I Live With My Villain Uncle Chapter 28

I felt as though I had been left all alone, and a different scene unfolded before me.

A man was looking for someone.

It was a night with the moon shining overhead, but his face was twisted with rage, and he was wearing a black gentleman’s hat.

He had brown hair, with the ends sticking out sharply.

And his left hand was wrapped in bandages.

For a moment, a strange light flashed in the man’s eyes.

At the same time, my vision suddenly shifted, and I saw a black carriage.

‘Gasp……!’

I was startled.

Because it was a carriage I knew, too.

It was the carriage Grandfather rode in.

If the crest of the Seledore Imperial Family was a lion, House Vallier had a sword and a wolf.

And House Reguier’s crest was similar to House Vallier’s, except there were sharp claw marks from a wild beast carved over the sword.

That one had a wolf’s mane, so it wasn’t Uncle’s carriage.

‘Grandfather? Not Uncle?’

Grandfather stepped out of the carriage.

At that moment, someone suddenly forced their way between the guards and attacked Grandfather.

Fortunately, one of the guards blocked the attack, but Grandfather injured his arm, while the guard was wounded in the face.

Of all things, why did I have to see another dangerous scene?

The man was caught only afterward and forced to his knees, but the fact that the incident had happened at all was terrifying.

Who was this attacker, and why had he attacked Grandfather?

These fragmented visions that appeared while I was awake, unlike my dreams, always showed me something that would happen that very day……

It was tonight!

“Aika.”

“……”

Uncle’s low voice pierced through my muffled ears.

It was similar to the sensation of hearing a loud sound while my ears were tightly blocked.

When I heard his voice again, my vision began to ripple and collapse.

I felt relieved.

I realized that the vision was falling apart.

I didn’t have to remain trapped inside it.

The moment the vision collapsed, my surroundings instantly returned to normal.

I blinked and came to my senses, only to see that Uncle’s expression was serious.

“Peanut.”

“……?”

“Aika.”

“What? Uncle.”

I answered as casually as I could.

Has the ability simply reached its natural end?

Or had Uncle called me and pulled me out of it?

I suddenly became curious.

“What’s wrong with you? Why does your face look like that?”

“Wha…… what?”

“Why were you suddenly staring into thin air? Are you sick? Should we stay home?”

Uncle pressed his palm against my forehead and cheeks as he asked.

His touch was rough, but I was surprised by how much gentler his voice sounded than usual.

Still, that wouldn’t do!

I had promised Ruspe that I would meet him after ten nights.

“No!”

I shook my head from side to side.

Still, what a relief.

Uncle hadn’t noticed my secret.

My heart was still pounding, and my whole body tingled as though I wanted to hide somewhere, but I pretended nothing was wrong and planted my feet firmly on the floor.

“Hey, Peanut. Don’t go home and start whining and crying about being sick. Tell me now.”

Uncle’s voice changed back into the voice of a threat.

“No, I’m not sick. ……Uncle, let’s hurry and go to the Imperial Palace.”

So I could tell grandfather.

I swallowed the rest of my words and forcibly pulled Uncle to his feet.

 

***

 

Oh, no.

There was a problem.

Today was definitely the day we were supposed to go to the Imperial Palace, but I was told that both His Majesty the Emperor and grandfather were too busy with work to meet me.

I could only stare helplessly at Uncle, unable to even give them the bouquets I had brought.

“Why are you making that face? Just ask someone to give them the flowers.”

“I don’t want someone else to give them to him. I need to see grandfather myself!”

“He’s busy.”

“But……. Then what about later?”

“Who knows about later? What are you doing? Aren’t you going to meet White Peanut?”

“I am! But I have something I absolutely have to tell Grandfather……. Can I really see him later? You have to make sure.”

I thought about asking Uncle to tell him for me, but somehow, I felt like he would only tell Grandfather half of what I wanted to say.

Only the information that was absolutely necessary!

I clenched my fists and looked up at Uncle, and a mutter escaped his lips.

“Good grief, what a stubborn little brat.”

“All right, then go meet White Peanut.”

After arguing with Uncle for quite a while, I finally managed to get his promise that he would make sure I got to see Grandfather.

Then, at the place Uncle had brought me to, I met Ruspe again.

“Ruspe!”

I quickly ran over and stopped in front of him.

“Aika, hello.”

“Hi! Have you been well?”

Today, Ruspe was wearing even prettier clothes than the last time.

His hair was soft and fluffy like it had been on the first day, and he was wearing a pure white shirt with a yellow bow tie.

“Yeah, I’ve been well. How about you, Aika?”

“I’ve been super well! Let’s have lots of fun today. This is for you!”

I eagerly handed Ruspe a large bouquet of flowers.

Ruspe’s eyes widened.

“This…… is a present for me?”

“Yep! Aren’t they really pretty?”

The flowers the flower shop lady had picked for me yesterday hadn’t wilted even a little.

Zenda told me she had sprayed something on them to keep them fresh, but I had completely forgotten what it was as soon as I heard it.

While Ruspe handed the bouquet to someone else to hold, I received the key from Uncle.

“Stay where Gerard and Zenda can see you. Just because you’re in the Imperial Palace doesn’t mean it’s completely safe.”

Uncle turned around.

I quickly grabbed onto his clothes.

“Uncle, where are you going?”

“I’m going to take care of some work while I’m here.”

“If you’re late, can I go to the Ancient Book Room first?”

“Do whatever you want.”

“Okay! But you have to make sure I get to see Grandfather, okay?”

“I said I would.”

Then Uncle gave Gerard some sort of order before disappearing without another word.

I carefully tucked the key into the pouch Zenda had made for me.

I should ask Ruspe to go to the Ancient Book Room with me later.

I was thinking about that when Ruspe received a box from one of his guards and held it out to me.

“Aika, this.”

By then, Ruspe’s face had turned bright red.

“Is this for me? A present?”

Ruspe shyly nodded.

I had simply handed him my bouquet, but what Ruspe gave me was a beautifully wrapped present with a ribbon.

A yellow box with a yellow ribbon. It was quite a large box, too.

I had just received an entire shop from Uncle yesterday, and now I was getting another present!

Even though my ability had suddenly manifested on its own, aside from that, it was fair to say this was the best day ever.

“Ruspe, can I open this right now?”

I asked, puffing out my breath in excitement.

“Yeah, you can.”

As soon as Ruspe answered, I braced the box against my stomach, held it firmly with one hand, and untied the ribbon.

I held the loose ribbon between my teeth and carefully opened the box.

The moment I saw what was inside, my mouth fell open, and the ribbon dropped to the floor with a little plop.

“Ah, the ribbon!”

“I’ll pick it up, my lady.”

“Thank you, Zenda! Wow, a bunny.”

More precisely, they were pink bunny slippers.

They had round bunny eyes and soft, floppy ears, too.

I had seen plenty of stuffed animals attached to things, but this was the first time I had ever seen slippers shaped like an animal.

They looked like they would be wonderful to wear during the cold winter.

No!

They looked like something I could wear in my room right now!

“I’ve never seen anything like this before, Ruspe! They’re so pretty!”

Ruspe smiled while looking at me.

“I’m glad. I saw them at the shop and thought you would……”

“Hmm?”

“Never mind. Thank you for the present, too. The flowers.”

Ruspe’s cheeks and ears had turned rosy.

He really does look like a bunny.

“Yep! Then let’s play now.”

I carefully entrusted the box containing the slippers to Zenda.

Then I took Ruspe’s hand.

“Let’s play over there by that tree. The biggest tree!”

Ruspe and I sat beneath the biggest tree in the Imperial Palace, on a mat that Zenda had spread out for us.

While we were happily playing, something strange happened.

The people who worked at the Imperial Palace brought us an entire table filled with snacks.

Some of them were people I had seen when I met His Majesty the Emperor last time.

We played games with handkerchiefs, drew pictures, and had fun.

“Ruspe, let’s measure our heights.”

“Our heights?”

“Yep. I have to grow taller so Uncle will stop calling me Peanut. Turn around and stand here.”

Ruspe and I stood with our backs against the tree.

I stretched my hand upward and compared the difference between our heights.

“Zenda, measure us now!”

“Yes. Both of you need to stay still.”

“Okay!”

I even held my breath as I waited for Zenda.

“You can move now.”

At that, I quickly stepped away from the tree and turned around.

Instead of making a mark on the tree, Zenda had measured us with her fingers.

“Is this how tall I am?”

“Yes, Miss. And this one is Lord Ruspe.”

“We’re almost the same height, right?”

Ruspe met my gaze and smiled shyly.

“Aika is a little taller.”

“Oh, you’re right!”

Zenda’s finger, which had measured my height, was one finger-width higher.

Huh?

Then I wasn’t the shortest one, was I?

So why was I a Peanut?

I had to think about it for quite a while.

Come to think of it, Mommy was tall, too.

And Uncle was tall as well, so maybe I just grew later than everyone else.

“Then next time, Ruspe can grow taller than me, right?”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

We measured our heights and went back to playing without a care when someone approached us.

For a moment, I thought it was the Turtle Grandfather I had seen at the banquet, but thankfully, it wasn’t.

It was a man with dark green hair the color of deep green leaves.

His most noticeable feature was his neatly curled mustache.

“A child who will one day rise to such a lofty position is playing around this leisurely? I told you that you must never waste your time.”

“Ah…… I’m sorry. Today is…… my day off.”

Ruspe replied in a timid, shrinking voice.

Why was Ruspe apologizing?