I Became The Guardian Of The Future Villain

“Do you want more juice, Luciard? Your glass is already empty.”

 

“Lord prefers these sausages. You should know that as his uncle, Luciard.”

 

“Luciard, pass me that pepper over there. Luciard? Can you hear me?”

 

The mercenaries who had just arrived for breakfast were completely confused about what was going on.

 

Hestia kept calling Luciard by his name in a friendly way, while Luciard was trembling with his shoulders and couldn’t say anything.

 

He wanted to be angry, but he was trying hard to hold it back because of Leonhard’s presence.

 

There was Hestia, smiling continuously; Luciard, trying to contain his rage; and Leonhard, grinning widely in the middle of it all.

 

“…Is this hell?”

 

Yeluna’s mutter made the other members nod in agreement.

 

“Ah, good morning, everyone. Please take a seat. The maids will be bringing the food soon,” Hestia said, finally acknowledging the mercenaries. They exchanged awkward glances, then glanced at Luciard.

 

Crack, crack—

 

The sound was so intense that it felt like his teeth would shatter.

 

Lavio discreetly swapped seats with Neville, avoiding the one next to Luciard.

 

Neville, who found himself sitting next to Luciard, was panicking but couldn’t dare to speak.

 

“I feel like I’d get chewed out by the captain if I upset him.”

 

Just sitting beside him felt suffocating.

 

But it seemed like Hestia and Leonhard didn’t feel that tension, as they were constantly smiling.

Of course, their smiles meant something entirely different.

 

“Luciard, can you pass me that honey…?”

 

“…Kid, you.”

 

Finally, Luciard couldn’t hold it in any longer and said, trembling.

 

“Cann’t you just give it to me? It’s within your reach, you know? Right?”

 

He slammed the honey jar down in front of Hestia, glaring at her.

 

Seeing the corner of Luciard’s mouth twitch, Hestia smirked.

 

“You’re closer to it than I am to the honey. Thanks, Luciard. This honey is really sweet.”

 

She poured the honey on her toast, continuing her teasing.

 

It had been like this for a while. She kept asking for unnecessary things, deliberately using Luciard’s name.

 

“The kid really is a kid. Judging by how much help he needs.”

 

“So our Luciard should help him a lot, right?”

 

Even though they were smiling, their gazes were filled with tension.

 

The mercenaries watching felt so uncomfortable that they couldn’t tell if their food was going in their mouths or their noses, while Leonhard was bouncing his eyes back and forth between Hestia and Luciard.

 

“Hehe, Hestia and uncle are super close now.”

 

‘…Where did that come from?’

 

‘Could it be that he doesn’t realize their tension because he’s just a kid?’

 

It wasn’t just the mercenaries who felt baffled; Hestia and Luciard were equally confused.

 

“…Lord, we’re not that close.”

 

“Excuse me. Why would I be close to this kid…”

 

“But you two have been laughing at each other since a while ago, calling each other by name and nicknames. but why are you calling her a kid? Isn’t that something you say to kids like me?”

 

“That’s…”

 

Luciard made a sour face.

 

He didn’t want Leonhard to know that he and Hestia had known each other for ten years.

 

If he found out they were just pretending to be friendly…

 

“Well, since you two have known each other since you were kids, it makes sense that you’re close.”

 

Luciard and Hestia flinched. Both turned to look at Neville simultaneously.

 

“Not me! I didn’t say anything!”

 

It wasn’t Neville’s fault for being clueless. Someone was standing behind him.

 

“Gallian…!”

 

Hestia jumped, startled, calling out Gallian’s name.

 

“I came looking for you because I didn’t see you this morning, Hestia. I’m sorry, it looks like you’re having breakfast with guests.”

 

Luciard silently stared at Gallian.

 

He’d only seen him briefly when he was accused of being a thief and when he had to give the mercenaries a room, but they hadn’t spoken properly.

 

‘We weren’t that close in the first place.’

 

He had taken care of him during the breaks, but that was just fulfilling his duties as a butler, not a friendship.

 

“What do you mean by being close?”

 

Leonhard tilted his head.

 

He had forgotten to cover Gallian’s mouth because he was surprised by his sudden appearance. He tried to do it too late.

 

“Lord and Madam met for the first time at the duke’s wedding.”

 

The moment the words left his mouth, Hestia and Luciard’s faces shifted to one of embarrassment, while Leonhard’s eyes sparkled with interest.

 

“At my parents’ wedding?!”

 

“Yes, at that time, young Lord Luciard…”

 

“Gallian.”

 

At Luciard’s low voice, Gallian hesitated.

 

“…That’s not exactly a pleasant story, is it?”

Even though he was smiling, but it seemed like his lips were twitching.

Besides, Leonhard had no idea what kind of treatment Luciard received as a child.

“What happened with uncle?”

 

But Leonhard’s excitement was already through the roof.

 

With wide eyes, Luciard and Hestia stared at him as if they would devour him, while Leonhard was eagerly waiting for the rest of the story.

 

Caught between them, Gallian squeezed his eyes shut.

 

“T-the two of them were flower girls together at the wedding.”

 

“…Flower girls?”

 

“Yes, it refers to the children who sprinkle flowers in front of the bride. Coincidentally, they were about the same age as the young Lord is now.”

 

“they at the same age as me… I want to see that!”

 

Fortunately, it seemed like he had managed to change the subject, and Hestia and Luciard felt relieved.

 

“There are portraits of Lord and Madam, but unfortunately, we didn’t get to keep images of you two. You were so adorable. So much so that Lord even proposed to Hestia!”

 

But unexpectedly, a bomb dropped.

 

Hestia and Luciard quickly tried to stop Gallian, but it was too late.

 

“…Engagement? Hestia and uncle got engaged?!”

 

Leonhard, who had just heard, looked at the two with excitement like never before, snorting in anticipation.

 

“Th-there’s no way! I’ve never even had a boyfriend, let alone an engagement.”

 

“It was just a joke my brother made. Engagement? If that happened, I wouldn’t have gone abroad.”

 

Leonhard’s shoulders, which had shot up to the sky, slowly drooped.

 

Seeing the disappointment on his face tugged at Luciard’s heart, but he hurried to explain so Leonhard wouldn’t misunderstand.

 

“…That’s a shame. If you two were engaged, I would’ve celebrated it.”

 

“Ha…”

 

“…Lord, arranged marriages are common among nobles, but you can’t just pick anyone to spend your life with.”

 

While Luciard felt relieved to have gotten through that moment, Hestia suddenly became serious and grabbed Leonhard’s shoulders.

 

Her words made Luciard feel something strange.

 

‘Are you saying I’m just anyone?’

 

“It’s better to be engaged to someone you love, right?”

 

“Like my parents?”

 

“Yes, even though it was an arranged marriage, they loved each other. A marriage without love is just a torment for both.”

 

“Hmm… I think Hestia’s right.”

 

“Right?”

 

“So you two should love each other!”

 

“…Huh?”

 

“If you love each other, you can get engaged and married. If the two people I like get married, I’d be so happy!”

 

Why is the conversation going this way?

 

She couldn’t believe Leonhard understood things correctly.

 

While She was pondering how to respond, a moment passed.

 

“Leon, love is not something you can just have because someone tells you to. That’s just rude to the kid.”

 

Luciard said, his rare smile disappearing as he calmly explained. Realizing his mistake, Leonhard looked sheepish.

 

“…Sorry, Hestia. I messed up.”

 

“No way, Your Highness. It’s totally fine.”

 

Thankfully, Leonhard quieted down again, allowing them to finish breakfast without a hitch. Although, there were a few moments where Hestia and Luciard exchanged puzzled looks at each other.

 

━━━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━━━

“Can we talk for a sec?”

 

After the meal, as Hestia was about to leave the dining hall, Luciard stopped her.

 

But Hestia glanced at him and then turned away.

 

“Sorry, but I can’t right now. I’m kinda busy.”

 

“What? Even if you’re busy, we can at least chat for a minute…”

 

Thinking she was ignoring him, Luciard reached out to grab her, but she was already far away.

 

He stared at the empty air where she had just been, at a loss for words for a moment.

 

“Hestia isn’t ignoring you.”

 

Gallian appeared beside him to clear up the misunderstanding.

 

“Then what?”

 

“Yesterday, when you showed up, she suddenly had to attend to guests, so she couldn’t finish her work. She still has a ton of stuff piled up.”

 

“…Really?”

 

“Yeah, but if you have anything you want to talk about or are curious about, just let me know.”

 

Luciard shot Gallian a glare.

 

“I thought you quit to take care of your sick family, but it looks like he is fine?”

 

“Yep, that’s right. Thanks to Hestia, he was able to return. Didn’t Hestia mention that?”

 

“What about?”

 

“About Albert trying to poison my father and kick me out of here… Looks like she didn’t say anything.”

 

Luciard’s eyes widened in shock.

 

“Poison? Kick you out? What the hell happened?”

 

“It’s a long story. If you have a minute, can we talk?”

 

Since he was already planning to ask the servants about Hestia’s activities, Luciard gladly accepted the offer.

 

This time, he could hear the details that Hestia hadn’t mentioned.

 

Luciard thought that even if Hestia was telling the story objectively, she would still put herself in a good light. But this was different.

 

“If it weren’t for Hestia, the Duke’s residence might have already fallen to Count Humphrey.”

 

‘…Instead of making it sound good, it feels like she downplayed it.’

 

Hearing about Hestia from Gallian felt like he was talking about a completely different person.

 

“She not only saved my father but also covered all the hospital and medicine bills and even the nursing costs. Plus, she helped me get back here… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay this kindness.”

 

Since Hestia saved his father, it wasn’t surprising that he would praise her.

 

But could an 18-year-old lady really pull all this off?

 

“…You don’t believe it, do you?”

 

Luciard hesitated at Gallian’s subtle question.

 

“To be honest… I think you two might have planned this together.”

 

“Haha, I get why you’d think that. But really, you have no idea how lucky yung master is that Hestia is his guardian.”

 

Hearing his somewhat serious tone, Luciard started to take his words seriously.

 

“I totally understand why you are suspicious of Hestia, but can’t you give her just a little credit for her efforts?”

 

Even in this short time, he had been observing Hestia, Gallian knew that she genuinely cared for the Duke’s family.

 

And that sincerity reached Luciard as well.

 

Thinking of Hestia, Luciard fell into a brief moment of contemplation.