I seemed to have read in “Melodia’s Life” that Leonhart was skilled in evil deeds, including murder, from a young age. It was impossible to know exactly when that young age meant.

But it could be from now on. My body trembled with fear at that fact.

But just when I thought ‘I’m scared’, the necklace around my neck glowed slightly and then disappeared.

I was about to fiddle with it to properly check the state of the necklace, but Leonhart spoke first.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Ah, um. It’s nothing. Nothing at all…”

Still, you never know.

‘He might be nice now. He didn’t ignore me like those weird kids earlier, and he still seems to have some humanity left.’

There was no need to be overly scared from the start. If I do well, I might be able to become friends with him and make him my ally before he turns evil.

Having quickly made up my mind, I hurriedly cleared my throat and asked Leonhart.

“Re-really? Is your name really Leo-ni?”

“Yeah. It’s Leonhart.”

“Wh-what a ha-handsome name… Wow…”

My tongue got all twisted due to being flustered, and my pronunciation became a mess.

But fortunately, Leonhart didn’t seem to notice, and dimples formed on his cheeks.

‘Can this guy who smiles like an idiot at such a soulless compliment really be that scary villain? Maybe it’s just someone with the same name?’

Such thoughts crossed my mind for a moment.

‘Perhaps there’s a very evil appearance hidden behind the mask covering his face?’

Even though I was immersed in confusion and fear, Leonhart didn’t notice.

Because he…

“Handsome, huh. It’s the first time I’ve heard that.”

Was shyly smiling!

To be honest, his face wasn’t very visible because of the mask, but judging by his mouth, he was definitely smiling like a puppy.

I stared at that cutely smiling face with my mouth agape.

Maybe because he’s young, his cheeks look soft and squishy, like rice cakes.

“Leon, you seem handsome and cute, why…”

…are you a villain?

“Did you say… I’m cute?”

Hup.

At the sound of Leonhart’s voice in my ears, I quickly covered my mouth with my two small, white hands like new rice.

My inner thoughts came out of my mouth without me realizing!

Flustered, I stopped my round feet that looked like Anpanman with a thud.

‘What if Leonhart d-dislikes being called cute?’

However, there was someone here who was even more flustered than me.

“Cute?”

It was Leonhart.

He quietly opened his mouth, tightly gripping his mask that looked like leather.

“First time I’ve heard that.”

…Is this guy really a villain?

‘He seems not just pure, but foolish?’

He kept adjusting his mask as if embarrassed and slightly wiped his forehead.

He seemed to be sweating a little.

I even considered whether this might be a scam.

But children can’t hide their non-verbal expressions. I thought seriously as I looked at him.

This child villain might turn out to be an unexpectedly easy mission…!

‘If I seduce him properly, he might be helpful later when I conquer the family! Of course, after making sure what kind of person he is!’

Having even one future villain on my side would help in conquering the family!

‘Don’t be scared, Sien Mirmode!’

Watching me, he raised the corners of his mouth with a grin.

“You’re cute too, chestnut-like genius.”

…Leonhart showed a refreshing smile.

Ah, he’s really quite cute!

I stretched out my hand, mixing in about half a spoon of personal interest.

“Then let’s really be fwends!”

“…Yeah.”

But just as his hand was about to touch mine, slowly approaching bit by bit…

As if he had been watching everything, dad suddenly ran up and scooped me into his arms.

“Sien!”

So Leonhart’s outstretched hand didn’t even get to touch mine.

Dangling in mid-air, I looked at Leonhart with surprised eyes.

“Dad, I brought a prize for Sien.”

“Hmm?”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“Umm, I am curious. But Dad, this is my fwend!”

“Ah.”

Dad hugged me tightly facing him so that I couldn’t see Leonhart.

So I could only see the muscular maid sisters behind Dad.

The sisters nodded their heads at me with expressionless faces as always. They also looked somewhat frightened.

Dad’s warm voice was heard.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Leonhart.”

I whispered softly into Dad’s ear.

“Dad, my fwend is Leonhart.”

“Friend?”

“Yeah! My first fwend!”

“First… Alright, let’s go.”

As Dad, who had muttered lowly, turned around, I could finally see Leonhart’s expression. Leonhart had no expression. He even seemed to pity me.

‘What’s this? I should at least say goodbye before leaving!’

As I was about to raise my hand and smile brightly to say goodbye to Leonhart, I hesitated for a moment.

‘Leonhart is adopted… I shouldn’t act too close with Dad here, right?’

I deliberately changed my expression to be as cold as a cooled steamed bun. Then I smiled awkwardly in an ‘ee-‘ shape.

“Bye-bye, fwend!”

Leonhart, watching me being carried away in Dad’s arms, silently mouthed something. Reading his lips, it looked like…

[If you think you’re going to die… press the necklace hard!]

I nodded vigorously at Leonhart’s advice.

‘If bad guys attack Dad on the way home, no, to the tower, I should press the necklace hard!’

I immediately glanced towards the necklace.

The necklace emitted a faint, bluish light. I tilted my head slightly at that.

‘Blue light… The artifact is emitting a bluish light. Why?’

But I didn’t have time to think more because of Dad’s cozy and sweet smell as he hugged me tightly. As Leonhart faded into the distance, I buried my face in Dad’s chest and grinned.

After meeting him in person, even Leonhart, who was a villain in the original work, was quite cute.

The black leather-like mask that only revealed his eyes, the refreshing mouth occasionally visible under the large mask, and the slightly raised cheeks proving he was a child!

He was quite charming.

‘But the best is still Dad!’

I hugged Dad tightly.

‘I will definitely survive for a long, long time with Dad.’

I decided to whisper this feeling, packed full, to Dad.

“Dad, I wuv you! No, I love you!”

“Sien.”

“Yeah!”

Dad, who had been silent for a while, asked cautiously as if hesitating.

“You made a friend… Do you still like Dad the most?”

I rubbed my face against Dad’s shoulder and whispered softly.

“That’s… a secret. Hehe.”

Because it’s embarrassing to say!

At that moment, it felt like Dad’s hands holding my body tightened, but maybe it was my imagination?

Strangely, it seemed like Dad was gritting his teeth. It also sounded like he was saying something about pesky flies…

But there’s no way our Dad would say such things! He’s the kind of Dad who can’t even kill flies because they’re living beings too!

***

After class ended, it was the most important naptime!

Taking a short nap and munching on a sandwich stuffed with ham, I designed my future plans.

“Sigh…”

The muscular maids beside me, who were busily chewing and swallowing palm tree fruits, spoke hurriedly.

“Why are you sighing? Well, our Lady Sien is too weak physically. Because you’re frail-”

“Oh, if that’s the case! We can teach you how to build muscles right away!”

Their words, too strong for maids, somehow made my heart feel chilly.

“Oh, don’t worry.”

“About what…?”

“Suspicious guards kept lurking around the north tower, so I beat them up with a shovel!”

At those terrifying words, I, who was about a quarter of a quarter of a quarter of her size, froze slightly.

But without showing it, I clapped enthusiastically like a seal.

“Wow, how cool…”

Leaving the maids excited by my soulless response behind me, I munched on bread.

Sigh…

Thinking about what had happened at the Mirmode Duke’s family so far, it was literally ‘one mountain after another’.

‘So many things have happened until now.’

I punished the children who said bad things about our mom, tormented the bad teacher a lot, became a little close with Leonhart, and… most of all, I got a necklace with mysterious power.

With so many good things happening, bad things were bound to come soon.

I sighed softly and thought.

It didn’t seem like I should be careless now.

‘It’s time to start drawing the big picture.’

The original work seemed like an ordinary love story, but it was full of political intrigue.

[A love story that transcends social status between the beautiful saint who appeared like a comet and the crown prince who lovingly cares for the commoners, .]

I had only read half of the novel. But in it, the love between the crown prince and the saint was always in crisis. It was because of the evil deeds of the Mirmode Duke’s family.

The Mirmode Duke’s family was a prominent supporting character that frequently appeared in the novel as the center of all kinds of secret murders and evil deeds.

And in the novel, the ‘War of Blood Relatives’ to determine the Mirmode Duke played a significant role… Fortunately, it wasn’t time yet.

‘The heir to the family hasn’t been decided yet. In other words, it’s not the time for the to occur. Then… it should be peaceful for a while, right?’

But soon, there would surely be a fierce competition of killing and being killed to claim the successor position of the Mirmode family.

Dad, the biological son of Duchess Lucella, couldn’t forfeit the competition either.

‘I have to somehow take control of the family so that Dad doesn’t get sacrificed!’

Although I had seriously resolved to do so…

‘…Still, I need to be careful of the three Mirmode villains day and night.’

The Mirmode family had numerous bloodlines. However, only three final villains were vying for the vacant Duke position.

One was Delphia Mirmode, the adopted daughter of Duchess Lucella, currently training in the north.

Another was Selford Mirmode, the son of the Senate chairman.

And lastly…

I shuddered slightly just by recalling the original content.

‘Among them, the most dangerous person is Axel Mirmode. The supreme black magician who controls dark matter!’

Axel was an adoptee of the Mirmode family. However, he gains a mysterious power related to black magic during the war and rises to power, committing all sorts of evil deeds.

And he was supposed to become the Duke of the villainous Mirmode family after winning the ‘War of Blood Relatives’.

Soon, he would become the Iron-Blooded Duke and turn the empire into a cold hell.

Fortunately, Axel Mirmode hadn’t appeared yet.

But! To confront him when we eventually meet, I needed to build up my strength.

‘During this brief peaceful time, I should highlight my presence. By seducing or subjugating the real powers of the Duke’s family!’

If there were three successor candidates in the Duke’s family, there were also real powers at the current point.

I recalled the list of real powers in the Duke’s family and muttered softly and clearly inside my mouth.

“Grandmother, Senate Chairman, Education Director…”

Among the three, the weakest was Grandmother.

It’s already widely said that she’s just an old lady in the back room, so that says it all.

Now she just lives involving herself only in social circles and internal family affairs, barely existing under the glory of the past.

Fortunately, Grandmother didn’t seem to dislike or like me.

‘Let’s try to be more affectionate with Grandmother!’

As for the Senate Chairman…

Well, I couldn’t know exactly what kind of person he was yet. I had read about him in books, but…

‘The Senate Chairman feels somewhat fishy, so let’s put him on hold for now.’

And lastly, there was the Education Director, who was like the Senate Chairman’s underling.

‘The Education Director clearly dislikes me and Dad. I can tell just by how much the teacher under the Education Director hates me. He’ll probably set a trap soon, I bet.’

I need to deal with all the small fry before Axel comes!

‘To turn the trap around, I’ll need power, right?’

I tightly grasped the fairy necklace in my hand.

There must be a way to handle this.

I should go to the library, the storehouse of information.

However, because I was still a baby, I couldn’t go to the library alone. Moreover, I might come across forbidden books, so it was even more impossible to go alone.

‘I’ll seduce Dad to go to the library together. Once there, I need to clearly figure out how to use the fairy necklace and the location information of high-grade artifacts!’

I put down the sandwich I was eating and hopped down from the sofa.

“Sien is going to see Dad! No, I shall go see Father!”

After saying that solemnly, I hopped like a rabbit to go see Dad.

But…

Who would have thought that Dad would be getting duped again like a sucker…

***

At that time, Matthias was in conversation with a black magician from the magic tower, his subordinate.

He was planning to cut the throat of the Senate. Since the Senate had nominated him to be put on the judgment stand to be killed, he planned to deal with his son Selford first on that very day.

“First, we’ll cut off the body of the Senate. I’ve already recruited all the existing magicians.”

He had an meticulous look, unlike someone who had been away from the family for a while. The black magician, watching Matthias’s languid expression, nodded seriously.

“Yes, starting with the body… It will be difficult, but I understand. Your strategies have always been accurate, Master Matthias, so I expect this one to be right as well.”

He showed little reaction to the black magician’s flattery. Matthias nodded and whispered cruelly.

“We’ll just kill all the annoying ones who try to harm Sien, that’s all.”

Everything was going according to plan.

However, there’s always an unexpected variable.

This moment was exactly that.

Matthias narrowed his brows at the strange energy he sensed.

“Someone has entered the barrier.”

The black magician also narrowed his eyes and peered through the door.

But…

A small, round head peeked out from the corridor outside, tilting curiously.

Seeing that, Matthias’s heart became hazily peaceful like mist on water.

Sien had come.

Sien was a special child.

One who could easily cross the barrier Matthias had set up, which no one else could cross…

‘Ah, Sien shouldn’t see bad things.’

Matthias straightened his posture and politely folded his hands in front. The black magician who had been following Matthias like a shadow looked puzzled.

“Take off your hat.”

“Pardon?”

As he gestured with his chin with a fierce expression, the startled black magician obediently put down his black, pointed hat on the desk.

“What…”

“Let’s talk about farming.”

“What? All of a sudden?”