The Villainess’ Kindergarten

However, Jasmine’s loveliness could not occupy the banquet hall for long. Because as soon as Baridas got on the podium, everyone looked at him. He always felt a sense of coercion that overwhelms people. Jasmine, who was preoccupied with the cake, and Lima, who had been dozing off, were suddenly concentrating on him. However, as if he was not conscious of such gaze, he looked at the nobles expressionlessly and opened his mouth.

 

“Thank you all for participating. As you might have guessed, the purpose of holding this banquet today is to introduce you to Princess Damon, who will be engaged to me.”

 

My prediction was correct. Baridas reached out his hand to me and I took his hand. Following him, I kept my expression as expressionless as possible, lifted one side of my dress, and greeted the nobles.

 

“She is the one who will be the Duchy’s mistress, so she should be treated with the same respect and courtesy.”

 

No, that wouldn’t work. As soon as he finished speaking, I took two steps back. It was an action that had two reasons: to run away as soon as he finished speaking and to keep my distance. But I couldn’t run away. Because he held my hand and wouldn’t let go. I took two steps back from him, but he kept holding my hand, so I ended up in a strange posture. And Baridas finished his sentence as if he didn’t care.

 

“I hope everyone enjoys the banquet.”

 

With those words, Baridas came down from the podium. Still holding my hand. Wasn’t our business done? Why didn’t he leave me alone? But Baridas was much quicker than I thought.

 

“Since this is a banquet to welcome you, I think it would be a good idea to have our first dance together.”

 

“That… That’s right…?”

 

I swallowed my saliva as Baridas’ words penetrated my heart. Was he a mind-reader? How did he know I was trying to run away?

 

‘…This man knew I was trying to run away and deliberately didn’t let go of my hand.’

 

It was a creepy sight. No, but why did he have this sense and not know that children were being abused? Writer, isn’t this a snowflake? Or were all the employees of the Chilan household Oscar winners? Otherwise, how could I hide it from this ghostly man?

 

“It’s not that I’m quick-witted, but your expression is too honest.”

 

‘I see… It wasn’t that that man was a mind-reader, it was me being a fool.’

 

My face heated up with the embarrassment that came with the realization. I don’t know if he was laughing because of me, but the corners of Baridas’ mouth turned up slightly, ever so slightly.

 

“Hand.”

 

Baridas held out his hand to me and I took his hand, trying to calm my flushed face. At the same time, a song started playing. Baridas began to gently lead me, and perhaps because dancing was ingrained in Fiora, I was able to follow him without much trouble. I, who had been teased for being physically fit, was able to dance like this. Although it was thanks to Fiora’s body, I felt proud for some reason. While I was dancing like that, I made eye contact with the children who were looking in this direction. I smiled slightly at them, and the children smiled brightly and waved at me.

 

“Can I dance with the kids too?”

 

“If you want.”

 

The moment he answered ‘yes’ and I turned my gaze to Baridas, my steps got twisted and I ended up stepping on the dress. Even though Fiora was accustomed to dancing and was good at it, it was still me who was dancing right now. The last time I danced was in a flash mob in middle school, I mean the last time Ye-rin Lee danced. I later regretted not focusing on dancing and doing something else, but it was already too late. My body was running toward the floor. I could feel the strength of his hand holding my arm becoming stronger, which would keep me from falling, but would probably cause me to fall backwards. I was embarrassed just thinking about it. The moment my body leaned back, I instinctively closed my eyes.

 

‘Oh, don’t do anything else.’

 

At that moment, something grabbed my waist. Of course it was Baridas’ hand. Thanks to that, I was able to avoid falling. Baridas, who straightened me up again, smiled mischievously and opened his mouth.

 

“I don’t think it would be a good idea to dance with children. They are too young to accept you.”

 

…I couldn’t refute it because it was a fact. Although it was obnoxious for him to say that. By the way, was Baridas originally the type of person to play pranks like that? I couldn’t quite remember the original content. Well, there’s nothing wrong with being close to the children’s tutor. It was only a moment, but I felt like I had become the main character. I fell while dancing with a handsome man, and he caught me by my waist. Wasn’t this romantic?

 

“Thank you for your help.”

 

Baridas smiled slightly at my answer and started dancing again.

 

“It’s no big deal, compared to what you helped me with.”

 

I tilted my head at Baridas’ words. What was he talking about? Oh, was it because I made matching dresses for the children? But wasn’t that what I decided to do with my dress? Anyway, I felt burdened by receiving something more from him, so I decided to use this to settle my debt to him.

 

“Then this is it.”

 

Baridas burst out laughing at my words. When he smiled, he looked really handsome. I thought it’s the first time I had seen him smile so brightly. As I was staring at his face, Baridas looked at me, and for a moment my eyes met his. I was startled by the unexpected situation, but fortunately, Baridas didn’t seem to notice that I was staring at him.

