I'm Being Raised by Villains - Chapter 4
<Chapter 4>
“…”
“…”
“…”
There was truly a heavy, cold silence.
No matter what people said, a moment of bewilderment was displayed on the face of Duke Mirel, who carried his family’s name on his back and who recited the wrongdoings they made like a rapid fire rap.
‘…I’m doomed.’
I bowed my head and clenched my fists.
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on me. My heart was thumping fast.
I was so nervous that cold sweat dripped down my back.
I gripped the hem of my dress, trying to calm my rough breathing and stop the buzzing in my ears.
“…Leave the house?” Duke Mirel, who was the first to come to his senses, opened his mouth in wonder.
“Yes…”
“That’s your plan?”
“Y-Yes…”
“Why?” Duke Mirel asked, as if he was truly curious.
There are many reasons, but I can’t say it directly.
“I’ve found out about da secwet of my biwth…”
I was coming up with a proper answer, but yet again, my frightened tongue moved uncontrollably.
Aaaack!
It’s driving me insane.
“…The secret of your birth?”
I wonder if that was the word which aroused the curiosity of Duke Mirel and everyone else, for their gazes were all on me.
In order to prevent any unfortunate incidents, I kept my eyes wide open and made as much eye contact with Duke Mirel as possible.
Then, the corners of Duke Mirel’s eyes twitched slightly.
“Do you mean there’s a secret about your birth that I don’t know about?” He asked me right away, as if exasperated.
“Yes… Gwandpa doesn’t knuw eithew…”
Of course, because I read the novel, I know all the secrets. But he hasn’t, right?
No matter how thorough he was, or how he was referred to as the reputed father of aristocracy, he wouldn’t have even done a blood test to begin with.
“…”
“…”
The room suddenly fell quiet.
‘What is it?’
With such a gloomy atmosphere, I raised the corners of my lips and giggled as a reflex.
Then, Duke Mirel’s eyebrow, which had halted for a moment, twitched wildly.
‘If you smile, you won’t be hated.’
That’s one of the truths I’ve learnt throughout my life.
“Alright, then what’s the secret?”
“That is…”
I gulped.
Then I heard something which sounded like gulping from around me too.
“Phew.” I took a deep breath as precaution so as to avoid the werebeast incident.
“Du…”
Afterwards, I heard sighs from my surroundings. And then suddenly, the sound of tap, tap, tap. There was a knocking sound on the desk.
It was as if they were impatient.
I tried my hardest to shake off my nervousness as I made my presentation.
I jumped up from my seat and took another deep breath before carefully opening my mouth. “That is…”
When I glanced to the side out of nervousness, the necks of the people sitting in the meeting hall seemed to somehow be stretched forward.
That was not all. Somehow, the way everyone’s looking at me resembles the middle-aged women working in the market who watch the drama.
“Actuawwy…”
Because of that, I became so nervous that I was unable to say anymore.
‘I’ve always been clumsy with presenting!’
“In here…”
It was when I was almost able to finish my sentence.
“Your Grace! We’re in trouble.”
A soldier interrupted and hurriedly dashed in.
“Haa…”
The shouts towards Duke Mirel, and a sigh which came from somewhere, overlapped.
Duke Mirel turned his head menacingly with an angry expression on his face. The soldier, who was running at that moment, flinched.
“I-It looks like the floating stone mine collapsed, and a couple of workers and a manager were trapped.”
“What did you just say? How in the world do you manage safety?! What about the casualties?!”
“Ah, there have been no deaths yet, and it has been confirmed that there are only a few injured workers.”
As soon as the soldier finished speaking, Duke Mirel, who was about to get up from his seat, gave me a glance before getting up with a menacing face.
“The New Year’s meeting will be held again in a few days, so until then, all family members must stay here for a while.”
“Understood!”
The disciplined people got up from their seats and raised their voices in an alert posture in case they would get implicated.
Duke Mirel, who was about to leave after receiving the report from the soldier in haste, paused for a moment.
“You, you, you, and you.”
The Duke’s fingers pointed at a few of the tensed collaterals. The faces of the people who were pointed out by him turned pale.
“No long words, you lazy trolls with no answers. Wipe your neck and follow me.”
“M-My Lord…!”
One person among those who were pointed out called out to him in a dejected tone, but as soon as the duke’s ferocious gaze fell upon them, they all shut their mouths and rushed to him, bowing their heads.
“Ho, so my words to you right now are just a joke, huh?”
“S-Sorry…?”
“Didn’t you hear my words to wipe your neck? Why? Do I have to personally wipe it for you?”
“N-No!”
They quickly rummaged through their pockets, took out handkerchiefs, and wiped their necks.
Those who did not have a handkerchief hurriedly borrowed one from the people near them and wiped themselves.
I was staring blankly at the disciplined people’s faces, but this time, the Duke turned his head and looked at me.
“You!”
“Yes… y-yes!”
I was taken aback by his call and hence covered my neck, raising my voice in a husky tone.
That’s how I bit my tongue.
“You…”
“I-I…”
I was so surprised that my eyes pooled with tears without me realizing it.
“I… I don’t hab a handkewchief.”
I hurriedly covered my neck with my hands and answered in a low voice, as if murmuring.
I tried my best, but I couldn’t help the crying mixed in my voice.
‘I am this small though…’
I felt an instinctive fear upon standing before an extremely big person.
As if he heard my cries, Duke Mirel with a stiffened face, did not move from his spot.
‘Is…he angry?’
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on me. I knew I had to move quickly, but I couldn’t easily move my body.
‘I can’t cry, but…’
Even if it wasn’t like that, I was still a werebeast who was not even of this family’s bloodline. There were a lot of things that I would be hated for because I lived on my own, so I couldn’t accumulate any more karma there.
I tried to loosen my grip on the hand that covered my neck, bit my lower lip slightly and barely managed to lift the corners of my trembling lips.
“I’m sowwy fow not having it…”
My appearance probably seemed so pitiful that the other people nearby pulled out their handkerchiefs and handed them to me with sympathetic faces.
Even a soldier standing guard nearby was carefully holding out a handkerchief embroidered with a heart shape, which he had pulled out from somewhere deep inside his clothes.
There were ten handkerchiefs held out before me, then I took the one closest to me with both hands.
Everyone was looking at me with pitiful faces, just like how one wished someone, who was about to die, a long life. But seeing that made me sadder.
“Thank youw…”
I bowed my head in thanks and glanced over, walking over briskly.
I forgot to wipe my neck and went to stand at the side of those who were staring blankly at me. I stood tall and bowed my head.
“…”
“…”
There was silence on all sides.
It was when I was about to carefully put the crumpled handkerchief to my neck where the handkerchief suddenly disappeared.
To be precise, someone snatched it from me.
“Your… Ahem! When did I ask you to wipe your neck? The next meeting will start with you, so think carefully about what you’re going to say!”
His voice sounded a bit husky. Was I mistaken?
“I’m nwot gwoing to die…?”
“What’s the use of killing a little thing like you?! I can’t even use something as small and skinny as you, who is as thin as a
feather, as fodder for cattle!”
My face grew even paler at those words.
‘Are those people going to be fodder for cattle…?’
As expected from the Duke of Etam, people die every day. In addition, since it’s a fantasy world, anything is possible.
I had no idea what he thought of me whilst his mouth was open. Duke Mirel clenched his fists after opening and closing his mouth several times.
“What in the world do you view me as?”
What do I view him as…?
What is he asking about? Is it regarding the way I address him? If not, then does it hold some abstract meaning? Speaking of the latter, it doesn’t seem like he would go out of the way to just be called a villain.
Anyway, in this atmosphere, it’s probably not.
“G-Gwandpa…?”
“…”
There was silence from all sides again.
Even the people who had wiped their necks earlier seemed to be looking at me with their mouths open. But because my range of vision was so narrow, I couldn’t
see it.
Sniff.
Wiping my runny nose, I carefully looked up at Duke Mirel.
“So what do you view me as?”
“Gwandpa…?”
His shoulders trembled.
Was that not it?
“Lord?”
“Ahem, that’s enough, you feather-like thing! See you in a few days.”
Those words can’t be referring to killing me in a few days, right?
“Y-Yes…”
The meeting that day ended in a chaotic atmosphere.
* * *
‘Why in the world did I do that…’
Today too, as soon as I woke up early this morning, I buried my face into a pillow and kicked the blanket over my dark past when it came to mind.
After struggling with my dark past for a long time, I ate the meal Myla had prepared, as well as the pudding. Following that, I went out for a walk.
In order to figure out an escape route, I used the excuse of taking a short walk every day to roam around various places.
And the place where I settled today was a chair in the garden that came in by chance.
“Huh? What the- are you owkay? You’re the kid who cried in front of the Lord last time, right?”
The boy, who looked a couple years older than me, was shoving his face in front of me with a ball in one hand.
“…No, I didn’t cwy.”
“What? To be honest, it’s reasonable for you to cry in such a situation. So, what are you doing here alone?”
“…Just lwazing awound.”
I answered, as I sat on the garden chair, slightly cuddling my knees.
“Is that so? Aren’t you bored? Do you want to play with us?”
The freckled boy with chubby cheeks grinned and reached out to me.
<To be continued>