The Villainess' Son is Innocent

When night came, intense fatigue hit me.

‘I’m still so young, this body isn’t strong enough.’

I wasn’t sure if I was physically or mentally drained.

After a long time spent trying to blend Emil into the group, the sky became dark.

Although it was still awkward with the children, at least, he wasn’t sitting alone by the window like before.

The children didn’t speak to Emil at once, but they approached and talked to him little by little.

What was surprising was that Blensia was guarding Emil’s side.

‘Do she feel less burdened…?’

I was thirsty, so I drank the juice from a pretty glass.

It was a hot day, so no one tried to follow me when I went to the balcony. Thanks to this, I was able to stretch my legs comfortably.

I was in the midst of watching the children gathered inside.

“What are you doing alone?”

Hildred’s spiteful face appeared and approached this way.

I never asked for a glass of ‘Reymon’s Young Lord, Hildred,’ thank you very much.

Even in my silence, he didn’t really care. On the contrary, he approached more casually.

“The cake, earlier, was really wonderful. And you too, today you’re really…”

His bright golden-brown hair swayed slightly with the passing breeze.

Anyone who didn’t know him well would be fooled by that face.

But not me.

“–Pretty.”

“I know.”

“And it’s annoying.”

“I also know that.”

Before the regression, I wasn’t on good terms with Hildred Reymon either.

To be exact, we weren’t on good terms but we pretended to get along.

Thanks to our parents’ relationship, I didn’t feel the need to use honorifics since I had frequent exchanges with him even before I was 10 years old.

“Move to the side.”

“Why should I?”

The couch on the balcony was wide enough.

Unless you’re wearing a wide dress.

And since I was wearing one, the wide couch became a single-seat couch.

Nevertheless, Hildred removed the hem of my dress with his feet.

“This is an expensive fabric, you know?”

“So expensive, it’s all over your house.”

Look at this brat.

No matter how hard I tried to restrain myself, he was looking for a fight so I snapped without holding back.

*     *     * 

Two years ago, Marquis Reymond declared he’ll remain unmarried.

“But still, I need a successor. I know. Therefore, I’m going to adopt a child from a family here.”

With that announcement, Marquis’ collateral relatives, as well as lifetime vassals’ families, gathered pleased.

It was a great opportunity to send their children and manage to swallow the marquisate.

The Marquis brought Hildred and several children from families closely related to him, such as the Kostney, the Clorante, and the Siol. 

According to adults’ desires, children were quickly put ahead and selected.

Among them, Hildred was the most unique child.

“Ah, You still don’t get it? You can’t win that seat.”

He had a lust for power and was quick-witted. He had excellent learning skills and could be ruthless at times.

“So get down on your knees and say you’re giving up. Then I’ll give you. The antidote.”

Hildred fed something to the last rival in the competition and made him believe it was poison.

The frightened child immediately gave up the succession seat, and Hildred became the winner.

Due to his character, it could have been a real poison, but he was also good at putting pressure on other people’s minds to wrap things up and keep the good act for himself.

“I didn’t expect you to use Emil Callixst like that. That guy, he can be useful too.”

With a friendly face, Hildred mercilessly slashed Emil.

For me, who had the body of a child but the spirit of an adult, his words were nothing more than an attempt to keep in check among children his age.

“So why did you come here?”

“To pick a fight.”

“Okay, then bring it.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you say you wanna quarrel?”

When I declared I was going to accept his challenge as he wanted, Hildred looked at me puzzled.

“You, were you always like this?”

“I guess you didn’t know.”

“You used to nod to matter what I said.”

“Do you like that?”

In my past life, I have been quite fond of Hildred.

But was it right after my debutant? We fought and yelled over minor misunderstandings and avoided each other.

‘But only in front of others, I still pretended to be good friends.’

I don’t even remember what the fight was about.

Anyway, at this time we were still on good terms. No, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say we were really close.

However, as I was trying to change people’s perception of Emil, Hildred will inevitably try to keep me in check.

If more people turned to Emil’s side, it would be of little benefit to Hildred.

That fact was a little bitter.

“It’s not like you suddenly became a different person. You don’t feel good even though it’s your birthday?”

Hildred, unable to sit down, was still standing in front of me.

His friendly expression was different from the one he had when we were among the other children.

I smiled as kindly as before.

“It’s because you were being mean to Emil.”

He was speechless. It was obvious that he was trying to understand the intentions behind my actions.

But it didn’t last long.

His gaze turned to the window next to me and then faced me again.

It looked like someone was coming this way.

“It’s ridiculous.”

“Eh?”

“You said that a friend’s friend can be your friend too.”

The soft golden brown hair shook in the wind, and a pretty smile spread.

“I’m your friend, aren’t I?”

As soon as Hildred finished speaking, Blensia entered the balcony.

Together with Emil.

Emil still seemed awkward to be around someone.

“Um, Young Master Hildred, the Marquis is looking for you.”

After speaking, Blensia glanced at me.

As I smiled, she blushed and looked at Hildred again.

‘You heard what he said.’

