I’m the Future Crazy Male Lead’s Mother Chapter 18

“What are you looking at?”

Dazar was, as usual, today flapping the hem of his shirt like a wild horse. His voice was rather gruff as he sat on the windowsill, reading a book in a manner unlike him.

“Uh, nothing.”

“Nothing, my ass. You’ve been staring at me nonstop since earlier.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong.

It was because I had only realized yesterday that he remembered his past life, was the axis of evil, and was some kind of mysterious existence.

I shrugged.

“It’s just strange seeing you read a book when it doesn’t suit you.”

“Ha. You make me wonder when the position of duke became this insignificant.”

“Isn’t it nice? You should be grateful to me. I’m making your daily life less boring, aren’t I?”

“Hardly.”

After exchanging a round of verbal jabs, he snapped the book shut and climbed down from the windowsill.

‘Oh. It’s that bird I saw last time.’

The red bird that had been perched on his shoulder before. Perhaps it had been sitting on his other shoulder, which was why I hadn’t been able to see it from my side.

As Dazar stepped down from the windowsill, the red bird flew out the window. Just as I felt a little disappointed, Dazar casually asked,

“So, why did you come?”

I rolled my eyes slightly.

I did have another reason for coming, but I might as well give him the other news first.

“I came to tell you that the Black Hawks agreed to help me.”

“…Those trash?”

I suddenly felt like smacking Dazar in the face as he muttered with an expression of disbelief.

“What’s with that voice? It sounds like you’re saying you deliberately introduced me to people who would never help me. Like you wanted me to suffer to death or something?”

“……”

After guiding me to the sofa and sitting across from me, Dazar rubbed the corner of his mouth with a slightly guilty expression.

I knew it. I knew it.

He really had introduced those pieces of trash just to screw me over.

“So they agreed to help you. They’re more capable than I thought.”

There was genuine admiration in his voice, but I wasn’t feeling any better.

“Yeees. I am pretty amazing.”

I already knew I was amazing, after all.

Muttering that rather obnoxious thought, I spoke casually.

Now that I had gotten the preamble out of the way, it was time to bring up one of the reasons I had come to see him today.

“So, I think I’m going to get pretty busy.”

“And?”

“If that happens, I think it’ll be difficult for me to take care of my child, Axion.”

“Didn’t a butler named Carl come along with you?”

“He’s quite old. He can barely walk on his own.”

Dazar narrowed his eyes.

He looked at me as if asking where on earth I had come up with such a lie, but I boldly brushed it aside and continued.

“I heard that you have a child too, Your Grace.”

At the mention of Vanilla, Dazar flinched.

“I thought that child might get bored if she’s alone, too. How about letting her spend some time with Axion? Occasionally.”

“That…”

Dazar’s expression became slightly wary.

What? Was someone going to eat her or something?

The reason I had brought this up was because Axion’s growth had stopped.

Since I still didn’t know why his growth had stopped, a thought crossed my mind that he might not be able to gain the vast knowledge and experience that had originally made Vanilla interested in him.

If that happened, Vanilla, who was the key to helping Axion completely escape the power of the Demon Dragon, might not help Axion later on.

‘If Axion can’t attract Vanilla’s attention with his superior knowledge…’

Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea for them to naturally form a relationship as childhood friends.

‘Isn’t that how it works? The childhood friends who used to play house together when they were young eventually walk into the wedding hall together.’

Childhood friends were always a major trope in romance fantasy novels, too.

With that thought in mind, I intended to have Vanilla and Axion spend time together from now on.

‘Who knows how long I’ll be able to stay at this mansion.’

For now, I am staying here under the pretext of developing food. But eventually, I wouldn’t be able to meet the Duke’s daughter so easily.

‘There’s a huge difference between the illegitimate child of a viscount and the daughter of a ducal family.’

That was why I had made the suggestion to Dazar, but I hadn’t expected him to take it so seriously.

After thinking for quite some time, Dazar rested his chin on his hand and spoke quietly.

“Fine. Then let’s do that. They can meet whenever they want. Of course, whenever Vanilla wants to.”

Oh. He agreed just like that?

“Okay. Then I’ll arrange for the two children to meet soon!”

“Is there really any need to arrange—”

Dazar’s expression changed slightly, but I paid it no mind.

My first objective had been resolved much more easily than expected, giving me the courage to ask about my next objective.

I asked as naturally as possible, as if it were merely a passing thought.

“By the way, is that really true?”

Dazar raised an eyebrow at the sudden question.

“What are you talking about?”

“That thing. That thing.”

“So what exactly is this ‘thing’—”

“That you have memories of your past life.”

“……”

Dazar stared blankly at me. He looked as though he hadn’t expected that question to come out of my mouth.

Seeing that stupid expression somehow gave me a strange sense of satisfaction.

That man looked flustered.

It was quite a pleasant sight.

“Who told you?”

“That’s obviously a secret.”

Normally, informants were supposed to be protected…

“I’ll give you half of the payment I promised you in advance next month.”

“Elston.”

Why bother protecting an informant?

It was only natural that he got what he deserved. Hahaha.

Dazar muttered under his breath with an expression like he had bitten into something rotten.

“Damn Tower Ma—”

Did he just say “damn Tower Master”?

Even though he muttered it quietly, I heard every word.

“Is it true or not?”

“……”

Dazar frowned.

“Why are you curious about that?”

I froze at his words.

He was going to be my future in-law and was practically my employer. But I had no particular desire to get involved with him.

The fact that Elston had called him the axis of evil also made me feel somewhat distant from him.

And yet, the reason I had gone out of my way to create an excuse to meet him was…

‘Because our circumstances are similar.’

Because he was similar to me, someone who had entered this body while retaining memories of a previous life.

There were certainly differences between us. Unlike him, I had entered this world through possession and already knew about the future. But still, to live one life and then begin another in a different world…

“Well, it’s not exactly a secret.”

At that moment, Dazar leaned back against the sofa with his arms crossed and continued indifferently.

“Yeah. Elston was telling the truth. I remember my past life. So, are you afraid of me too, now?”

Afraid?

An unexpected question came flying at me. I blinked several times before quickly shaking my head.

“No? I’m not scared at all.”

“As expected.”

As expected?

After hearing those two words, why did I suddenly feel like I had just been insulted?

“You’re an unusual woman. I knew you’d be like this.”

“Is that an insult?”

“No. A compliment.”

It didn’t sound like one.

“Have you satisfied your curiosity? I have things scheduled for later, so I’m done here.”

“What?”

Wait, was he ending the conversation just like that?

Dazar suddenly stood up and pointed toward the door, as if telling me to hurry up and leave. I stared at him with a bewildered expression.

But without even looking in my direction, he continued speaking nonchalantly.

“Someone from the Imperial Family will be coming soon to receive training on food development, so teach them about that rice or whatever it is.”

“Uh, uhh…?”

In the time it took me to blink twice, I found myself being ushered out of Dazar’s study.

I stood blankly in front of the door that had closed with a click.

‘What?’

He was obviously avoiding talking about his past life.

Well, if someone asked me about my past life, I suppose I would…

Hmm.

It was a sensitive subject, after all.

I had gotten excited at the thought of meeting someone in a situation similar to mine and had probably crossed the line without realizing it.

‘I should apologize later.’

Feeling awkward, I scratched my cheek with my index finger and headed toward the library.

 

***

 

The Siastor Ducal Residence had a huge library befitting its grandeur. I moved my head from side to side as I passed between bookshelves that were packed all the way up to the high ceiling.

‘Maybe because the history of this place is so long, but there are tons of old books, too.’

I was normally quite distant from libraries, but I couldn’t get out of my mind what Axion had said in the original story—that he ‘grew by feeding on misfortune.’

I decided to look for clues about why Axion’s growth had stopped.

Fortunately, the books in the library were arranged by subject, and it didn’t take me long to find books related to misfortune.

“Misfortune, misfortune…”

「Misfortune and Fortune」, 「How to Escape Misfortune」, 「101 Things You Should Do Right Now If You Are Unfortunate」… and so on.

As I pulled out the books and looked through them, my eyes suddenly landed on one particular book.

「The Being That Grows by Feeding on Misfortune, Ruben」

“Ruben…?”

It was a familiar word, one I felt like I had heard somewhere many times before. I searched through Cilia’s memories, but they were frustratingly hazy, as though I almost remembered but couldn’t quite grasp it.

I quickly reached out, grabbed the book, and opened the first page.

[If you encounter Ruben, run immediately if you wish to live.]

Huh…?

The very first sentence was already quite grim.

I began reading the next sentence.

[But even running will be useless. If you have encountered Ruben, that world will already be walking the path toward destruction. You will soon become his prey.]

“……”

The next sentence was even more horrifying. I felt cold sweat trickle down my back as I turned the page, only to blink in confusion.

“Huh? What is this?”

From the next page onward, most of the text had been blackened, as if someone had spilled ink all over it. I managed to find a sentence I could barely read, but even that wasn’t complete.

[Followers of Ruben are dangerous… They are everywhere…]

Why was a book like this sitting in the library?

I pouted and quickly flipped through the pages, hoping there might be something readable somewhere.

And so, I reached the final page.

[…to do so, find Ruben’s Guardian.]

I snapped the book shut.

A being that grew by feeding on misfortune, Ruben.

It was similar to what Axion had talked about in the original story. I searched the entire library for information related to Ruben, but aside from the book I had just found, there was nothing else.

As if the records had been deliberately erased.

With nothing much to show for my search besides the clue called Ruben, I scratched the back of my head and left the library.

‘I’m sure I’ve seen that word somewhere before.’

So why couldn’t I remember it clearly?