The Villainess’ Kindergarten

The moment I was about to board the carriage back to the mansion, I heard Baridas’ voice. When I looked up, he was holding out his hand to me.

 

“Thank you for being with me, Fiora.”

 

Has he ever called me ‘Fiora’? From what I remember, in the original work I was never called by my name. Well, it must have been because Fiora was a villain. I didn’t intend to give it much meaning, just saying his name.

 

“No.”

 

I held Baridas’ hand and got into the carriage, and the carriage started with the sound of horses’ hooves. His expression looked more relaxed than yesterday, and I felt fortunate. The place where the children were buried was not that far away, so the carriage quickly arrived at the mansion.

 

Baridas got off the carriage first and held out his hand to me. I held Baridas’ hand and got out of the carriage. And just as he was about to let go, Baridas bent his back. The distance between him and me narrowed in an instant.

 

“Bye.”

 

Baridas whispered in my ear. He gave strength to my hand that he was holding and then let go. His face moved away from me and I entered the mansion in a daze, as if I was possessed by something.

 

‘Hey. Male lead? You are quite rude. Why do you seduce someone if you don’t want to marry them?’

 

No, he was going to marry me. He seemed like such a polite person. While I was losing my senses from Baridas’ face attack, a maid I had never seen held out a large basket to me. When I carefully opened the basket, I found two puppies sleeping. And next to them stood a child who looked somewhat sulky.

 

“I guess you did well leaving me behind.”

 

Those words reminded me of leaving Chantz at Wolf Rock yesterday. Come to think of it, it seemed like the clothes Chantz gave me were also lost. I felt sorry for him because he left it alone for a day and even lost the clothes he had lent him.

 

“I’ll buy you new clothes and everything, sorry, Chantz.”

 

He laughed at me like that and took the basket in my hand.

 

“It’s a joke. I’m fine.”

 

At that time, the cloth covering the basket Chantz was holding wriggled, and the dog’s head popped up.

 

“Mung!”

 

As if it was all better, one jumped out of the basket and ran towards me, rubbing its head. When I hugged the puppy, it started licking my face. At that time, the puppy jumped out of my arms and approached the children, who got scared and ran away from the puppy. Could it be that Chantz was afraid of dogs?

 

“Are you afraid of dogs?”

 

Chantz looked embarrassed at my question. His fists gained strength.

 

“It’s not that I’m scared. Just hair flying…”

 

But Chantz could not continue his words. This was because the sleeping puppy jumped out of the basket and ran towards him.

 

“Kya!!”

 

Chantz got scared and ran away from the dog, and I burst out laughing at that and caught the dog running towards him. They would have to stay together from now on, so I guess that’s okay. I was worried about him.

 

“Are you going to be okay?”

 

Chantz nodded his head to my question. However, compared to his actions, his expression was contemplative and he was shaking.

 

“You managed to hold the basket well even though you were so scared.”

 

At my words, Chantz raised his legs and shouted to escape from the puppy that was clinging to his legs.

 

“Because I thought they were sleeping!”

 

Well, he really hates it. What should I do with this? I held Chantz’s legs and sighed as I looked at the puppy whimpering. Chantz looked at me with resentment and shouted.

 

“Ah, princess! Please take him away!!”

 

Chantz heaved a sigh of relief as I picked the puppy up from him. I let out a small laugh and put the puppies back into the basket with both hands. The puppies fell asleep immediately, probably because they were exhausted not long after recovering. However, Chantz continued to be wary of the basket, and I smiled at him and went into Ren’s room with the basket. I wanted to be the first to show the children to Ren. But for some reason, all five of them were gathered in Ren’s room. As soon as I entered her room, the children came running to me at once.

 

Thomas and Ren greeted me and Jasmine ran into my arms. Greenly and Lima started circling around as if they were curious about what was in my basket. And, starting with Greenly, the children began asking questions.

 

“Why didn’t you come yesterday?”

 

“What is this basket?”

 

“I missed you.”

 

Unable to answer all the children’s endless questions, I took out a magic spell.

 

“Let’s become a hermit crab, mugwort!”

 

“Wormwood!”

 

The children and everyone quieted down at my words, and I smiled in satisfaction at that sight. After settling the children into their chairs, I placed the basket on the table. The basket covered with fabric started to stir, as if the puppies had woken up, and the children’s eyes widened at the sight.

 

“Let me introduce you to my new family.”

 

I lifted the cloth covering the basket. Then one yawned, as if it had just woken up, and the other blinked its eyes.

 

“Bruise!”

 

One of the puppies ran to me and jumped into my arms, and the other one blinked her eyes blankly and then ran towards me, grabbed her arm, and started whining. Jasmine and Ren looked at the actively moving puppies with sparkling eyes. Both children had bandages wrapped around their bodies, as if their wounds had been treated well.

