The Villainess’ Kindergarten

It’s crazy. As I entered the imperial library, I let out an exclamation.

The imperial library was grand and splendid, befitting its majesty. The bookshelf, which was well over a person’s height, was filled with books with gold covers, and between them, a transparent chandelier was shining like a jewel.

Wait, was that a real gem?

It occurred to me that after being possessed, the only thing I did was go sightseeing. Well, it didn’t really matter. I would have to tell Baridas that I would like to see the capital as well. Since I had nothing to do anyway, I picked up a book and sat down.

It was a fairly thick novel, a romance novel about the love between a nobleman and a commoner woman. This kind of material worked here too.

Thinking like that, I slowly turned the pages.

When I was halfway through reading the book, having become more focused on the content than I expected, someone pulled my shoulder back. Surprised, I closed the book and turned around to see Baridas looking down at me.

“I’m sorry if I disturbed you.”

His eyes and head were hurting from continuing to read anyway, so I closed the book and looked up at him.

“No, it’s okay. What’s going on?”

Baridas hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“His Majesty the Emperor has invited us to have dinner together.”

My eyes sparkled at his words. If this was the reason for the emperor to ask me to dinner, did the imperial siblings talk about me?

“By any chance, are the prince and princess coming too?”

Baridas nodded his head in affirmation.

Then we should start preparing now.

I got up from my seat, already excited to see my children.

“All right.”

Being the emperor and empress, I didn’t feel like it was particularly burdensome. Was it because it felt like a familiar parent meeting to me?

After putting the book I was reading back in its original place and going out of the library, he held out his hand to me as if he was trying to escort me.

“How about taking a look around the capital before dinner?”

I would have been happy if you would come with me, but I was a little worried because Baridas looked tired. It was clear that he had stayed up all night yesterday as well.

“I’m fine, but you look tired. Wouldn’t it be better to rest?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

It seems related.

I thought as I looked into his eyes, which were a darker red than usual. Can we go with this?

I felt a little sorry because it felt like I was going out to play with a friend who worked late last night.

“Let’s go together.”

No, if he said that not once, but twice, I couldn’t refuse him.

In the end, I held his hand.

“Is it so.”

Then a small smile appeared on his face. It looks like he had a hard time working all night.

Not long after, the carriage called by Baridas arrived. A carriage with the imperial emblem engraved on it. The carriage was decorated with gold and jewels and was very luxurious. As I was looking up in fascination, a driver got off the carriage and saluted me.

“Hello, princess. My name is Philes, the knight commander. His Majesty told us to take care of everyone safely today.”

When I looked around at his words, I saw not only the knight commander, but also three knights and two maids waiting. No, no matter how much I am, this is a burden, right?

I felt like I was being treated too much by going to the home of a slightly rich parent.

It seems that Baridas had the same thought. He clicked his tongue once, frowned, and opened his mouth.

“Only you are left, I don’t need the rest, so please go back.”

So everyone except Philes, who was driving the carriage, disappeared and we got into the carriage. But it’s okay to use someone like a knight commander as a coachman, right?

I thought it was a waste of manpower, but the carriage was already leaving.

“While we’re out, let’s go buy a dress.”

Oh, I completely forgot I had to buy a dress.

I’m not particularly fond of shopping, but I thought it would be fun to look at dresses.

“Is it so!”

But that thought ended after 30 minutes of shopping.

I was dying after changing my dress 9 times in that 30 minutes. I was the first to get tired when shopping with friends, and it was the same here.

I’d rather be killed.

As I changed into my tenth dress, I screamed inside.

“Which is best?”

To me, everything looked expensive and it was Baridas who bought it, so I handed over the choice to Baridas. Still, there’s probably at least one thing you like among these.

“It all suits you.”

No, if he said things like that, I wouldn’t know any better. Really, what should I buy?

At that time, when I was thinking like that, Baridas opened his mouth.

“Just give me everything.”

I was secretly impressed by his attitude as if asking why he was worrying about something like this.

Wow, isn’t this exactly like that? Give me everything from here to here in that drama. like this. But this is more burdensome than I thought. But before I could say anything, Baridas had already finished paying.

“Is there anything else you need?”

I shook my head at his attitude that he would buy me a palace even if I needed it.

“It’s okay.”

And I opened my mouth quickly, wondering if he might ask me to go buy other things as well.

At that moment, I remembered something I wanted to do.

“Would you like to have dessert while looking around the capital?”

Baridas must have liked this opinion, as a small smile spread across his face.

When I saw that he nodded, I smiled brightly. I like getting away from shopping more than eating dessert.

That was life…!

Since we weren’t going far, we parked the carriage and went into a nearby dessert shop.

Various desserts were displayed in a transparent glass display case. From macarons, tiramisu, eclairs, and financiers. My mouth watered just looking at it. After all, the home of desserts is Europe. I want to eat everything. But when I was worrying because I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat it all, Baridas opened his mouth.

“What should I order? Is there anything you would like to eat?”

“Everything!”

After answering, I covered my mouth because I was sorry. The desserts looked so delicious that I just spit them out.

Baridas laughed at my words and opened his mouth.

“You can’t eat it all by yourself.”

My face heated up at his words.

