I Became the guardian of the future villain

“What does it feel like to marry someone you love?”

“Huh? Oh, that’s…”

Flora blushed, seeming flustered. But even that was endearing.

“…It’s indescribably happy. Although it’s an arranged marriage, we love each other. I’m so glad to be able to spend my life with the Duke.”

“So, that’s why you treat Prince Luciard well?”

Flora paused. After a moment of silence, she dismissed the maids. Once they were alone in the room, Flora spoke.

“Why do you ask that?”

“…I thought you might not care about the prince.”

To be precise, she wanted to confirm whether Flora, like the other servants, was wary of Luciard.

“Indeed, I have no reason to not care about the prince.”

Hestia’s eyes widened at her surprisingly honest response.

“But he is the precious family of the person I love. If he cares about him, shouldn’t I, his fiancée… no, his spouse, care as well?”

“…”

“And I’m sorry to say, but he’s a pitiful child.”

Flora’s gaze turned sad. It was an emotion that couldn’t be feigned.

“I knew how the child was treated in the past, but I couldn’t help him. So now, I want to be a source of strength for him.”

“Is that sympathy?”

“Hehe, Lady Frost, you know difficult words well. Yes, if it can be called sympathy, then it is. Does that answer your question?”

“…Yes.”

“Do you perhaps feel uncomfortable around Luciard?”

Hestia shook her head.

“I was just curious since I’m taking the role of flower girl instead of the prince.”

Flora smiled gently and touched Hestia’s soft cheek.

“I think you would definitely get along well with Luciard. I wish you could meet him today…”

“Is he not coming to the wedding?”

“…No, he’s not feeling well. Maybe he doesn’t want to see us. He’s been rejected for being sick more than once.”

Hoping it wasn’t a serious illness, Flora said weakly, and Hestia tilted her head.

‘That contradicts what the attendant said.’

Then there was only one conclusion to draw.

Someone was sowing discord between them.

“Shall we start with the flower girl practice?”

As Flora stood up, Hestia set aside her complicated thoughts for a moment.

* * *

“The wedding will start in an hour, so you need to be at the venue ten minutes early.”

“Okay, I’ll make sure not to be late.”

After the rehearsal, Flora decided to finish her makeup, and Hestia bowed and gracefully left the bride’s waiting room.

When she returned to the room where her family had been, no one was there.

“The Frost couple has already gone to the wedding venue.”

“Really? Got it.”

After learning her family’s whereabouts from a maid, Hestia looked out the window in the hallway.

In the distance, she could see the garden where the venue was set up, bustling with people.

“Did they go early to promote the soap?”

There were so many people far away that she couldn’t see her family clearly.

Thinking there was no harm in going early, Hestia headed for the stairs.

The hallway was completely silent, with not a single person around.

It seemed all the servants had been called to the wedding.

“This place is too big.”

As she thought about how not all big houses are great, she suddenly heard a sniffle.

Sniff—

The sound felt amplified in the emptiness.

“Is someone there?”

Hestia turned around, looking around.

Sniff— Sniff—

As she walked toward the source of the sound, she spotted a small storage room next to the stairs.

“Is anyone there?”

Hestia spoke cautiously. The sniffling sound that had been faint suddenly stopped.

“Do you need help?”

There was no reply. But that was very strange.

Why would someone stop making noise if they heard a voice? Could it be a ghost…?

“…That’s unlikely.”

Peeking through the crack in the door, she saw a boy about her age.

Was he trying not to be discovered? Just as she was about to ignore it and leave, a figure popped into her mind.

The original flower girl candidate.

Flora had said he disliked her and Icarus, using illness as an excuse to avoid showing his face.

Who had he heard that from regarding the prince’s refusal to be the flower girl?

The servants.

How did those servants treat the prince?

The answer was clear.

Hestia turned around.

Creeeak—

As she swung the storage room door wide open, there was a boy inside.

The light streaming in through the open door revealed his bright red hair.

With somewhat sharp features, unlike Icarus, he had wall eyes instead of red ones.

He was small and lacked muscle, making him look frail, but he was handsome enough to be called a pretty boy.

Moreover, with tears welling in his eyes and a red nose, he evoked a strong sense of maternal instinct.

Luciard Winston.

He was the Duke’s illegitimate son and Icarus’s half-brother.

At first, he seemed frozen with a frightened expression, but as he realized Hestia was a girl his age, he relaxed his shoulders.

“Are you Prince Luciard Winston?”

When she said his name, Luciard shrank back and frowned.

Like a lost kitten, he bristled defensively.

“…Who are you?”

“I’m Hestia Frost.”

“…”

Luciard’s brows furrowed deeper. To Hestia, it looked like he was pondering how to react since he didn’t know her name and surname.

Hestia glanced behind Luciard.

“What are you doing here?”

“…That’s none of your business.”

“I heard you couldn’t attend the wedding because you were sick. You don’t look sick to me.”

