I'm Searching for the Villainous Dad's Memories!

Episode 18

Exciting! An outing!

The next day, as planned, I went out to play with the maid sisters.

“The capital is so lively!”

My head turned quickly, following the bustling scenes of the busy street. A gentle hand patted my head from beside me.

“Hmm, running errands at the clothing store. You’re commendable.”

“Good. You’re adapting well. You’re quite a satisfying new recruit.”

“But is it really okay to buy that many clothes for Theo and me at the store?”

I asked, a bit worried, recalling the order list from the clothing store we had just visited.

“We can’t neglect the lord’s instructions.”

Maid Kate and Aisha smiled meaningfully, standing firmly by my sides.

Well, my dad is rich, and clothes bought by a rich dad are always good.

‘It would be great if he also bought me lots of socks and shoes!’

If that happens, I could call him dad not just three times a day, but a hundred times!

With that thought, I confidently continued walking down the bustling street.

The marketplace was really noisy. I was excited but kept my composure, carefully observing my surroundings.

Because this outing had an important purpose.

‘I need to find a building with blue window frames!’

I held Theo’s tiny hand even tighter.

Baby Theo was absorbing everything around him, his eyes sparkling as he looked around.

Although Theo wasn’t the type to show much expression, I could tell he was really excited right now.

So cute, my little brother.

“Hey, is it okay to go this way?”

I pointed to a long, straight road.

“It might be quicker through the alleys, but sure.”

I cautiously led the maids along the route I had memorized from my father’s office. Unfortunately, I hadn’t yet spotted the building with the blue window frames.

“Boo!”

Just then, Theo, who had been quietly observing, pointed to a spot and looked at me urgently. I shook my head solemnly.

“No, Theo. You already had milk cookies and candy earlier.”

His lips gently pouted in response to my firm answer.

“And besides, your sister has no money left…”

I whispered the last part quietly into his ear.

I did have some allowance from dad, but since it was meant for errands, I wasn’t sure if I could spend it freely.

“I’ll have to wait a bit longer to get a mountain of salary… Huh?”

Before I could even grasp what was happening, a buttery, fragrant potato covered in cheese was suddenly thrust in front of us. It had a rich, golden yellow appearance, enhanced with some goat cheese.

“Eat.”

Aisha, catching her breath, mashed the potato and fed it to Theo, who opened his mouth eagerly like a little bird.

When did she even buy this?

“One of the perks of being employed by Wintervalt is unlimited snacks.”

“Oh! Theo! Lucky you!”

Free snacks!

“You should have some too, Lirin. After all, eating well and staying strong is one of the basic virtues of a maid.”

Hmm, though I’d rather Theo have both.

“By the way, I bought around twenty of them.”

“T-Twenty? Then I guess I’ll try just one…”

When a senior speaks like that… and that rich buttery smell is just too hard to resist!

“This is delicious!”

The cheese was perfectly melted, and even sprinkled with pepper-it was truly delightful!

‘But why can’t I find the building with the blue windows?’

As I munched on the potato, I looked around.

After passing the grilled potato stall, the memorized route was coming to an end. Ahead was a long metasequoia-lined road leading to the palace, without a building in sight.

‘Did I miss it?’

“But Lirin, why have you been looking around so much since earlier?”

Kate, who had been quietly watching me, asked.

“Oh, I’m looking for something…”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Well, actually…”

“I understand.”

“Already?”

“Did I say two words?”

“Follow me.”

What? Can Kate read other people’s minds without permission?

Theo and I were led somewhere by Kate and Aisha.

As we turned right, away from the parade route, a street lined with various shops appeared.

“This is where you wanted to go, right? It’s obvious what kids think.”

Wow.

A burst of vivid, colorful sights filled my eyes.

Kate had stopped in front of what seemed like a child’s world, as if all the dreams and hopes of the world were gathered here.

The sign read in large letters: <B’s Secret Toy Shop>.

It was a famous store in the empire, known for its moving wooden dolls series. The trend had even reached my hometown of Reppy Village, so that said it all.

But…

‘I wasn’t looking for a toy store.’

I was about to shake my head, feeling slightly disappointed, when something familiar suddenly caught my eye.

‘Huh?’

My slumped shoulders straightened up.

‘Wait, wait, wait!’

I found it!

‘The blue window!’

Right next to the toy store!

It was the same as in my dream-an old building with a faded sign that looked like it had once been an inn and restaurant.

‘But why is this building here, off the parade route?’

It was strange.

Eliza was supposed to be caught in a collapsing building while following the predetermined route.

But this place was quite far from the parade route!

‘It’s not like her carriage could suddenly teleport here…’

As I blinked slowly, the realization hit me.

‘The carriage!’

What if her carriage goes out of control again? Just like the first time we met!

When I first met Eliza, her carriage was inexplicably racing toward where I was.

Using that incident to my advantage, I had devised a clever scheme to safely enter the duke’s estate. But looking back, it had been a rather suspicious accident.

‘They said there was no clear cause, so the coachman and a few servants were reprimanded, and the horse was sold.’

Could it be that someone was deliberately targeting Eliza?

‘Not an accident, but an incident?’

I felt an intense urge to pull out a magnifying glass.

I felt like a detective facing the scene of a crime.

‘But who could it be?’

Besides, there was no evidence that the first accident was deliberate either.

It was just my gut feeling.

“Hm, I was right. Aisha, inform the head maid.”

At that moment, Kate, noticing my intense gaze fixed ahead, spoke.

“I’ll do some market research before returning.”

“Got it.”

“Wait, what research?”

Grabbing both mine and Theo’s hands, Kate marched forward like a general.

“I know what’s on your mind. Keeping track of toy trends in the capital is an important task too.”

“No, I was actually looking at the building next to it…”

“Excuses. What good is staring at a building scheduled for demolition?”

When I glanced over, Theo was already completely mesmerized by the toy store, unable to blink.

Kate smirked.

“You’re already trapped in the allure of overtime. Let’s go. You think only a minute has passed, but it’s actually been an hour, in this magical toy shop.”

“Wooooooo!”

Theo Valt, I’ve never seen you stomp your feet before.

Of course, I had more important matters to attend to, so I gently tugged on Kate’s hand pulling me forward.

“Uh, I don’t really want to go! I’m busy! Really busy! Can’t we just go back to the mansion?”

However…

Three hours later.

“Wow…”

I emerged from the toy store with an embarrassed expression.

‘This was really beyond my control.’

My hands felt unusually heavy with all the bags I was carrying on the way back to the mansion.

‘I mean, how could I refuse when they offered to buy me something?’

All I did was nod.

All I did was wave my fingers a few times.

So this was truly, truly inevitable. Honestly.

…Hehe.

As soon as we returned to the mansion, I carefully set down the toy bags and rushed to the stables.

‘There was nothing wrong with the carriage or the horses.’

I spent the next day hanging around the servants, asking all sorts of questions.

Since there had been an incident with Eliza’s runaway carriage before, everyone, from the coachman to the stable master, was frantically inspecting the carriage as if their souls depended on it.

In the end, it didn’t seem like there was any issue that could cause a problem.

‘So, is someone doing this on purpose after all?’

I wondered if I could get more clues from my dreams, but it wasn’t like I could summon a future-seeing dream at will.

Moreover, my suspicion was purely speculative-there was absolutely no evidence.

So I couldn’t recklessly accuse a culprit who might not even exist. Finding a needle in a haystack requires certainty that the needle is even there.

‘Maybe I’m overthinking this.’

And, given that unexpected labyrinths could appear at any moment, it was also possible that the horse might panic because of a sudden beast.

In the end, I decided to focus on what I needed to do, rather than getting caught up in uncertain guesses.

‘The task remains the same!’

That task was to prevent Eliza from being crushed by the collapsing building.

‘Now that I know the location with the blue window, I need to find the protection artifact at the mansion!’

Alright!

“Then, let’s eat!”

“Finally. I was wondering when you’d say that.”

Startled by the familiar scolding, my eyes widened.