Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: First Time Hearing I'm Cute and Cool
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Leonhardt had been skilled in all sorts of villainy, including murder, even from a young age—or at least, that’s what I seemed to recall from *The Life of Melodia*.
What exactly that “young age” referred to was anyone’s guess.
But it could be starting right now, couldn’t it? The thought made my body tremble with fear.
And yet, right at that moment when I thought “scary,” the necklace around my neck gave off a faint glow before fading away.
I fumbled to check its condition properly, but Leonhardt spoke first.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Oh, yeah. Nothing. It’s nothing…….”
Still, you never know.
‘He might be nice right now. He didn’t ignore me like those weird kids earlier, and it seems like he still has some humanity left.’
No need to freak out prematurely. If I played my cards right, maybe I could befriend him before he turned dark and make him my ally.
Having resolved myself in an instant, I cleared my throat hurriedly and asked Leonhardt.
“N-N-name? Weo-niya?”
“Yeah. Leonhardt.”
“Wh-What a coow name…… Wow…….”
My tongue got all tangled up from nerves, and my pronunciation turned into a total mess.
But luckily, Leonhardt didn’t seem to notice—his cheeks dimpled into a smile.
‘This kid who smiles like an ice cream cone even at soulless flattery is really that terrifying villain? Maybe it’s just a coincidence with the name?’
The thought flashed through my mind for a second.
‘Or maybe that mask is hiding a truly vicious face?’
Lost in confusion and fear, I barely registered that Leonhardt hadn’t noticed at all.
Because……
“Cool, huh. First time I’ve heard that.”
He was smiling shyly!
To be honest, the mask made it hard to see his face clearly, but from the curve of his mouth alone, it was definitely a puppy-like grin.
I gaped at that adorable smile.
Maybe because he was still so young, but his cheeks looked soft and squishy, like glutinous rice cakes.
“Leon, you seem coow and cute, so why…….”
……are you the villain?
“Me…… cute?”
Eep.
At the sound of Leonhardt’s voice in my ear, I clapped my tiny white hands like rice cakes over my mouth.
My inner thoughts had slipped out without me realizing!
Panicking, I halted my round, ho-bbang-man-like feet.
‘What if Leonhardt hates being called cute?’
But there was someone here even more flustered than me.
“Cute?”
It was Leonhardt.
Gripping the leather-like mask tightly, he quietly opened his mouth.
“First time hearing that.”
……Is this kid really the villain?
‘He’s so pure he’s practically an idiot?’
Blushing, he kept adjusting his mask and wiped his forehead lightly.
It looked like he was sweating a little.
I even wondered if it was all an act.
But kids can’t hide their nonverbal cues. Watching him earnestly, I thought.
This kid villain might actually be an easy-mode mission……!
‘If I seduce him properly, he could help me conquer the family later. Of course, only after I figure out exactly what kind of person he is!’
Having even one more future villain on my side would help with conquering the family!
‘Don’t chicken out, Sien Mirmod!’
Watching me like that, he grinned, lifting the corners of his mouth.
“You’re cute too, you little genius fluffball.”
……Leonhardt flashed a bright smile.
Ah, he was actually pretty cute!
Mixing in just a half-spoon of ulterior motive, I stuck out my hand confidently.
“Then let’s really be fwiends!”
“……Yeah.”
But just as his hand inched closer to mine, almost touching……
Dad, who had rushed over as if he’d seen everything, scooped me up into his arms.
“Sien!”
So Leonhardt’s outstretched hand never reached mine.
Dangling in midair, I looked at Leonhardt in surprise.
“Dad, I got a gift for Sien.”
“Huh?”
“Aren’t you curious?”
“Hmm, I am. Dad, this is my fwiend!”
“Oh.”
Dad turned me to face him, hugging me tight so I couldn’t see Leonhardt.
All I could see behind him were the muscle maid sisters.
The sisters nodded at me with their usual blank faces. They almost looked scared of something.
Dad’s warm voice came from above.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Leonhardt.”
I whispered softly into Dad’s ear.
“Dad, my fwiend Leonhardt.”
“Friend?”
“Yeah! My fiwst fwiend evew!”
“First…… Alright, let’s go.”
As Dad muttered lowly and turned around, I finally got to see Leonhardt’s expression. He looked blank. Almost like he pitied me.
‘What’s that? I should at least say goodbye!’
