The Villainess’ Kindergarten

It was a clear spring day. Not long after Fiora’s welcome banquet ended, Baridas gave the workers leave for future plans. In fact, it was a vacation, although it was meant to fire most employees and hire new ones. Still, because it was a vacation, there were no employees left in the Duke’s house except for the minimum number of people. And Ren and Jasmine took advantage of that opportunity and were playing under the small tower at the end of the mansion. The small garden and tower on the border between the mansion and the forest were quite beautiful, but children were not allowed to enter. The reason was that wild beasts might appear. However, Ren could not refuse Jasmine, who was full of curiosity and wanted to go there. She had never heard of a truly wild beast before. So the two sat down on a small marble chair in the garden and began reading a book.

 

“So they lived happily ever after.”

 

Ren closed the book as she read the last verse. Jasmine looked up at Ren and smiled as she listened to the book Ren read to her as she was held in her arms.

 

“It’s fun!”

 

Ren also smiled at her words. Jasmine, free from Ren’s arms, walked over and retrieved the book that had fallen on the floor. Then she went into Ren’s arms again and held out her book to her.

 

“Read this this time.”

 

Ren took the book and started reading.

 

“A long, long time ago…”

 

Jasmine listened to her voice. Jasmine loved having the books read to her because Ren’s voice was calm and gentle. She was about halfway through the book when she heard a rustling sound coming from the nearby bushes.

 

“Kkiing…”

 

It was a moan so small that it was difficult to hear unless you paid close attention. Jasmine, who was listening intently to the storybook being read by Ren, tilted her head when she heard a small sound in her voice. After that, small moaning sounds continued to be heard, and Jasmine, who found it difficult to concentrate, cut off Ren.

 

“Sister, don’t you hear anything strange?”

 

Sounds weird? At Jasmine’s words, Ren listened to the sounds around her. True to her words, she was hearing a small sound. Ren stood up when she heard her moan as if she was in pain.

 

“Jasmine, you stay here.”

 

She closed the book and slowly walked towards the sound. Perhaps because it was a corner, the long grass was rustling. As Ren ran her trembling hands through the grass, two wounded puppies were licking each other’s wounds and whimpering. The two made eye contact with Ren and one of them limped to his feet. He started glaring at Ren, purring and purring as if on guard. Ren stopped on the spot and looked at the puppies. She had seen it in a book. That was probably a puppy, or an animal called a dog. It was her first time seeing it in person, but she knew it because she had seen it many times in books.

 

At that time, Jasmine’s voice was heard from behind.

 

“Sis, I don’t want to be alone…”

 

Jasmine, who was clinging to Ren’s side as if scared, froze for a moment when she saw the small puppies squealing in front of her. This was the first time she had seen a dog, as Jasmine had lived in the Duchy all her life and she had never seen a dog in a book. Jasmine’s eyes sparkled at the sight of a cute puppy. Although she tried to approach the two, she was stopped by Ren.

 

“I told you to stay in your seat. And don’t come any closer. They can bite.”

 

At Ren’s words, Jasmine took a step back and hid behind Ren’s back. It was then. The puppy that seemed to be fine collapsed because it started breathing heavily and panting.

 

“Dang…”

 

The puppy behind it howled softly and got up and started licking the fallen puppy. The dog that fell down was gasping for breath as if he would run out of breath at any moment, and eventually passed out. When Ren saw that, she no longer hesitated. Of course, she was scared of the puppies she saw for the first time, but she couldn’t ignore the lives dying in front of her eyes.

 

Slowly, she hugged the fallen puppy. As if unaware of her feelings, another dog bit her hand. The small but sharp fangs bit into Ren’s delicate hand, causing her hand to start bleeding. She chewed her lip in pain she had never felt before. In the meantime, Ren did not let go of her hand as she hugged her puppy. She just held both puppies in her arms. One animal that seemed to be in slightly better condition continued to scratch and bite Ren’s hand, but Ren never let go of the two.

 

Ren, holding the two puppies in her arms, started running towards the mansion. But no matter how much he ran, the showed no sign of getting closer to the mansion.

 

It was too far. Ren’s expression wrinkled. Her hands kept tingling and her own stamina was too weak to run. She looked down at her hands and saw that her blood was oozing out profusely. At that time, Jasmine, who was following Ren, fell.

 

At the sound of her falling, Ren looked behind her, but Ren, who had the puppys in her arms, was unable to help her up. Tears began to well up in Jasmine’s eyes, as if she had been injured when she fell, and Ren stopped in place, not knowing what to do. At that moment, someone’s voice was heard from behind.

 

“Princess?”

 

It was a low-pitched voice that was not yet juvenile enough to be considered an adult. But Ren needed anyone’s help now. When she looked behind her, she saw a green-eyed boy looking at the two girls.

