike Princess Melissa or feel indifferent toward her.
If he did, his entire face wouldn’t have contorted with the relief that surged through him the moment he saw her.
‘But…’
Good intentions didn’t always lead to good outcomes.
Even if Grand Duke Cardicha cherished his younger sister as family, Princess Melissa was so terrified of her brother that she remained hidden behind me—a stranger she’d met for the first time today—rather than approaching him.
And that blunt tone of his.
‘There’s definitely a problem.’
If things continued this way, the trajectory of their relationship was painfully obvious.
Given the age gap and circumstances, they would only drift further apart.
‘I absolutely cannot let this happen.’
Even if Grand Duke Cardicha weren’t the mastermind pushing the empire toward ruin, I couldn’t have turned away from Princess Melissa.
She had awakened in a completely different body, a completely different world.
Having lost her mother, her father, and Choco all at once.
She would never be able to return.
‘This child needs me.’
I gently pried Princess Melissa’s right hand away from where she’d been gripping my skirt so painfully, and instead held it firmly in mine.
The child’s small hand was damp with cold sweat.
‘…What are these adults doing to this poor child?’
I looked directly at Grand Duke Cardicha and opened my mouth.
“I happened to meet Princess Melissa. And for reasons I cannot explain, she seemed to feel a great sense of intimacy toward me.”
“…Let’s talk outside.”
I barely managed to soothe the whimpering Princess Melissa before obediently following Grand Duke Cardicha out.
Grand Duke Cardicha shut the door with a bang and fixed me with a piercing glare.
“What exactly did you do?”
I’d anticipated this situation, but it was far more menacing than I’d imagined.
“The Princess is going through a very difficult time. So, though it may be presumptuous, I found myself concerned for her. It was only out of care for her sake, so I hope you’ll be understanding.”
“That’s a completely different answer from what I asked. I clearly asked what you did.”
“I simply listened to what the Princess had to say.”
I expressed as politely as possible the sentiment of ‘if you’d just listened to your own sister’s story, things wouldn’t have come to this, you fool,’ but it fell on deaf ears.
“There’s no way it’s just that simple.”
The Grand Duke openly dismissed my words.
“Over the years, I’ve brought in every renowned nanny, tutor, and even academy professor the Empire has to offer. Yet not a single one captured Princess Melissa’s heart.”
He stepped toward me with deliberate strides.
“And yet some commoner—who might well be a vagrant for all we know—shows up to the Duke’s Mansion ball in a dress barely fit to wear, and somehow manages to win Princess Melissa’s affection?”
Cold marble pressed against my back.
Before I could react, Grand Duke Cardicha had backed me methodically against the wall, closing the distance until I had no choice but to look up at him from mere inches away.
A peculiar scent reached my nostrils.
It was cold and unfamiliar—a metallic fragrance that seemed to have seeped into his very being from prolonged contact with steel.
My stomach churned.
Was it excitement?
No.
It was primal fear!
Every instinct screamed at me to flee, yet the situation left me no such option.
‘This can’t be…’
Had I unknowingly planted a death flag for myself?
Wasn’t it standard practice for the hidden mastermind of a romance novel to casually dispose of extras like insects?
And I was precisely that—the most expendable of extras!
If he chose to eliminate me here, who would even care?
Director McGuffin would merely tsk in disapproval.
My colleagues at the Finance Ministry would probably cheer.
The Grand Duke’s shadow now completely engulfed me as he closed the remaining distance.
My eyes darted frantically until they caught sight of his hand braced against the wall.
It was pale and bloodless, yet radiating controlled power.
A single misstep with that strength, and my life would vanish in an instant.
A moment of absolute crisis.
I should have been begging for my life, and yet…
‘This is so unfair!’
What possible reason could justify this threat?
I had merely comforted his weeping sister—was this how he repaid kindness, by radiating murderous intent?
In the end, the words I’d only been thinking tumbled out.
“Have you ever truly listened to what your sister has to say, Your Highness?”
“…?”
For the first time, confusion flickered across Grand Duke Cardicha’s eyes, which had been burning with killing intent.
Though only barely.
‘Is this actually… working?’
I was beginning to understand what kind of person Grand Duke Cardicha truly was.
I continued speaking without allowing fear or panic to show on my face.
