Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: The Popular Baby Duchess
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The atmosphere froze cold at the bombshell declaration delivered in a light tone. After about three seconds of silence, the aides quickly opened their mouths and began chattering.
“That’s, um!”
“It’s a joke, right? Haha, of course. Even Your Excellency the Little Duke has a great sense of humor!”
“Outstanding! Hahaha!”
They laughed like people forcing chuckles at their boss’s bad joke, but inside, they were burning up with dread.
Sure, they committed evil deeds left and right, and though Matthias Mirmod was an unprecedented genius in the realm of villainy, their opponents were the temple and the imperial palace.
Trying to take them both out at once could mean getting crushed like a shrimp caught between a whale’s fins.
But their attempt to brush it off as a joke failed quickly.
“Humor sense?”
Matthias stared at the men before him with a icy expression. The giant of a man—who was as big as three grown men put together—widened his eyes and retorted.
“Th-that means... you’re serious?”
The relatively scrawny man standing beside him, covered head to toe in intricate tattoos like a work of art, elbowed the giant in the ribs as he reported to Matthias.
“Heh heh, you! That can’t be! You can’t take a joke as the tru—th…”
He trailed off as he looked at Matthias. There wasn’t a shred of humor in Matthias’s eyes.
*What the hell is this chilling sensation creeping up my back like chills!*
The scrawny aide looked at Matthias and said,
“It’s... it’s not true, right? You’re not really going to oppose the temple and the palace!”
“Why? Is that a problem?”
Matthias tilted his head crookedly. It was the face he made when he was displeased. Whenever he wore that expression, at least one fortress got demolished.
The aides chorused in terror.
“It’s f-fine!”
As soon as all the aides bowed their heads after answering swiftly, Matthias blurted out,
“I must’ve seemed like I was spouting nonsense.”
Without another word, Matthias rose to his feet. The clicking of his dress shoes grew steadily closer. The giant man shuddered slightly, then froze at the sight of the polished shoe tip right in front of him.
It was Matthias’s.
The fact that he had moved himself... meant he was *extremely* displeased.
“Um, so... Lord Matthias?”
Matthias watched his aide’s teeth chatter like a woodpecker, then smiled softly and lifted the man’s chin.
“Not right now. I’ve diverted Sien’s attention, so first, we clean up the family trash. We’ll start with…”
Matthias tapped his foot lightly a few times. But cold sweat still dripped down the aides’ backs. Whenever Matthias’s voice sounded upbeat like this, a bloodbath always followed.
The aide, unable to lift his head, stammered,
“Wh-what will we start with, sir…?”
Matthias, who had been staring at them coldly, soon slipped away elegantly. The aides left in the office exchanged glances and made miserable faces.
“I didn’t think we’d be cleaning out the family trash this soon.”
“…It’s nice to stretch our legs after a while, but we’re in for some overtime.”
Until now, they’d been obsessed with the idea that Sien must never discover their wickedness.
On Matthias’s orders, they’d done good deeds that didn’t suit their constitutions. Things like volunteering at children’s groups, donating a tenth of their salary to orphanages, and so on…
They might have seemed half-hearted doing good deeds they’d never done before, but they were still proper villains befitting Matthias Mirmod’s closest aides.
“…No, really, why did he turn into such a demon?”
“He didn’t used to look that displeased.”
“Is something bothering him?”
“…He’s purging the family aides, and he’s saying it with a smile.”
At that moment, a startling thought flashed through one aide’s mind.
“Lady Sien went to the academy for the first time today…”
“…Huh?”
“Then, n-no way?”
The aide who’d had a thunderbolt realization gaped. The man next to him shook his head slowly and said,
“Come to think of it, when he left earlier, didn’t he say, ‘I miss Sien’?”
As the deduction narrowed in, they shuddered at the realization that Sien’s photo, which had been in the reception room, was gone.
“So, he’s really in a bad mood?”
“Is this what parental worry feels like?”
“He’s worried Sien won’t adjust well to the academy…?”
“…N-no way Lord Matthias would. Stop with the irreverent thoughts!”
In their minds, the image of Matthias hugging Sien and pretending to be a doting fool dad puffed up like clouds, then vanished.
“B-but it kinda fits…”
***
Right then, just as the aides guessed, only Sien filled Matthias Mirmod’s head. Eliminating the family’s impure elements was important for his daughter’s growth, but Sien’s safety came first and foremost.
So it was only natural for him to select bodyguards to protect her as she headed to the academy.
*The crown prince will lay low for a while, but safety first.*
So Sien was just a bit…
*‘Daddy! Do XXX!’*
Good at cursing—no, no. Cheerful and bold…
*‘Lady Sien manages the trading company brilliantly, beyond her five years.’*
A genius…
*‘Even at ten, she has tremendous growth potential. She’ll do well at the academy.’*
She was definitely smarter than anyone else. Mature like an adult, not a peer.
*‘My daughter really is the cutest.’*
Suppressing his proud feelings, he opened the door.
