This Three-Year-Old Is A Villainess - Chapter 26
Next to Grandfather were Uncle Deacons and his wife, then Riantine. I sat next to Riantine.
Champagne glasses were passed around at the table. In front of Riantine and me were glasses of orange juice.
Deacons, Riantine’s father, rose from his seat and shouted.
“To the eternal glory of House Astra!”
“To House Astra!”
“To House Astra!”
A resounding cheer filled the air.
The atmosphere at the banquet was quite pleasant.
It had to be. No one could afford for it to be otherwise.
Everyone was eager to make a good impression on Grandfather.
As the meal progressed, about half of the courses had been served when Uncle Deacons spoke up.
“Father, Riantine has prepared a gift to celebrate your birthday.”
Grandfather’s gaze turned to Riantine.
Riantine shyly smiled.
Deacons chuckled and placed a hand on his daughter’s shoulder.
“She worked so hard to prepare this special gift after all the effort. Hahaha! Go on, Riantine.”
Riantine gestured to a servant.
The servant promptly brought a small box. Even the box itself looked luxurious.
Riantine blinked and spoke to Grandfather.
“It was really difficult to find this. I searched high and low, and I could only obtain it as of yesterday.”
“…”
“I really, truly put a lot of effort into it because I wanted to make you happy, Grandfather…”
People exclaimed with “oohs” and “aahs.”
The item that was obtained with such difficulty from the direct line of House Astra seemed to pique the interest of those present.
Riantine pursed her lips and said, “Open it.”
Grandfather slowly opened the box.
In the meantime, Riantine and I exchanged glances.
Smirk.
Riantine smirked, her smile clearly mocking.
Then, she leaned towards Grandfather, who had just opened the box.
“You can take it now. The effects will appear right away.”
“Take what?”
“That. What I’ve given you—”
Grandfather, with a dry expression, took out a vial from the box.
The vial contained a liquid that was covered in mold, something that looked inedible at first glance.
“….!!”
Riantine’s face froze solid.
I subtly raised the corner of my mouth.
‘Why, did you think you had stolen it properly?’
Riantine glared at me.
“What…”
I pointed to the vial that Grandfather was holding.
“D, D, Diiiiiiwty!”
***
So, this is what went down.
Before Riantine entered my room, I had hidden the elixir just in case.
But I had put something else inside.
A fake Rejuvenation Elixir.
What Riantine took was a failed Rejuvenation Elixir.
Erylotte was the first to start making Rejuvenation Elixir in ‘Grandvill’.
However, it was a failure.
When you first take the medicine, it will feel like your toothache was subsiding, but after three days, even greater pain would strike.
On top of that, despite the effort to make the medicine, its effective duration was not even a day.
After 24 hours, it would just turn into rancid liquid.
‘The real Rejuvenation Elixir is an improved version of that formula with Green Lavender.’
Last night, when I saw the empty drawer in my desk, I knew immediately.
It meant that Riantine had taken the fake Rejuvenation Elixir.
Uncle Deacons looked puzzled as he stared at Riantine.
“What happened? Is that the right gift you prepared? It’s supposed to be a consumable medicine.”
“Um… well… that’s…”
Riantine became tomato red.
‘She doesn’t know what to do, huh?’
Without knowing anything, she had insisted it was safe to consume, but if Grandfather consumed the wrong medicine, it could be irreversible.
People started murmuring among themselves.
Riantine had been boasting so much about the gift before opening it that she ended up looking quite ridiculous.
“Young Miss Riantine tends to be… hasty in her words.”
“Yes, she tends to jump ahead.”
“Giving something rancid as a birthday gift… the only thing that’s gone bad is His Grace’s face.”
Uncle Deacons was very flustered, and Riantine’s hands trembled. She displayed an expression of disgrace that she had never experienced before.
The atmosphere at the banquet turned humorous in an instant.
Grandfather said nothing, but his eyes were deeply sunken.
Viscount Debussy tried to lighten the mood.
“By the way, Miss Erylotte also mentioned that she has a gift prepared.”
“Ywes.”
“Please show us.”
I stood up and retrieved the item from Hilda, who was waiting by the wall.
Viscount Debussy asked with a smile in his voice,
“What kind of gift is that?”
I took something out of the envelope.
And, tada!
I held it up with a flourish.
“Oh my?”
“That’s…”
Hahaha!
Laughter erupted in the banquet hall.
Because what I had prepared was chocolate.
The reason I was so busy this morning was because of this.
I made chocolate with the maids.
And when the maids weren’t looking…
‘I put the elixir in the chocolate.’
I had gone to all this trouble because I couldn’t just give him an elixir prepared by a three-year-old.
What did the child put in there?
People’s reactions were sure to be like this.
The nobles at the banquet burst into laughter.
It seems that people find it cute when a child prepares something like this.
I went to Grandfather and held out the chocolates.
“Fow yew.”
When I offered it to him, people were astonished.
“Um, Miss…”
One of the nobles was flustered and tried to stop me.
Who would dare to hand feed the Duke of Astra like this?
