The Villainess’ Kindergarten

At that moment, Baridas’ arm blocked my path. His expression was twisted in pain as he was bitten by Ellie on my behalf. At that time, perhaps recognizing Baridas, Ellie let go of the arm she was holding and stepped behind her, cackling. Blood began to flow from his arm where Ellie had bitten him.  turned my attention to his arm. Since Baridas was not wearing thick clothes, his wounds would have been quite deep.

 

“I’m sorry, what should I do… are you okay?”

 

Perhaps because of the pain, beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. He responded by taking a handkerchief from inside his clothes and pressing it on his arm as if to stop the bleeding.

 

“It’s not that big of a wound, so you don’t have to worry.”

 

Even though he was injured, all his attention was focused on Ellie. As Baridas leaned toward Ellie, she lifted her head. And she licked his hand. She put her face on his arm and rubbed it as if she was showing affection, then buried her face in his arm. Seeing her like that, Baridas gently stroked her.

 

“It’s been a while, Ellie.”

 

A bitter smile spread across Baridas’ face as Ellie snuggled into his arms. Soon, the knights looking for the puppy gathered around them one by one. They looked back at Baridas’ wound and at Ellie, who was lying limply on his arm. Since most of the knights who helped with the search had been working for the dukedom for quite some time, they seemed to have realized that the dog was the one that Baridas had raised as a child. The knights loaded Ellie onto a stretcher and began preparing to return to her mansion. As I was about to leave the place, I remembered something I had forgotten for a moment and took her steps back towards the rock. There must still be puppies in the tunnel. The babies could have been alive, and even if they were already dead, I wanted to bury them in the ground. As I ran towards the rock to find the puppies, Children followed me instead of Baridas, who was treating them. When I looked into the tunnel, I saw four puppies hanging out. One of the puppies was breathing hard.

 

It was alive.

 

I hugged the puppy and looked at the other puppies just in case, but it was already too late. Putting my upset feelings aside, I hugged all four puppies and got up. Naturally, dirt and blood started to stain my clothes, but I didn’t really care. Children sighed at the sight of me like that, took off his coat, and held it out to me. And the dead puppies were taken from my arms.

 

“I will bury you in the forest, so let’s take the puppy and go to the Duke’s house first.”

 

After hesitating, I nodded. I placed the puppy in the Chantz’s robe, held it carefully, and then ran to Baridas. After completing treatment, Baridas was preparing to return to the Duke’s House with Ellie. Baridas, who was looking curiously at Chantz’s robe in my arms, widened my eyes when I heard a groan coming from within.

 

“Are there live puppies in the cave?”

 

I nodded slightly.

 

“The other puppies had already left, so Children said they would bury them in the forest.”

 

Baridas’s fists gained strength. He lowered his head. For the first time, he seemed so small.

 

“okay.”

 

After the knights took away the last puppy I brought, Baridas and I boarded the carriage heading to the Duke’s House. Baridas, who had been silent for a while, spoke only when he had almost reached his mansion.

 

“Thank you. If it weren’t for the princess, I wouldn’t have found it.”

 

I couldn’t listen to him comfortably. It was because I felt guilty, thinking, ‘If I had thought of it a little sooner, I could have saved everything.’ I chewed my lip in regret.

 

“No, if I had said anything sooner, we could have all been saved.”

 

Baridas shook his head at my words. Immediately his hand came down to my head. He was comforting me with an expression as if he needed to be comforted.

 

“If you hadn’t told me there were children at Wolf Rock, I wouldn’t have been able to find them.”

 

And he added with a smile: It was a very, sad smile.

 

“Thanks to you, I was able to meet Ellie again, so don’t think like that.”

 

He knew. That Ellie’s lifespan is not long. The smile on his child-like face looked so sad that I unconsciously patted him on the back. While comforting him, I was surprised by my own actions and was wondering what to do, when Baridas held my hand. And his actions left me frozen on the spot. Because I couldn’t think of what to say.

 

“Are you comforting me?”

 

Baridas’ face turned red as he spoke while looking at me who could not say anything. Embarrassed, I said, trying to cool my face as much as possible.

 

“That… That’s it…?”

 

He smiled slightly at my answer. It was a smile that oozed sadness.

 

“Thank you.”

 

I felt something new about his smile. The male protagonist was the male protagonist. I was almost possessed for a moment. I walked away from him again and opened the carriage window to cool my hot face. Eventually, the carriage stopped. As I got out of the carriage holding his hand, Ellie arrived at the same time and was being carried on a stretcher with her entire body bandaged. Ellie went straight into the largest guest room in the Duke’s house. Baridas stayed by Ellie’s side without saying a word. I also followed after him. Because he seemed so unstable, I couldn’t leave him alone. Not long after, Ellie opened her eyes and when she saw Baridas, she squealed and struggled to her feet. Then she came up to him, nuzzled her face into his lap, and was affectionate. He bent his knees and Ellie licked her face, wagging her tail happily. But she didn’t last long and Ellie, who was quickly tired, went back to her seat and closed her eyes. Then a man approached them.

