I Live With My Villain Uncle – Chapter 5

Author: isuzuuy

“Come on!”

“…….”

Maybe because my sister was so busy that she barely had time to catch her breath, the kid had grown up in a strange direction all on her own.

I heard that the little thing, as tiny as a peanut, had spent two whole months at the ducal residence crying herself to sleep over and over again. After that, I deliberately tried not to pay attention to her.

Then, a few days ago, she suddenly came here and appeared right in front of me, getting on my nerves to the fullest.

“Uncle, hurry.”

I couldn’t exactly hit a little brat like this.

It was a relief that the image of her at my sister’s funeral—her eyes swollen from crying and sobbing as if she were about to lose her breath, yet never letting go of my arm—was gone.

But at the same time, I was bewildered.

Even the servants avoided meeting my eyes, yet this kid stared straight at me, widening eyes that looked exactly like my sister’s. It was almost absurd.

“Uncle, I told you to press your finger right here.”

Unable to withstand his niece’s relentless urging, Cassel called a servant and had to stamp that ridiculous document.

She insisted that it absolutely had to contain a fingerprint, so he even dipped his finger in red ink.

‘How on earth did my sister raise this child?’

Six years ago, his sister had suddenly disappeared one day, driving everyone insane, only to return two years later with a child.

The baby he had thought was a newborn was already a year old by then.

His sister had refused to say who the child’s father was, even in pain of death.

Still, he had thought she was doing well, even sacrificing sleep because she wanted to become a mother her child wouldn’t be ashamed of……

‘What are you going to do, leaving this little thing all alone?’

She had acted like she was the smartest person in the world.

“Uncle!”

“…….”

“Uncle Cassel!”

The kid, who was less than half his size, called for him so often that it was almost ridiculous.

“Don’t call me for no reason.”

My ears hurt.

“Hm? Why?”

Her round eyes, as bright and round as a kumquat, looked up at him, filled with curiosity.

There wasn’t even the slightest trace of grime in them, making it seem as though his own reflection could be seen clearly inside.

That only made him feel even more irritated.

“Just don’t call me more than once a day. And don’t come looking for me, either.”

At that, her round eyes trembled as if she had been struck by a shock.

But that lasted only for a moment.

“Uncle, Uncle, Uncle, Uncle, Uncle, Uncle, Uncle! Hehe.”

The child quickly called out to him again and again, then, even though she was panting so hard she was nearly out of breath, she giggled as though nothing had happened.

“Cassel, look. My daughter is really adorable, isn’t she?”

“Little brother, could there possibly be any creature in this world more adorable than my daughter?”

“You’ll understand once you have a child of your own. Then you won’t be the center of your own life anymore. Even so, you’ll probably want to give them everything you have.”

“No, even you will think that way after spending just one day with Aika.”

“My poor little brother, do you have a girlfriend?”

Really…… This was damn annoying.

Unable to contain the emotions welling up inside him, Cassel abruptly rose from his seat.

Leaving his niece behind as she flinched in surprise and hurriedly tried to stand as well, Cassel simply walked out of the room.

***

“Ugh, Uncle has such a nasty personality.”

I sat blankly on the bed because Uncle had suddenly left.

Unlike before, he had been giving off such a frightening aura that I hadn’t even been able to follow him.

Still, he wouldn’t leave, right? He promised.

Believing without a doubt that Uncle wouldn’t go out, I hopped down from the bed.

“……Gasp!”

But I had only taken a few steps toward the door when I had to stop.

Because my vision suddenly flashed, and the scene before my eyes began to change.

This was only the second time I had seen the future while awake rather than through a dream after falling asleep, so I unconsciously held my breath.

“No……”

The scenery changed rapidly, like someone painting a picture by dipping a brush in paint and dotting it across the canvas.

And at the center of that scenery was Uncle.

Uncle, his face twisted with irritation, was bringing a huge black horse out of the stable and preparing to mount it.

Then I saw the horse running at full speed suddenly collapse, sending Uncle tumbling to the ground.

I had already stopped it once, so why was Uncle in danger again?

“No!”

Apparently, Uncle really couldn’t leave the house at all today.

Otherwise, there was no reason why only Uncle would be in such danger.

At least, that was what I thought.

Ignoring Uncle’s threat that I wasn’t to call for him more than once a day or go looking for him, I immediately went searching for him.

***

“Uncle, where are you?”

I kept asking the servants I passed until I finally found out where Uncle was.

They said he was already at the stables.

Already at the stables? That was too fast.

What I had just seen was the very near future.

Afraid that I would be too late, I ran toward the stables like lightning.

Why was Uncle’s estate so huge?

Grandfather’s estate had three enormous buildings, but as long as I stayed inside the central mansion, everything I needed could be handled.

But this place was completely different.

To get from my room—or rather, the guest room—to Uncle’s room, I had to pass through an outdoor corridor in between.

“Have you seen Uncle?”

I asked everyone I came across.

Uncle’s estate had an enormous amount of land, with small buildings scattered here and there like the points of a star, so the distance to the stables was considerable.

I was so out of breath that it felt like my lungs were about to burst, but I didn’t stop and kept running until I finally reached the stables.

“Uncle……. Where is he?”

The stable was spacious enough for five horses to rest comfortably.

More than ten pillars as thick as a person’s torso supported the roof, while hay was piled high both inside and outside the stable, reaching all the way to the ceiling.

The long stable had both its front and back doors open, so there wasn’t even any unpleasant smell.

I found Uncle sooner than I expected.

Far in the distance, I spotted the stable keeper bringing out a horse and putting a saddle on it.

Thankfully, Uncle hadn’t mounted the horse yet.

“Huff, Uncle!”

I called out loudly to him, barely managing to keep myself upright as my body swayed from stopping so abruptly.

Uncle’s face, upon spotting me standing at the entrance of the stable, naturally twisted again just like before.

“You. I told you not to come looking for me……”

I hurried over to Uncle and buried myself against his long legs.

I had run so hard that I was hot enough for beads of sweat to form on my forehead, but I was afraid that if I didn’t hold on to Uncle, he would simply stride away again with those long legs of his.

“Uncle, you said you wouldn’t leave. You’re a liar!”

Uncle looked utterly dumbfounded.

“I didn’t leave. What’s the lie? It’s my house, and I said I was going to ride a horse.”

“But……”

“What do you mean, ‘but’? Aren’t you going to let go?”

“Mmmmmm.”

I shook my head from side to side while catching my breath, still hugging Uncle’s leg.

Suddenly, the horse let out a loud neigh.

I turned my head in surprise.

At the end of my gaze, a horse much larger than Uncle was looking down at me.

I flinched.

Whoa, it’s huge.

It looked exactly like the horse I had seen in my vision, but perhaps because I was seeing it from so close, it looked even blacker and so enormous that it was almost majestic.

Even so, I stubbornly refused to let go of Uncle’s leg and cautiously moved behind him.

But why had the horse suddenly collapsed onto the ground?

Come to think of it, in my vision, the horse looked to be in tremendous pain for some reason.

‘Was it hurt?’

Still hugging Uncle’s leg tightly, I carefully examined the horse, looking from its tail to its legs and then all the way up to its head.

Thankfully, Uncle didn’t try to pull me away or throw me aside.

Whether I hugged him or not, Uncle seemed intent on preparing to mount the horse again.

He had clearly ignored every word I said.

“Huh?”

After observing it for a while, I noticed something strange about the horse.

“What is it now?”

“Uncle, does a horse normally keep one of its legs lifted like that?”