The Villainess in the Childcare Story Doesn’t Hide Her Personality - Chapter 53

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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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The road to Beiretz Duchy Mansion had become quite familiar to me by now.
Familiar enough that I could recite the route without even looking.
From a distance, the ornate main gate came into view, and beyond the tree-lined avenue where ancient giants spread their canopies, the imposing mansion finally came into sight.
Of course, duty took precedence, so I’d never paid much attention to that ancient tree, which must have stood for a century or more.
But then.
‘What on earth?’
The carriage suddenly came to a halt, and hearing the commotion outside, I leaned out the window to witness a sight that made me question my own eyes.
Perched precariously atop the towering tree—a good dozen meters high—sat a boy who looked to be about ten years old, swinging his legs carelessly over the edge.
“Young Master Cedric! This is dangerous. Please come down. Please?”
“No, Governess.”
While the Governess looked positively ashen, the boy remained utterly composed.
“Even if my magical abilities lag behind my older brother’s, I’m skilled enough not to die from a fall.”
“Please don’t say such things, Young Master…!”
“Why not? It’s the truth, isn’t it?”
The boy let out a scoff.
“I’m weaker than a common girl who’s never even been near the Mage Tower in her entire life.”
The boy’s identity was easy enough to discern.
Cedric Beiretz.
The youngest son of the Duke and Duchess, barely eleven years old, he was portrayed in the novel as particularly rebellious.
‘He looks exactly like Fabian…’
Unlike his kind older brother—currently away on knight duties—or his second brother, who had virtually no presence, Cedric had always been hostile toward Estella.
It was hardly surprising; he’d lost not only his position as the youngest but also his parents’ affection to a sister two years his junior.
The greater tragedy was that the Duke and Duchess had never lavished upon any of their sons the love they poured upon Estella.
In the novel, Estella suffered greatly because of Cedric’s hostility, and in her desire to help him, she overextended herself and was gravely injured.
After that, the plot followed its predictable course.
Moved by Estella’s sincerity and wracked with guilt over her injuries, Cedric became as devoted a brother as Fabian himself…
‘I hope things don’t unfold as they did in the original story.’
Estella’s serious injury was troubling enough, but it left deep scars on Cedric as well.
And a reconciliation born from such trauma was the last thing I wanted to see happen.
With that thought, I couldn’t simply pass by.
“Since you seem so reluctant to come down, the view must be quite something from up there?”
I asked in a calm tone, and Cedric turned to stare at me in surprise.
“Who are you?”
“Vice Director Tessa Harrington of the Child Protection Bureau. One could say that the welfare of the young master falls within my purview as well.”
Cedric’s reaction was immediate.
“You’re that bureaucrat who brought that common girl here! Get lost!”
Several sharp ice shards materialized in the air and plummeted directly toward me.
A few went wide, but one grazed dangerously close to my earlobe.
I didn’t even blink.
I’d encountered plenty of mages like this during my time at the Finance Ministry—those who harbored grudges simply because I’d reduced their funding allocations when they failed to meet performance targets.
‘Hardly worth comparing.’
Unlike those who harbored genuine murderous intent, this boy meant me no harm.
In other words.
‘He’s just a frightened puppy, yelping and shrieking at everything.’
The solution was simple.
Without hesitation, I began climbing the tree.
“What—what are you doing!”
Cedric Beiretz cried out in alarm. The Duke’s Mansion servants stood frozen in confusion, but mercifully, they made no move to stop me.
‘Fortunate that the official robes are more mobile than they appear.’
The hem was somewhat cumbersome, but still far more practical than a conventional dress.
As Vice Director, I had the privilege of choosing my own attire, and I’d grown accustomed to wearing these robes as everyday clothing—never imagining they’d prove so useful now.
‘This is more manageable than I expected.’
To graduate top of the Imperial Academy, one’s physical education scores had to be exemplary as well.
I’d scaled smooth iron pillars before; climbing an enormous tree was well within my capabilities.
‘All those complaints about the curriculum, yet everything finds its purpose.’
Indeed, a proper education proves invaluable.
As I reached the tree’s midpoint, Cedric Beiretz descended into near-panic, his voice rising sharply.
“Why—why are you coming up here…!”
I fixed him with a steady gaze.
“Since you wouldn’t come down, I wondered if there was something worthwhile up here.”
“Don’t lie!”
Cedric Beiretz shouted.
“You’re trying to force me down! I won’t come down. Nobody cares about me anyway!”
Nobody cares about him—hardly.
Yet I couldn’t counter with ‘Then what about all these people gathered here?’
It would only worsen the situation.
As I continued climbing in silence.
Crack. A branch snapped beneath my weight. Cedric Beiretz gasped, his body tensing.
‘The higher I go, the weaker the branches become.’
I’d reached a considerable height now. An eleven-year-old boy with his light frame could ascend without difficulty, but I’d arrived at a precarious point where the branches barely supported an adult’s weight.
“Don’t come up here! If you fall—!”
Enough.
I lowered my head, concealing my rising smile, and replied in a grave tone.
“A fall from this height won’t kill me.”
“You’ll still get hurt!”
Now Cedric Beiretz was nearly shrieking.
“True. The same applies to you, doesn’t it?”
“I can use magic. You can’t!”
“I find that hard to believe.”
I tilted my head quizzically.
“A spell that keeps you safe even when falling from a great height? Where on earth would you find such magic?”
“Wh-what a foolish woman…!”
Oh, this is rather irritating.
I’d heard all manner of insults before, but being called “foolish” was a first for me.
“Magic that defies Mirata’s thirty-seven fundamental laws of physics cannot be applied to the caster themselves… isn’t that the Fifth Principle of Zendal?”
“How do you know that?”
“One ought to grasp basic magical theory as common knowledge.”
In truth, I’d learned it out of necessity—to better understand mages.
But the innocent young master of the Beiretz Mansion, unaware of this fact, gazed up at me with undisguised admiration.
“You can’t even cast magic, yet you’ve studied magical theory.”
“Yes. Which is why I know you’re lying right now. Could it be that you’re afraid to come down, so you’re staying put?”
“…”
Silence.
It seemed I’d struck a nerve.
I fell into thought for a moment.
I could probably manage to climb near the top, but I had no confidence in descending with the boy.
“What if you transformed the tree itself to come down?”
“Transform the tree itself…?”
“Yes. If you’ve learned transmutation magic, it should be possible.”
“I have learned it.”
Cedric Beiretz’s voice sounded deeply dejected.
“But I can’t transform something this large. I’m not a great mage like my older brother.”
“That’s…”
I’d only opened my mouth to console him, but Cedric Beiretz suddenly began to whimper.
“Go ahead and mock me. Mock me!”

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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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