Chapter 17
Swooshㅡ
As the wind blew through the cracks in the open window, an eternity of silence swept through.
The winter of duchy has arrived.
I thought he would strike back soon.
Unexpectedly, Cassis sat there as if he was dead.
Lisa’s words weren’t wrong, but his mouth was tightly closed for a while.
“…I’m the worst…”
“Gasp! What did I say… I made a mistake. Your Grace.”
Lisa, who came to her senses belatedly, lowered her head.
Cassis, in despair, sat down and rested his forehead on his hand.
“Why do you both say hurtful things? I love Lisa and Dad so much!”
I stumbled out of Agasa’s arms and separated them.
“L-Lisa always takes care of me and plays with me. Lisa is a good maid. Definitely someone who’s going to grow bigger, you knowww?”
“But I dreamed of being a maid all my life, though…”
‘Gosh. I ruined it.’
After patting Lisa, who was disheartened, I hurriedly turned to Cassis.
“Dad is the best. You eat three meals a day with me!”
Shiftㅡ
At those words, Cassis, who was in a state of confusion, raised his head.
“…Other than that?”
‘Eh?’
How come his expression looked like he was hurt even more?
While I was taken aback and didn’t say anything, I wondered if he had accepted the words ‘worst dad’ as factual confirmation.
“…That’s all I did to my daughter. If Vivian sees this…”
‘Ahh! They say they like me, but why are they all sad!’
It was a time when I couldn’t do anything.
Clickㅡ
One of the knights who opened the drawing room door, breathing heavily, hurriedly bowed his head.
“Your Grace. If you’re not busy…”
“What?”
“This is a matter related to the Viscount sent to the basement.”
“I’ll go right away.”
At those words, Dad returned to the original Vallois.
***
“Bilisia. Eyes.”
I went down to the basement in Dad’s arms.
A large, hard palm covered my face.
“…The Viscount hit the child?”
“Yes. He must have gone mad after being in prison for four months.”
Even Cassis wouldn’t have brought me to a place like this.
It was clear that the word ‘worst dad’ had taken hold of him earlier, and he had been thinking about recklessly walking around with me.
When I opened my eyes narrowly, I could feel the shady energy of the basement through the cracks in his fingers.
Viscount Shrek, who was sent to the underground prison of Vallois Castle, was weeping bitterly.
‘Gosh, dumb dumb.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly at the pathetic view.
If it was my previous life, the Viscount should have been killed by Cassis’ hand.
However, as I regressed, unexpected things happened one after another, and Cassis seemed to have forgotten about Viscount Shrek.
‘Actually, I didn’t even know he was there.’
It’s already been four months.
I felt the rapid flow of time again.
I overheard the conversation between Dad and the knight, while watching without any interest.
‘…The Viscount hit the child?’
Reconfirming the point of the conversation, I narrowed my eyes.
On the basement floor, shaded by the lack of sunlight, someone was breathing heavily.
“…H-Huft…”
The blonde hair that had lost its luster fell onto the floor.
Up, down.
His back, which had been bruised from the beating, was struggling to move and continue his life.
it was Sian.
Laid down, he looked like a barely breathing herbivore.
‘Could it be that the Viscount hit Sian to vent his anger?’
As I grasped the situation, my head seemed to spin.
‘I told you not to live in vain. You should have just run away!’
I guess he passed out for now, but if he woke up, he seemed to be in such a serious condition that he would scream right away.
“I can’t live like this, Your Grace. It’s the fourth month. Please don’t turn a blind eye to me…”
It was then.
The half-mad Viscount rubbed his hands together, and the knight let out a light breath.
“The Viscount’s management is getting harder and harder. Why don’t you proceed with the preparations now?”
“W-What preparation… Are you ready to take me out?”
The Viscount dragged his knees and looked up at us.
Cassis, whose eyes met mine at the same time, frowned.
He lifted me up with his arm as if Viscount Shrek were a germ.
“If it bothers you, we’ll take care of it.”
The word ‘take care’ was a dignified rebirth of the unofficial meaning of killing in Vallois.
“…Please… Hic… People go crazy…”
The Viscount, who poured out all his tears and mucus while begging with his hands, was more like an animal than a human.
Cassis, who was watching this with interest, tickled the area around my cheek.
“Billie.”
“Huh?”
“Starting from fingers?”
The Viscount’s eyes froze at the friendly words.
When I nodded my head, the Viscount, who had crawled desperately, opened his mouth and wept silently.
Dad saw the Viscount and covered my eyes again.
“Anyway, how did that slave get in?”
“I didn’t even know he was there when they were sent to the underground prison. It seems that the Viscount has been so rebellious that the knights haven’t paid attention.”
“Vallois’ crime prevention system wouldn’t be so lax.”
“I’m ashamed.”
As the nervous knight lowered his head, Cassis shifted his gaze and stared at the bars without further reprimanding.
It was an uninspiring look, yet ambiguous to ignore.
“Get him out of the castle. When he wakes up, he will leave this place on his own.”
As expected, I thought the word ‘treatment’ would never come out of Dad’s mouth.
Is he just going to skip it because it’s annoying?
“…Dad.”
“Hm.”
Cuddled up on Dad’s chest, I tugged weakly at the collar of his shirt, and his purple eyes looked down at me with relaxed eyes.
“You need to treat the baby.”
“Who is calling who a baby?”
“If I’m a baby, he’s a baby too. He needs to be treated.”
I tried hard to elaborate.
There was a sense of numbness in the face that was staring at me.
Dad seemed really insensitive about things that had nothing to do with Vivian.
Oh, absolute villain.
Finally, I let out a sigh and said nothing.
“I like Dad who treats babies.”
“Delton. Send him to the treatment room.”
“I understand.”
??
Is it that easy?
When I came to my senses, the maids and doctor who had come down to the basement had already carried Sian on a stretcher and disappeared.
***
When Sian was sent, the situation progressed swiftly.
“I will take you there, Miss.”
Agasa respectfully held out his hand.
Only Viscount Shrek and Cassis were left in the underground prison.
Maybe when I go back to bed and get a good sleep.
‘Are you finally punishing him, Father?’
I stared at his back with a proud gaze.
A broad back.
A longsword of Vallois wrapped under the back of a sturdy hand with blue veins protruding.
Carefully handmade-like eyes nestled under dense eyelashes were looking down at the sinner.
Just by looking at him, he looked reliable.
However.
“…Dad.”
“?”
At my feeble question, Cassis turned his head.
‘If he just kills Viscount Shrek, it will be the same as my previous life.’
This life should have been different.
At least he had to live a better life than his previous life.
I was lost in thought, yet a shadow covered the top of my head.
Cassis’s face, filled with vision, seemed to have come closer to me before I knew it, and a faint worry was seeping into it.
“Why did you call me?”
The knights who noticed the situation whispered.
“…It seems that her heart has weakened when he tries to punish him.”
“The Princess is still five years old. It’s natural that she’s afraid of people dying.”
“Don’t worry, Princess. We will deal with that sinner as painfully as possible on our side.”
Did they guess my hesitant expression in his own way?
The huddled knights helped one by one with expressions of understanding.
“…P-Princess?”
The Viscount, who had been dying at the slightest noise, also staggered.
By the time there was a faint hope in his eyes.
“Money.”
“Yes?”
“Pardon?”
“…What did you say, Billie?”
I stared at the Viscount and shouted vigorously.
“If Viscount Shrek dies, what about his property? How will his property be managed?”
My innocent eyes blinked.
With a look of, I might be curious because I’m five years old, on my face.
“…Ah.”
The reaction around me was, of course, unexpected.
Agasa, who was perplexed, answered while giving Cassis a sidelong scowl.
“It will probably be merged with Vallois’ budget.”
Really? If so.
“My labor cost!”
“…What?”
It was then that Cassis’ expression became unusually distorted.
“My labor cost as a slave at Viscount Shrek’s house! Take it out of the Viscount’s property and give it to me!”
‘In my previous life, he was so emotional that he got rid of it quickly.’
But this time, it had to be different.
I had to become independent at the age of 16, so I have to take care of my share.
“Mopping the floor. Cleaning the toilet. And the ironing of the clothes that Viscount Shrek and the maids entrusted to me. Cleaning up the trash. This is the cost of my labor!”
My shouts were poised to take even the price of the steps I had taken in the Eillian Mansion.
Very clearly.
So that my request won’t be misrepresented because of my five-year-old’s pronunciation.
Swooshㅡ
However, contrary to my expectations, the reaction was only a gust of wind.
Are they in shock?
Or was my bold request too absurd?
The faces of the people whose expressions were unknown were pale.
‘Hmm. Is it too early?’
Embarrassed at the lack of response, I wrung my outstretched hands.
‘I thought I could get some of the labor cost because I got close to Cassis.’
“…Mopping, cleaning.”
It was then.
A quiet yet eerie bass pierced the stillness.
“Agasa.”
The owner of the scary monologue was Cassis.
It was a voice that had to be listened to, as everyone in the prison seemed to be terrified.
“…”
After that, he, who stood up, watched the small hand I extended for a long time.
An unimaginable tenacious gaze compared to our first meeting.
“Agasa.”
“Yes.”
“What is the level of wealth of the Eillian family?”
“First of all, the southern granary that connects the marquis territory with the central system and the Free State. And there is the Twin Axes Guild in the Free State that was used for the slave trade.”
“…Billie, is this enough?”
Cassis, who was looking at Agatha, suddenly asked me.
“What is?”
“Labour cost.”
My pupils widened at the serious answer.
Cassis moved satisfactorily at my reaction.
“Then, change all the properties registered in the name of Viscount Eillian to the name of Billishia.”
“Yes. Yes? Ah, yes. I understand.”
I wasn’t the only one surprised.
Knights with open mouths.
Even Agasa, who reversed his words without answering.
And.
“…T-The guild. My mansions…”
Viscount Shrek, who had watched the tower he had worked so hard to build collapse all at once, collapsed on the spot.
***
That was the last time I saw Viscount Shrek.
Rumors about Viscount Shrek’s whereabouts have been rampant for a while, thanks to Cassis, who didn’t report his death separately.
A month later.
Flutterㅡ
The black panther flag, symbolizing Vallois, fluttered over all the property belonging to the Eillian family.
It was the implicit death report of Viscount Shrek announced by Vallois.
