The Villainess in the Childcare Story Doesn’t Hide Her Personality - Chapter 89

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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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My expression must have been too transparent, because Samuel McGarvin picked up his glasses again and settled them on the bridge of his nose.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“I… beg your pardon?”
“That expression that says just because I’m offering to help, my mind hasn’t suddenly gone addled.”
That was precisely the expression I’d been wearing.
“I wasn’t making any such expression.”
“You were.”
Samuel McGarvin shrugged.
“People live longer when they try things they don’t normally do.”
Isn’t it the opposite?
While I held my tongue, Samuel McGarvin casually snatched the parchment I’d been preparing to send as a reply to the Imperial Magic Society.
“I’m taking this with me.”
“Wait!”
I instinctively reached for the parchment.
“I wrote that.”
“Exactly why I’m taking it, Vice Director.”
Samuel McGarvin’s hand was far quicker. He pulled the parchment toward himself and scanned it line by line with his eyes.
“…Huh.”
A deflated sound escaped him.
“What is it?”
I answered irritably.
“If you’re going to criticize, do it quickly.”
“It’s not that… It’s impressive. Truly.”
Samuel McGarvin let out a series of hollow laughs.
“Can a single sheet of parchment really bludgeon someone this thoroughly? The moment the Magic Society receives this, the Association President will leap from his chair and bolt from the room.”
“That’s exactly what I intended.”
“Which is precisely why I’m taking it.”
Samuel McGarvin folded the parchment neatly.
“I’ll reorganize this under my name and send it instead. It’s better for you if I add a bit more… administrative flavor to what goes to the Association.”
“That sounds like it would irritate them even more.”
I know from experience.
Official documents twisted with bureaucratic flourishes are far more infuriating.
“I appreciate your understanding.”
Samuel McGarvin looked rather pleased with himself.
‘But really, this person…’
I regarded Samuel McGarvin with a somewhat bewildered expression. Was this truly the same man who, not long ago, had done everything in his power to protect his own interests?
‘Though I suppose it is a positive change…’
This way, only two people in the Child Protection Bureau would be marked as troublemakers.
‘Well, what does it matter?’
Strangely, a corner of my heart felt lighter.
I couldn’t fathom a solution to Fabian’s monsterification, and despite having my life threatened by him, the pressure to assist with the Mage Tower’s restructuring remained unrelenting.
The Imperial Magic Society would certainly not remain idle even after receiving Samuel McGarvin’s response.
Yet at least within this office, I didn’t have to shoulder every responsibility alone—that fact alone brought me considerable reassurance.
“Don’t take the rumors so seriously.”
Samuel McGarvin casually stuffed the parchment into his desk drawer as he spoke.
“Aren’t these rumors born from your own excellence? Enjoy them.”
“…I’ll try my best.”
“Not try—enjoy them.”
“Yes, sir.”
I gave a brief acknowledgment while sighing inwardly. Of all people, it was Samuel McGarvin who continued to look after me.
I still couldn’t quite get used to it.
Though perhaps I shouldn’t.
‘…Let’s just count today as a stroke of good fortune.’
With that thought, I reached for my pen once more.
The office door suddenly burst open with a bang.
“Tessa Onni!”
I blinked.
These two strikingly similar figures approaching with flowing pink hair were…
“Duke Montina, Your Grace?”
“That’s right, Montina.”
Duke Montina announced herself with confident authority.
“Cici was so desperate to see the Vice Director that we came by. Why are you never here when we visit?”
“My apologies. I’ve had many business trips lately… Cici, it’s been so long!”
I broke into a broad smile toward Cici.
The child waved her hands at me with all her might.
“Tessa Onni!”
Older sister…?
I regarded Cici with an awkward expression.
While it was certainly pleasant to hear, in good conscience, I felt I should be hearing “aunt” rather than “older sister” given our age difference.
“Onni, I missed you!”
“You say, ‘I missed you,’ like this.”
I gently corrected Cici.
“I missed you!”
“Well done, Cici.”
I smiled warmly. In that short span of time, Cici’s speech had improved remarkably.
‘I’m grateful her recovery is progressing so well.’
Perhaps it was because she was the youngest, or perhaps it was because she had reunited with her mother, who had desperately searched for her since infancy.
Compared to Estelana, who initially couldn’t properly accept the Duke and Duchess, and Timothy, who remained painfully timid even now, Cici’s recovery was astonishingly swift.
‘She might grow up a bit spoiled later on.’
I lifted Cici into my arms as she kicked her legs, asking to be held, and pondered this thought.
‘But she’s still so young… it wouldn’t hurt to indulge her a little.’
She was only six years old.
When love was scarce, she’d endured countless hardships, drifting between orphanages.
It was only right for an adult to accept such childish whims.
Cici pressed her lips against my cheek with a soft kiss.
“Tessa unnie! Cici likes you.”
I couldn’t overcome the pangs of conscience pricking at me, so I asked gently.
“Is it alright if I call you that too?”
Cici answered without hesitation.
“Pretty people all call Cici unnie, Mama said so.”
“…That doesn’t seem quite right.”
By that logic, Duke Montina would be the one calling me unnie.
“Can’t Cici call you unnie? Cici really likes it….”
But how could I resist the child’s dejected expression?
“Call me whatever you want, Cici. I’m fine with anything.”
“Mm, unnie!”
Cici beamed with delight.
Her cheeks flushed rosy, as if two small apples had been pressed into her face.
The shaggy-haired child who had wept and refused the carriage when we first met was nowhere to be found.
‘…I never imagined I’d hear myself called unnie like this.’
While I was absorbed in Cici, Duke Montina cleared her throat.
“Ahem.”
Duke Montina made a deliberate sound.
Only then did I come to my senses and lift my head.
So captivated by Cici, I’d momentarily forgotten Duke Montina’s very presence.
“My apologies, Your Grace.”
“Apologies? When you care for our Cici so dearly, what apology is needed?”
She was hardly one to talk.
The Duke’s eyes gazing at Cici overflowed with affection.
“But there’s another reason I’ve come today.”
“Another reason… Your Grace?”
“Actually, Cici’s birthday is in a fortnight. I’ve come to invite the Vice Director to the celebration.”
The Duke withdrew a small envelope from her breast pocket and handed it to me.
With silver foil adorning its edges and gold thread embroidered across it, the silk envelope felt refined the moment I held it.
As I carefully opened the envelope, my fingertips trembled slightly.
It wasn’t because of the envelope’s expense, naturally.
‘An invitation to Cici’s birthday celebration.’
The first birthday party invitation for a child who had acted like a wild beast when we first met, reluctant to open her heart.
I withdrew the card enclosed in the envelope, and the brilliant silver date caught my eye.
May 25th.
I froze in place for a moment.
‘…Wait.’
It was my birthday.
That is to say.
Not Tessa Harrington’s birthday.
My birthday—from before I fell into this world.

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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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