The Villainess’ Kindergarten

Three weeks have already passed since I arrived at the Duke’s house. Thomas hasn’t spoken to me since that day, but he doesn’t seem to suspect me. I became quite friendly with the children except for Thomas. We often walked in the garden or talked about various things. Still, sometimes I thought about my past life and felt a little sad. But there I was already dead. I knew that it would be pointless to think about it any further, so I was trying my best to adapt to life here. The most important thing for that was a stable job… The Duchess was in a very good position, but not professionally. Moreover, it was a position that would be lost the moment Leria appeared. Therefore, the best direction for me was to win the hearts of the children and become the Duke’s tutor. Because it suited my aptitude and is a job with good income and stability. To do that, I must first teach the children well.

 

I opened the drawer, took out the notebook in which I had organized my thoughts on the first day I came here, and opened it. The names Chantz and Ash appeared on the very first page. The two people, who were expected to become dark figures in the future, came down from the capital to the Duke’s house yesterday. To be exact, only Ash was a dark character, but in the original work, Chantz killed me and was a sub-male protagonist who even turned black in the second half, so I just wrote it as a dark character. 

 

‘I refuse to die again.’

 

Even just imagining dying by having my head cut off felt like I was getting a chill on the back of my neck, so I caressed my neck. This life would definitely last long. So both Chantz and Ash had to be included. For the children’s flowery path and my stable work life. Did they say that the Knights of the Chantz family were called Ignites? Most noble families with knights had two types of knights: a formal knighthood named by the family, and a knighthood in charge of protecting the head of the household and his family. It seemed that such escorts were collectively called guardians.

 

Ash was the leader of Ignite’s knights, and Chantz was an apprentice knight, and both were currently far from the dark side. So, from now on, I should be able to persuade him well, but there was just one problem. The reason Chantz turned dark was because of me, Fiora. And he had a clear reason for turning black. It was because I was trying to hurt and kill Leria, who saved him. But on Ash side… Thinking of Ash, I sighed. The reason he went dark was purely because of Fiora’s threats. But I couldn’t remember how or what words she threatened him with.

 

‘I think I’ll remember it if I get some hints.’

 

I touched my forehead and turned my gaze back to where the Chantz’s name was written. 

He was twenty in the original, so he’s probably seventeen this year. If Chantz had been a nobleman, he had such outstanding talent that he would have immediately become a knight belonging to the imperial family. But the problem was that he was a commoner. Although he had outstanding skills in a knightly order in which most knights were nobles or their descendants, he was ignored and persecuted simply because he was a commoner. But there was something that even the knights didn’t know, and that was that Chantz could control mana.

 

In this world, mana was energy that could use various abilities such as magic. Here, everyone was born with something called mana. The only difference was in its quantity, purity, and mana usage. Since all three conditions must be met to manipulate mana, the ability to manipulate mana was considered one of the greatest talents. And among them, there were at most five people in a generation who could store mana in their swords. And Chantz was a natural genius in all aspects. However, he didn’t even know that he was dealing with mana. The opportunity for his awakening was Leria. Because of me! In the original, at the moment Fiora was about to kill Leria, he woke up and slapped me! Chantz appeared and killed Fiora! It was an understandable ending since Fiora committed a crime, but I didn’t want her executed.

 

‘So let’s embrace the children.’

 

I quickly came to a conclusion. Chantz was now part of the Knights of the Chilan family. And there was no knight to guard me right now. Then…  All I have to do is use him as my knight. Wasn’t this the best way? If he took over as my guard, there would be fewer people who looked down on him for being a commoner, and there would be one less enemy for me. Not bad. I felt a little proud because it seemed like a good idea. In order to do that, I needed to get permission from Baridas, but hey, he would give me permission, right? And I had a good reason. Of course, I wouldn’t have anything to say if he asked me why I was choosing a 17-year-old apprentice knight and not another knight, but I didn’t think Baridas would be interested in what knight I choose. He told me to call him if I needed anything, right? I remembered what Crimson said on the first day I came to the Duke’s house, and I immediately pulled the string in the room. Then Lorna and Lena came into the room.

 

“Did you call me, princess?”

 

I closed the notebook I had been writing in just now, put it under the desk along with the pen, and stood up.

 

“Lorna go downstairs and call Crimson, and Lena help me tie my hair.”

 

At my command, Lorna went out of the room and I, with Lena’s help, began tying my hair. I couldn’t believe I got help tying my hair. It was something unimaginable in my past life. But my current hair was quite long.

 

I sighed, looking at the silver hair that reached my waist. I wanted to cut it for convenience, but it was a waste because it wasn’t my hair and I had only had short hair in my previous life. Now that I thought about it, I wanted to give the children braids. The two-braided hair was so cute and pretty that I decided to braid my children’s hair while working as a daycare teacher.