Oh really. Damn unconsciousness.

At that moment when I was kicking the blanket in my mind about a hundred times, Baridas opened his mouth.

“Pack everything up.”

No, I can’t eat it all! I don’t want to leave food because I can’t eat it. Why order it if you say you can’t eat it?

The moment I opened my mouth to stop Baridas, he struck me.

“And divide it all in half and wrap it up.”

I looked up at Baridas at his unexpected words. Then Baridas looked down at me and smiled slightly.

“This way you will be able to taste everything.”

At his words, I internally applauded a million times.

‘You’re the best, Baridas… You’re the romantic male lead. It’s the first time in my life I’ve been this excited. Really.’

Thanks to Baridas eating half of each, I was able to taste all the desserts at that dessert shop. They were all delicious, but the most memorable one was the financier. There were two flavors, one with chocolate and one with vanilla, and this one was truly the best. It was really delicious.

“It was really delicious.”

As I smiled and opened my mouth at the satisfying meal, Baridas also nodded his head in agreement.

“Yes, wasn’t the financier especially delicious?”

‘Really, Baridas, you are the best. What do you know? It’s worth playing the male lead.’

I nodded and agreed.

There was still a lot of time left until dinner, so as I was wondering what to do, I thought of the children who would be waiting at the Duke’s house.

I need to buy gifts for the children in advance. Are there any special items sold only in the capital? But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t think of a gift to give the kids. You probably already have everything you want.

After thinking about it while eating the cookies provided, I came to a conclusion. From now on, pick out gifts for the children in the city, work hard. And put those feelings into a gift.

The true gift is the heart… !

It’s definitely not because I can’t choose a gift. No.

I thought, should I just give it as a gift by eating it?

The children will also like it here in the capital. But the distance to the Duke’s house was too far to take this.

I can’t help it.

Putting my regrets aside, I started thinking about other gifts.

At that time, Baridas opened his mouth.

“Speaking of which, I heard that a musical will be held at the largest performance hall in the capital starting today. Would you like to go see it?”

…I can choose the gift slowly, right?

I had never actually seen a musical before, so I wanted to go. Because there is still plenty of time. It’ll be okay.

“Yes, I want to go.”

I got into the carriage and thought as I headed to the theater with Baridas. But isn’t this a perfect dating course? Cafes, movies, food… I see, this is a date course. But the course is a date, but it’s not a date.

It felt a bit like I was hanging out with a friend who has good taste in desserts.

Baridas probably doesn’t think like that anyway.

After calmly ignoring the random thoughts, I started thinking about musicals.

They say most musicals are in the romance genre. I guess they are also romances.

When we arrived at the concert venue, we saw nobles dressed up extravagantly. They glanced at Baridas as if they recognized him, but did not hastily speak to him.

So I looked around, trying not to notice their gaze as much as possible.

As expected, the musical was a romance. Most of the audience were also couples.

Seeing it reminded me of the old days when I went to see a romantic movie with a friend and there were only couples around.

This time, I also came with a man. Even though he is a man who leads another person, a man is still a man.

Feeling a strange sense of satisfaction, we were guided inside by an attendant.

When I pulled back the curtain and went inside, there were chairs set up along with a pretty-looking telescope.

These seats are called box seats, and there are very few theaters like this in Korea, so it was my first time here.

Not long after, the curtain rose and a man came out to say hello and opened his mouth.

“The performance starts now.”

The title of the musical was <Phantom of the Musical>, a title that reminded me of a famous performance on Earth. The content felt similar. However, there was a difference in the degree to which the actor playing the ghost kept holding roses.

The problem was that the atmosphere of the musical was much scarier than I expected.

The actor who played the ghost was wearing a white mask, and he kept popping out and scaring me.

They say it’s romance, it’s melodrama. Why am I scared!

I can’t say it now, but I felt scared. That’s also a huge scare.

Rather than being scared of ghosts, I hated the eerie atmosphere itself.

At that time, the lights went out and the actor playing the ghost came out from behind the female protagonist. I was so startled that I almost screamed for a moment.

At that time, someone wrapped my arms around my shoulders. When I turned around with goosebumps, I saw Baridas looking worried.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think you’d be scared.”

In fact, there were almost no scary scenes. It’s just that I was a bit scared.

I felt like I had overdone it, so I shook my head in embarrassment.

“It’s okay.”

The moment I answered that and turned my gaze back toward the stage, the ghost was about to attack the female protagonist. The moment I screamed and was about to close my eyes, something covered my eyes.

“I’ll tell you when the scary scene is over.”

I was really, really embarrassed and wanted to die. Even children aren’t scared, so why are they scared of me?

“…thank you…”

I wanted to dig a hole in the theater right now. After that, it was a standard ending with the male protagonist revealing the identity of the ghost, saving the female protagonist, and kissing her.

At the same time, kissing sounds began to be heard from the seats next to each other. And that too very darkly. Embarrassed, I glanced at Baridas, and his expression was crumpled, as if he had heard it too. Why is the embarrassment my responsibility?

At the sound of a kiss that didn’t end even after a long time, I cursed internally and tried to ignore the sound and thought.

“I’d rather watch the scene where the ghost appears earlier.”

 

—————————————————————

Translator Note: