Chapter 20  

I heard something shocking today.

“What? Elstern became Vanilla’s home tutor?”
“Yes.”

Ding!
A gold rattle chimed brightly as Elstern gave his short answer.

An hour ago, he’d shown up looking as triumphant as a returning war hero, holding a shiny golden rattle that glittered like treasure.

Aksion was instantly mesmerized.

Meanwhile, the rattle I sometimes shook for him?
Completely ignored. Hmph.

“Kyaaa!”
“Hehehe.”

Watching Elstern shake the rattle with a smug smile, I suddenly thought of the novel’s heroine—Vanilla.

‘Come to think of it… maybe it’s time to officially arrange their meeting.’

Dazhar already gave permission.

And the heroine–hero meeting?
Always destined to “happen naturally.”
Cough cough.

“So the previous tutors were all dismissed? What subjects are you teaching now?”

“Ancient language, world history, economics, magic theory, and practical magic.”

“….”

The Tower Master is teaching all that?!

“R-right. Anyway, isn’t it almost time for you to leave? You said your first class starts today.”

“Ah…!”

Elstern looked like he might cry from the pain of parting with Aksion.

I gave him a sly look and dropped my bait.

“Oh, right. I also happen to need to go to the main building. Should I go with Aksion?”

“……!”

His eyes instantly turned into sparkly heart emojis.

So off we went to the main building’s second floor—to meet the girl herself.

For the first time, I saw Vanilla.

The novel’s heroine.
Aksion’s future love.

A girl sitting at her study desk, looking at me with big, bright eyes—she looked about two or three years old, cute and pretty in a way that screamed “main character.”

‘Gasp. She’s so pretty and adorable!’

Of course she was.
She’s the heroine.

“Who are you, unnie?”

She even talked prettily!

…Meanwhile, my baby still couldn’t speak. Sniff.

Before I could answer, Elstern rushed in.

“Gasp! When did you get here? You should go now—this area requires the duke’s permission.”

“Don’t worry. He already gave it.”

I smiled gently at Vanilla.

She tilted her head, curious.

“Hello, Miss Vanilla. I’m Cillia Evanroar, second daughter of House Evanroar.”

“Hello, Cillia.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Elstern? Is Cillia going to teach me with you?”

The moment Vanilla looked at Elstern, I checked Aksion quickly.

Was he drooling? Still cute? Was his outfit perfect?

Good. He looked adorable today as always.

I swallowed and asked in a whisper:

“Do you like younger obsessive boys?”

“….”

Elstern made a weird tapping-dance mistake at that moment.

Vanilla blinked at me.

“Elstern? What is a younger obsessive boy?”

“W-well. Haha. I… don’t know either. Okay! Time to go now!”

Oops.
I got ahead of myself.

She was still pure and innocent.

I tugged Elstern’s ear and whispered:

“How old is Vanilla again?”

He opened his mouth—but someone suddenly cut between us.

“Ah, both of you were here.”

“…?”

It was Dazhar, in his “graceful and proper” mode.

He slid between us, parted us with a hand chop, and smiled politely.

“I was looking for you, Lady Evanroar. I have a request.”

“Ah, yes.”

But judging by his half-unbuttoned shirt as usual…
He totally just walked by and spotted me.

If you’re going to act refined, commit to it. Tsk.

Just then, a cute little voice snapped:

“Hmph. What are you doing.”

Vanilla puffed her cheeks and glared at him from her desk.

“Ah, Vanilla. Are your lessons with Elstern going well?”

She turned away sharply with dead-fish eyes.

“Don’t talk to me.”

“Haha. You’re sulking because I didn’t play with you yesterday, aren’t you?”

“Shut it.”

“Hahaha. Cute little brat. You’re so cute I want to bite you to death.”

…
I felt the murderous tension between father and daughter.

Vanilla must know Dazhar’s real nature. Hard not to.

‘Well… she should be fine. Even if the Duke of Siastor murdered her real father and brother…’

Cedric’s words flashed through my mind.

Wait.
That means Dazhar murdered Vanilla’s birth father…?!

While I was sweating bullets over their horrifying family history, Elstern whispered:

“Such a lovely father-daughter bond, isn’t it?”

“…Your vision must be terrible.”

***

Later…

By some twist of fate, the three of us ended up drinking tea together.

When I asked Vanilla’s age again, Dazhar answered calmly:

“Vanilla is probably two years old.”

Probably…?

He doesn’t even know his own daughter’s exact age.

I guessed she was about a year older than Aksion—when suddenly Vanilla screamed:

“I said I’m three!”

Dazhar took a sip of tea, set it down silently, then corrected himself with a cold look.

“My mistake. She is three.”

“Ah…”

Vanilla puffed her cheeks even more.

Poor girl.
Her heroine life was tough from the start.

A pang of sympathy hit me.

Her clever golden eyes met mine.

“Who is that?”

Vanilla pointed at Aksion in my arms.

“This is Aksion. He’s two years younger than you.”

“Sion!”

She couldn’t pronounce it well.
She stared at him.

“Nice meet.”

“Aboo!”

The historic first meeting of heroine and future male lead.

Hehe.
The childhood-friends route begins!

I was already planning to celebrate with a sword dance later when Vanilla beckoned me.

I leaned close.

“Unnie, don’t talk to that man.”

She pointed at her father with her little finger.

“Huh?”

“He’s a bastard.”

“….”

Vanilla, who will one day become a soft, innocent heroine, had incredible instincts.

***

“So what did you need me for?”

After Vanilla’s lesson started, we were naturally kicked out. Elstern was gone, so Dazhar dropped his polite act and looked at me coldly.

He looked… thinner.

“What?”

“You said you needed something earlier.”

“Ah.”

He crossed his arms, frowning.

After a moment, he ran a hand through his hair and said:

“I forgot.”

“…What?”

“I forgot.”

“…….”

He always said seeing me made his head hurt.
Maybe his brain really was damaged.

Or—

‘Could it be… that?’

The rice he’d begged for a few times.

He never got any since I moved into the duke’s estate.

‘Oho?’

The guilty look on his face was telling.

Still, he had collected a lot of villainy points from me.
I wasn’t going to make this easy.

Apparently I looked at him with a somewhat evil expression.

“Well then, goodbye.”

He twisted his lips and turned away.

“Wait.”

He stopped.
His eyes held a faint, hopeful sparkle.

I crushed that hope instantly.

“Can Aksion occasionally sit in on Vanilla’s lessons?”

“You? Ah, yes. I heard previous tutors got fired daily.”

He smirked.

“If you want to make up for that, go ahead.”

“No. Not me. Aksion.”

“…That little one?”

His brows twitched.
His smirk faded a little.

“Aksion is still a baby, yes, but…”

He looked tiny compared to Vanilla, so I hurried to explain.

Dazhar tilted his head and said:

“Normally, he’d be as big as Vanilla by now. So it should be fine.”

“…What?”

“That kid should’ve grown more by now, right?”

Huh?!
How did he…?

My eyes went wide.

But Dazhar rolled his eyes away, clicking his tongue like he’d said something he shouldn’t have.

Suspicious.

Could he read minds?

How else did he know?

He casually added:

“He has the Dragon Heart of the Demon Dragon. He’s not a normal human.”

“Well… yes…”

But is that enough to deduce his delayed growth?

My eyes narrowed.

“What’s with that look? When I put a restriction spell on him, I sensed something.”

“…What did you sense?”

“It’s part of a transcendent’s domain. Even if I explained, you wouldn’t understand.”

Hmm.

He was totally bluffing.

Just like when he panicked and kicked me out after I mentioned his past life, he hurriedly ended the conversation and vanished on the spot.

Leaving me with a very uneasy feeling.