 

I decided I would braid the children’s hair. While I was thinking about other things, my hair was tied up neatly by Lena’s hands.

 

“Thank you for your hard work, Lena.”

 

When I went downstairs, Crimson was waiting for me. He bowed at my appearance and opened his mouth.

 

“I heard you called me.”

 

“I heard that a knight order is coming from the capital today. Could it be possible for me to bring one as my personal escort?”

 

Fortunately, Crimson nodded his head at my words.

 

“The Duke also said something similar. The knights will arrive soon. I think the princess can select the knight she wants and hire him as a guardian.”

 

For the first time since I came here, I felt grateful to Baridas. Still, they try to provide knights and take care of it.

 

“All right. Please say thank you to the duke.”

 

It was the moment when I was guided by Crimson and was about to go to the training hall where the knights were. Ren came running down with the sound of urgent footsteps. I gasped and then caught her breath.

 

“If you’re going to the training center, I’d like to go with you.”

 

“Are you going to see Thomas?”

 

At my question, Ren blushed as if she was embarrassed. And she carefully opened her mouth.

 

“I’m also interested in swordsmanship.”

 

My eyes widened at Ren’s words. It was an unexpected answer. In the original work, Ren preferred reading books or playing musical instruments to moving around. She even possessed a talent called absolute pitch in music. It’s a great blessing that she has talent for what she wants to do, but she doesn’t necessarily have to follow her talent.

 

It’s good to be interested in various things.

 

“That’s really cool.”

 

At my answer, Ren’s face turned red up to her ears. I burst out laughing because it was so cute that it looked like a ripe cherry tomato. I held her hand and headed to her training ground with her. When we arrived at the training ground, I could hear the sound of swords clashing even before we went inside. I thought the sound of metal scraping could be annoying, but surprisingly, Ren didn’t seem to feel that way and looked relaxed. Not long after, the door opened and Thomas came running out from inside. His head and entire body were covered in sweat.

 

“Ren! Princess!”

 

Thomas’ loud voice instantly caught my attention, and Ren must have sensed it as well, so he hid behind me. I had no intention of disrupting practice, so while I was wondering what to do, a man approached us. Judging from the clothes he wore and the medals attached to him, he seemed to be a knight of quite high rank. He came towards me and bowed.

 

“Nice to meet you, Princess. I am Ash Runner, the leader of the Ignite Knights.”

 

My eyes widened at his greeting.

 

‘I found you.’

 

“Nice to meet you.”

 

“I heard that you are visiting the training ground to find an exclusive guardian. Is this correct?”

 

I nodded to his question. Then he seemed to think for a moment, stopped training, glanced at the knights looking at us, and opened his mouth.

 

“I’m sorry, but we don’t seem to be fully prepared yet, so it will be difficult to introduce the guardian to the princess. There is a small room inside. Could you wait there for a moment?”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Thank you for your consideration.”

 

After bowing, Ash left, taking Thomas with him. A small voice was heard scolding Thomas for leaving the room. And not long after, a knight started coming towards me. He greeted me and Ren and then led us somewhere. Perhaps because the knight was quite large, Ren clung tightly to my arm and had no intention of falling off. When we went inside, we found a very well-appointed living room, and soon the maids came out with tea and cookies.

 

“Can I also watch you select the knight?”

 

Having one’s own knight was a great honor and not everyone could receive it, so it was every young lady’s dream. Ren’s cheeks were also blushing, perhaps because of that.

 

“I’m not choosing a knight, but a guardian, my personal bodyguard, but it’s okay.”

 

“Great!”

 

While I was chatting with Ren about the Guardians, there was a knock on the door and Ash and Thomas came into the room. He bowed to me and then opened his mouth.

 

“The Prince said he would like to show the Princess and the little lady to the training ground.”

 

Thomas’ face lit up at his words.

 

“I said I would only guide Ren.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

Ash slyly slipped away and Thomas was now red up to his ears. His appearance was so cute that I screamed internally and gave strength to his hand, which grabbed the cushion next to me.

 

“…do not misunderstand. I said I would do it for you while I was guiding Ren.”

 

Even the way he taunts, how could he be so cute? I nodded, trying not to laugh. Unfortunately, I couldn’t receive his guidance. If Thomas and Ren go out to see the training ground, only Ash and I would be left in the room. This was a golden opportunity to talk alone with Ash. Although I felt like I was being dark and naive, I wanted to be guided to the training ground by Thomas right away, but I had to endure it for the sake of the children and my comfortable future.

 

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