This Three-Year-Old Is A Villainess - Chapter 7

On this cold winter day, my body shivered as it got wet in the icy water.
The aide who came with my grandfather approached me immediately. Then, he took off his jacket and covered my shoulders.
“What’s going on?”
“That, er…”
Baron Morro, who had been flustered when he saw the Duke, awkwardly laughed.
“We’ve heard about what happened in the central mansion, and I heard that this child has been caught cheating. Just when I thought you needed some reflection, I found her in a fight with another child.”
“What?”
“There is nothing to worry about. At this point, I’m sure she’s reflected enough to never do such a thing again—”
“What nonsense!”
The aide raised his voice.
Baron Morro exchanged puzzled looks between me and my grandfather.
“Isn’t it that her return to the twelfth tower was delayed due to cheating in the test—”
“Her delayed return was because she manifested her blessing!”
“…Pardon?”
My grandfather looked at me.
“You were right. Dragon’s bones were found buried in the old Myrten Plain.”
Wow, I thought it would take quite a while to find, but they already located it.
Of course, it wouldn’t be too difficult to find it with the family name.
Baron Morro turned deathly pale.
It seems he’s finally grasping the situation.
His hands trembled.
‘Of course.’
What my grandfather hated most was hypocrisy.
I’m his granddaughter, after all. Even though I might be treated as if I were invisible, now that I’ve proven my worth, I’m undeniably one of the Astria family’s young masters.
Baron Morro tried to explain something, his lips turning blue.
“This, this is, I mean…!”
“Let me ask.”
My grandfather’s words were concise.
With just one phrase, chills ran down my spine.
Even the sound of the wind seemed to fade into the dark night.
As he walked toward us, his silhouette broke apart, following the contours of the moonlight pouring through the window.
Accompanied by the soft tapping of his heels, when he approached, Baron Morro had no choice but to stumble back and drop to the ground.
Grandfather asked.
“What are you?”
His voice had no highs or lows.
In the reflected gaze of his narrow, slanted eyes, there was nothing.
Baron Morro swallowed hard and stammered.
“I… I am the 16th generation of the Morro family—”
“No.”
Grandfather replied as he jutted up Baron Morro’s chin with the tip of his cane.
“You are a dog.”
“…”
“Bark if you want to bark, bite if you want to bite.”
The cane tip descended from Baron Morro’s chin to his throat.
“Because a dog can’t recognize its owner.”
Baron Morro barely managed to speak in a strained voice.
“P-please spare me.”
“…”
“S-save me, please, I beg of you. Save me. Please save me. Please spare my life. Please. Please save me. Please sa—!”
“You know how to bark, I see.”
Then, Grandfather turned his back on Baron Morro.
The aide picked me up and followed Grandfather.
When the aide set me down, Baron Morro finally took a breath.
What reached my ears in that moment was a strange crackling sound.
Crrrack—
…It was a strange, fractured sound.
“Ugh, guh… kkkkkgh…!”
I froze. I tried to turn my head, movements like a broken machine, but…
“Don’t turn around.”
The aide stood close behind me and covered what’s behind me.
It wasn’t hard to guess what Baron Morro looked like.
***
I was moved to the central mansion.
When I came out with my belongings, the teachers and students had already heard the news.
The teachers greeted me from the hallway.
“We truly enjoyed our lessons with you, Miss.”
“Stay strong even at the central mansion.”
“You’re a wise person, so you’ll do well at whatever you pursue. If you ever need anything, please contact us.”
The teachers were very kind to me.
They gave me lots of candy and milk.
“Thwank yew, Teasher. Twy to inwest in Shabun Bank, you make wots of money.” (Thank you, Teacher. Try to invest in the Shavong Bank, you’ll make lots of money.)
The teachers choked up and took out their notebooks.
“Yes, Miss. You have to take good care of yourself. By the way, is it Shavun Bank or Shavong Bank?”
“I’ll never forget the two years we’ve spent together… Ah, I can’t find my pen. Can I borrow yours? Shavong Bank, right?”
We bid farewell with tears in our eyes.
The teachers saw me off to the carriage, and I waved goodbye as I climbed in.
The aide who had also boarded the carriage after me looked at the teachers with a peculiar expression. They were stroking their notebooks while sobbing softly.