 

“No, it’s not enough. I am too indebted to you to call it a draw, so I will repay you with something better later.”

 

No? It was fine. It’s burdensome. I regretted for a moment that I should have said something other than a draw.

 

“All right.”

 

The song ended as soon as I said it. I wondered if I could finally let go of him, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of letting go of my hand. When I looked up at him, asking why he wouldn’t let go, he placed my hand on his arm. It’s like trying to be an escort.

 

“Aren’t you going to go to the kids anyway? Let’s go together.”

 

Wasn’t this an opportunity for the children and Baridas to become a little closer? Well, if we attend the banquet together, we should dance. I nodded and strengthened the hand holding Baridas’ arm.

 

“Great.”

 

When I went with Baridas to where the children were, the children smiled brightly and welcomed me. Not me, but Baridas. It seemed like it was still too much to beat his older brother. Still, I only said hello to them first, but the children, except Liman and Jasmine, who were asleep, immediately ran to me and started chatting. They say that the cake at the banquet was delicious and that the people’s clothes were pretty. It was an innocent conversation, like children would expect.

 

“Hug me.”

 

As I was talking with the kids, Jasmine came up to me, rubbing her eyes, and pulled my arm. The moment I stretched out my arms to hug her, Baridas picked her up. And he even picked up Lima, who was nodding off and bobbing her head as if she was about to fall to the floor, and sat down on the chair prepared right next to her.

 

“I will take care of my younger siblings, so you can enjoy the banquet comfortably.”

 

As soon as he finished speaking, Greenly came up to me and grabbed my hand. Greenly took my hand under his arm like Baridas did when he escorted me out, and he grinned.

 

“Then will you dance with me?”

 

No, this family’s genes were too dangerous. He’s so handsome and superior that he’s dangerous. As soon as his words left his mouth, Ren also shouted.

 

“Me too, I want to go too!”

 

“…If you want, I can dance for you too.”

 

I burst out laughing at their words, held Ren and Greenly’s hands, and headed to the center of the banquet hall. Ren seemed to be bothered by Thomas, who was the last to speak and couldn’t hold my hand, so he reached out his hand to her and Thomas took her hand with a nervous expression. Taking advantage of the children’s gaze moving forward, I turned around and whispered to Baridas.

 

“Since you watched Jasmine and Lima, this makes me a real teacher.”

 

Then I looked forward again and headed toward the banquet hall. Baridas let out a small laugh behind me, patted the heads of the sleeping Lima and Jasmine, and muttered.

 

“No, it is my job to take care of the children, not you. Rather, I should repay you more.”

 

The first person to dance with me was Greenly, who spoke first. Next, I decided to dance with Thomas and finally with Ren. The reason was that Ren didn’t mind dancing with anyone while she waited, but there was no way Greenly and Thomas would dance together. Still, it was a little difficult to dance with Greenly because of the height difference. At that time, when I was dancing hard to match the level with him, Greenly said.

 

“I’m glad that the princess is engaged to my brother.”

 

My eyes widened at Greenly’s words, but then I smiled slightly. Because his ears were stained red.

 

“I’m glad to be here too.”

 

Greenly smiled brightly at my words and nodded his head.

 

“It’s all thanks to the princess that my younger siblings and I have become brighter. So, don’t leave in the future.”

 

Greenly’s hand holding me gained strength. What should I say about this feeling? I felt like my heart was pounding and I wanted to hug Greenly. I was moved by Greenly’s words and at the same time felt sorry for them. Children who lost their entire families at a young age and lived in indifference.

 

“…of course.”

 

The children’s appearance reminded me of my past and made me feel a little sad. The song ended and I patted Greenly’s head one last time. I would try harder to never leave them. So, I wished they didn’t lose that smile either.

 

Next was Thomas. Since he was much taller than Greenly, I was able to dance more comfortably than before.

 

“The tailcoat looks good on you.”

 

“Of course.”

 

I let out a small laugh as Thomas smiled with a confident expression on his face.

 

“Someone prepared these clothes.”

 

I burst out laughing again at Thomas’ next words. His eyes were focused on the rose brooch I gave him as a gift. That meant ‘thank you’, right? It was an expression typical of the original tsundere.

 

“I guess my eye is pretty good.”

 

“Isn’t it because the model is excellent?”

 

‘Ah, it’s really so cute. Yes, you do it all. Little master.’

 

I responded by suppressing laughter and nodding my head. Before I knew it, the song was coming to an end. As soon as the song ended, Thomas let go of my hand and opened his mouth.

 

“I think the princess is a trustworthy person.”

 

…! I recalled a conversation she had with him not long ago. It felt like he recognized my sincerity, which made me feel better. I smiled brightly and patted Thomas’ head.

 

“And you are people who are worthy of love, or should be loved.”

 

—————————————————————

Translator Note: