The Villainess in the Childcare Story Doesn’t Hide Her Personality - Chapter 87

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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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“Do I need qualifications to attend my sister’s tea party?”
“…Estella is a good child.”
Fabian Beiretz didn’t say anything more, but what those words meant was painfully obvious.
‘He’s saying he himself is not good.’
So was Fabian Beiretz truly a good person?
I couldn’t say for certain.
But one thing was clear.
He was not someone unfit to attend Estella’s tea party.
“You said you’d tell me about Ariel’s condition. How is she progressing?”
“She’s recovered considerably, I’m told.”
Fabian Beiretz’s gaze drifted into empty space once more.
“I have things I want to ask her directly… but I can’t bring myself to face her.”
“Why? Because you feel you lack the qualifications?”
Fabian Beiretz laughed bitterly.
“No. In this case, it’s more accurate to say I’m afraid of receiving punishment.”
“…Punishment?”
“Because it was all my fault for being insufficient.”
Where should I even begin to point out the flaw in that logic?
Ariel had been a “scapegoat” since Fabian Beiretz was in his early teens.
After that, there were countless opportunities for her to escape, but she never took them.
She refused to let anyone else experience that horrific nightmare.
“You didn’t know.”
“I could have known. If I’d been more suspicious, if I’d mingled more with the other apprentices… I could have gotten her out long ago.”
Fabian Beiretz looked utterly anguished. His normally clear blue eyes had become completely clouded, and his hands clenched his knees as if inflicting punishment upon himself.
My heart sank.
I never thought he was someone who could crumble like this.
“…Unlike the Vice Director, you see. The Vice Director spent only a few days in the Mage Tower and still found Ariel.”
“I was fortunate.”
“You were suspicious. I too saw all those documents… but found nothing. Even though I could have saved Ariel long ago.”
If I were to describe Fabian Beiretz’s voice by taste, it would be like bitter medicinal powder.
A harsh, acrid bitterness—as if torturing himself.
“And the fact that the young apprentices underwent training close to torture, I truly didn’t notice even when I saw those children….”
I suddenly understood.
Fabian Beiretz genuinely believed that all of this had happened because of his own shortcomings.
‘Once a thought hardens, it’s difficult to change.’
Whatever I said in this moment would only sound like a comforting lie.
“Let’s go.”
It was because of the spring weather.
Thinking that, I impulsively spoke again.
“…Where to, exactly?”
“I’m going to visit Ariel. You said you couldn’t go alone, right? So when I said I’d go, come with me.”
I smiled warmly at Fabian Beiretz, who had lifted his head in surprise.
It was what I called the ‘smile I wear when I want to lift the spirits of a tunnel-digging Mage Tower Master.’
* * *
The carriage came to a stop at the Quiet Villa on Capital Outskirts.
A modest fence, a meticulously maintained garden, and large windows that let in abundant sunlight—it resembled a resort more than a medical facility.
‘A pleasant place.’
The interior of the villa was much the same.
Thanks to its warm and gentle atmosphere, it felt less like a hospital and more like a well-appointed home.
“This way, Mage Tower Master.”
The Doctor employed by the Beiretz Family stopped before a door.
After knocking and opening it, the room inside was remarkably serene.
Beside Ariel, who lay buried deep in slumber beneath thick quilts on an enormous bed, sat a familiar face at the bedside, reading a book and nodding off.
“…Mia?”
Mia startled and lifted her head.
“Oh, Bureaucrat…!”
She too appeared to be undergoing treatment, dressed in patient’s garments with her hair tied up in a neat knot.
Yet despite her appearance, her complexion was far healthier than when I had last seen her at the Mage Tower.
“M-Mage Tower Master?!”
Mia was utterly flustered at the sight of Fabian Beiretz entering behind me.
Perhaps the commotion had been too much.
Ariel rubbed her eyes with her gaunt hand and sat up.
“…!”
The moment Ariel’s eyes fell upon Fabian Beiretz and me, they lit up instantly.
“Bureaucrat… and you must be the new Mage Tower Master.”
Fabian Beiretz’s response was immediate.
“I apologize.”
He approached Ariel at once and knelt beside her bed.
“I am… woefully inadequate, no… it is entirely my fault.”
A dazed expression crossed Ariel’s face.
Even looking at Fabian Beiretz now, she seemed to doubt whether this was truly real.
…Admittedly, it would be difficult for anyone to believe if a Mage Tower Master suddenly knelt before them.
But Fabian Beiretz continued speaking.
“You may have heard, but the Mage Tower is completely finished. In a month, it will be dismantled and disappear without a trace. Of course, even this is far too insufficient…”
“Wait a moment.”
Ariel spoke in a small voice.
“Why do you say it’s insufficient? I haven’t wanted anything.”
“Do you not desire revenge?”
Fabian Beiretz’s voice grew firm.
“I have apprehended all those involved and am ensuring they face appropriate punishment. I have captured all those who fled, and now only those whose existence I myself overlooked remain.”
“Mage Tower Master.”
Ariel gazed at Fabian Beiretz with sorrowful eyes.
“What I wanted wasn’t revenge.”
“…?”
“What I wanted was for the children to stop suffering. And now that it’s happened… I think that’s enough for me.”
Ariel’s face as she spoke those words looked remarkably unburdened.
In fact, it even seemed as though she pitied Fabian Beiretz.
“So… please stop blaming yourself now. It’s unsightly.”
With those words, Ariel buried her head in the pillow once more, turning her back completely away from us, as if further conversation was beyond her strength.
Soon, watching her shoulders rise and fall with ragged breathing, she appeared to have fallen into a deep sleep brought on by the aftereffects of her ordeal.
I carefully left the room without disturbing Ariel’s rest.
Just as I was about to return with Fabian Beiretz.
“O-Official!”
Mia hurried out of the hospital room after me, grabbing my arm urgently.
“…Th-that time, the w-watch and stationery… you b-bought for us.”
Mia seemed quite nervous, her words continuing to stammer.
“Hmm?”
“…That was all for Ariel.”
The gears in my mind began to turn slowly, clicking into place.
“My sister said she felt so frustrated not knowing the time. Since I could only visit at set times each day… the stationery was so we could have short written conversations.”
Her small voice continued softly.
“So, I… am truly, truly grateful.”
Mia bowed her head deeply. Her small shoulders trembled slightly.
A hollow ache bloomed in my chest.
‘…So that’s what it meant.’
I had suspected as much to some degree.
But imagining it and actually hearing it were entirely different things.
“My sister kept the watch, and I’ll keep the stationery. So… I wanted to say thank you.”
“….”
My throat tightened.
I thought I understood what the child truly wanted to say.
The stationery and the watch—we never even had the chance to use them before Fabian Beiretz burst in and everything was exposed. What good were they now?
And yet, what Mia truly wanted to say was….
‘Thank you for caring about us, for not dismissing what we had to say.’
This ‘scapegoat’ had certainly begun from malice. Ignorance and indifference had allowed that malice to flourish unchecked.
“I’m the one who should thank you, Mia.”
“W-what do you mean?”
Mia looked genuinely bewildered.
“You had the courage to communicate with Ariel while avoiding the other apprentices’ eyes. It was your courage that allowed me to save her.”
And what overcomes malice is, in the end, courage.

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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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