Villain Family’s Strongest Butler - Chapter 22

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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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Episode 25

“So to sum it up in one sentence—you snuck into the World Tree Corridor, stole fruit that had fallen on the ground, and ate it?”
At my words, the furry creature immediately protested as if deeply wronged.
[Stole? I only ate what was left there for me to eat!]
“…….”
Well, there was no point applying human standards to a beast with fur. Best to let it go.
Still, the fruit this creature ate didn’t seem to be ordinary fruit at all…….
‘More importantly, it’s saying it ate fruit inside the World Tree Corridor and then ran all the way to the Imperial Palace Temple.’
The World Tree Corridor was located in the Hertia Mountain Range at the empire’s northern frontier.
Ever since Demon Beasts began appearing around the World Tree, the temple had required special management, and people stopped visiting long ago.
Entering that place, stealing something and leaving, then traveling all that distance to the Imperial Palace Temple—none of it was easy.
‘Of course, I don’t know when exactly it ate the fruit.’
I looked at the furry creature with questioning eyes and asked again.
“Besides the fruit, what else did you pick up and eat?”
The furry creature flinched, startled.
[How did you know?!]
“…….”
The creature gave a small cough before continuing.
[I didn’t exactly pick anything up, but I was so hungry I nibbled on some leaves too.]
And drank some water that flowed around the corridor.
“……I see.”
Quite the thorough sampling, then.
‘So it basically ate everything in the corridor that was edible?’
A greedy little cat.
From ancient times, the World Tree Corridor had been known as a mystical place.
It had only been sealed off now that the World Tree was dying, but when the World Tree once flourished, people would travel to the corridor seeking to cure ailments or ward off misfortune.
People had even begun purchasing the tree’s leaves and bark, and eventually the water that flowed through the corridor itself.
‘The fact that Tree Sap sells for a fortune says it all.’
In any case, after eating the World Tree Fruit, the furry creature had apparently gained the ability to understand human speech and even mimic it.
Though it hadn’t actually met any humans who understood what it was saying.
[When I went in, the World Tree was lush and verdant. The fallen fruit was fresh, and the water flowing through the corridor was clear.]
Though by now it must all be withered.
‘Wait.’
If it entered and ate the fruit before the World Tree withered——
‘That means at least ten years have passed.’
I asked the furry creature.
“How old are you?”
[Hmm.]
The creature thought for quite a while, then tilted its head and answered simply.
[I’m not sure?]
The furry creature grinned broadly.
“…….”
I’d thought it was clearly a kitten based on its size alone.
Even the veterinarian Renda had only said it was an adult, without knowing its exact age.
‘It’s probably older than it looks.’
I was thinking this while observing the furry creature when——
[But.]
It sniffed my hand, pressing its nose against the back of it.
“What are you doing?”
[You smell nice.]
“That’s because I bathe every day, unlike some others.”
[I bathe every day too! I mean, you smell like that fruit I ate back then.]
“The fruit you ate?”
[Yes, that fruit I ate in the World Tree Corridor.]
“……Is that so?”
I lifted my hand to my nose and sniffed. Sniff, sniff.
‘I don’t smell anything.’
I was tilting my head in confusion when the fur ball spoke.
[So I just live here and eat and sleep from now on?]
“…….”
I slowly folded my arms and regarded the delighted fur ball with a cool gaze.
“Right. Fur ball. If I let you eat and sleep here, what exactly can you do for me?”
[It’s not fur ball, it’s Star, I told you?!]
“Your name doesn’t matter right now.”
[Huh?]
The fur ball looked up at me with an expression of bewilderment. I spoke firmly.
“I didn’t pick up some shameless freeloader of a cat just so I could support it for nothing.”
Shameless freeloader?! The fur ball bristled.
[I’m a great cat, thank you very much!]
I nodded with a listless expression.
“Right. So this great cat can do what exactly, besides shrieking and yowling?”
[I can speak human language! There’s no other cat in the world that can talk like I do?!]
“True enough. But I’m the only one who understands what you’re saying.”
[…….]
“By that logic, doesn’t that make me the greater one?”
[Grrr!]
The fur ball trembled with indignation.
[What do you even want from me?!]
I let out a low chuckle.
‘There’s no such thing as a free meal in this world, great fur ball.’

