Chapter 20
20
"Wh, wh, what did you say……?"
Teramore stared at me as if he couldn't believe it, and I whispered to him again.
"You fool."
"……."
"Look forward to it, Grandpa. Gongzhanmi will soon find out about you abusing Annie."
I smiled and walked past Teramore. Then I grabbed Henri's hand and left the room.
The child obediently let me pull him along. After getting far away from the study, Henri said to me.
"Are you crazy? Aren't you scared?"
I stared at Henri, who was asking with a stiff face.
He must have been very embarrassed to see me stab Teramore's hand, as the honorifics he used to build a wall disappeared.
"There will be repercussions. Teramore is a vile person."
"I'm not scared."
"……."
"I'm not scared of bad people who hit Annie. (I'm not scared of bad people who hit Henri.)"
When I said that with a pouty face, Henri's pupils shook.
I really wasn't afraid of Teramore.
I've been through more terrible people, so a pervert who gets pleasure from abusing children is just ridiculous.
'Besides, I have something to rely on.'
I was more worried about Henri.
His cheek, which had been hit by Teramore, was swollen red, and his collar was crumpled in an unsightly manner, as if he had been grabbed by the scruff of his neck.
"Let's go to Gongzhanmi. Annie's hurt. Okay?"
"……It's okay."
"Annie."
"I said it's okay!"
Henri shouted and stubbornly turned his gaze away.
"Don't tell anyone about what happened today."
"Stubborn!"
"Mind your own business!"
Henri shouted and moved away from me.
It's not that I don't understand the child's heart.
Abused children usually live their whole lives being mindful of others or grow up aggressively.
Trauma was that much of a difficult shackle to remove.
'Even I, who have regressed several times, can't fully trust people because of past memories.'
I sighed as I watched Henri walk away.
\\
The sound of Teramore grinding his teeth leaked out as he walked quickly down the hallway.
'That crazy bitch……!'
[What is it? It's caressing with love, you bastard.]
Every time I remembered LeBlaine's expression when she said that, anger welled up inside me.
'She was a devil, not a Child of Destiny.'
The Temple must have sent a devil disguised as a Child of Destiny to monitor Dubled.
They were all things that couldn't be believed to be children.
The look in her eyes as she looked at him.
The scathing words.
And the sense of oppression that made his throat dry.
'But do you think I'll be defeated by the likes of you?'
Teramore's eyes sank coldly.
Teramore knocked on the Duke's office door.
"It's Teramore, Your Excellency."
Soon, a voice allowing him to enter was heard, and Teramore entered the room with a very excited face.
In his haste, he didn't even pay his respects and opened his mouth first.
"Your Excellency, the Child of Destiny is-"
"Grandpa!"
"……!"
LeBlaine, who was sitting on the Duke's lap, smiled brightly.
Teramore looked at the child in surprise.
'That bitch is already……!'
Moreover, LeBlaine wasn't the only one there. Viscount Misengke, some vassals of the Council of Elders, and the adjutant Noth were also there.
The expressions on their faces as they looked at him were unusual.
'Has she already told them that I laid hands on Henri!'
Viscount Misengke frowned and shouted.
"How dare you do such a thing to the Lord's child……!"
Teramore desperately made excuses.
"Your Excellency, please listen to me first! Why would I do such a thing? It's all the baby's scheme."
He showed his hand and made excuses.
"The baby is not just a child. She stabbed my hand without hesitation and mocked me. Isn't that suspicious? She was too smart from the start. She told me about the Temple and the Imperial Family-"
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean, I'm being falsely accused!"
Viscount Misengke looked at Teramore with an absurd expression.
"We were discussing how you yelled at and intimidated the Lord's daughter for a minor mistake."
"What?"
"How much did you yell at her for a child's mistake that the baby burst into tears as soon as she saw me!"
"Th, that's……."
"Besides, what 'such a thing' did you do? What else did you do?"
Teramore was taken aback. He looked around at the people with trembling eyes, and then his eyes met LeBlaine's.
The corners of LeBlaine's mouth turned up.
As if to say, 'Did you think I told them about Henri?'
'I've been had……!'
[Look forward to it, Grandpa. Gongzhanmi will soon find out about you abusing Annie.]
That was a setup.
To make him impatient.
And by bringing Viscount Misengke, who was like an enemy, he made it impossible for him to think deeply and made him excuse himself for abusing Henri.
As Teramore's face turned pale, Viscount Misengke asked again.
"I'm asking. What did you do?"
"It, it was just a slip of the tongue."
