I Live With My Villain Uncle – Chapter 29

Author: isuzuuy

“A day off?”

The green-haired man repeated the words, clearing his throat as he glanced around.

Then, as if warning Ruspe, he said,

“A child who may one day become Crown Prince is spending his precious time like this? Shouldn’t you be reading another book or training your swordsmanship during this time instead of wasting it? How can you be so weak-willed?”

Zenda, Gerard, the Imperial Palace attendants who had remained beside us, and even Ruspe’s guards all lowered their heads and greeted the man.

Who was he?

I stared at him with wide eyes.

Dark green hair and blue eyes.

And the crest embroidered on his uniform was a vine.

A vine?

I had been told that the crest with a vine curling around a shield was the crest of House Notium.

Then was that man the Duke of Notium?

But I was told he wasn’t a bad person.

Just as Vallier supported His Majesty the Emperor, Notium was also on His Majesty’s side.

Wasn’t he related to His Majesty through his mother’s side?

Anyway, I had been told that they were related to the Imperial Family by blood.

That was why they naturally shared the same interests as House Vallier, the ducal family that had helped make the previous emperor the emperor in the first place.

But before that, their influence hadn’t been particularly strong.

However, it was a much older family than House Vallier, and Mommy had said the Duke was a wise man.

I remembered her teaching me the family crests and saying that there were many things worthy of respect about the Duke of Notium.

He didn’t seem like that at all.

But still, why was he scolding Ruspe?

I saw Ruspe shrink back in fear.

He lowered his head as if he had done something wrong, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong at all.

My friend was scared.

I spread both arms wide and stepped in front of Ruspe.

“Don’t bully Ruspe, mister!”

The vine-mustache man raised an eyebrow.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Aika. Aika de Vallier! Then who are you, Mustache Mister?”

“Vallier? You’re Aika de Vallier?”

“Yes!”

I kept protecting Ruspe and raised my chin.

I couldn’t see what anyone else was doing.

They said whoever lost a staring contest lost the fight.

So I stared only at the vine-green Mustache Mister, unable to see anything else.

“Heheheh. Have they finally given up on keeping you hidden? Quite a bold little thing, aren’t you? My name is Gale. Didn’t your grandfather teach you to show proper respect when speaking to an adult?”

“He did.”

“But you don’t seem to be doing a very good job of it right now.”

“But I was told that people who bully children are bad people.”

It was actually Mommy who had said that.

But Grandfather was Mommy’s father!

That was how I decided to think about it.

“This mister hasn’t bullied anyone.”

“You scared Ruspe just now. You said he shouldn’t play.”

“That was simply common sense. He is destined to become a very important person, so he cannot have even the slightest flaw. I was merely giving him some advice. He may even be named Crown Prince.”

Hmph.

I snorted.

What was so great about being Crown Prince anyway?

Was it really that amazing?

Ruspe was trembling with fear and keeping his head lowered.

“My grandfather said children only need to play healthily. Right, Zenda?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The man suddenly whipped his head to the side, his mustache fluttering.

“Make sure you tell the Marquis not to neglect his education.”

Ruspe’s guard bowed his head and replied.

Come to think of it, when we had all met and introduced ourselves earlier, he said his name was Kamaye, right?

“Yes, Young Master. Lord Ruspe has devoted himself to his studies every single day without fail. Today, he simply made an exception and set aside one day for an appointment. He has not neglected his studies. I will make sure to relay your words.”

The man with the gloomy green, vine-like mustache protruding from his face looked displeased.

“You little Vallier, you should work hard as well. You should also learn that just because you are friends, you cannot all play around thoughtlessly together.”

“Ruspe is the same seven years old as me! We can study more later. If you don’t believe me, I’ll go ask His Majesty the Emperor!”

“What?”

“His Majesty the Emperor!”

I was friends with His Majesty the Emperor, too.

His Majesty the Emperor was the most important person in Wapford, so if I asked him, surely he would scold that Mustache Mister, too.

Thinking that, I puffed out my chest even more.

Mommy had said House Notium was a good family, but that didn’t seem right at all.

How could anyone bully a child like this?

“And we’re going to have lots of fun, and when we grow up, we’ll become much more wonderful and amazing people than you, Mister!”

“No, well, that’s taking it a little too far. Being a Vallier and having the same temper……”

“Your words are going too far, Young Master. Please take them back. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to report this to my master as well.”

Gerard stepped in.

The vine-green Mustache Mister looked troubled.

“Hah, fine. Forget I said that. Tsk, if His Majesty would only get married, there wouldn’t be any problems. Anyway, don’t waste this precious time on useless things.”

In the end, overwhelmed by our determination, the man walked away muttering to himself.

“Ruspe is my friend! Bad Mister.”

I put my hands on my hips and huffed indignantly.

Then, all of a sudden, someone wrapped both arms tightly around my waist from behind.

“Ruspe?”

Startled, I looked behind me and saw Ruspe hugging me.

“Aika, thank you.”

I didn’t understand why Ruspe was doing this.

But I learned that the Mustache Mister’s lectures were not something he was hearing for the first time.

And he wasn’t the Duke of Notium Mommy had told me about, either!

Apparently, he was the Young Duke who was soon going to step down and inherit the title, so he was practically acting as the Duke of Notium already.

Which meant he hadn’t actually inherited the ducal title yet.

Ever since it had been decided that he would inherit the title, he had taken an intense interest in Ruspe.

He would come by frequently and lecture Ruspe as though he were monitoring him, making him someone Ruspe was afraid of.

I learned all this by listening to Kamaye and Zenda talking beside me.

Hmph. Some nobody of a man was bullying my friend.

He was done for!

I abruptly turned around and took Ruspe’s hand.

“Let’s go to the Ancient Book Room. We’ll have lots of fun there and become even more amazing than that Mustache Mister.”

Ruspe nodded so hard his head nearly fell off.

I took Ruspe to the Ancient Book Room.

Thanks to Uncle telling them beforehand, the moment I said I wanted to go to the Ancient Book Room, Kamaye took us there as if it had been arranged in advance.

I rummaged around in my pocket and pulled out the key.

‘The place Mommy wanted me to see.’

I had been told that it was a place one could enter only with His Majesty the Emperor’s permission.

I swallowed nervously as I stared at the firmly locked door.

Then, with Gerard’s help, I rose onto my tiptoes and lifted myself slightly off the ground as I unlocked it with the key.

A moment later, Gerard pushed against the door, and the enormous door opened with a deep, heavy vwoooong-.

Gerard stayed outside to guard the entrance, while Kamaye and Zenda decided to explore the Ancient Book Room with us.

“My lady, as Lord Ruspe surely knows as well, you must handle the books with care. If there is a book you would like to see, we will take it out for you.”

Kamaye bent down on one knee so that we were at eye level as he spoke.

I nodded and began exploring the Ancient Book Room with Ruspe.

There weren’t many windows inside the Ancient Book Room, but lamps were lit at regular intervals.

The paths split into eight directions, and bookshelves stood towering like enormous walls.

But instead of stretching all the way to the opposite wall, the bookshelves stopped in the middle, leaving the center completely open.

Light streamed straight down through a small window at the very top, giving the place an almost mystical feeling.

“……Let’s go over there.”

As if entranced, I pointed toward the center.

I headed there while examining the ancient books lining the shelves one by one, listening to Ruspe’s footsteps following behind me.

I could read a few of them, but most were filled with letters I didn’t recognize.

This was different from what I had imagined.

I couldn’t understand any of them.