***

—”Look at the lid here. Down on the right. See the small letters?”
—”Yes. I see them. ……Initials, aren’t they?”
—”That’s right. We put both our initials in. Hehe, and between our initials, what’s this?”
—”……A heart?”
—”Exactly!”
Giggle, giggle.
“…….”
I woke to the sound of a girl’s laughter.
I had been dreaming again.
“Ugh, my head…….”
I pressed my forehead and sat up in bed.
‘Whenever I dream, my head throbs as if it’s about to split.’
My head ached, and my chest felt tight. I poured water into a cup and gulped it down, but the suffocating feeling in my chest wouldn’t ease.
Then.
[Master. Did you have a nightmare?]
“…….”
I turned my head sharply toward the sound.
It was the fur ball.
“……Oh, right. You’re here.”
[……That’s quite rude, Master.]
I had forgotten. That I’d picked up a cat from the Imperial Palace Temple.
“I’ve never shared a room with anyone before.”
[Am I your first?]
“You are.”
Hmm. The fur ball hummed contentedly.
“But why are you on the bed?”
The fur ball wasn’t on the cushion on the floor, but had climbed up onto the bed. Curled into a tight ball right beside my pillow, it glanced sideways at me and spoke.
[This spot is warmer and more comfortable. And you smell nice.]
As it spoke, the fur ball kept its rounded form and swished the tip of its tail back and forth.
There it was again—that smell business.
Ever since yesterday, the fur ball had kept saying I smelled good.
I looked down at the fur ball with a skeptical eye.
‘This creature isn’t actually a cat at all, is it?’
Could it be the cub of some ferocious beast that attacks and devours people?
‘Maybe I smelled like prey to it.’
The thought had crossed my mind for a moment.
‘If it shows any sign of that, I’ll just chase it out.’
Releasing it into the hills behind the Grand Duke’s Residence wouldn’t be the worst idea either.
“Do as you please.”
Just try attacking me while I’m asleep, you little thing.
I gently scratched the star mark on the fur ball’s forehead with my fingertip.
It seemed to enjoy that, purring contentedly and closing its eyes.
I let out a soft laugh.
I petted it to my heart’s content until it hopped down to the cushion to escape my touch, then got out of bed and opened the window.
Cool dawn air rushed in.
‘The dream’s become clearer.’
The dream with that girl.
Thanks to it, I could finally see properly the face of the girl who had despised her own name so much.
Platinum hair and blue eyes.
The delicate harmony of her eyes, nose, and mouth made it clear that given a little more time, she would blossom into a stunning beauty.
To anyone’s eye, she was clearly this body’s younger self.
‘So it really was a memory from this life.’
And then there was the boy sitting across from her.
I could only ever see the back of his head.
‘Black hair…….’
If anyone came to mind with black hair, it was only the Grand Duke.
‘I wish I could have at least seen his eyes.’
If he’d had purple eyes, I could have been certain it was the Grand Duke.
‘How frustrating.’
I had circumstantial evidence but no definitive proof, which was maddening.
‘Actually, no.’
It wasn’t as though I had no evidence at all.
‘The Pocket Watch!’
This dream’s content was different from before.
The children were the same, but the space they occupied and the subject of their conversation had changed entirely.
And this time, the subject of their conversation was the Pocket Watch.
‘I’ve seen that Pocket Watch before.’
The Grand Duke had a Pocket Watch he’d pull out every time he checked the hour.
It looked like it was worth something, but for the Grand Duke to carry around—well, it had a certain worn, time-weathered quality to it.
‘So I’d always assumed it was a family heirloom.’
But what if, like in the dream, he’d received it as a gift from that girl?
‘Good. Let me verify it.’
Whether the Pocket Watch in the dream belonged to the Grand Duke, or if there was some other boy entangled in this.
‘I’ll know for sure if I check inside the lid.’
And the heart between the initials, too.
‘How cute. A heart, of all things.’
Then my enthusiasm deflated.
Even if the dream was showing me this body’s past, it still wasn’t my affair.
Watching what seemed like the romantic exploits of children felt strangely surreal.
‘And I’ve never even experienced love myself…….’
I could simply think of it as watching a play.
But the thought that the black-haired boy might be the Grand Duke made the feeling even stranger.
‘Why would I have to watch the Grand Duke’s romantic past…….’
An uncomfortable feeling wouldn’t leave me.
Then.
[I’m hungry, butler.]
Give me something to eat.
“…….”
My gaze, which had been fixed on the window, turned toward the fur ball.
‘Right. No need to obsess over the dream.’
If memories are going to resurface, they’ll come back on their own.
‘First, I need to devise a plan for how to make proper use of this fur ball.’
I offered it a contract of sorts—food and a place to sleep in exchange for its services.

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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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