The Villainess’ Kindergarten

After cleaning up my room, I lay down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling blankly. A sparkling chandelier hanging from the high ceiling was showing off its presence.

I felt like I was bored to death. Baridas had gone somewhere on business, and I didn’t know anyone here. Neither the children nor Lorna and Lena had accompanied me in the first place, so I was spending the time alone.

I jumped out of bed while absentmindedly counting the jewels on the chandelier.

I’d like to take a tour of the imperial palace.

I rang the bell on the desk and a maid came into the room.

“I’m going to have lunch in the garden. Please prepare a sandwich and a drink.”

Soon after, a maid came into the room carrying a basket. She and the other maids tried to follow me, but I wanted to be alone for the first time in a while, so I turned them down and went out of the room alone.

The sky where the sun rose was clear and sunny. The moderate wind was blowing coolly, and I looked pretty in my dress. If this isn’t a movie, what is it? Ah, if I only had earphones, I could just play a song that puts me a good mood and go.

With that in mind, I slowly walked through the garden. I couldn’t remember any information related to the imperial palace.

As I was walking through the garden, enjoying some alone time for the first time in a long time, I saw hair sparkling under the sunlight.

That… That unique blonde hair was instantly recognizable.

Rayan was leaning against a large tree in the garden.

The moment I was about to leave, not feeling the need to talk or pretend to know anything, I heard Rayan sniffling.

‘Ah’, I sighed. A necessity arose in me. It’s a shame, and it’s true that it’s an occupational disease, but I couldn’t just leave a crying child alone.

I approached Rayan and opened my mouth.

“Why are you crying?”

In response to my question, Rayan looked up at me and immediately lowered his head with a disappointed expression. Seeing that he didn’t seem to have any intention of talking, I sighed and sat down next to him and patted his back. A lot of time passed like that, and when I thought my legs were starting to go numb, Rayan opened his mouth.

“Why aren’t you going?”

Normally, he would have been told not to speak informally to adults, but the situation he grew up in was different from that of other children. He was born in the highest position and has always lived with respect, and it is said that he understands that the royal family rarely used honorifics for others, but…

‘You should get scolded.’

I smiled softly, patted his head and opened my mouth.

“That’s it, because there is a child crying here.”

At my words, Rayan slapped my hand away and his expression wrinkled. He didn’t seem to like the fact that he was treated like a child.

“I am the first prince of the empire and the person who will become the crown prince. I’m not a child, and I am not someone a noble like you can talk to easily.”

I burst out laughing at his words.

‘What if you do that now? I saw everything you were pestering me about earlier.’

“Okay.”

His expression became even more grim at my answer.

“You seem to be ignorant and don’t understand what I’m saying…”

But he could not continue speaking. Because I put the sandwich I brought into his mouth.

“Unfortunately, I am not just a noble, I am the third princess of the Damon Empire. My name is Fiora, little prince.”

At my words, Rayan’s face became thoughtful after biting the sandwich.

I smiled at him and patted his head. Still, it looks like he’s not an idiot at all. Although I was not sure if this can be seen as a sign of hope for the empire.

“The princess didn’t tell me.”

The empire was ruined. There was no hope. This country was finished.

I tried to change his habits a little, but I sighed at his irritable attitude. There was no answer to this.

“Okay, well, let’s say that.”

His fist tightened at my answer. Then he closed his eyes, avoided my gaze, and opened his mouth.

“… Still, the point of speaking informally… sorry.”

Rayan’s cheeks were stained red as she apologized to me. I burst out laughing at the unexpected sight.

There was no answer at all. Being young couldn’t be a complete exoneration, but we still often defend that person by saying that he or she was young. Being young means being immature, and we’ve all had those times. That was why we took care of and understood children who were still young. Because we grew up that way too.

I thought I ate the whole cotyledon first, but it wasn’t that bad.

I felt like I wanted to talk to Rayan a little bit.

The Empire shouldn’t be ruined, it’s where my children will live.

I was not a very good educator, but I knew how a child felt.

Before I knew it, I poured some orange juice for him, who was munching on the sandwich, and opened my mouth.

“I forgive you. Instead, can you tell me why you were crying?”

However, Rayan hesitated and was unable to open his mouth willingly.

After thinking about his appearance for a moment, I held his hand.

“I swear on the honor of the Damon Empire that I will not reveal to anyone what happened here.”

Rayan also knew how important honor was to nobles and members of the royal family. So he finally fell for my words and opened his mouth.

“It’s clear that Mom and Dad hate me.”

I burst out laughing because it was so cute. I thought that the concerns of children that age were the same whether here or on Earth. But just as I was thinking about his location and background and wondering what I should say, a loud voice came from behind me.

“Again, you’re saying something stupid. Rayan.”

Lilian was walking with her brilliant platinum hair shining. When she saw me, she bowed her head and said, holding Rayan’s face.

“Think of the children starving outside and how happy you are compared to them.”

Rayan, whose expression was wrinkled at her words, shook his face to shake off her hand.

“Put this aside, Lilian.”

But despite his words, Lillian did not back down.

“Hmph, what do you hate? My brother was so blessed to become the crown prince without having to do anything.”

