This Three-Year-Old Is A Villainess - Chapter 55
So, several years passed.
Every year, Erylotte’s portraits arrived like clockwork, depicting how she was growing so quickly.
At first, she barely had any hair. Now, it was enough to tie into buns on both sides.
‘…A squirrel?’
Occasionally, he would check the days when the portrait arrived on the calendar.
It happened from time to time. Very rarely.
And, a little while later.
‘They probably drew the portrait last month, so why hasn’t it arrived yet…?’
Was the family in such dire straits that they couldn’t afford to hire a painter?
The old man, who had been diligently collecting money, sometimes didn’t hire a painter on time.
“You called for me, General.”
“Yes. This time, the port—”
“Sir?”
“…”
“General?”
“Never mind.”
Enzo wore a bewildered expression.
‘Portrait? What portrait… Could it be that the General wants to sit for a portrait?!’
Enzo’s face turned pale.
It wasn’t as if he had forgotten the serious incident when he made Enzo run thirty laps last year because he didn’t like how Enzo looked.
‘My, my face… is it that detestable?’
No.
His mother said he was quite handsome.
‘Could it be because of the General’s preferences?!’
So, Enzo shaved his head.
He didn’t look much different with the shaved head, so he even tried plucking his eyebrows.
He made an effort to match the General’s preferences, but…
“Is it crooked?”
He had to go around the encampment for forty laps this time.
Like this, several weeks passed.
The portrait still hadn’t arrived, and Daymond’s mood was low.
But then.
“General! A message has come from the ducal castle!”
“What’s going on?”
“The young lady has manifested her blessing, and she’s moving from the Twelfth Tower to the central residence.”
‘That crazy old man.’
If it was that old man, he surely knew how dangerous the central residence was for an unprotected child.
Especially for a child receiving Duke Astra’s attention, his siblings would have their eyes on her.
For several months, his mood remained low.
One day, a message came from the old man. It was an order to return home.
“General, are you willing to return peacefully?”
“We can march into the enemy’s territory as soon as we break through Herium’s walls. We’re not going back.”
“Yes, but if you don’t return, someone else will take your position.”
“That may be true, but it would still be great if we could come back, sir. It’s been five years since I’ve seen my child’s face.”
Everyone expected Daymond to resist the return order.
However,
“Pack up. We’re going back to the Astra Castle.”
“Sir?!”
Enzo and the officers tried to persuade him, but Daymond remained resolute.
He had been on the battlefield for too long.
It wasn’t just because he couldn’t stay idle upon hearing that his daughter had gone to the central residence.
So, he returned to the estate.
And…
“Apologize immediately.”
“…”
“Do you not hear me?!”
Daymond witnessed Deacons, who couldn’t even lift his head in front of him, shouting.
The child trembling in front of Deacons.
Blond hair, red eyes. Like Daymond.
But unlike him, she resembled an incredibly soft and petite little squirrel.
Until a while ago, he thought that he wouldn’t pay much attention to her.
She was a child born out of nowhere, but he didn’t want to do the same things his father did. So, he just fulfilled his parental duties.
He had been thinking that all the way back.
However,
“I see that you still squeal like a little pig, Deacons.”
He couldn’t understand why he was so angry.
Maybe because her hands, tightly gripping her skirt, were too small.
Because the emotion deeply ingrained in her large eyes was fear.
Because a mere three-year-old had learned fear, it made him severely angry.
It might be… because she reminded him of his younger self.
That could be the reason.
That night, Deacons carriage, which was supposed to return to his own jurisdiction, was ambushed.
There were rumors that the culprit was a 3-meter-tall giant.
And after that day…
“Fathew!”
The child kept coming back.
She didn’t seem to feel that he hadn’t done much to help her, and there was no reason for her to come back, but she stubbornly followed him.
When he first arrived at the military camp, she used to cling to his leg like a cicada.
‘Doesn’t that kid have any fear?’
Passing through soldiers who hadn’t lost their battlefield vitality, she came to him every day. If it was anyone else, it would have sent shivers down their spines.
But everyday, she’d eat breakfast, lunch, dinner…
All alone.
‘From her perspective, he must be the first adult man she’s ever seen.’
Still, it was amazing how she persistently followed him, saying it was because he’s her father.
Her gaze never seemed to waver.
“Hm, hmmm, hm.”
Lying belly-down on the carpet in his office, she hummed a little tune and read a book.
‘She can read?’
This mere three-year-old was very good.
‘She can write too?’
[Mondukie]
‘…’
Well, at least she got four letters right.
‘With her rapid growth, she really does take after me…’
He thought up to that point, then he made a face.
She was bothering him so much that he couldn’t help but think about all sorts of things.
And really, what was going on in that old man’s head? To make her accompany him to Mt. Hadix.
He didn’t like seeing her alone, sitting under the shade, after having followed him all the way up the mountain.
It’s at least warm in the castle. Why did she have to follow him here, where it’s cold?
As he walked towards her, the child suddenly stood up.
“Fathew!”
Why was she so delighted?
What exactly did he do?
Since no one had ever been so happy to see him, she was so bizarre in his eyes.
