My Niece Is Not A Villainess

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Why? You said ‘woah~’ earlier.”

 

In response to Ian’s question, Rose hesitated before answering in a soft voice.

 

“Because the flowers were pretty.”

 

“They were pretty?”

 

Ian chuckled at her subtle nod, almost unnoticed if he didn’t look closely.

 

“Should we then go for furniture with many flowers?”

 

Although Ian didn’t personally like the pink furniture adorned with flowers, butterflies, and jewels, he was ready to purchase them if Rose liked them.

 

The furniture being chosen now would be used by Rose, not Ian.

 

However, Rose shook her head.

 

“Why? Don’t you like it? Is there something else you prefer?”

 

Instead of answering, Rose stared at Ian.

 

Seeing her checking if it was okay to speak, Ian smiled warmly.

 

Waiting patiently for her to express herself, Ian’s affectionate smile encouraged Rose to speak.

 

“The furniture from the duke… room… something like that.”

 

“Rose, do you want furniture like uncle’s room?”

 

Rose nodded slightly.

 

Ian, charmed by Rose’s adorable gesture, kissed her cheek.

 

“Sebastian.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Bring Matty Combs and show him the furniture in my room.”

 

“Yes, my lord.”

 

After giving orders to Sebastian, Ian turned his attention to Matty Combs.

 

“Create the same design, but make it smaller to fit Rose, and round the edges.”

 

“Yes, leave it to me!”

 

With his confident response, Matty Combs left the room, and the waiting dress designer entered.

 

“Blessings of spring to the fruits of Loenbaum. Duke. It is an honor to meet you. This is Serge’s designer, Herry Lay.”

 

“May the blessings of spring touch you. Nice to meet you, Herry Lay.”

 

Herry Lay, with her purple hair tied tightly, smiled broadly while looking at Rose in Ian’s arms.

 

“The young lady is truly adorable.”

 

As if embarrassed, Rose buried her head in Ian’s chest.

 

Smirking, Herry Lay turned to Ian and asked.

 

“Do you want to design the young lady’s clothes?”

 

Ian, caressing Rose’s back, gestured to Sebastian.

 

“Let’s see and discuss it first.”

 

As Herry Lay received the design book from Sebastian, her eyes widened.

 

“This is!”

 

“I want you to make the clothes exactly as they are. I don’t want a separate design.”

 

“Oh, my.”

 

With each design page handed over, Herry Lay couldn’t help but express amazement.

 

Following the teachings that clothes are what people wear, Herry Lay wanted to create comfortable clothes for the wearer.

 

However, her beliefs crumbled when faced with the harsh reality of making a living.

 

Excessive lace, heavy jewels, and even a corset that made it difficult to breathe.

 

In making clothes contrary to her beliefs, Herry Lay became famous, and the harsh reality faded away.

 

Paying the price, she could no longer create comfortable clothes.

 

Today, unexpectedly, she saw a proper design in a place she didn’t imagine. Clothes that were comfortable for a child to wear.

 

Without lace and jewels, perfect for activities.

 

Easy to put on and take off.

 

To her surprise, there was even a pair of pants with an unimaginable design.

 

Pants reminiscent of pumpkins.

 

Surely, if she wore these, even those who didn’t like children would fall for them, and she was willing to bet her entire fortune on that.

 

“Sir! Who is the person behind this design? Can I meet them?”

 

Rose flinched at Herry Lay’s enthusiastic approach, and Sebastian stepped in, blocking her way.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Herry Lay, startled by Sebastian’s sharp tone, stepped back.

 

“I apologize. The design was just too shocking.”

 

Herry Lay quickly pulled out prepared fabric, offering a hasty apology with a pale face.

 

“I heard that the young lady would wear it, so I prepared it with light but warm fabric.”

 

Ian carefully inspected the fabric.

 

The criteria were already set, so the selection wasn’t difficult.

 

“Exclude these two.”

 

After choosing two of the fabrics, Herry Lay was inwardly amazed.

 

Despite being a recluse in his mansion, the Duke’s eyes for recognizing fabric quality were sharp, quickly selecting the worst ones.

 

The subsequent fabric choices were the same.

 

Herry Lay stared at the Duke with amazement, her mouth agape.

 

To most nobles, daughters were just means for advantageous marriages. Therefore, if they looked pretty on the surface, the quality of the fabric was often disregarded.

 

However, the Duke acted in the opposite manner.

 

He cared not for beauty but solely for the quality of the fabric.

 

He touched and felt each one, even inquiring about the material of the fabric.

 

After a while of deliberation, Ian settled on two choices.

 

They were truly opposite to the selections of other nobles—a fabric that emphasized lightness, texture, and insulation.

 

‘Wow. How much does he cherish the young lady?’

 

“How long will it take?”

 

Herry Lay, who had been momentarily lost in thought, snapped back and answered,

 

“Even if we start making it today, it will take a minimum of two weeks.”

 

“Bring the finished clothes to me. I can’t have her wearing these forever.”

 

Herry Lay nodded subtly and withdrew.

 

“But, Duke, what about this part of the design? Wouldn’t it be better if we fixed it like this?”

 

Starting with that comment, they engaged in a discussion about the design for a while.

 

It continued until Rose, nestled in his arms, fell asleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several more weeks passed since the possession.

 

Ian exercised during the time he spent with Rose, and when that child fell asleep, he moved to a hidden courtyard to focus on training.

 

When he was chosen as the favorite, he trained his body and swung the sword by following the training he received from <End of the Sword>.

 

Fortunately, Ian’s body showed considerable talent in martial arts.

 

It didn’t take long for him to feel a significant improvement in stamina and strength since starting the training.

 

Yet, he wasn’t entirely satisfied.

 

In his original body, warming up before exercise involved a casual ten laps around the training field.

 

“Need to increase the training intensity.”

 

Seeing the lush green leaves, he thought summer would provide ample time for monster subjugation. However, this northern region experienced an early winter.

 

Although he initially thought he had plenty of time, reality hit.

 

The leaves on the trees began to turn slightly red, seemingly questioning if summer had even arrived.

 

Once all the leaves turned into foliage and fell, Ian would have to go out for monster subjugation.

 

Building his body until then was practically impossible.

 

“Aura.”

 

Ian moved the mana inside his body.

 

The golden mana gathered around his wooden sword.

 

“It works, but…”

 

The problem was how durable it was.

 

Setting the day to make a Star Candy as a day to create an aura turned out to be unexpectedly easy.

 

It made sense because, despite Ian’s weak body, his soul received the blessing of the <Well of Mana>.

 

Therefore, using the aura as a benchmark was meaningless.

 

No, it might even be more dangerous.

 

Using aura on Earth implied that the body was in optimal condition.

 

So, if you could use aura, it meant the body could handle most skills.

 

However, he had gained the ability to use aura without being trained by the blessing of <Well of Mana>.

 

In other words, it was difficult to confirm if the current body was suitable for the skills bestowed by the Thrones.

 

Even if he had Thrones, they might respond to inquiries. However, since the day they gave him the Star Candy, the Thrones hadn’t sent any messages.

 

They were Thrones who cared for him, so they would probably be watching. Yet, sometimes he doubted if they were indeed watching. Especially in moments like now when there were no messages despite his doubts.

 

Having doubts and not sending messages… this was one of those times.

 

“I’ll eventually have to test it myself.”

 

Ian, clicking his tongue, stood up, raising his wooden sword while looking at the reddening sky.

 

Since Thrones couldn’t help, and to see if he had improved enough to eat a Star Candy, he had to test himself.

 

For instance, facing a specific monster bare-handed.

 

Ian, having made up his mind, swung the sword again.

 

As Ian’s arm, drawing the sword straight and horizontal, came to a stop, a waiting servant quickly ran over and offered a towel. It was a servant assigned by Sebastian, who had learned that Ian went to train his sword skills every morning.

 

Wiping his sweaty forehead with the towel, Ian entrusted the wooden sword to the servant and headed towards the bathrobe hanging in the lord’s chamber.

 

As he entered the dressing room, Sebastian approached Ian.

 

“Have you arrived?”

 

“The bath is ready?”

 

“Yes, it’s prepared.”

 

As Ian headed towards the bathroom, followed by the housemaid, the maids watching whispered among themselves.

 

“The duke with a sword…”

 

“I thought he would do it for a few days and give up.”

 

“Me too.”

 

Upon hearing the hushed conversation, Sebastian glanced at the maids, and they scattered instantly.

 

“Sorry.”

 

“It’s fine. I’ll wake up Rose and go together. Just leave them be.”

 

Waving his hand to dismiss the maids, Ian entered the room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, Ian affectionately woke up Rose and fed her soup in the dining room.

 

Perhaps accustomed to being fed every morning, Rose accepted the soup without any resistance.

 

“Rose, what would you like to do today?”

 

Rose shook her head.

 

“I don’t know what to do.”

 

“Alright.”

 

“Then, shall we do coloring with uncle?”

 

As Rose became accustomed to being fed, she also became familiar with spending time with Ian.

 

However, she still hesitated to speak.

 

Like a 5-year-old Yoori on Earth, Ian, hoping for some small talk, continued to encourage conversation with Rose.

 

“Coloring game?”

 

“Yes, let’s going to uncle’s study.”

 

It must be boring for Rose, who is wary of the dukedom, to just be in Ian’s arms.

 

The previous evening, while Rose took a nap, Ian prepared pictures and colored pencils for her to enjoy coloring.

 

“I don’t know what it is.”

 

“Want to try it?”

 

Hesitant, Rose nodded in agreement.

 

“Alright then, let’s eat first and then give it a try.”

 

Ian fed her a small piece of bread and gently stroked her head.

 

Knowing that she received praise, Rose’s cheeks blushed with delight.

 

At that moment, Sebastian approached Ian and whispered something.

 

“My lord. It seems like there is a little bit of talk from the collateral regarding the young lady’s registration.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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