Rayan gritted his teeth at her words, then grabbed Lilian’s hand and shook her to the floor.

Lilian was startled by Rayan’s actions and took a step back. Tears formed in his eyes.

“Was I prince because I wanted to? I didn’t want to be like the crown prince!!”

After saying this, he ran somewhere as if running away.

Lilian clicked her tongue as if she was pitiful, looking at Rayan like that, and looked up at me.

“Don’t comfort him. He needs to know reality.”

I sighed when I saw her like that. One was too young and the other gave up on reality too quickly. The Emperor and his wife didn’t seem like bad people, but I felt like their children weren’t growing up the way they wanted.

“You are still young, why are you trying to become an adult already?”

Lilian didn’t say anything to me, and I walked to the place where he left to find Rayan.

Fortunately, Rayan wasn’t far away. I approached the child who was sitting under the tree and sobbing. Then Rayan looked up at me. Both eyes were stained red.

“Are you okay?”

At my question, Rayan shook his head. As I sat down next to him, he opened his eyes wide and looked at me.

“Even if you tell me about your worries, everyone says that the crown prince is very lucky, right?”

At my words, Rayan widened his eyes and nodded his head. I thought there was no word as bad as that. No matter who you are, difficult situations are bound to come up. Even though they may not be able to comfort you in that situation, they use your own unhappiness or that person’s happiness as the reason and ask why you are having a hard time.

“They are bad people. Hard times happen to everyone, one way or another.”

Rayan didn’t have a friend to listen to his concerns or anyone to tell him what to do, so the method he chose was probably to get their attention. I felt sorry for Rayan.

“I don’t think so. So tell me, why are you so sad?”

Rayan’s fist tightened at my words. Tears began to drop from the corners of his eyes.

“I want to spend more time with Mom and Dad. I’m still young and there are a lot of things I want to do, but I don’t know why I have to become the crown prince.”

“I see. Then what do you want to do?”

But there was no answer afterwards.

“The way I see it, it doesn’t seem like you don’t want to become the crown prince. You just want to let them know that you still need your parents’ love more than the position of crown prince.”

After listening to his words, I understood his actions so far. He knew that his actions would become more important once he became the crown prince, so he seemed to purposely cause trouble in front of his parents to get attention. Looking at his words and actions, I didn’t think he was that immature or uneducated. No matter how I looked at it, Rayan seemed to be suffering from what was commonly called a lack of affection.

Rayan silently confirmed my words.

“Do you really not want to become the crown prince?”

“That… no. I know. That it’s something I have to do. But I still want to spend a little longer with Mom and Dad.”

I found it cute to see him speaking sullenly, so I smiled a little.

“Just because you become the crown prince, doesn’t mean those two will no longer be your parents, right? They wouldn’t scold you if they were not interested in you. I hope you don’t think too badly about it.”

Rayan’s expression darkened even more at my words.

“No matter how much I said, it didn’t work.”

“If you speak like before, someone will listen. You have to speak seriously. Tell them honestly what you want.”

Rayan pursed his lips and clenched his fists. Then he opened his mouth as if to shout.

Those words, filled with tears, were Rayan’s sincerity.

“…There is no need for mansions or palaces. I wish my mother and father would listen to me. I wish I had a friend. I want to be a child just a little longer.”

I smiled brightly at Rayan’s sincere answer that I finally heard. It was admirable that he spoke honestly.

“Yes, that’s how you have to do it.”

When I stroked his head Rayan did not resist, but placed his head in my hands and closed his eyes.

His appearance reminded me of Thomas and Greenly.

Rayan seemed like he would be a good friend to the children.

“Friends, yes. If you have time later, come visit the Duke’s house. I will introduce you to some good friends.”

Rayan nodded his head at my words. Then he got up from his seat and bowed his head in front of me.

“To the Princess of the Damon Empire, I would like to express my gratitude. I will try my best to accept that invitation.”

I burst out laughing when I saw him like that and held out my hand to him.

“I will gladly accept the words of the future crown prince.”

Rayan smiled brightly at my words. I thought about the bright smile that only a child could make. The country would not fall.

Rayan left, saying he wanted to talk to his parents, and soon after, Lillian approached me. She handed me the basket I had left behind, and then opened her mouth.

“Thank you for showing that idiot some reality.”

I burst out laughing at her words. She seemed a bit like Ren. Ren was a bit too direct.

“Okay.”

“If that idiot doesn’t become the crown prince, then I have to become the Emperor.”

I chuckled at her saying, “Why are you doing such a bothersome thing?” and lightly pinched her cheek. Her eyes widened at my actions.

“It’s bad to say things like that to your brother.”

“They said you have to be like an older brother to be called big brother.”

I burst out laughing at her firm words. I gave her the rest of her sandwich as well and I opened my mouth.

“If you have time, come visit the Duke’s house. I have friends who might be a good fit for you.”

“I will gladly accept that invitation.”

Now that I think about it, one question occurred to me. The children probably never left the duchy, so do they have any friends? Since it is important to develop social skills from a young age, I was a little worried.

 

—————————————————————

Translator Note:

Next week there won’t be a new chapter, but I will be back so… see you soon!