I Live With My Villain Uncle Chapter 16

Then I ran toward where Uncle was with all my strength.

We had come farther away than I realized, and my heart sank.

Whether by coincidence or because he had been watching us, Uncle had already come outside and was striding toward us.

“Uncle!”

I ran even harder and threw my arms around Uncle.

At the same time, I felt a solid sense of security.

A moment later, Uncle’s heavy hand came to rest on top of my head.

“What. Did that peanut hit you?”

I hugged Uncle’s thigh and shook my head.

“N-no.”

“Then?”

“I-I want to go home now.”

Let’s go quickly, okay?

I looked up at Uncle with pleading eyes.

“Tsk.”

At the sound of Uncle clicking his tongue, I flinched and started to loosen my arms, but then my body suddenly lifted into the air.

Before I knew it, I was in his arms, my eyes now level with Uncle’s.

“You’re such a handful. Ready to go?”

He meant that we were going home.

I nodded enthusiastically, then suddenly stopped and shook my head.

“Can I say goodbye to Ruspe one more time before we go?”

“Where is he?”

“Over there.”

Uncle strode in the direction I pointed.

But from the opposite side, Ruspe was already running toward us in a panic.

“Ruspe?”

I climbed down from Uncle and looked at Ruspe as he stopped in front of me.

Ruspe was panting heavily as he suddenly held something out to me.

They were the three yellow flowers we had looked at while crouching together earlier.

The stems were uneven and crushed here and there, as if he had picked them rather roughly.

“Are you giving these to me?”

“I-I wanted to give you a present too.”

Ruspe’s face was the reddest I had seen all day.

He must have run over too quickly.

His soft silver hair was even more tousled than before.

Uncle gave a short laugh.

“Look at these little things.”

But I ignored him and accepted the flowers.

They were practically proof that Ruspe had accepted me as his friend.

“Thank you! I think I have to go home now. I had so much fun today.”

“Y-Yeah. Goodbye.”

At Ruspe’s shy farewell, I waved my hand enthusiastically and started toward Uncle, but then I turned around again.

“Um, Ruspe. Do you come here often?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Because we’re friends now. Next time, let’s play together even more!”

“Next time……?”

Ruspe’s face brightened as if someone had shone a light on it.

“Yeah, next time. Then, bye for real!”

I was finally about to turn around and leave with a relieved heart when I felt something tugging at me from behind.

“Hm?”

When I looked back, Ruspe was holding onto my clothes.

All day long, he had been shy and bashful whenever I spoke to him, so this was the first time I had seen him take the initiative.

Just like when he had run all the way over to me moments ago.

“Wh-When are you coming back?”

“When……?”

I didn’t know.

But I couldn’t exactly say I didn’t know when Ruspe was staring at me so intently.

Maybe it was because his eyes were so pretty, but the way they sparkled made him look almost desperate.

“Ah, um……. T-ten nights!”

“Ten nights?”

I glanced at Uncle and nodded.

If he said no, I’d just throw a tantrum.

I quickly rummaged through my bag and pulled out a handful of candy.

I held it out to Ruspe, and he looked bewildered before opening both hands.

I started placing the candy into his palms, then stopped.

No, I should give him all of it.

I emptied out the rest of the candy as well and handed every last piece to Ruspe.

“Yes, this is a present too. I’ll come back after ten nights. Let’s meet and play again next time, okay?”

Just like when he had received the flower ring earlier, Ruspe cupped both hands together to receive the candy.

“Ten nights……”

The flower ring I had made for him was still on his ring finger.

After a moment, Ruspe nodded again.

“Okay.”

“Then, bye for real!”

I clambered back into Uncle’s arms and hung from his neck like a little koala, holding up the flowers Ruspe had given me and waving them high.

“……See you again, Aika.”

As we strode farther and farther away, I could faintly hear Ruspe’s small, shy voice behind me.

 

***

 

“Young Master, it’s time to return.”

The moment Aika and Marquis Reguier disappeared from sight, Ruspe’s attendant, Kamaye, approached him.

