TBDS 05

Chapter 5

The Villainess Builds a Department Store

“Of course, he will grow up to be the respected Viscount Charmoize.”

“Can someone who has never received a single warm touch or loving hug in childhood really become respected by everyone?”

For a moment, Madame Severin was left speechless. While she hesitated, I drove the point home in a mocking tone.

“Yes, perhaps Antoine raised under your discipline will become an excellent viscount someday. He’ll be clever, cold, and able to tell what is best for his family.”

“Of course. That is why he needs proper education starting now—”

“But I want my little brother to grow up loved. I want him to share that love with others and become someone everyone respects because of it.”

It was a story that could be seen anywhere. Parents who hit their children when they were young eventually grew old and lost the strength to control them by force, only to be abandoned by those same children.

If Antoine became someone like that in the future, it would cause trouble for me too.

The original story already made it painfully obvious which country had inspired its names and places. If it happened to follow that country’s history as well…

The thought of a cold blue blade of a guillotine flashing before my eyes made me shudder for no reason.

If I had to be reincarnated, I should have come back as a rich family’s dog or cat.

Anyway, that was exactly why I needed to raise him properly from now on.

I steeled my resolve once more.

“Well, even that requires a qualified teacher. And in that regard, you are disqualified both as a teacher and as a nanny.”

I pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper from my dress and tossed it in front of Madame Severin.

The moment she recognized it, a strangled sound escaped between her teeth.

“Hic—”

“Adelaïde? What is that?”

“Evidence showing where the nanny was last night.”

“M-My lady! No! That’s… nothing!”

“Give it to me.”

Mother immediately unfolded the paper and began reading.

“…When the midnight bell rings, I will wait for you at the stables. Please give me the same loving beating you gave me that time…? W-What is this? Madame Severin! What on earth is going on? Explain this disgraceful letter!”

“No! No, my lady! I’m innocent! This is unfair!”

“Now that I see it, it seems you were the one who became corrupted, not my son.”

Mother’s voice finally rose.

“How could you! I—I trusted you… sob…!”

“Elenore, getting angry isn’t good for your health. Calm down, calm down…”

“How am I supposed to calm down right now? Haa… haa…”

Mother’s face quickly turned bright red from shock and fury.

“Call the stablemaster at once… Sob!”

In the end, Mother clutched her chest and collapsed into Father’s arms.

Father eventually managed to calm the situation.

“Madame Severin. I think it would be best if you found another household to work for. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can give you a letter of recommendation.”

Madame Severin protested in despair, as if the whole world had collapsed around her.

“H-How can this be! Master, I truly did my best for the young master! Please, just one more chance! Just one more!”

“You’ve worked hard until now.”

Madame Severin, who had instantly become as desolate as a dried-out fish, could only open and close her mouth for a long while.

Then, perhaps realizing that no excuse could change what had happened, she lowered her head and left the room.

“Antoine. It’s all over now. You must have been scared. I’m sorry. If I had known this would happen, I would have left you in your room.”

Even though Antoine couldn’t understand the adults’ conversation, he must have sensed the serious atmosphere, because he had buried his face in his sleeve.

“Sniff… Hng!”

Hng?

No way.

Surely not.

It couldn’t be.

I carefully pushed Antoine’s head away.

Then I screamed.

“Antoine! I told you not to get snot on the silk!”

“Haa. Just when I thought we’d finally found someone we could trust. I feel so sorry for Antoine. And Adelaïde too… She must have been holding everything in all this time, trying to be considerate of her sick mother. How upset must she have been? Maybe we should raise the children ourselves.”

Finally calmed down, Elenore rested her forehead against the window to cool herself down and let out a deep sigh.

Her heart still ached with shock and betrayal.

Charles glanced at Elenore and picked up his pen to write an announcement for a new nanny.

“Don’t say you’re going to die, dear. You’ll only collapse again. We can find someone better. More importantly, Eli, don’t you think Adel seems a little… how should I put it? Different today?”

Charles had almost said strange, but quickly searched for another word.

“Love… Love and respect…”

What had he learned when he was around Adelaïde’s age?

Charles searched through his memories.

He couldn’t remember very well, but his education had probably been little different from Madame Severin’s.

No, since the only children in his family had been boys, it had practically been a military camp.

Strength, power, and wealth.

His entire life had been strictly organized around the belief that those were the only ways to earn everyone’s respect.

Eventually, he could not take it anymore and ran away from home.

Only after traveling all over the world and becoming an adult did he realize that those were not the only ways to earn people’s respect.

Elenore, who was right beside him, was proof of that.

She was far weaker and gentler than he was, yet whenever Charles entered her room, he unconsciously straightened his clothes first.

“Yes. If that woman were right, then the person most worthy of respect should be on the battlefield right now. Not in a cathedral.”

But how had Adel, at only ten years old, managed to understand something that Charles had only realized after becoming an adult and seeing more of the world?

It would have been easy to dismiss it as the innocent thinking of a child who knew nothing about the world.

But Adel’s expression had been far too serious for that.

As if she had experienced it herself.

Charles’s thoughts were interrupted by Elenore’s scolding.

“Of course the children feel unfamiliar to you after being away for so long! That’s why I told you to come home more often!”

“Do you think I enjoy leaving my own home and wandering around outside?”

Charles raised his voice in disbelief, but his guilt over leaving his wife alone made him put down his pen and steal a glance at her.

As his wife had said, the children seemed to grow at an astonishing speed every time he returned from his travels.

Adelaïde especially had changed so much that Charles kept thinking about it. He had barely been able to see her wear the dresses and shoes he had painstakingly brought back for her as gifts.

“I didn’t know Adel cared so deeply about her little brother.”

“Well… Adel is ten now. She’s old enough to start growing up.”

“If she grows up twice as much, she’ll be strong enough to beat even her parents.”

“Dear!”

Elenore widened her eyes like a rabbit and raised her voice.

Charles chuckled and walked over to his wife, resting his head against her shoulder.

But today’s Adelaïde seemed different in a way that went beyond simply growing older.

The moment he met his daughter’s eyes, those eyes shimmering like a mixture of violets and the sea, the girl before him suddenly felt strangely unfamiliar.

Had she really matured?

Or had something happened…?

“Should I try to find a way to work from home after all?”

“I’d certainly like that…. But, sigh, we still need to find a new nanny before you leave.”

“Hmm. Speaking of my trip, since Adel has grown up so much, why don’t we get her a nice gift to praise her?”

“Well… that wouldn’t be a bad idea. Then I suppose we’ll have to call some merchants soon….”

What the children really want is something else.

Elenore swallowed the rest of her words and buried her head against her husband’s chest as well.

Madame Severin and the stablemaster were dismissed that very day.

Until they found a new nanny, Antoine and I had to stay inside the estate.

But I never felt bored or confined.

It wasn’t simply because the Charmoize estate and its gardens were so large.

Everywhere I looked, there were scenes from the home I had missed so much, scenes I had once thought I would never see again.

The enormous fountain in the center was especially popular with Antoine and me as the weather grew warmer.

“Sis! Let’s play by the fountain again today. Okay?”

“Do you want to get scolded again for getting your clothes wet?”

“Hehe…”

With an embarrassed smile, Antoine grabbed my arm and pulled me along.

His arm seemed a little stronger than before.

Or was it just my imagination?

“Huh…?”

Antoine, who had been running ahead of me, suddenly stopped and tilted his head.

“Who is that man?”

“That person is definitely…”

There was someone already at the fountain today.

And he was a very, very welcome guest.