 

“Hello, Duke. My name is Veterinarian Rekid.”

 

He greeted me and handed me a basket. When I carefully opened the basket, the three treated puppies were asleep inside.

 

“It will all take time to recover, but there are no major injuries and no life-threatening injuries.”

 

I breathed a sigh of relief at his words. tTank god. I was really fortunate. As I took the basket, Baridas opened his mouth.

 

“Ellie… How about… ?”

 

Rekid’s expression darkened at his words.

 

“Ellie… It was too late to do anything. She was so old and decrepit that it was a miracle that she gave birth to babies… She probably won’t make it past tonight.”

 

He bowed his head.

 

“I see.”

 

Baridas’ answer was calm, but his expression looked very sad. He bent her knees and started petting Ellie.

 

“I’m sorry for not being able to treat Ellie.”

 

“What do you have to be sorry about, Rekid? Thank you for your effort.”

 

After greeting Baridas and me, Rekid left the room and Baridas looked back at me. And, uncharacteristically, he hesitated before opening his mouth.

 

“Is it okay if I take a puppy with me?”

 

“Of course it is possible. Rather, shouldn’t I get permission?”

 

At my words, a bitter expression appeared on Baridas’ face once again.

 

“I am a master who has not done anything for Ellie.”

 

“Then she wouldn’t have remembered Ellie.”

 

At my words, Baridas shook his head and stood up. Then he opened the door.

 

“It’s late at night, so I think you should go back and go to bed first.”

 

Rather than a congratulatory message, it seemed like he was sending it out of concern for me. As expected, the time was past 12 o’clock. But I didn’t feel comfortable leaving him alone. It was because he seemed too unstable that he had to let Ellie go. I wanted to be of some help to him. So, without realizing it, I grabbed his hand. I was surprised by his own actions for a moment, but as I looked at Baridas, I thought that I had done well.

 

“I’ll be with you too.”

 

He didn’t answer. He just didn’t let go of the hand I was holding. Baridas turned around and looked at Ellie again. So I couldn’t see his expression, but his back looked so sad that I stayed by his side without saying a word. At that time, the last puppy that had finished treatment came into the room. The puppy walked up to her side and he started licking her. When I saw that, I took the puppy out of the basket and placed it next to Ellie. Ellie then brought her puppies towards her and started licking them slowly.

 

Baridas and I were looking at Ellie in silence. Then Baridas brought me a chair.

 

“Please sit down.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

My legs were sore from walking around for quite a long time, so I gratefully accepted his consideration. Compared to me, Baridas didn’t even show any signs of distress and just stood there and looked at Ellie. Then he bent down to her knees once in a while and stroked her head. I don’t know how much time passed, but I was quite busy today, so I couldn’t overcome the rush of sleep and ended up falling asleep.

 

At that time, I woke up startled by the feeling of someone lifting me. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Baridas hugging me, supporting my legs and neck. When I made eye contact with the embarrassed man, sleep escaped me in an instant.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

 

After confirming that I had woken up, he put me back on the chair and said that he would stay with me first, but then his face turned red as he was embarrassed that I had already fallen asleep.

 

“No, it’s okay. I fell asleep. Sorry.”

 

“Is there anything to be sorry about?”

 

His gaze turned to me, but soon he turned to Ellie again. I also turned my gaze to look at Ellie, and found her breathing heavily, as if her condition had gotten worse than before. Just as she was continuing to lick and cuddle her sleeping puppies despite the pain she was feeling until she died, Ellie raised her head. And Ellie’s eyes were fixed on Baridas. Raise her head as if she was about to say her final goodbye. She held it up and looked at her owner. Baridas started stroking it at eye level, and Ellie buried her face in his arms for the last time. Perhaps because he had a intuition, Baridas’s arms that hugged Ellie’s neck tightened.

 

“Sleep well, Ellie.”

 

Those were the last words Baridas could say to her.

 

“Bruise…”

 

It was as if she was Ellie and she was answering his words. With those last words, Ellie closed her eyes and she no longer moved. It was a little after 5 am.

 

The sun slowly began to rise. Sunlight began to come into the room, and Ellie looked more relaxed than anyone else. Soon after, Crimson and servants came into the room and wrapped Ellie in a white cloth. They were trying to bury Ellie. Ellie would be buried next to where the puppies were found yesterday. It was not far from the mansion, and I followed Baridas and stayed by his side.

 

The puppies were found under the largest cherry blossom tree in the forest, and Ellie was buried next to it. Cherry blossom leaves fell one by one on their graves. I gently stroked Ellie’s grave.

 

‘I will make sure to raise your children well.’

 

A promise was made to her in my heart. Then, I lightly tapped the shoulder of Baridas, who was looking at Eli’s grave with calm eyes next to me, and opened my mouth.

 

“She is going to a good place.”

 

Only then did Baridas look at me. His red eyes, which always seemed cold, looked empty today. He smiled softly at my words.

 

“Yes, I hope so.”

 

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Translator Note: