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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Apology Without Remorse
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Muniel had a few suspects in mind.
Feeling awkward, she cleared her throat with a cough to change the mood.
"Nini."
"Yes."
"Still, you can't point fingers at adults like that."
"Even at the Magic Tower Lord?"
"......"
Muniel pondered seriously.
"Grandma Big Madam, you have to say no even if it's the Magic Tower Lord."
"Ah, right."
Thanks to Dether's polite reminder, Muniel managed to continue the scolding.
In the end, Nibelria was punished by writing an apology letter to the Magic Tower Lord.
Of course, it wasn't by choice.
"Hing, I don't wanna apologize..."
"There aren't many kids as honest as you."
"Nini doesn't lie!"
"Not even a hint of remorse, not as much as the dirt under your nails."
But once she started drawing, Nibelria got completely absorbed and worked on it earnestly.
She drew the hair in purple, and used apricot, black, and red for the face and features. It was a pretty decent likeness.
Nibelria scribbled crooked letters on top of the finished drawing.
[Sorry]
Looking over the completed letter, Nibelria's face crumpled.
"Grandma..."
"What? All done?"
"I drew it too well... now I don't wanna give it away..."
"Then fix it to make him look ugly."
Nibelria drew a huge black dot on the Magic Tower Lord's face. But it was so big it covered his whole face.
Only then did Nibelria hand over the letter with a relieved heart.
Muniel checked the letter and gave one more warning.
"From now on, no hitting adults recklessly. No spanking or finger-pointing. Absolutely forbidden."
"Okay. I didn't wanna apologize, but I held back anyway."
"Sometimes in life, you have to endure things you don't want to do. Nini, you've become a little more grown-up today."
"Why do humans have to live so tough?"
"Well, that's..."
While Muniel put the apology letter in an envelope, Nibelria swung her fists wildly at the air, training herself.
She vowed to spank the Magic Tower Lord's butt at invisible speeds next time.
True to form, there was zero reflection.
"Nibelria, all done with your punishment?"
Solles entered from where he'd been waiting elsewhere.
But the boy froze upon seeing his little sister punching the air furiously.
"Big brother!"
Nibelria flexed her fist and declared energetically.
"Next time, I'll do even better!"
"Better at what?"
"Punching! Punching!"
"Nini, did you hit your head or something?"
A bit worried, Solles made up a problem on the spot.
"Brother ate 3 apples, and Nini ate 2. How many apples total did we eat?"
"Why does brother get 3? I want 3 too!"
"Then brother eats 2, Nini eats 3."
"But Nini can't eat 3."
"How about we each eat one to share nicely?"
"Not apples, chocolate cookies!"
Nibelria bragged that she could eat 3 chocolate cookies.
"Then brother 2, Nini 3, total 5!"
Fortunately, Nibelria knew how to speak up clearly and claim her share. So her brother felt relieved.
"How was the errand?"
Muniel asked Solles about his trip.
"It was super fun!"
Solles's eyes sparkled as he explained what he'd seen and felt.
"The Magic Tower is huge and amazing. Even though it's warm spring everywhere else, that place was white winter. The floor was ice."
"Floor tasted bad."
"Oh, right. Nini licked the floor."
Muniel gave Nibelria a bewildered look.
Nibelria proudly stuck out her thumb.
Dether, watching, gently pressed it down.
"Grandma, actually, I thought the information broker was more fun."
Solles lowered his voice like he was sharing a secret.
"I thought the information broker was in some hidden spot no one knew. But there's a branch right across from Lubeo Department Store."
A small, ordinary shoe shop across from the department store. It turned out to be a disguised branch of the information broker.
An information broker handling the empire's secrets while masquerading as a normal shop—Solles's heart raced.
It felt way more amazing and impressive than the Magic Tower.
"Did you meet Madame Della?"
"Yes, but it was a man."
The 'Madame Della' Solles met was a burly man.
"But why call him 'Madame'? That's for women."
"'Madame Della' is a kind of title. There's one real one, but many employees use the title 'Madame Della'."
Nibelria, who had been quietly listening to grandma and brother, recalled her own visit to the information broker.
'Della's a female.'
And Della had been there.
The burly man Solles mentioned was actually a subordinate of Madame Della.
The shoe shop in front of the department store was the main shop, managed by the real Madame Della Tura.
While Della's subordinate wrote the reply, Nibelria and Solles waited in the parlor.
Nibelria spotted someone passing beyond the half-open parlor door. Their eyes met.
Brown hair with white streaks, green eyes.
A middle-aged woman in a leisurely demeanor, dressed like a cleaner.
The information broker's owner, Della Tura, winked one eye and put a finger to her lips.
'Della's identity is a secret!'
So Nibelria kept her mouth shut tight.
Della had always doted on Nibelria and taken good care of her, just like Dether did now.
She'd aged a lot since they last met, but she was still a precious subordinate to Nibelria.
'Nini has no choice but to protect her this time too!'
Nibelria puffed up alone and lifted her chin high.
Anyway, Nibelria was in a good mood.
The errand went smoothly, she protected her subordinate, and she even got 2 stickers from Muniel.
"Grandma, can I have one more sticker?"
"I'm thinking of taking one away as punishment for spanking the Magic Tower Lord..."
Nibelria hurriedly hid her debt reduction certificate.
Muniel found the sight so funny that she suddenly remembered something.
"Nini."
"Yes?"
"About the cookies. The ones sold at the department store."
"The ones that bankrupted Nini?"
"You sure have a way with words."
Muniel ruffled Nibelria's small round head and asked.
"Anyway, who did you sell the cookies to?"
"People!"
"Dether."
"Sold 4 packs at the department store, and traded the rest with the mansion staff for stickers."
"Oh dear, looks like I need to visit the kitchen."
As Muniel stood up, Solles and Nibelria followed suit.
"Grandma, where you going? Tired?"
"Ho ho, Grandma's a former saintess, so she doesn't get tired."
"Huh? Really?"
"Just kidding."
While Nibelria froze in shock, Muniel headed to the kitchen.
The head chef came out to greet her.
"Grand Madam? Do you need something?"
"The day's feeling extra warm today, so I thought I'd have the staff have a drink each. Make yours first and enjoy."
Muniel generously permitted using expensive ingredients without skimping.
Excited voices leaked from the kitchen.
"Can we load up on ice?"
"What about honey and sugar?"
"Can we use this tea leaf? Please...!"
Muniel laughed ho ho and gladly approved.
Soon, refreshing iced tea was ready.
It was just when the warm spring afternoon was making spring fatigue set in. Ice-packed drinks were perfect for waking up.
Muniel lightly waved her hand over the finished drinks.
A pure white light fell like sugar crystals onto the drinks. Where the light touched, the drinks glowed briefly before returning to normal.
"Wow...!"
A young maid watching exclaimed in admiration.
"Grand Madam—no, Saintess's blessing?"
"Precisely, it's consecration. These tasty drinks have become holy water. It'll cure minor ailments like headaches, toothaches, menstrual cramps, stomachaches, backaches, and such."
The kitchen staff gulped down the drinks—no, holy water.
Soon they touched their wrists, waists, necks, and cried out in disbelief.
"My aching wrist pain is gone!"
"My stiff shoulders too!"
"My goodness, Grand Madam, thank you so much!"
"This is nothing compared to your hard work."
Muniel's consecrated holy drinks were gifted one cup each to the staff.
Everyone who drank marveled as their chronic pains vanished instantly.
"What brings this on, Grand Madam?"
The butler asked cautiously after drinking.
"You always disliked using your holy power."
"People have times when they must do what they don't want to."
"Come to think of it, a few days ago, Lady Nibelria was selling cookies around."
"Did you eat some too?"
"Yes. They were delicious."
He recalled they were promoted as good for headaches, toothaches, and health.
"Some gardeners said their fatigue vanished after eating the cookies."
"Sweet things recover fatigue anyway."
Muniel looked at the empty cups left by the staff and said.
"I need to give Nini a talking-to. Advertising like that without any holy power."
The year Nibelria was born.
Just because she resembled her saintess grandmother, Nibelria once bore the world's expectations as the reincarnation of a new saintess.
But the baby only looked like her grandma; she had no holy power or special abilities.
The presumptuous expectations turned to disappointment, and as the child grew, it was dismissed as a simple misunderstanding.
"Nini wanna be saintess?"
"No?"
Nibelria shook her head vigorously at her grandma asking if she wanted to be a saintess first thing in the morning.
"Nini busy making money! No time for saintess!"
Muniel burst into laughter at how hilarious a 4-year-old was, waving her hands in dismay.
"Ha ha! You're right. A woman with money is better than a saintess."
"Nini gonna be rich woman! Rich woman is the best!"