But no one believed him.
Viscount Misengke said to the Duke.
"It's suspicious, Your Excellency. Unless it's a big deal, why would he be so frantic to make excuses? If the teacher is so shady, what will the two young masters learn?"
Viscount Misengke's vassals joined in and shouted.
"We need to confirm."
"Unless his innocence is proven, we cannot entrust him with the education of the young masters."
The Duke's sharp gaze reached Teramore.
Teramore shouted desperately, "Yo, Your Excellency!" but the Duke soon ordered an investigation into Teramore.
\\
Viscount Misengke and the nobles under his command left the room after finishing their story.
Teramore was still clinging to the Duke, insisting on his innocence.
I jumped off the Duke's lap and followed Viscount Misengke. The Viscount, who came out into the hallway, had a very excited face.
"Misengke Gong."
He turned to look at me.
"Yes, baby."
I shook Viscount Misengke's collar with an innocent expression.
"Is Grandpa a bad person?"
"Teramore, you mean?"
He smiled and continued.
"Yes, he is. He's a son of a bitch who deserves to be killed."
"If a bad person is a teacher, what if Annie and Isaac become bad people too?"
"Don't worry. This Karn Misengke will teach the bad guy a lesson."
Then he said loudly.
"I'm planning to bring the nobles to the castle tomorrow and beg for the young masters' classes to be suspended until his innocence is proven."
I hid my true feelings and jumped up and down, saying, "Wow!"
'Yeah, don't forget that.'
He seemed to be very fond of me for helping him with this. The expression on his face as he looked at me was beaming.
'I've unintentionally made another ally.'
It was a good thing for me, so I smiled brightly.
After Viscount Misengke left with a hearty laugh, Teramore came out of the Duke's office.
'Judging by his angry expression, the conversation didn't go well, did it?'
Teramore, who found me, gritted his teeth.
"You……!"
He quickly looked around and pulled my arm to a corner.
"You damn bitch. Do you think I'll be defeated like this?"
"Then what are you going to do?"
"I'll report that you're actually a devil sent by the Temple……!"
"Is Grandpa stupid?"
"What?"
"You admitted with your own mouth that you're shady, who would believe that?"
Of course, they'll know it's nonsense to cover up this incident.
The sound of teeth grinding leaked from Teramore's mouth.
"You son of a bitch……."
"How did you know? My nickname was Dog!"
I looked straight into Teramore's eyes and said in a low voice.
"If you touch me, I'll bite."
"……!"
I smiled brightly and continued.
"So let go. What if I stab the other hand too?"
I'm someone who wandered the back alleys as a beggar in my past life. Teramore's threats, who grew up as a noble, don't work on me.
The strength in Teramore's hand disappeared. I waved my hand casually and turned around and walked away.
'Ah, I'm going to sleep well tonight.'
\*
The next day, Viscount Misengke came to the castle with the nobles from the morning and called for Teramore's suspension.
Teramore was the man who became Henri and Isaac's teacher with the power of the Council of Elders.
Half of that Council of Elders turned against him to Viscount Misengke.
It seemed that the position of Elder would return to Viscount Misengke, so they were already trying to get in line.
As a natural course of events, Teramore's position was precarious.
"Ch, Chairman…… Gong!"
Using Teramore's voice begging the Chairman as music, I hummed and walked down the hallway.
I was going to check on Henri's condition.
The life of a noble young master is quite pathetic.
Instead of worrying about food and clothes, they had to worry about studying.
Even though classes with Teramore were suspended, they said that the two of them were sitting side by side in the study, doing their homework from the academy.
I peeked my face out from the study door.
'Huh? They're not here…….'
"What, you."
"Kyaa!"
I jumped up in surprise at the voice I heard from behind.
I pressed down on my pounding heart with both hands and turned my head slightly to see Isaac and Henri looking at me.
"Why, why are you here? Not in the study."
When I asked, Isaac held up the book he had under his arm.
"There was a book that wasn't in the study, so we went to the library. More importantly, why are you here?"
Isaac narrowed his eyes and suddenly brought his face close to mine.
"Were you trying to peek?"
"N, no!"
"Then?"
"……I was just going to see."
As I fidgeted and made excuses, Isaac twitched his eyebrows.
"So, why."
I glanced at Henri.
'If I say I came to see if he's okay, he'll get angry again, right?'
As I hesitated to answer because I was worried about what to do, Isaac muttered, "Don't tell me you……." and then shouted.
"You must have heard somewhere that today's snack is cake."
Huh……?