Perhaps Marquis Reguier had given Ruspe some candy as a snack.

Although Ruspe nodded at Kamaye’s words, he carefully took one slow step after another, worried that the candy in his hands might fall.

“I’ll carry them for you.”

Kamaye held out his hand to take the candy.

Instead of handing it over, Ruspe shook his head.

“I’ll carry them.”

Not content with merely saying so, he pulled the candy even closer to himself as though afraid it might be taken away.

Unable to suppress his curiosity as he watched Ruspe’s cautious steps, Kamaye asked,

“But where did you get so much candy?”

Ruspe didn’t particularly like sweets.

Even when sweet, colorful candies and chocolates were held right in front of him, he would barely glance at them before turning away.

He often refused the warm cocoa and sweet cakes that children his age enjoyed as well.

On top of that, he had a small appetite, so most of the snacks Kamaye prepared for him were usually left unfinished.

The only things he occasionally put in his mouth were mild tea and perhaps a single unsweetened biscuit, hardly befitting a child his age.

Even then, whenever Kamaye asked, “Is it tasty?” Ruspe would hand it back to him and tell him to eat it instead.

But now he wouldn’t even let Kamaye touch it?

And it was candy, of all things—candy that was extremely sweet?

Naturally, Kamaye couldn’t help but wonder.

The colorful candies piled high in Ruspe’s small palms looked almost foreign to Kamaye, who had watched him closely for so long.

“A present, from……my friend.”

Kamaye’s eyes widened a little more when he realized that the friend in question was the young lady of House Vallier.

“The young lady of House Vallier gave you these candies.”

“Yeah. Ah, Kamaye. When we get home, I think I’ll need a pretty glass jar.”

Seeing Ruspe carefully creeping along, completely focused on making sure not a single piece of candy fell, Kamaye could guess why he needed a glass jar.

More than that, it was surprising to see the young master, who rarely showed his feelings about anything, behaving like this.

Kamaye recalled the young lady of House Vallier whom he had seen from a distance earlier.

With soft, pale cheeks like a peach, large eyes, and glossy black hair tied into twin tails, she looked like a lovely little rabbit.

Her brightly colored outfit suited her so well, too.

She naturally stood out, making it impossible not to look her way.

Even among His Majesty the Emperor and Marquis Reguier, both renowned as the finest men of their generation, the young lady of House Vallier had stood out in her own way.

It was only natural that Young Master Ruspe would act like this…….

“I’ll have the prettiest glass jar ready as soon as we return.”

Kamaye followed behind Ruspe with a quietly pleased smile.

“Yes, and a ribbon too. I think yellow would be best.”

As Ruspe said this, his cheeks flushed pink once again.

 

***

 

The moment I returned home, I felt relieved that I was finally far away from whatever danger there had been.

I had changed my mind and decided to go back to see Grandfather too, but I was told that Grandfather had already entered a meeting with His Majesty the Emperor, so I wouldn’t be able to see him.

So, in the end, I had no choice but to come straight home.

But what had that strange feeling earlier been?

There hadn’t even been anything suspicious nearby……

“Ah, though I did see a huge tower and a willow tree covering the tower.”

Still, it was really strange.

I wondered if I was about to see another dangerous scene, but no such vision appeared during the entire carriage ride home.

That only made me even more curious.

“Young Lady, your bath is ready. Shall we go?”

“Ah, yes!”

I remained trapped in those frightening thoughts for quite a while, and it was only after Zenda came in that I was finally able to shake them off.

Then, until dinner, I spent my time rolling around on my bed whenever Zenda was busy.

The key to the Imperial Family’s Ancient Book Room that I had received as a gift today lay beside me.

“I have to visit the Ancient Book Room next time.”

I wondered if it was a place Mom had often visited.

The flowers Ruspe had given me had wilted a little, so Zenda put them in a vase.

She also said that after a few days, she would dry them beautifully and place them between the pages of a book.

Then His Majesty the Emperor’s face suddenly came to mind, followed by the image of his black hair.

“That’s right. His hair was the same color as mine.”

A tiny question quietly began to bloom.