Anyways, I’m good at pretending to be coy.

As a host who sees off guests, I said with a regretful tone.

“I heard the Marquis is busy these days.”

Hildred also rolled his eyes without losing.

“It’s because he has more additional documents to overview. I wanted to play more, but I think I should go.”

Then he bent down on one knee, took the back of my hand, and kissed it.

“Happy birthday.”

Hildred gave a formal congratulations and stood up.

And before passing, he placed his hand on Emil’s shoulder.

“Please invite me again next time. I also want to make friends with the Young Lord then.”

She was the one who approached me first and Blensia didn’t seem to care. You bastard.

As I smiled without answering, Emil, who was avoiding his face, looked back at Hildred.

Come to think of it…

Hill still doesn’t know much about Emil, does he?

“You?”

Emil asked coldly.

“…With me?”

He was really defensive.

And straightforward.

“You don’t like me.”

Hildred’s smile was broken by the straightforward refusal.

I grabbed Emil’s hand and brought him to my side.

“I’m sorry, but Young Master will be busy playing with me.”

I can’t isolate this child as you want.

My already unbalanced emotional state might worsen.

“I don’t think I have enough time to spend with you.”

The fear that my family and I will die if this bomb-like thing were to explode again, grew wild.

*     *     * 

The birthday banquet ended very well. I could say it was successful.

“Send me a letter, Bli.”

“I- I’ll definitely send one!”

It was worth it to be able to comfortably call each other by our names when it was time to say goodbye.

After Blensia, whom I became close friends with, left, I looked outside through the window.

After a while, Count Byut’s carriage slowly moved away.

“… She’s gone.”

Emil mumbled next to me.

Unlike his calm face, he sounded disappointed.

Now it was just the two of us.

I didn’t miss my chance to inquire.

“Emil, aren’t you going to wish me a happy birthday?”

From the moment I decided to start talking comfortably, Emil acted as if I had broken something.

“But, earlier, the celebration…”

“Mh? You didn’t do it. Aren’t you gonna do it?”

“Th–”

“I’m happy for the gift but I still wanted to hear congratulations from you…”

“I’m not that good at that…”

“There is no such thing as good or bad when congratulating someone as long as you do it sincerely.”

When I showed my disappointment knowing he wouldn’t do it, Emil’s ears turned red.

“Co- congratulations, on your birthday.”

I smiled brightly as I thanked him.

“Thank you! Can I go play at Duke’s next time?”

“If you want.”

I looked back startled.

“I’ll allow you to come at least once.”

The light from the chandelier glinted off his pure white-silver hair and shone cooly.

So as the glasses he was wearing.

The appearance of an elegant and sharp man.

It was Duke Callixst.

As soon as the Duke arrived, Emil was noticeably stiff.

“Miss Lankester, do you like him?”

I smiled unintentionally, dumbfounded at his question and indifferent smile.

Though I replied vehemently.

“Of course, because the Young Lord is handsome!”

I’ve already met Duke Callixst once, but I still didn’t have a good grasp of him.

Therefore, I pretended to be an innocent child rather than being wary.

“Young Lord is the first person I met that is as handsome as my dad.”

“Do you think so?”

“Yes. And he’s really good at studying… Do you want to go to the library later?”

And like that, I turned my attention back to Emil.

If I act like a girl who’s looking for a chance to hang out with a boy she wants to be close to, it’ll seem as if I just like him without any particular purpose.

As expected, the Duke looked at me strangely as I focused my interest on Emil, instead of paying attention to his questions.

“There are also good places to go for a picnic. There is a lake a little out of the capital…”

“Miss Lankester.”

The Duke called me again and apologized as if I had forgotten.

“I’m sorry, Duke.”

He stroked my hair without accusing me of anything.

“We have to go back for today.”

“Yes!”

“I hope to see you again later.”

At the Duke’s words that he had to leave, Emil’s entire face became cloudy.

“Thank you for the invitation. I’ll definitely go play.”

“I’ll wait gladly.”

When the Duke turned his back, Emil followed him with a heavy footstep.

I went out to see them off.

“See you later, Emil.”

“…yeah.”

Emil, who was shaking his hand awkwardly as he waved, stopped.

The two got on the wagon. After making sure they made their way through the front door, I immediately turned around and went back inside.

‘Does the Duke know about Emil’s madness?’

Duke Callixst.

A character whose information was not revealed in the original novel.

He was simply Robellin Kastone’s political fiance, and all he did in the novel was escort her or slap her in the face.

And by the end of the plot, after marriage, he was very happy when Robellin gave birth to her son, Emil.

‘He was so happy back then, but, weirdly, Emil was left unattended after Robellin’s execution.’

Was it because he was ashamed of his wife’s crimes?

Or was there another reason?

As I climbed the stairs in thought, my mother and father appeared at the end of it.

I immediately shook those thoughts out of my mind and smiled widely, I didn’t want them to suspect anything.

“Did you have fun?”

“Lots. Thank you very much for the celebration.”

However, contrary to what I had said, my mind was on edge.