This Three-Year-Old Is A Villainess - Chapter 18
The child continued to cry, even as his mother carried him away.
“Hush, hush.”
“Mommyyy…”
“Come now. You have to learn to endure pain, my dear. That way, you can reach the Twelfth Tower too.”
“But it hurts. I said it hurts!”
The child complained bitterly, but the mother didn’t seem bothered at all.
Instead, she lovingly stroked the child’s forehead several times.
“…”
I stood there until the mother and son disappeared into the distance.
Then, I held my head with both hands.
‘Even when I touch it a little, it hurts. But whatever.’
I’m not jealous.
…Not jealous at all.
At that moment.
“Erylotte.”
A familiar voice reached my ears.
When I quickly turned my head, I saw it was my grandfather.
“…”
“Uuu…”
I tried my best to hold back, but tears welled up.
‘Crazy! Are you crazy?!’
Why are tears welling up from nowhere?
It hasn’t even been a few hours since I decided to be careful in front of my grandfather.
I tried hard, but my body transformed into a child due to the supporting character penalty, and now I couldn’t hold back my tears.
I covered my eyes with my palms and sobbed loudly.
“Papaaa…”
I didn’t have a mother, so I couldn’t call her, leaving only my father.
‘This darn novel…’
Dahlia became an adult when she transmigrated, but why was the world so cruel to me? I transmigrated as a child, and on top of that, I was also given a penalty?
I felt even more miserable thinking about it.
But something large landed on my head.
It was placed over me like my head was an armrest on a sofa.
It was my grandfather’s hand.
His touch was extremely awkward.
Nevertheless…
“Uwaaaaaah—!”
When I cried louder, my grandfather stiffened.
For some reason, I don’t envy the kid from earlier anymore.
***
Viscount Debussy let out a sigh.
The Duke, who left the office because he got annoyed by the viscount’s snickers, returned with Erylotte in his arms.
So, that ruthless Duke was holding a tiny child that’s barely the same height of an adult’s arm…
It had been 30 years since Viscount Debussy became the Duke’s aide.
All that time, he couldn’t even imagine such a thing.
And, surprisingly, Erylotte was peacefully asleep in the Duke’s arms.
‘What kind of mysterious phenomenon is this… Hold on.’
The area around Erylotte’s eyes was red.
“Did the Young Miss cry?”
“Get that jacket off the sofa.”
“No, but there’s no way that something would make the Young Miss cry.”
“…”
“She jumped off a cliff to save the Duke with that small body.”
The Duke tossed the jacket into Viscount Debussy’s face.
Urk— Viscount Debussy made a sound and furrowed his brows.
“Did the Miss fall somewhere?”
“He got injured in the garden.”
Viscount Debussy finally nodded and said, “Ah, I see.”
Then the Duke covered Erylotte, who was lying on the sofa, with his jacket.
“What happened?”
“It seems she collided with a branch family’s boy.”
“She jumped off a cliff and injured her hands before yet didn’t cry, right? Perhaps the Young Miss got seriously hurt this time?”
“It seems to be more than just physical pain.”
The Duke recalled how Erylotte was in the garden.
She had envied the branch family boy who was being comforted by his mother, so the duke had patted Erylotte’s head himself.
“What is it?”
When Viscount Debussy asked further, the duke clicked his tongue.
“She’s envious of the branch family boy who was with his mother.”
“…”
Viscount Debussy gazed upon at Erylotte’s face for a moment.
“It must be painful for the Miss.”
“…”
“You would also know, Duke.”
Duke Astra’s life had been terrible. The previous Duke was obsessed with creating a child with a special blessing.
The current duke, Kronos Astra, was created that way.
His father was heartless.
He had locked his own child in a laboratory for various experiments.
“At the time when you were in the laboratory, you envied the child who was with her mother.”
“I can’t even remember such things.”
Viscount Debussy sat down in silence.
He handed over a report that investigated the behavior of the second generation.
The Duke, after glancing through the documents, narrowed his eyes coldly.
Someone trying to bribe his own people.
Someone in contact with the imperial family.
Someone embezzling the family’s wealth.
Someone bothering him in many various ways.
Viscount Debussy sighed.
“While there’s no evidence of their involvement with Marquis Toliso, their actions are excessive.”
“…”
“Their behavior is indeed excessive.”
“…”
“We’ll need someone to keep the second generation in check.”
The Viscount remembered the words he had heard today.
“The Young Miss seems to think that she doesn’t have a father, given how far away he is. It would be nice if she could see her father even once…”
He recalled what Conrad had told him.
And also,
“Papaaa…”
After a brief silence, the Duke looked at Viscount Debussy.
“Summon Daymond.”
“…!”
Viscount Debussy’s eyes widened.
Daymond Astra.
He was the second-born of the Duke, and there were many monikers attached to him.
Born with the strongest blessing of House Astra.
Demon on the battlefield.
The indomitable knight.
In terms of military prowess, the strongest man in the whole Empire.
Erylotte’s father.
‘Although the relationship between the Duke and him is terrible, one thing is certain.’
He wouldn’t have been involved in the distant attack.
But it was strange.
‘Why would the Duke, who has never shown any interest in Lord Daymond, suddenly…?’
It was a mystery.
Later on, an express missive was sent to the northern region where Daymond was located.
With orders to return home.