“Princess Melissa is lonely. Everyone reveres her, but no one truly listens to what she says.”
“…Don’t presume to understand everything after exchanging a few words with my sister.”
I smiled.
Fully.
With triumphant confidence.
“Then, Your Highness Grand Duke Cardicha, do you know Princess Melissa well? Enough to be certain my words are wrong?”
“Hmph.”
Grand Duke Cardicha stepped back, yet his piercing gaze—sharp enough to see through a person’s soul—never left me.
Several seconds passed.
A silence that felt like an eternity stretched between us.
It was Grand Duke Cardicha who looked away first.
He stared briefly toward the door where Melissa waited, then turned his gaze back to me.
His eyes had softened, just slightly.
“I’ll give you a chance. If you truly understand Melissa well, and if you truly care for her….”
It was strange.
I should have been afraid… but I wasn’t.
Because his threatening voice sounded like that of someone desperately seeking help.
“Prove it.”
* * *
“Y-you’re really going to make fried rice for me?”
“Of course.”
I smiled broadly at Melissa.
The first weekend after the ball had ended.
I found myself staying at the Grand Duke’s Villa in the Capital alongside Melissa.
Fortunately, the Grand Duke had agreed to my request—to send away all the servants and leave just Melissa and me alone together.
Though his eyes still held suspicion, when Melissa made her earnest plea, he seemed unable to refuse.
“You’ve brought such precious rice; I must prepare it properly.”
“U-um… I was trying to explain, but no one could make it. They just scolded me for asking them to make strange food….”
Well, that made sense.
In this world, rice was treated as an extraordinarily luxurious ingredient, consumed only in the form of rice pudding.
The form of “rice” that Melissa had described would be difficult for them to imagine.
“How can I make rice without a rice cooker?”
“A pot will do.”
‘Now that I think about it, it’s been ages since I last cooked rice.’
In the first year or two after possessing this body, I’d desperately missed home and Korean food, frantically making similar dishes.
But after that, I was too busy surviving to cook at all.
Even during those years when I cooked diligently, I’d never actually made fried rice before.
I wondered if proper fried rice could even be born from this… but well, somehow it would work out.
‘What matters is getting closer to Melissa.’
In truth, even though Melissa had desperately approached me that day, our relationship couldn’t yet be called close.
Melissa had tried so hard to make a good impression on me.
Making promises she couldn’t possibly keep.
Just like right now.
“I’m really going to become good. Really… I’ll study hard too.”
“You don’t have to try so hard. You don’t have to be good.”
I chopped at the scallions with more force, my response sharp.
The sound of the blade striking the cutting board seemed to grow louder—or perhaps that was merely my imagination.
“But….”
Princess Melissa watched my expression carefully.
“If I’m not good, you’ll leave me too. Just like the other sisters and brothers, the aunts and uncles….”
“Sisters and brothers?”
“Yeah. The Count’s daughter sister…. But she said she’d never seen anyone as strange as me and left. The professor who came after that did the same…. He called me an idiot.”
…My hand holding the knife trembled involuntarily.
Thwack, tap-tap-tap, thwack.
Unable to embrace the child, I brought the blade down upon the scallions with even greater violence.
…I deceived myself, blaming the onions for the redness creeping into my eyes.
The moment the fried rice was finished, Princess Melissa’s eyes widened in wonder.
“It’s real fried rice.”
“Then what would be fake?”
Princess Melissa continued to stare at the fried rice with round eyes, chattering away.
“I… really, really love fried rice. At the Chinese restaurant, I only ever order fried rice. Father used to tease me all the time, saying he’d steal the shrimp….”
Princess Melissa lowered her head and took a spoonful of fried rice, then fell silent.
After a long moment, Princess Melissa suddenly spoke.
“But Father always gave me the shrimp from his own fried rice.”
“….”
My throat tightened.
The child had not been yearning for fried rice at all—she had been longing for the memories of family shared around the table.
‘What was I thinking, making this.’
I should have simply served ordinary food like pasta or stew, and spent the time drawing pictures or solving puzzles together.
Now that I thought about it, that would have been the better way to grow closer.
‘…I shouldn’t have made a dish that stirred up memories of a place she can never return to.’
It was then.
“But….”
Princess Melissa spoke through tears.
“Your fried rice tastes better. Really….”

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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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