He only seemed a bit uncomfortable.

At some point, his gaze on Hestia sharpened. She could sense a hint of hostility.

But even so, it was no threat to Hestia, who was already thirty in essence.

As they stared at each other without blinking, engaged in a silent standoff, Hestia noticed an opening and pushed Luciard’s shoulder aside.

“What are you doing right now…!”

She noticed a torn dress in Luciard’s hand.

As Hestia reached for the unrecognizable garment, Luciard hurriedly pulled it back toward himself.

“That’s the outfit you were supposed to wear as a flower girl, right?”

“No.”

“Doesn’t seem like it. A white jacket with a pink cravat isn’t exactly common.”

Earlier, during the flower girl practice, Flora had mentioned the outfit tailored for the prince.

Just as her light pink dress was suitable for the flower girl, Luciard’s dress code was also white and pink.

Now, Hestia understood why Luciard had been crying alone in a place where no one could see him.

With a soft sigh, Hestia sat down next to him.
“Who did this to you?”

“…Do you think you’ll understand if I tell you?”

“If I find out, I will. So who is it?”

“I don’t know either.”

“You don’t have to hide it. Just be honest…”

“I really don’t know.”

At his firm response, Hestia turned to look at him.

“…There are too many people who could have done this, so I can’t guess who it is.”

That meant there were multiple people tormenting Luciard.

‘Honestly. I expected this, but what can I do about it? Why pick on a child?’

She recalled the attendant who had guided her to the bride’s waiting room.

The thought that among those who had been kind to her, there might be someone secretly tormenting Luciard made her sigh.

“Lady Royson said the prince isn’t coming to the wedding because he’s sick. But you aren’t sick, are you?”

“With your clothes looking like this, you can’t go.”

Luciard’s fingers trembled visibly.

“…I stated that I would attend the wedding. It’s more likely that my brother and Lady Royson don’t want me there.”

‘Do you really think the Duke is worried about you?’

‘What a delusion. He’s only looking after you because you’re clinging to the Duke’s household like a parasite.’

‘Do you really think the Duke has time to care about you, the illegitimate child?’

‘Oh, your clothes are missing? Well, you should have taken better care of them. The Duke only took the time to have them made for you, and if he finds out they’re gone, he’ll be furious.’

‘Just stay quiet like a mouse as usual. No one wants an illegitimate child like you around.’

Those were the words he had heard from his attendant that morning.

Just six months ago, he hadn’t had his personal attendant. His only living space had been a shabby little room.

But everything changed when the Duchess, who had tormented him, disappeared and his brother became the Duke.

Delicious food, fine clothes, a spacious room. He was awestruck by the things he had never even dared to imagine.

‘From now on, just call me brother casually. We’re the only family left, after all.’

Icarus had been the one to show him a glimmer of warmth in the dark world he was living in.

So he wanted to believe his words.

But the trust he had finally given had returned as a devastating betrayal.

The attendants who were supposed to be his limbs and provide convenience despised Luciard.

‘After all I’ve been through to get here, you want me to take care of an illegitimate child…!’

For them, taking care of Luciard was akin to being demoted.

The people they wanted to serve were nobles with noble blood, not a despised illegitimate child.

That misplaced anger was directed at Luciard.

At first, it was definitely minor bullying.

Having been bullied and ignored not only by the Duchess but also by other attendants, Luciard didn’t realize that what they were doing to him was wrong.

Seeing that Luciard didn’t tell anyone about the bullying, the actions of the attendants escalated, eventually leading to this situation.

“…I’m so tired of it all.”

The child, worn out by long-term violence, held the rag tightly, tears welling in his eyes.

It was clear that Luciard had been deeply hurt.

His figure reminded her of Icarus, who had been anxiously trying to approach his younger brother the night before.

“Do you really think the Duke hates you?”

“…Yeah.”

“That’s strange. The Duke shouldn’t hate you.”

“What do you know! Just stop bothering me and get out of here!”

Whether it was sadness or the accumulated disappointment and anger, Luciard couldn’t contain his escalating emotions and stood up abruptly.

Hestia looked up at him while remaining seated.

No matter how angry he got, he was still just a child.

With three younger siblings, Hestia found him an easy opponent.

“If he really hated you, the Duke wouldn’t have asked me to be your friend.”

“What?”

Hestia stood up and brushed the dust off her dress.

“You’ve never had a proper conversation with the Duke, have you?”

“Even if I did, it’s obvious he wouldn’t believe me.”

“So that means you haven’t tried.”

Luciard turned his head to avoid Hestia’s gaze.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried.

But whenever he went to find Icarus, he was too busy to meet with him and often absent.

More importantly, the bullies who tormented Luciard were always around him, unlike Icarus, whom he couldn’t see often.

So, whose opinions did Luciard end up caring about more, and whose words did he listen to more?

That was an answer even a passing dog could easily figure out.