Home/I Saved the Villain and Fell Asleep/ch 21

Chapter 21

After spending two years at the villa, I had suddenly turned sixteen. The day we would return to the ducal estate was drawing closer and closer.

I'm so flustered right now, Bibi.

Bibi was still small. His paws were big, so I thought he'd grow into a large dog, but his growth stopped at medium size. For all the enormous amounts he ate, he didn't seem to grow much in proportion.

Bibi still ate anything and everything, but what he especially loved was Kali's fire.

Yes, Kali.

Czerban Caelius.

According to my plan, I was supposed to raise the little squirt Caelius into a decent person who understood morality, not a ruthless villain.

If you asked how Kali had grown over the past two years... it was a bit nuanced.

How did he end up like that? There's no one in our family with that kind of personality—who did he learn it from?

When we first brought Kali in, he was a wary, quiet child. But my resolve to "not let him grow up to be a madman" went out the window—Kali had become a troublemaker rivaling my eldest brother.

"How?!"

Irein hadn't even been at the villa! How did he grow up into such a delinquent?!

"Woof!"

"Sigh... Where has your father gone wandering off to now?"

After spending a hectic day being dragged around by Kali, I'd be so drained I couldn't do anything else. Chasing after Kali, who was busy causing trouble, and scolding him made all thoughts of "rehabilitation" vanish.

Having half-given up on Kali, who was becoming more childish by the day rather than mature, I threw myself into practicing with my club.

"Grrr."

"Why are you whining? Hungry? Go ask your dad for some tasty fire, okay?"

As I followed Bibi downstairs, the head butler approached me with a bright smile.

"Young lady, a package from Lord Irein has just arrived today."

"Huh? That famous dessert?!"

My voice naturally rose at the good news. Whenever Irein found magical tools worth storing in my club, he would send them right over.

There were already over twenty items, and I couldn't store them all—but the more, the better!

"He also sent some magical tools—would you like to go down and take a look?"

But right now, the magical tools weren't what mattered. What I'd been waiting for was the yellow cheese dessert that had recently become popular in the capital.

Every time Irein called, he'd chant about how delicious it was. I told him to stop talking about it unless he was going to send some—and he actually did.

"Where is it?"

"They're organizing it on the first floor—hmm?"

The head butler's eyes sharpened. The first floor seemed a bit noisy, so I looked down and saw maids busily cleaning around the tea table.

"What's going on?"

At Simon's firm voice, a young maid with a familiar face bowed awkwardly and spoke.

"Head butler, well, the youngest young master..."

"The youngest young master has gotten his hands on Lord Irein's gift for the young lady again."

Before the young maid could finish, a brown-haired maid beside her stepped forward and spoke.

In this villa, "youngest young master" meant Kali. I squeezed through the maids, scooped up Bibi who was sniffing the floor with his nose in the crumbs, and looked at the table.

An empty box with nothing but crumbs greeted me. There was no reason a dessert box would be on the first floor out of nowhere, so this must have been the box filled with yellow cheese madeleines and financiers that Irein had sent today.

There's no way Irein would have sent dessert just for me. Where were the rest? And where were the magical tools?

"Was this the only one? Where are the others?"

"The rest were handed to a servant who happened to be heading to the kitchen. Thank goodness. Otherwise, the youngest young master might have taken the Duchess's share as well."

Something about her tone felt sarcastic. I stared at the brown-haired maid.

We kept a small staff whether at the main estate or the villa, but for some reason, Mom had hired a large number of maids a year ago.

She said she planned to select good ones and take them to the ducal estate... but I hadn't noticed anyone particularly outstanding.

But this brown-haired maid—she's kind of funny, isn't she?

Even if the dessert boxes were piled high, the one who would take them all to Mom first would be Kali. And then he'd spend a long time teasing me, generously offering to share as if doing me a favor.

You've worked here for a year, and that's all you've figured out about Kali?

"Where did that pig go?"

But that's one thing, and this is another.

My yellow cheese!!!!

He doesn't even like desserts, yet he left nothing but crumbs—the reason was obvious. He did it to piss me off!!!

"He went down to the village alone again. I apologize for not stopping him, young lady."

The brown-haired maid bowed deeply. She looked like a loyal maid deeply sorry for failing to do her duty.

On the surface, at least.

I met the head butler's gaze. Something seemed to be going on in the villa, but I couldn't quite grasp it.

"There are few people who can stop Kali. I understand you couldn't stop him."

"Thank you, young lady."

"What's your name?"

I stared intently into the brown-haired maid's black eyes. When I asked her name, I felt her gaze shift with a hint of anticipation.

"My name is Anne."

"Does Kali usually act this way?"

Of course he does. Stealing my dessert is just "Phase 2 of making me mad."

"...How could I comment on the young master's behavior?"

You were talking just fine a moment ago?

She didn't jump on it right away—so she's not completely stupid.

"Kali's been causing so much trouble lately... It's been giving me a headache. You seem to know a lot, so could you give me a little hint?"

When I coaxed Anne with a straight face, she eagerly spilled a flood of incidents and accidents. Most of them I already knew.

But with Anne's subjective spin added to the stories, Kali was instantly transformed into a hopeless piece of trash.

Sure, he's rude and a hopeless troublemaker—but he's not trash.

Ignoring the head butler's increasingly cold expression, I nodded along a few times, and Anne chattered on excitedly.

"No matter how much he's the youngest, speaking so rudely to Lord Irein—I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't even listen."

Well... I don't think there's anyone but Mom who doesn't talk back to Irein. Yeah. Irein is truly a one-of-a-kind lunatic.

"Just recently, he piled up catalogs from a famous jewelry craftsman in the capital this high..."

I didn't need to hear the rest. She was implying he was extravagant. Please.

I wanted to clutch my stomach and laugh out loud. The owner of those catalogs wasn't him—it was our mother.

At Anne's accusatory report, dripping with malice, I put on a serious face and nodded.

"You've worked hard, Anne."

Publicly, Kali was known as a distant relative the Algenprina ducal house had found.

Since he wasn't a blood child of the Duke and Duchess, I knew the servants' attitudes toward him wouldn't be the same as toward me—but this was definitely new.

"I learned a lot of new things. Thank you. You can go now."

I patted Anne's shoulder as if truly grateful. With a brightened expression, Anne left to attend to her work, and a silence fell.

The young maid who had missed her timing fidgeted nervously, her hands twitching.

"You."

"Y-yes! Young lady!"

"What do you think?"

"About... what?"

"About Kali. Our youngest."

There's no way he'd let himself be bullied with that personality of his. He probably didn't openly bully anyone... but was there some behind-the-scenes maneuvering?

"Well, I, um..."

The gentle-faced maid hesitated for a long time.

Since I'd spoken as if agreeing with the gossip about Kali, she seemed unsure whether to tell the truth or join in.

"Your name was Julia, wasn't it?"

"Yes! It's Julia, young lady."

"Whatever you say, you won't lose out. Can you tell me honestly?"

The reason I remembered her name was simple—she was the maid in charge of cleaning Kali's room.

"I don't think the youngest young master is... that bad of a person."

"But he ate my entire share without leaving a single crumb?"

What will you say now? Will you flatter me and badmouth Kali?

Or will you keep defending him, saying he's not a bad person?

I pointed at the empty box with my finger, and Julia's face flushed red.

"Well...!"

"Haha, just kidding. Kali's done this more than once."

"The youngest young master has never mistreated the attendants or maids, or used harsh language! At least, in all the time I've worked here, I've never seen it once!"

"So Anne was lying?"

"To some extent... I think so..."

Her voice was small, but firm. I clasped Julia's hand—she'd squeezed her eyes shut as if expecting a scolding—and spoke.

"Julia?"

"Yes, yes!"

"Could you do me a favor?"

"M-me? What...?"

"Could you keep an eye on Anne for me? You don't need to follow her around. Just, if you see something. I don't like the servants of the ducal house talking carelessly about Kali. You understand what I mean?"

"Yes!!"

"Oh, and also. I'd like you to watch who talks especially a lot about Kali. You can report to Simon depending on the situation."

"Understood, young lady!"

After Julia bowed deeply and left, I met the gaze of Head Butler Simon, who had been watching me the whole time.

"What?"

Unlike before, Simon was looking at me with a deeply pleased expression, so I took a step back and asked.

"Nothing. It's just..."

What is it?! Why are your eyes getting teary?!

"I was just thinking how much you've grown, young lady—this old man got sentimental..."

Simon had been the head butler of the ducal house long before I was born. His gaze, like a proud grandfather looking at his grown granddaughter, made me feel a bit embarrassed.

"I didn't know because Kali never says anything. The attendants and maids aren't bullying him like that, are they?"

"Of course not. If they were, the young master would have turned the place upside down first."

"He would have. He'd have charged in headfirst."

"The servants' outward attitudes toward the youngest young master have been fine. The backbiting has only started recently. I didn't realize someone would be so loose-lipped. Heh heh."

The head butler oversaw all the servants inside and out. That he knew about the gossip but hadn't actively responded meant there was another reason.

"We'll be returning to the ducal estate soon, so the villa is going to get quite noisy. Everyone's curious about something—so many spies have been planted."

"Among them, from the Czerban Grand Ducal house?"

"There are some suspects, but nothing certain. Also from the Marquis Shimota, Count Arian, Count Juno, and Baron Luania—quite varied."

After regaining her energy, Mom had immediately set traps to root out spies.

To find out who had planted spies in the Algenprina house and what their purposes were, she had brought in counter-spies.

To catch a rat, you have to bring in a rat.

"How many servants do you think will move to the ducal estate?"

"Hmm, perhaps around twenty. We'll send home those who are loose-lipped, even if not spies, and plan to filter out the actual spies. Especially those with keen interest in the youngest young master."

It would be good to know in advance which houses were trying to dig up information on Kali.

"I liked that girl from earlier."

"Julia?"

"Yeah."

"If she survives to the end, she may come with us to the ducal estate. She should be grateful to you, young lady. Thanks to you, we've planted a spy among the spies."

"You would have done it all without me anyway. ...But surely Julia isn't a spy herself?"

"She's a diligent maid, but you never know. No one can be excluded from investigation. The Duchess herself will be moving."

After Kali arrived, Mom had become more active than before. She seemed to have boundless energy, running around everywhere—I couldn't tell what she was planning, and it was a little scary.

"Anyway, I'm going to the village for a bit."

"Please take it easy, young lady."

"If Kali lets himself be caught."

"Oh dear, I'd better have a healer on standby."

Simon chuckled with a quip—a laugh from someone who knew he'd never once been caught quietly.

Mina pressed the tray to her mouth, trying to cool her flushed face.

The breathtakingly handsome young man had drawn everyone's attention the moment he entered the shop. Mina had been born and raised here, but in sixteen years, she'd never seen anyone so tall and good-looking.

...Is that even a person?

His pale pink hair, shimmering like a lake bathed in sunlight, was tousled over his forehead.

How could a person's hair color be like that? It was a beautiful shade—like silver with a single drop of pink ink.

And his flawless, smooth skin?

Mina glanced at his green eyes, reminiscent of fresh green leaves, then lowered her gaze. Through his carelessly unbuttoned shirt, a firm chest was visible.

She wanted to scream and make a fuss, but all she held was an empty tray.

That's right—she was working. She had to take his order...

Mina crept toward the man as if approaching a dangerous animal, cleared her throat, and barely managed to speak with a trembling voice.

"W-would you like to order?"

"Ah."

The man, who had been blankly staring at a white paper box on the table, looked up. His strong, angular jaw exuded masculinity and struck Mina's heart.

"What's good here?"

"Is this your f-first time in this village? Our shop's food is good, and we have lots of teas! Ah! I should give you a menu! Please take a look at this..."

Uncharacteristically flustered, Mina handed the man a menu.

If she could, she'd want to press her ear to his lips all day. His voice was sweeter than Jason from the general store, who was famous for his lovely voice.

'I feel like I'm being bewitched!!!'

The man took the crumpled menu, glanced over it, and muttered.

"Ah, there it is."

"Pardon?"

"Give me a Pigren with two sugar cubes."

Mina's eyes widened at his request. Pigren was a common tea, but the recipe of adding two sugar cubes wasn't. It was a special order only made by regulars of Mina's shop.

Had he been here before? With a face like that, she could never forget it.

"Anything else?"

"No."

Or had someone recommended it?

It was quite a stretch to see the man as a commoner. Though dressed simply in black pants and a white shirt, his posture alone oozed refinement.

With a shirt that shimmered so subtly, how could he be a commoner? Was he a noble?

But nobles wouldn't even set foot in a place like this.

Mina had never seen a noble up close, but she sensed the man before her was of no ordinary status. Coming to that conclusion, even taking a step felt cautious.

As she trembled, serving carefully to avoid any trouble, several men burst into the shop with a loud racket.

Mina swallowed a sigh. Those people again.

They'd been coming for daytime drinking the past few days. They never caused any trouble beyond getting drunk and making noise among themselves, so she hadn't paid them much mind—but today was different.

Perhaps because of the unusual presence, Mina was nervous about the other customers. But the man didn't seem bothered by the ruckus—he didn't even frown, just yawned lazily.

Mina swallowed another sigh and hurried to the kitchen with the order slip. She'd wanted to sit quietly and admire that radiant face, but that was out the window.

At this point, she just hoped those drunks wouldn't break anything.

"Where the hell did that kid go?"

I'd thrown on a robe over my lounging clothes and come down to the village with Bibi.

Whenever Kali came to the village, he always went to the same places: the village fountain, a teahouse and restaurant with a good view of the street, or browsing street stalls. That was it.

That shimmering pink head wasn't exactly easy to hide.

"Bibi, where's your dad? Huh?"

I peered into shops and down alleyways, but still not a strand of hair in sight. There's no way he went out wearing a robe.

"Woof!"

"Huh? You found him?"

Bibi took off running, tongue out. I chased after him and heard a commotion from a distance.

My gut told me—Kali was at the center of it.

Where is this brat causing trouble now? I told him not to start anything in the village!

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