Beyond it sat Leonhardt and Ashid, whom he’d summoned ahead of time, wearing expressions of full-blown tension.
“You know why I called you here today.”
“Yes?”
“N-no idea, sir. More importantly, why that sinister smile?”
At Leonhardt’s words, Matthias’s brows furrowed ever so slightly.
He hadn’t meant to smile sinisterly, but it must’ve looked ominous to Leonhardt.
*‘Sien liked it and called it my fool smile.’*
，making an effort to smooth his frown, he stared at Leonhardt and Ashid. After all, he wasn’t here to intimidate anyone today—he’d come to ask a favor of Sien’s friends.
Ashid and Leonhardt exchanged glances, looking even more baffled. Matthias looked at the two little ones and cut straight to it.
“I’m giving you two a great opportunity.”
“…Yes?”
Leonhardt’s face instantly paled.
The boy who wore an emotionless mask no matter what, was powerless before Matthias’s infamy. Ashid, who meekly bowed his head, seemed less flustered.
*‘Unexpected.’*
Matthias leaned back against the sofa and looked them over as he spoke.
“I have something to say to you two.”
“Um…”
“What is it, sir…?”
Matthias gazed at the little beasts before him and curved his lips into a beautiful smile.
“You two are going to the Children’s Academy too.”
“The Children’s Academy?”
They looked shocked, as if hearing it for the first time. Matthias nodded and replied,
“Yes, the Children’s Academy.”
“There’s no such…”
Then Ashid cautiously spoke up.
“Is Lady Sien going too?”
“You haven’t been informed yet. You’re going as her bodyguards.”
At those words, Ashid and Leonhardt’s eyes lit up simultaneously. Ashid clasped his hands and nodded eagerly, while Leonhardt bounced in his seat and shouted, “Yes, I’ll go!”
*‘Well, now.’*
Just what kind of existence was his tiny daughter to these boys? Both Leonhardt and Ashid were boys with dark pasts. It felt oddly good yet bad that they were drawn to Sien’s sunny, human charm and stayed by her side naturally.
He was displeased that Sien wasn’t precious only to him, and faintly pleased at the positive influence his tiny daughter had on others’ lives.
*‘My baby’s getting relationships outside of me too.’*
He squinted like someone blinded by sunlight and whispered,
“You have one job there: protect Sien.”
“Count on us!”
“Cooperate so Sien can have a fun time.”
Ashid nodded.
“Of course we will.”
“But there’s a small issue. The academy has entrance exams in February.”
Leonhardt counted on his fingers like months, then let out a short groan.
“Oh, we’re way past entrance season!”
“Exactly.”
“Then how do we enroll?”
Matthias lifted the corner of his mouth. With just that, his expression looked less like the infamous villain and more like an ordinary, embarrassingly doting dad.
As Leonhardt flinched at the unfamiliar sight,
Matthias reached into his pocket and pulled out a document.
Incongruously, his hand held a neat parchment with the academy’s admission forms, schedule, class hours, and more.
“Mid-term admission.”
“What’s that?”
Leonhardt and Ashid, clueless about mid-term admission, tilted their heads. Matthias smiled cynically and said,
“Exactly what it sounds like. Instead of formal entry, you donate and join midway.”
“Like donation admission.”
“Yes. I hear mid-term admits face a lot of hazing.”
“…”
“I’m sending you three in via donation admission.”
“Then…”
The white papers in his hand fluttered and scattered.
“Cooperate so Sien can have fun at the academy.”
While Sien made friends like a normal kid and played happily, Matthias would wipe out every last family hanger-on for her happy times.
“Oh, and there’s one more thing for you to do there.”
“…Yes.”
Leonhardt and Ashid stared at Matthias with tense faces.
“No one can tell Sien about my infamy.”
Then, the quiet Ashid spoke up.
“To protect Lady Sien’s… innocence?”
At the word “innocence,” Matthias’s lip curved pictorially upward.
“Yes, her innocence.”
***
“Phew! Dad again!”
The next morning, inside the carriage.
I sank into the plush seat and let out a big sigh.
“…Huh?”
The muscle maid sister gave an awkward smile. Holding my magic tool confidently, I declared,
“He messaged again! The academy carriage hasn’t even left yet!”
It wasn’t a boarding school—just commuting to and from.
Yet seeing Dad act like an overzealous parent already had me worried sick.
*‘Later, is my dad gonna turn into a helicopter parent?’*
The thought made me shiver.
“Um…”
“What’s wrong, sis? You look like you peed yourself!”
If anything, she looked terrified, trembling. I stared at Dedri sis and tilted my head. She made a miserable face and whispered,
“I haven’t peed yet…”
Hugging Dedri sis’s shoulders, Bench sis shook her head. Whenever I said, “Dad keeps messaging! What a worrywart!”, they broke out in cold sweats. Something was definitely up.
*‘They always act like this whenever Dad comes up.’*