I Live With My Villain Uncle Chapter 23

Rosina kept chattering away, trying to shake off her unpleasant mood.

At least, until Selly, who was standing beside her, gave her a light jab in the side.

She had already drunk more than five glasses of champagne, so she hadn’t even noticed Marquis Reguier approaching.

How much had he heard?

A chill suddenly washed over her, as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her head.

The heat of the alcohol that had just risen all the way to the top of her head came crashing straight back down.

“Take the kid to the carriage and wait there.”

At the Marquis’s voice, cold enough to drip frost, the man who appeared to be his escort took the child away.

Then Cassel stepped toward Rosina.

There was nothing in Cassel’s hands, yet to Rosina, it seemed as though he were holding a cigar or some magnificent weapon.

The two young noblemen who had been standing with Rosina and Selly began trembling violently.

Tsk. Rosina was annoyed.

They were men just like him, so why were they shaking like that?

Their height difference was so obvious that they looked especially pathetic, having to tilt their heads to look up at Cassel.

When they had been drinking champagne together, she had thought he was rather impressive. Quite attractive, even.

But when she faced Cassel up close, Rosina realized that had been a huge mistake.

And the Cassel standing before her was unmistakably furious.

What should I do? Surely he didn’t hear everything.

She was frightened, but since she at least had some acquaintance with him, she thought she might be able to smooth things over if she acted first.

Perhaps she could leave the others, who were too terrified to say anything, to her and apologize to herself.

Surely, considering the relationship they had built over the years……

Ah, he was smiling.

Cassel looked at the four of them and let out a short, incredulous laugh.

“Go on. Keep running your mouths.”

Rosina’s smiling face shattered in an instant.

“Pardon?”

What had he just said?

Rosina blinked.

“Where’d those mouths that were having so much fun chattering go? Why so quiet?”

“H-how could you say something so vulgar……”

Rosina instinctively covered her mouth, utterly aghast.

It was the first time in her life she had ever heard someone speak like that.

She had heard that Marquis Reguier was blunt, but she had never imagined he would speak that way directly to her.

“You were perfectly fine running your mouth about my kid, though?”

At the words of my kid, Rosina jumped in surprise, even though she knew it wasn’t literally true.

“No, I never meant anything bad about it. Why, why would I ever do anything to upset you, Marquis? I was only worried because the young lady is still so young…… I was actually trying to stop them……”

Rosina was so frightened that she no longer even knew what she was saying.

After carrying feelings for him in her heart for so many years, she had always thought he was an incredibly magnificent man when seen up close.

No.

Magnificent wasn’t enough to describe him.

He was the man who had taught her what it meant for a face to be so beautiful it was almost intoxicating just to look at.

But his fierce presence frightened her so badly that her heart seemed to lurch and threaten to stop altogether.

“Worried?”

“Yes. I was simply worried……”

The Marquis of Reguier was perfect in every way.

Except for his fiery temper……

“Were you worried because you felt sorry for my kid? Or because you were worried about the kid I’m raising?”

“……”

“……”

Everyone was too busy watching one another’s expressions to answer.

People who had been gathered in small groups nearby had also fallen silent and begun watching them.

“You’d better choose your answer carefully.”

The meaningful words came flying at them without a filter, and Rosina’s face turned so pale it was almost white.

It didn’t seem like anything she said would be accepted.

This wasn’t the man who had listened to everything the child chattered about despite finding it bothersome.

Had that simply been a mirage?

“O-oh, I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I absolutely didn’t mean it that way……”

“I’m sorry. I truly didn’t mean anything by it.”

“If I offended you, I sincerely apologize.”

They all began apologizing over one another.

Cassel glared at them as they repeatedly bowed their heads, grinding his teeth.

Even from the tail end of the conversation, he had immediately understood what they had been talking about.

My kid? What the hell were they saying about my kid?

Cassel’s blood was already boiling, and he was on the verge of completely losing his temper.

But seeing them looking as though they were about to wet themselves, he couldn’t even be bothered to waste words on them.

Worthless trash.

The corner of his jaw lifted crookedly.

It was an unbearably arrogant expression, yet somehow it suited him perfectly.

Cassel looked over the four trembling faces one by one as though he were chewing them to pieces.

Rosina Green, Selly Ritz, James Bolden, and Tommy Dimito.

Cassel despised being stabbed in the back, so he made a point of memorizing the names of families with even the slightest connection to his business.

The heads of households, heirs, and the like.

Considering that they had attended this banquet and that he had seen their faces at least once, they clearly weren’t some insignificant family buried away in a remote corner of the provinces.

Well, whether that would remain true in the future was another matter.

“You’d better start keeping a close eye on your finances from now on. You should at least save enough to buy one dress before your purse springs a hole.”

A faint smirk appeared on his face.

He looked like the Grim Reaper.

With those words, Cassel left without the slightest trace of hesitation.

“Urk!”

Once the overwhelming pressure disappeared, Tommy even hiccupped.

Rosina stared blankly at Cassel’s retreating figure before finally coming to her senses and hurried after him.

“M-Marquis! W-what exactly did you mean by that……?”

But she couldn’t get very far before coming to an abrupt stop.

His rapidly disappearing figure and his voice overlapped in her mind.

They had sounded like nothing more than a threat, yet a chill ran down her spine.

“H-he seemed really angry…… Do you think, think we’ll be okay?”

Selly soon caught up with Rosina.

“It was just a small slip of the tongue. It’s not as though we made anything up, either. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Even if the Marquis does have a fiery temper, he wouldn’t make such a big issue out of something like this.”

“If that’s true, then that’s a relief……”

Then why did she feel so cold, as though she had been struck by a blade of frost?

Rosina stood there anxiously, unable to settle herself, before finally turning around.

 

***

 

I left the banquet hall with Gerard first.

But I couldn’t bring myself to go straight to the carriage, so I waited for Uncle in the corridor at the entrance to the banquet hall.

Surely he hadn’t hit anyone, right?

I had never seen him do something like that before.

Still, Uncle’s face had looked really scary earlier.

I had only ever thought about how Uncle mustn’t get hurt.

I had never considered that Uncle might be the one putting other people in danger.

Oh.

Wasn’t that even more dangerous?

But I didn’t think I could stop him right now, either.

The moment I remembered Uncle’s expression from earlier, my body shuddered.

That was when it happened.

Uncle strode past me toward the carriage with an aura like a blazing inferno.

I tried to follow him, but his presence was so fierce that I instinctively hesitated.

Uncle had already gotten quite far away with his long strides when he suddenly turned around.

“Shorty, aren’t you coming?”

He even stretched out a hand, beckoning me over.

“I-I’m coming!”

Afraid Uncle might change his mind, I hurried over.

And I landed straight into Uncle’s arms.

My field of vision rose in an instant, and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

The tension had disappeared the moment Uncle called me.

Maybe he wasn’t that angry with me after all.

Gerard repeatedly apologized to Uncle on my behalf.

But I was the one who had stopped Gerard.

“You were supposed to keep an eye on the kid. Tsk. Go get your head bashed against the wall.”

“I will gladly accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate.”

“Peanut, what are you smiling about? After hearing something like that, you should’ve stabbed them in the head with a fork or kicked them.”

……

Uncle, I’m not as weird as you are.

But I felt like I’d get scolded if I said that.

“Hehe. Because I like Uncle.”

Uncle stopped dead and crookedly raised an eyebrow.

In an instant, the fiery aura around him died down.

“Just words?”

Under Uncle’s suspicious gaze, I vigorously shook my head.

“Nooo. I really mean it with all my heart! I like Uncle the most!”

But instead of hugging me, Uncle gave me a displeased look and tucked me under his arm as he started walking.

“Ugh, ah, ah, A-i-ka, I’m deaaaad……”

Dangling from Uncle’s side, I deliberately put on the biggest act of suffering I could manage.

My side did hurt a little, though.

Uncle stopped after taking a few long strides.

After all my exaggerated whining, I succeeded in getting back into Uncle’s arms.

“And Uncle, I’m really okay.”

“What do you mean, you’re okay?”

“Mom said so.”

“……”

“Mom said people who insult others for no reason are people whose insides are like hell.”

“What?”

“She said they’re hurting so badly inside, and everything feels like hell, that they think they have to hurt other people. Their insides are all noisy and twisted? That’s what she said. So let’s just let them off!”

“Let them off for what?”

“Because we’re cooler than them!”

A breathy sound escaped Uncle’s mouth.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re quite something.”

“Uncle, do you like me a little more now?”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“You just praised me.”

Uncle stared at me with an utterly baffled look.

Why?

Why……

Why was he looking at me like that?