 

“Thank god.”

 

Ren muttered softly, and Greenly and Lima, who were watching the puppies, opened their mouths one after another.

 

“Are they puppies? Cute.”

 

“The princess is ours.”

 

It was a very different reaction for twins. While Greenly was looking at them, unable to take his eyes off the dog, Lima began to yelp and fight between the dog and me. Seeing that, I held the puppy in one arm and Greenly and Lima in the other.

 

“We should get along well.”

 

The puppies seemed to have understood what I said, so they lowered their tails and approached Lima and Greenly, hugging them one by one. And I snuggled into their arms. The two children’s cheeks turned red at the warm and cozy touch they felt for the first time.

 

“It’s warm…”

 

“Princess, what should we call them?”

 

The children’s red cheeks were so adorable that they burst into laughter and held the puppies in their arms before opening their mouths.

 

“We will discuss it today. Those puppies will become your friends from now on.”

 

At my words, the expressions of Ren and Jasmine, who were looking at the puppies, brightened.

 

“Are you guys our friends?”

 

“Is it really okay for us to raise them?”

 

Well, since Baridas gave permission, that’s probably it. I nodded. The two children approached the puppy. The puppy, who bit her hand as if recognizing Ren, jumped out of my arms and into her arms. And she rubbed her head against her bandaged hand.

 

“It’s okay. It’s all better.”

 

When Ren squeezed and opened her hand and said she was okay, the dog licked her face and muttered as if in response. He barked. The children didn’t seem to be particularly afraid of the dogs. Feeling fortunate, I took the puppies out of the children’s arms and placed them back in the basket.

 

“I want you to name those kids.”

 

The faces of the five children all brightened at my words.

 

“Yes!!!!!!!”

 

The voices of the children answering at the same time were loud and cheerful. The dog’s name in the original was Cookie. I could have copied the original, but I still thought it would be best for the children to make it. Because those puppies will become the children’s new friends.

 

“I want it to be Cookie and Kiki!”

 

Lima said.

 

Those were the names given to the dogs in the original work. I smiled happily at the cute name that resembled her.

 

“Cute! I like it.”

 

Greenly said and most of the kids seemed to agree with the name Cookie. At the moment when the puppies’ names were decided to be Cookie and Kiki, Ren opened her mouth.

 

“I want to do Lili and Lala.”

 

“Lily and Lala?”

 

“Lili and Lara are named after the princess.”

 

I was instantly shocked by her words and covered my mouth. I was grateful and proud that he thought of me that way.

 

“I think it’s good.”

 

Thomas said. Then the other children smiled and answered.

 

“I like it too!”

 

“Me too, Joe!”

 

Ren and Jasmine answered and Greenly nodded her head. I felt so blessed and thankful for those children, so I hugged them tightly.

 

* * *

 

The two dogs, which looked exactly alike, were only slightly different in size. The larger one was male and the smaller one was female. Among them, the male’s name was decided to be Lili, and the female’s name was decided to be Lala. After about a week, the puppies completely recovered their health. The mansion became more lively with puppies, and the children ran around and played with the puppies in the garden every day.

 

And something changed between me and Baridas. He said that we would sometimes talk about dogs. The puppy that Baridas took in was male, and she named him Louis. I spent most of my time playing with the children and other dogs, except when I was with Baridas. Baridas also came to pick up her Louis every day and exchanged greetings with her children. I was satisfied with this change, which seemed a little unfamiliar.

 

As I was looking out the window at the children and dogs playing, Lena came into the room.

 

“A gift has arrived for the princess.”

 

She was holding three small boxes. A gift? There is no one who can give me something like that.

 

“Who sent it?”

 

I put the gift boxes on the table. I roughly grabbed something and untied the ribbon tying the box, and a leather leash came out. It looked like there was a blue gem in the middle. As I placed my hand, I felt a pleasant cool breeze swirling around me.

 

As for Louis, were there three? I tilted my head and opened the remaining two boxes. In the remaining box, a leash came out as expected. But something a little different came out in the other one. 

 

‘What is this?’

 

I looked down at the necklace shining brightly in my hand. Was this really a dog collar too? It seemed absolutely impossible. Did he send it by mistake? I thought there was no way Baridas would send me a necklace, but I was surprised to see the letter that fell from the box. 

 

[It’s a weak magicite, so it won’t be too cold. Please think of it as repayment for what happened in the past and accept it.]

 

What, it was really given to me. When I put the necklace he gave me around my neck, the slightly cold jewel touched my neck. At the same time, a soft and cool energy hovered around my face. The blue jewel in the necklace was sparkling brightly.

 

“Pretty.”

 

I muttered softly. My face turned red and my fever rose, but no one around me noticed the change because of the cold energy surrounding the necklace.

 

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Translator Note: