Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 71

☆ 72 ☆

A servant, following Ares’s command, bowed and turned away.

Cynthia, flustered, jumped up from her seat.

“I, I’ll go get her.”

“You stay here.”

“I said I would bring her, and if you suddenly do that, she’ll be very surprised and scared.”

“She should be surprised and scared. She committed theft.”

“But she’s still young一.”

“Are you planning to coordinate your stories while bringing her?”

“Wh, what!”

“If not, there’s no need for you to go.”

Cynthia clenched her fist tightly at Ares and Ixion’s words.

However, after hearing such words, she couldn’t insist on going herself.

In the end, the servant left alone.

Dana followed the servant with narrow shoulders and an anxious face.

Before she could even open her mouth, Cynthia preempted her.

“Dana, apologize.”

“Yes?”

“You stole Lulu’s hair ornament.”

“Yes……?”

Dana looked at Cynthia with a bewildered expression.

“You secretly went into Lulu’s room and stole her hair ornament. No matter how much you wanted it, you shouldn’t have done that.”

“I, I didn’t do that…….”

“Haa, Dana. I tried to cover for you, but it’ll be difficult if you don’t tell the truth.”

Dana flinched at Cynthia’s sigh.

“You insisted earlier that you didn’t steal it. Eventually, you admitted it, so I agreed to return it for you, right?”

Dana blankly looked up at Cynthia before lowering her head.

Soon, her small head nodded slightly up and down.

Cynthia smiled deeply and quickly turned to look at me.

“Lulu, forgive Dana. She’s still young and doesn’t know any better.”

“I can only forgive if there’s something to forgive.”

I responded coldly and then asked Dana.

“Tell me, is Cynthia telling the truth?”

“Th, that’s…….”

“Haa, what more is there to hear? She always had sticky fingers when she was in our house. And she always lied. I should have kept a closer eye on her.”

Dana’s face, which was only looking at the ground, turned bright red.

“Cynthia, stop cornering Dana. If you keep doing that, it’ll only look like you’re feeling guilty.”

“Wh, when did I corner her!”

“Be quiet. You’re scaring her.”

I approached Dana and held her hand tightly.

“It’s okay, you can tell the truth.”

Dana’s gaze went to my face and then behind me.

She looked at Cynthia, startled, and lowered her gaze.

“You don’t have to make up something unfair.”

At my words, Dana’s eyes began to water.

She moved her lips, swallowing her words a few times, before finally making a sound.

“M, Miss Cynthia is right.”

“…….”

“I, I stole it…….”

Tears welled up in Dana’s eyes.

“See, I told you I was right?”

Cynthia shouted triumphantly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Hic, sob, hic.

Large, pearl-like tears flowed incessantly from the child’s large eyes.

“Lulu, no matter how wrong Dana was, it’s too much to make her cry like this.”

Cynthia approached and embraced Dana.

“Of course, you must be angry. It’s understandable. But we got the item back, and Dana agreed to return it after my persuasion.”

She was feigning a pitiful expression, but Cynthia’s eyes were full of joy and triumph.

“Forgive Dana……. I’ll scold her severely, okay?”

You… really.

I gritted my teeth.

‘I’m done being nice to you.’

How could she try to frame a child much younger than herself as a thief?

There is a big difference between Cynthia, a noble young lady, stealing something and Dana, a nanny’s daughter, stealing something.

Cynthia can get away with it as a minor incident, but it’s difficult for Dana even if I forgive her.

‘And you thought this flimsy testimony would work?’

Is she stupid?

Or did she think I wouldn’t be able to discern even this much?

“If that’s true, you can answer my question.”

I asked Dana.

“What was the hair ornament you stole? What did it look like?”

The hair ornament Cynthia stole was deliberately put in her pocket so it wouldn’t be visible.

Cynthia’s face, which had been full of triumph, hardened.

Dana hesitated and opened her mouth.

“Th, there was a ribbon一.”

“So, it didn’t have a ribbon? Tell me properly.”

“Cynthia, if you say one more word, I’ll think you’re trying to fabricate false testimony.”

“You really一.”

“One word.”

“‘If you say more,’ is what a cotton ball would say? Are you admitting you’re trying to manipulate things?”

Ares gently cut off Cynthia’s words, and Ixion bared his teeth and growled.

Cynthia had no choice but to shut her mouth.

“Don’t say she’s a child, so she won’t remember well. If she wanted it so badly that she risked her life to steal it, she would definitely know what it looks like. You even matched the color.”

I asked Dana.

“Isn’t that right?”

“M, Miss, please, please…….”

Dana knelt down and clung to the hem of my dress.

“I, I stole it. I stole it. I’m sorry, I was wrong, I’m sorry…….”

What was reflected in her big eyes was fear.

I stopped abruptly and looked at the child’s face.

Why is this little child trembling so much?

So desperately terrified, repeating only that she was wrong.

My heart ached as if it had been cut.

Dana’s appearance was just like me, kneeling before Duke Tarenka and begging for forgiveness.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, so stop and get up, okay?”

I sat down and tried to grab Dana’s arm and lift her up.

It was that moment.

“Huh?”

Red blood flowed from Dana’s nose.

“Dana!”

I caught Dana’s swaying body.

Ares came to my side and examined Dana’s condition.

“……This is the influence of magic. We should stay away.”

At those words, Ixion frowned and stepped back.

“Why didn’t you put up a barrier? His Excellency wouldn’t have not put one up because she’s of low status.”

At that moment, Cynthia’s words, which she had shouted full of joy, flashed through my mind.

“Being protected by Duke Paeraton is a very, very special thing. Everyone will envy me!”

“I’m the only one being protected like this!”

“How much of a fuss would they make to be protected by His Excellency even once, but I’m the only one who’s special!”

It felt like a fire was flashing before my eyes.

She wanted to receive that special thing only for herself?

To become a special being that everyone envies?

Just for that reason, she risked the life of that young child……!

I gritted my teeth.

“Take this child to the infirmary immediately. And call my dad. Have him put up a barrier and see if he can purify her.”

At my command, the servant carefully picked up Dana.

Cynthia immediately grabbed my arm.

“She just had a little nosebleed. Everyone has a nosebleed once in their life. It’s annoying to bother Dad with such a thing一.”

“I can bother him.”

I looked at Cynthia without hiding my contempt.

“My dad likes it when I bother him.”

Thud.

I roughly shook off Cynthia’s arm and followed the servant.

At that time, an alert rang.

[A new quest has arrived.]

〈Save the Baby!〉

Dear Reader!

This is truly unbearable!

Dana is still young. Much younger than Cynthia.

However, Dana shows signs of continuous emotional abuse.

Romance fantasy readers will never, under any circumstances, tolerate child abuse!

However, the problem is whether Dana, who is emotionally unstable, can accept the hand you offer.

She is in such a serious state that it is easier for her to take the blame for Cynthia’s mistakes.

Please rescue the poor Dana from the hands of evil!

– Condition: Rescue Dana from Cynthia’s hands.

– Reward: 2000 Cash Gacha Ticket, Dana’s shy gratitude, future fame

‘I’ll do it even if it’s not a quest.’

[You have accepted the quest.]

I brushed aside the notification window and moved forward.

* * *

At the word that I called him, Dad soon arrived at the infirmary.

Lady Aphelia entered behind Dad with a somewhat pale face.

Dad frowned as he examined Dana.

“It would have been a disaster if it had been any later. Her body must have been in bad shape for a while.”

At those words, Dana’s appearance, saying she was okay every time I met her, came to mind.

As Dad reached out to Dana, a black aura escaped from her body.

Dad waved his hand to scatter the aura and put a barrier around Dana.

“Why didn’t you ask for a barrier sooner?”

“Th, that’s…….”

Cynthia fidgeted and hesitated.

Then Lady Aphelia stepped forward.

“I thought she would be okay. Dana doesn’t run into His Excellency or the young masters. I was too sorry to bother His Excellency with such a thing…….”

“Is this a bothersome thing?”

“I was going to ask you right away if there was a problem.”

Dad clicked his tongue.

“Is this child okay now?”

“Yes.”

Dad scooped me up.

And he bumped his forehead against my forehead.

Dad, who closed his eyes tightly, looked tired.

‘Why is he like this?’ I thought, then I realized.

‘Ah.’

That’s right.

‘The person lying down due to magic could have been me.’

The duration of the barrier varies depending on age, but for my age, it usually lasts about a week.

But Dad puts a barrier on me every day.

Sometimes two or three times a day, like someone with some kind of obsession.

Often, when I woke up from sleeping because of a presence, Dad was quietly watching me.

At such times, he would put up the barrier again.

I wondered why he was doing that.

‘He came to check if I was safe.’

He was afraid that I would get sick like Dana.

What must have been Dad’s feelings as he came to check on his daughter’s safety every night?

I hugged Dad tightly.

‘It’s okay, I’m safe.’

And Dana will be okay too.

* * *

When I came out of the room, Ixion and Ares were there.

“Dana will be okay. Don’t worry.”

Even though I told them that, the two of them stayed far away and didn’t come close to me.

“I’m okay! Dad puts up a barrier for me every day!”

At those words, the two of them came a little closer.

Just five steps.

“It hurts my throat to shout when you’re so far away!”

Only then did they come to my side, but there was a subtle gap.

It felt like four people could fit between us.

I ran and bumped into the two of them with a thud!

“See, I’m completely healthy!”

When I looked up while hugging them, smiles finally returned to their faces.

“Yes.”

“Not a cotton ball, but a stone.”

Ares, who was stroking my hair, said with a serious face.

“What happens with Lady Aphelia is not something I need to worry about.”

If she becomes the Duchess, she will also become Ares’s stepmother, so why doesn’t he need to worry about it?

And the new Duchess can also affect the succession structure.

I had questions, but Ares wasn’t finished speaking yet.

“We were also staying still, suppressing our magic as much as possible, because we thought it would be good for you to have a female friend.”

I thought you were subtly tolerating Cynthia, but was that why?!

“But if someone dares to upset my sister, the story changes.”

Ares’s eyes became deep and dark.

Ixion whispered subtly.

“Shall I kill her?”

“No!”

I shouted in surprise, and Ixion frowned.

“You’re too kind一.”

“That’s not it!”

I stomped my foot.

“She’s my prey. Both of you, don’t touch her.”

It’s not in my nature for someone else to give me cider [a refreshing resolution to a frustrating situation].

It’s cooler when I open the can myself with a ‘psssht, click!’

“She’s dead to me.”

I spat and leaned on one leg.

“My sister is so smart.”

“She takes after me, even though she’s weak.”

Ares and Ixion patted me and rubbed their cheeks against mine.

“…….”

Don’t be proud of this!

* * *

I held my breath and slightly pushed the end of the book.

Then, the inside of Lady Aphelia’s room was visible through the small gap.

‘Good.’

Originally, it was a place made to prepare for when intruders broke in, but I’m using it to eavesdrop.

‘Well, it’s up to the person using it.’

After waiting a bit, Lady Aphelia and Cynthia entered the room.

“What is this!!”

Cynthia stomped her feet and became irritable.

“That annoying girl must have driven a wedge between us! Otherwise, Brother and Ixion wouldn’t avoid me like this!”

“Let them avoid you. They’ll get closer over time anyway.”

Lady Aphelia sat on the sofa and leaned back.

“The only good thing is that we can use the excuse that Dana is sick and can’t move.”

“That girl Dana is helpful sometimes.”

“His Excellency was forcing me, forcing me to postpone telling him to go back since his work was done, but now I don’t need to do that anymore.”

Lady Aphelia stroked Cynthia’s cheek.

“Good job, my daughter. I didn’t think of making Dana sick and using her, how did you come up with such an idea?”

“I learned it all from Mom.”

The two mothers laughed intimately.

“If I stay longer, will Brother and Ixion recognize me? What if that girl keeps getting in the way?”

“How many times do I have to say it? The person you need to win over is not the two young masters, but the youngest princess.”

Cynthia pouted as if she didn’t like it.

“Why is she special? What’s so great about her! I don’t understand. Rather, Paeraton has nothing special!”

“That’s why.”

“Yes?”

“Isn’t she like a freak of Paeraton? Because she doesn’t have magic.”

“Then…… shouldn’t we hate her more?”

“A child born lacking is a sore spot. Of course, His Excellency will cherish her.”

Lady Aphelia smiled brightly.

“Of course, I know she’s an annoying girl too. I want to punch her in the face for talking back. But you have to endure it even if it’s annoying.”

“Still…….”

“Have ambition and draw a big picture!”

Lady Aphelia grabbed Cynthia’s hand.

“If you just hold on a little longer, this huge estate will be ours. Not just the estate? A huge territory and countless treasures! Everything will be in our hands.”

“But…… His Excellency’s reaction isn’t very good.”

“There’s a way~!”

Lady Aphelia smiled and swept back her long hair. Her pure white and straight neckline and collarbone were revealed.

“Originally, men are so foolish that they can’t escape from women.”

“Then?”

“As it happens, His Excellency is so strong and hates people that there are practically no guards in the bedroom.”

The red lips drew a seductive curve.