 

It was Fiora’s exclusive knight, Chantz. As if he didn’t understand the situation, he helped Jasmine up and looked at Ren and the puppies in her arms alternately. Every time his gaze touched her, she felt like she had committed some sin, and her hands started shaking. Chantz sighed at the sight, took the puppies from Ren’s arms, and hugged them both at once with one arm. One bite Chantz’s hand. However, without changing his expression, he just grabbed Ren’s scarred hand with the other hand and wrapped a handkerchief around her hand. Since he only had one hand left, he couldn’t tie it, but it would be a temporary solution.

 

“Please stop the bleeding. You’re bleeding a lot.”

 

Saying that, he hugged Jasmine, who was crying, in his opposite arm. And he started running towards the mansion. Chantz’s steps were fast, but not so fast that she couldn’t keep up, so Ren followed him, pressing her wounds with his handkerchief.

 

Shit.

 

Chantz gritted his teeth. Even though it was quite close to the mansion, there was not a single worker in sight. He looked at his handkerchief, which was completely stained with blood. No matter how much he thought about it, disinfection came first. He has seen many people get sick from being bitten by dogs. Chantz was Fiora’s exclusive knight, and as a result, he had a separate room assigned to him in the mansion. Because he gets injured a lot in his job, he always has disinfectant and bandages on hand. He would need proper treatment later, but disinfection was a priority for now. He headed to the living room closest to the mansion’s entrance. After seeing that Ren and Jasmine were sitting on the sofa, he put down the dogs. Both of them must have been exhausted as they came, so when he put them down on the floor, they just started screeching and licking their wounds.

 

“Please wait.”

 

Not long after, Chantz showed up with bandages and a white bottle. When he untied the handkerchief that was binding Ren’s hands, her hands were revealed, full of bite marks. Chantz, who saw the wound, hesitated and poured disinfectant into both her hands.

 

* * *

 

When I just entered the room, I was shocked. I was looking out the window and saw children coming into the mansion, so I came down and saw Ren’s injured hand bleeding, Jasmine crying, and puppies I’d never seen before sitting in a huddle next to me. Where did you get those puppies from? And what is that disinfection method? I closed my eyes tightly. Even if you sterilize it slowly, it would still hurt, but pouring it out all at once like that. As I expected, Ren’s eyes began to fill with tears. But Chantz didn’t care if he didn’t know about it and tried to apply the medicine to her hand. Only then did I come to my senses and called the Chantz.

 

“Stop.”

 

The children’s eyes turned towards me at the same time, as if they had just realized that I had arrived. I walked up to Ren and wiped her hands with the cotton Chantz had brought. The marks of the beast’s teeth were clear. Considering that the dogs were injured, they probably brought them in in an effort to treat them. At that time, Chantz saw the tears in Ren’s eyes and opened his mouth.

 

“Are you sick?”

 

Ren shook her head, chewing her lip to keep from crying. Anyone could see that it looked painful. Jasmine also cried at the sight of her and hugged Ren.

 

“Sis… hurts.”

 

Chantz looked at the two with a puzzled expression. After all, they are all still kids. Still, if it wasn’t for Chantz, Ren’s hand would have been hurt more. I looked at Chantz’s hands, which were not bruised but showed bite marks. And I felt grateful and stroked his head once.

 

‘I’ll bring you something to eat later.’

 

After finishing Ren’s treatment, I approached the puppies who were panting on the sofa right in front of me. They were little puppies with a mix of white and black fur that looked like they had just started teething. Was it a Siberian Husky? If so, there was a high probability that they were the dogs from the original work. In the original work, it was stated that the children were raising a Siberian Husky. It was written that the puppy had been raised by children from a very young age, and the reason why the Siberian Husky, a sled dog, was discovered in Dukega Forest was related to Baridas. This was because the puppies’ mother dog was the dog that Baridas had lost some time ago.

 

Baridas picked up two young Siberian Huskies from the forest a few years ago. When one of them died, the remaining one ran away into the forest. The one who disappeared into the forest was the female, and the puppy she gave birth to was the puppy that her children picked up. I remembered this because it made Baridas and his children a little closer to each other. But now in the story, it appears that one was raised, but why two?

 

I looked at the puppies again. One of them was panting as if he was about to die. When I placed my hand on top of the child, just in case, I could barely feel any warmth. No matter how much I thought about it, it seemed like only one puppy appeared in the original because one of the puppies died. When I realized that fact, my fist tightened. Can I save it? Because I thought: There was no guarantee that there would be an animal hospital in this world, or at least a place that could treat dogs.

 

“Princess, are the puppies dying? Are they going to die?”

 

Ren asked me if he sensed that my expression was unusual. Tears fell from her eyes, which had not cried despite her hurt and pain.

 

“Housing for children…?”

 

Tears welled up in Jasmine’s eyes after hearing Ren’s words. At that moment, even the one remaining animal that managed to hold on to her spirit and was panting eventually lost her senses and collapsed.

 

“No, they won’t die.”

 

I answered firmly. There was no need to weigh one life against damage to the original work. There must be a way to save it. I tightly clenched my fists.

 

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Translator Note: