I Live With My Villain Uncle Chapter 10

***

 

It felt unsettling to leave the child behind after having kept her with me for several days, but at the same time, I also felt relieved.

She was just a child, so she would probably be too distracted by all the snacks to notice I was gone. She’d forget about me soon enough.

“U-Uncle! Ah!”

But then, at the loud thud of something falling hard behind him, Cassel stopped on his way to the carriage and turned around.

His face stiffened.

Aika, who had fallen right at the bottom of the stairs, stood up on her own.

She brushed off her clothes as if she were fine, then lowered her head and stood there quietly.

When she lifted her head again, Cassel expected her to burst into anger, but that wasn’t what happened.

“Sniff, hic, sob, ……sniff.”

Cassel quietly drew in a breath.

Aika looked at him, holding back her sobs as tears dripped steadily down her cheeks.

Because her eyes looked so much like his, it almost seemed as though she were glaring at him.

He needed to leave this place as quickly as possible, yet his feet wouldn’t move, as though they had been shackled to the ground.

“Why are you crying?”

What was there to cry about?

Yet Aika simply stood there with one scraped knee, both fists clenched tightly, tears continuously dripping from her eyes.

It was as if someone had left a faucet running.

The tears kept falling without pause, enough to make him wonder if she might become dehydrated.

She could have at least chattered at him like she normally did and told him to leave.

Cassel’s throat, already rough from irritation, bobbed heavily.

“Why are you crying?”

“……hic, sniff, Uncle, you… hic, left me behind.”

“Who left you behind?”

“Hic, Un… sob, cle.”

Aika’s face crumpled once more.

Again, tears fell drop by drop.

Cassel simply stared at her, frozen in place.

“……”

“……hic.”

The two of them stood there for a long while without closing the distance between them.

The sound of water falling from the garden fountain endlessly came between them.

“I don’t know anymore.”

Muttering as if he had given up, Cassel walked over and simply picked the child up.

Startled, Aika squirmed and tried to push him away, but her feeble strength barely made a difference.

“You bastard! Where do you think you’re going after making the child cry!”

Duke Vallier came running out after them, shouting angrily. He had rushed out so quickly that he hadn’t even brought his cane.

Cassel stopped on his way to the carriage, Aika tucked under one arm, and turned halfway around.

“I’m going to raise the kid. Stay healthy and live a long life.”

With that, he left Duke Vallier standing there and climbed into the carriage, slamming the door shut.

“You good-for-nothing bastard! Put my baby down before you goooo!!”

Duke Vallier’s furious voice followed after the carriage.

 

***

 

Sniff, sniffle.

The carriage was filled with Aika’s sniffling.

Her entire face was wet, her eyes were red, her nose was red, and even her lips were red.

She cried so miserably, like a baby rabbit that had been caught in the rain and soaked from head to toe.

Cassel wasn’t comfortable either, being subjected to Aika’s resentful gaze in such a cramped space.

He had brought her back because he simply couldn’t stand watching her like that, but now he had no idea what he was supposed to do with her.

In the end, Cassel was about to turn his eyes toward the window when the carriage jolted once, as if it had hit a rock.

Aika’s body, so light that it briefly lifted into the air before settling back down, wobbled dangerously.

Cassel, who had been watching her, slipped his arms beneath both of Aika’s armpits, lifted her up, placed her on his lap, and wrapped an arm around her like a safety restraint.

Aika startled and squirmed.

“Don’t……”

“Stay still.”

At Cassel’s words, Aika immediately became quiet in his arms.

However, because of her hiccups, the back of her little head kept bobbing up and down.

What’s with the strawberry smell?

Cassel frowned.

Had she eaten all the strawberry desserts by herself earlier? Aika was practically radiating a sweet strawberry scent.

The coachman, completely oblivious to the uncomfortable atmosphere between the two, drove the carriage while cheerfully singing loudly enough for them to hear inside.

 

***

 

It was already dinnertime not long after we returned home.

My eyes were swollen like a goldfish’s, but I had safely returned to Uncle’s house.

And before getting off the carriage, Uncle had even apologized to me.

“I was wrong, so stop crying.”

It was only one sentence, though.

Hmph. I’ll forgive him just this once. Adults can make mistakes too.

“You seem a little better than before. Does it still sting?”

Zenda removed the cold towel she had been using to soothe my eyes.

“No, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Young Lady.”

“Hm?”

“……I’m sorry.”

Zenda lowered her head.

She said she had known that Uncle was planning to send me back to Grandfather’s house.

She apologized for not telling me beforehand and for not being able to stop him.

“It’s okay. I won against Uncle!”

I smiled sheepishly with my swollen eyes.

“Young Lady.”

Zenda looked at me with teary eyes.

“Zenda, you know……”

I lowered my eyes slightly and gently rubbed my stomach.

“Yes, Young Lady.”

Zenda’s expression grew a little serious.

“I’m hungry.”

Even though I had eaten a ton of snacks at my grandfather’s house, I was hungry again as soon as I got home.

And if I didn’t say it now, I felt like Zenda would keep looking sad.

Zenda’s eyes widened. She set down the towel and hurriedly got to her feet.

“Ah, dinner. My lady, I’ll prepare it for you right away!”

“Thank you!”

Zenda told me to wait just a little while and hurried off.

I waited for her while thinking of all the food I wanted to eat, one dish after another.

Click.

“Zenda……!”

At the sound of the door opening, I whipped around.

But the person who brought the food wasn’t Zenda.

It was Uncle.

I had started to look happy at the sight of the food, but stopped and immediately became wary.

Uncle placed a tray filled with delicious food on the table, then strode toward me.

I quickly tried to escape to the center of the bed to avoid him, but he grabbed my clothes and dragged me back.

I told you, he’s ridiculously strong!

“Done crying?”

“……”

Instead of answering, I pouted, so Uncle flicked my forehead with his finger.

“If you’re annoyed, hit me.”

“……Tch.”

Uncle has to experience this himself to understand.

Even when Uncle hits lightly, his strength and weight are incredible! And he’s so rough about it, too!

I wished someone exactly as strong as Uncle could flick Uncle’s forehead for me, but unfortunately, there was no one who could.

As I rubbed my forehead and puffed out my cheeks as much as I could, Uncle straightened his bent body.

“Eat. Don’t start whining later because you’re hungry.”

And then he simply wandered out again.

I was so dumbfounded that I was about to call after him when Zenda came in.

“Young Lady, just a moment. I’ll set everything up for you.”

With lightning-fast hands, Zenda quickly transformed the table into a delicious little dining area.

I waited for her to fasten the large napkin around my neck and sat down in the chair, only to notice an envelope lying beside my plate.

“What’s this?”

“Oh, I think the master left it here. Your name is written on it. Would you like to look at it after you finish eating?”

As I picked up the envelope while listening to Zenda, I quickly realized what it was.

It was the letter addressed to me that had been sticking out from among the pile of letters I had seen on Uncle’s desk a few days ago.

The Imperial crest stamped on the seal was still there.

“Can I look at this first?”

“Of course. Shall I open it for you?”

“I’ll open it myself!”

Zenda only helped me with the sealed part that I was having trouble opening.

Inside was a card much thicker than the envelope.

I read it one letter at a time, but before I could finish, I stared at Zenda with wide, startled eyes.

“The Emperor.”

“Pardon?”

“Invited me to play!”

“Pardon, My Lady?”

“Here!”

I held the card out to Zenda.

Zenda read the card just like I had, and her eyes became as wide as a startled rabbit’s.

“My goodness. It really is. It’s a card inviting you to the Imperial Palace, My Lady. I heard that the master is also a close friend of His Majesty the Emperor……”

“My mom is his friend too. Ah, but Uncle.”

I stopped mid-sentence and frowned.

If I ask Uncle to come with me, he’ll probably tell me not to cling to him and be a nuisance again.

Or tell me not to bother him. He probably won’t even let me ride in his carriage.

“Zenda.”

“Yes?”

“Is the Imperial Palace far from here?”

Zenda rested her chin on her index finger and thought carefully.

“Probably about thirty minutes to an hour by carriage? I’ve never been to the Imperial Palace myself, but I think that’s what I’ve heard.”

“Ah……”

I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

Then I absolutely have to get Uncle’s permission, don’t I?