Ariante did not respond for a moment, wondering what she was thinking. Every time Ariante, with her head tilted, blinked her eyes, her sunlit pupils sparkled in a mysterious blue.
Feeling the child’s warmth in her arms, Mayana felt Ariante seemed more pitiful.
Despite being the successor of a great family that anyone would recognize just by name, the only daughter of Valterminster Duke, it seemed like the child had no joy. It was clear that there were no days where she fell asleep comfortably soaked in happiness or satisfaction.
“If the man called father is leaving his child to the malicious teacher and only going to the capital every time… if he has to go to the capital so often, he should just buy a house there!”
Mayana gently comforted and held Ariante while grumbling to herself.
As the mansion drew closer, Ariante’s expression became darker and darker. She was undoubtedly upset, reminded of the fact that she had not finished Mr. Bimen’s homework.
As soon as Valterminster Duke returned, Mr. Bimen would recount in detail how brazen and defiant Mayana had been. And he might also add something like this:
“Dismiss that insolent maid right now. If not, I cannot continue to tutor the lady!”
What choice would the Duke make? Of course, he would take Mr. Bimen’s side. Mayana thought. He had hired her thinking she had a lot of experience taking care of children. That she was good with her hands was merely a secondary reason.
“I’ll get fired either way, so if that’s the case, I might as well…”
Mayana, heading towards the side door of the mansion through the garden, suddenly turned around. Ariante, who was wearing an uncharacteristically dark expression for a sevenyearold, opened her eyes wide as if asking what was happening.
“Where are you going?”
“Your Highness, you don’t want to meet Mr. Bimen right now, do you? You don’t want to do your homework either, I bet.”
Ariante, who had been blinking her eyes as if she didn’t understand Mayana’s answer, asked:
“Are you kidnapping me now? Asking for ransom from my father?”
“…I’m just helping you skip a lesson. No, who on earth taught you such a word? What does ‘asking for ransom’ mean?”
Ariante, with her little finger on her lower lip, tilted her head with an innocent look.
“Everyone says that.”
“Who exactly… No, never mind. I’m not kidnapping you, Your Highness, absolutely not. You understand? But you must wait quietly and very obediently.”
“Why do I have to?”
“So I can rescue Your Highness from Mr. Bimen’s homework.”
Ariante only peeked at Mayana with an inscrutable expression. Mayana, having placed Ariante down under the shade where walnut trees grew temptingly, spoke again, this time in a firm, determined tone.
“You understand, Your Highness? I will go and get your shoes. I will only get the shoes and come right back, so you must stay still here.”
“Where are you going with the shoes?”
“That… I’ll think about it while fetching them.”
It sounded incredible even to her ears. However, Mayana could not spend too long persuading Ariante.
People pass by the Duke’s house wherever they go. If caught by the eye of a gossipy person, Mr. Bimen would immediately run over and take Ariante to the study room.
“Wait here.”
Repeating these words like a spell several times, Mayana opened the small door leading to the storage behind the kitchen and went inside. The apprentice cooks were busy chatting and peeling potatoes over the shelves and paid no attention to Mayana.
Mayana quickly went up the stairs, careful not to catch the eyes of spiteful maids like Bainty. Then, she cautiously looked around as she entered Ariante’s living room.
The room was empty, and no signs came from the study. It was clear that Teacher Bimen had angrily retired to his own room, exhausted.
‘Relieving, I don’t have to make excuses, thankfully.’
Mayana, sighing in relief, opened the shelf where the shoes were arranged and took out a pair with the lowest heel. Of course, she didn’t forget to bring new socks.
Then, hiding them in her apron so as not to catch anyone’s eye, she dashed down the stairs as if on an urgent errand.
“Mayana!”
At that moment, someone called her name from the railing overhead. Startled like a person caught doing wrong, Mayana turned her head.
It was none other than Grete who had caught her. It could not have been fortunate for Mayana.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
Grete asked with a puzzled expression. Mayana, conscious of the side door below the stairs, smiled faintly.
“To the laundry room.”
“Weren’t you just there?”
“Yes. But I think I lost something… I want to go back to see if I dropped it on the stairs.”
“Shall I come to help you find it?”
Kind Grete. Mayana declined, looking sincerely grateful.
“It’s fine. I can go back alone quickly.”
“By the way, Teacher Bimen was furious earlier, saying that the princess had run off. You haven’t found her yet?”
Mayana shook her head again, frowning.
“I haven’t found her. I was thinking of looking for her on my way to the laundry room.”
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