As I raised my hand to wave brightly at Leonhardt, I paused for a second.
‘Leonhardt’s adopted…… If I act too chummy with Dad here, that might not be good?’
I forced my face into a cold, steamed-bun-like expression and gave an awkward peace-sign smile.
“Bye-bye, fwiend!”
Watching me being carried away in Dad’s arms, Leonhardt silently mouthed big words. Reading his lips……
[……If he looks like he’s gonna kill you, press the necklace hard!]
I nodded vigorously at Leonhardt’s advice.
‘If bad guys attack our dad on the way home—no, to the spire—I gotta press the necklace!’
I glanced right away at the necklace.
It sparkled with a bluish glow. I tilted my head slightly at the sight.
‘Blue light…… The artifact is giving off a bluish glow. Why?’
But Dad’s cozy, sweet scent wrapping around me as he hugged me tight left no room for more thoughts. As Leonhardt faded into the distance, I buried my face in Dad’s chest and grinned.
Having met him in person, even Leonhardt—the villain from the original story—was surprisingly cute.
The black leather-like mask that covered everything but his eyes, the refreshing curve of his mouth peeking from under the oversized mask, the slightly puffed cheeks proving he was still a child!
He was pretty charming.
‘But the best is still Dad, of course!’
I hugged Dad tightly.
‘I’ll definitely survive with Dad for a long, long time.’
I decided to whisper these overflowing feelings to Dad softly.
“Dad, I wuv you! No, wuv you!”
“Sien.”
“Yeah!”
Dad, who had been silent for a while, asked hesitantly and carefully.
“You made a friend…… Do you still like Dad the most?”
I rubbed my face against Dad’s shoulder and whispered softly.
“That’s…… a secwet. Hee.”
Too embarrassed to say it out loud!
At that moment, it felt like Dad’s arms around me tensed up, but it must’ve been my imagination?
For some reason, it seemed like Dad was grinding his teeth. Almost like he was muttering “damn flies keep buzzing around” or something……
But no way Dad would say that! He’s the type who won’t kill flies because they’re living things!
***
Class was over, and it was finally the most important nap time!
While napping with my nose whistling and munching on a ham-stuffed sandwich, I planned for the future.
“Phew.”
The muscle maids beside me, who were diligently chewing palm fruit, panted out.
“Why the sigh, miss? Well, our Lady Sien is just so frail. So delicate—”
“Oh ho, if it’s that! We can teach you muscle-training methods right now!”
Their words, overly powerful for maids, made my heart chill for some reason.
“Oh no, no worries.”
“Huh……?”
“Some shady guards kept snooping around the north tower, so I grabbed a shovel and beat ’em up!”
At that terrifying declaration, I—who was maybe a third of her size—froze a little.
But without showing it, I clapped like a seal enthusiastically.
“Wow, so coow…….”
Leaving the excited maids behind me at my soulless reaction, I kept munching my bread.
Phew……
Thinking about everything that had happened in the Mirmod ducal family so far, it really was ‘mountains beyond mountains.’
‘So much has happened already.’
I’d punished kids who badmouthed my mom, tormented the mean teacher plenty, even gotten a bit friendly with Leonhardt…… And most amazingly, I’d gotten this necklace full of mysterious power.
With so many good things piling up, bad things were bound to come soon.
I let out a soft sigh and thought.
Now wasn’t the time to let my guard down.
‘Time to start drawing the big picture.’
The original work *The Life of Melodia* looked like a simple romance, but it was riddled with political intrigue.
[The transcendent love story beyond status, between the comet-like beautiful saintess and the crown prince who lovingly cherishes the common folk, *The Life of Melodia*.]
I’d only read half the novel. But in it, the crown prince and saintess’s love was always in peril—thanks to the Mirmod family’s villainy.
The Mirmod ducal family was a major supporting character, frequently appearing as the hub of all sorts of shady murders and evil deeds.
And the novel prominently featured the ‘Kin Strife’ to decide the next Duke Mirmod…… Luckily, it hadn’t started yet.
‘The family heir hasn’t been decided yet. In other words, it’s not time for the [Kin Strife]. So…… it should be peaceful for a while, right?’
But soon, a brutal competition for the heir position would unfold, full of life-and-death struggles.
Dad, the biological son of Duchess Lukella, couldn’t just forfeit.
‘I have to seize control of the family somehow so Dad doesn’t get sacrificed!’
I was dead serious about that resolve, but……
‘……Still, I gotta watch out for those three Mirmod villains day and night.’
The Mirmod family had countless bloodlines. But vying for the vacant duke seat were three final villains.
One was Delphia Mirmod, Duchess Lukella’s adopted daughter, currently on duty in the north.
Another was Selford Mirmod, son of the Council Chairman.
And the last……
Just recalling the original story made my body shiver involuntarily.
‘The most dangerous among them is Axel Mirmod. The supreme black mage who commands the power of darkness!’
Axel was an adopted child of the Mirmod family. But he gained a fateful encounter with black magic during the war, rose triumphantly, and committed all sorts of atrocities.
Then, victorious in the ‘Kin Strife,’ he was set to become the duke of the villainous Mirmod family.
Soon, as the Iron-Blooded Duke, he’d plunge the empire into icy hell.
Fortunately, Axel Mirmod hadn’t appeared yet.
But! To oppose him when we inevitably met, I needed to build strength.
‘During this brief peaceful time, I’ll make my presence known. By seducing or subjugating the real powers in the ducal family!’
If there were three heir candidates, there were also current power players.
I recalled the list of the ducal family’s real influencers and muttered them softly under my breath.
“Hammonee, Council Chairman, Academy Director…….”
Among the three, the weakest was Grandma.
She was already known far and wide as the “old lady in the back room”—that said it all.
Right now, she just lived quietly under her past glory, meddling only in social circles and family internals.
Luckily, Grandma neither liked nor disliked me.
‘Let’s ramp up the charm offensive on Grandma!’
The Council Chairman……
Well, I didn’t know exactly what kind of person he was yet. I’d read about him in the book, but……
‘The Council Chairman feels fishy, so put him on hold for now.’
And finally, the last one: the Academy Director, who was practically the Council Chairman’s lackey.
‘The Academy Director definitely hates me and Dad. Just look at how much the teacher under him hates me. He’s obviously gonna set a trap soon.’
I had to deal with all the small fry before Axel arrived!
‘To turn traps against them, I’ll need power, right?’
I clutched the fairy necklace tightly in my hand.
There had to be a way to use it.
I needed to head to the library, the repository of knowledge.
But I was still a baby, so I couldn’t go alone. And with forbidden books possibly there, definitely not alone.
‘Let’s seduce Dad into going to the library with me. I need to nail down the fairy necklace’s usage and the locations of advanced artifacts!’
I set down my half-eaten sandwich and hopped off the sofa.
“Sien going to see Dad! No, going to see Dad!”
Declaring it so solemnly, I bunny-hopped off to find Dad.
But……
To think Dad would get played like a sucker again……
***
At that moment, Matthias was speaking with one of his subordinates, a black mage from the magic tower.
He was plotting to cut off the Council’s head. Since they’d pushed to put him on the execution stand and kill him, he planned to start with their chairman’s son, Selford, that very day.
“First, we take the Council Chairman’s head. I’ve already bought off all the existing mages.”
His face was meticulously sharp, unlike someone who’d been away from the family for so long. The black mage nodded seriously at the languid Matthias’s expression.
“Yes, the head first……. It’ll be tough, but understood. Lord Matthias’s schemes always pan out, so I expect the same this time.”
Even the black mage’s flattery got no reaction from him. Matthias nodded curtly and whispered cruelly.
“Anyone annoying who tries to harm Sien, we just kill them all.”
Everything was going according to plan.
But there’s always an unexpected variable.
Right at this moment.
Matthias narrowed his brows at the strange aura his senses picked up.
“Someone’s entered the barrier.”
The black mage also narrowed his eyes, peering through the door.
But……
A tiny round head poked out from the hallway, tilting curiously this way and that.
Seeing it, Matthias’s mind turned misty and serene, like fog over water.
Sien had come.
Sien was a special child.
The only one who could breach the barrier Matthias had set, which no one else could cross……
‘Ah, Sien mustn’t see anything bad.’
Matthias straightened his posture and clasped his hands politely in front.
The black mage shadowing him like a shadow looked puzzled.
“Take off your hat.”
“Pardon?”
At his fierce gesture toward his chin, the startled black mage obediently placed his pitch-black pointed hat on the desk.
“What…….”
“Let’s talk about farming.”
“Pardon? Suddenly?”