🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 04
The Villainess Builds a Department Store
Kidnapping? Don’t tell me—kidnapping?!
Call the guards immediately!
Hurry and inform the master!
Wait—what about the young master?
Is the young master safe?!
Urgent footsteps thundered through the corridor, followed by a loud bang as the door was thrown open.
“Young Master Antoine! Are you unh— guh!”
The servants’ pale faces all snapped toward Antoine’s bed.
But what they saw was not a peacefully sleeping child.
Instead, a girl sat there, leaning casually against the headboard.
“L-lady…?”
As the servants stared at her in shock, she smiled lightly and raised a finger to her lips.
“Shh. He’s still asleep.”
Her blue-violet eyes slid downward, pointing toward the blankets.
Huff—huff.
A small mound of black silk rose and fell steadily.
In time with it came soft, warm breathing.
Adel lifted the blanket slightly.
When Antoine’s angelic sleeping face was revealed, the servants finally relaxed, each furrowing their brows in relief as they let out deep sighs and clutched their chests.
* * *
The Baron and Baroness of Charmeuse, like most nobles, had entered an arranged marriage—but their relationship was as tender as any romance born of love.
In fact, they understood each other so well that a single glance was enough to convey meaning.
You do it.
No, you speak first.
Isn’t this usually the mother’s role?
Is this an ordinary matter? The father should step in at times like this!
B-but I’ve never scolded a child before…
And I have? Do you think I walk around with a rod every day?
When words failed him, the man called “husband” simply pretended not to notice his wife’s signals.
In the heavy silence, the Baroness of Charmeuse—Eleanor Argent de Charmeuse—glared at her husband in disbelief.
Charles Brode de Charmeuse! Are you serious right now?
Eleanor deliberately jabbed her husband hard in the side.
Caught off guard, he jolted like a worm splashed with salt and looked at her in shock.
This time, it was her turn to ignore him.
* * *
They really are affectionate.
Watching the silent skit unfolding before me, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
My resolution to greet my parents with a smile had, regrettably, failed.
There was no way I could smile brightly in front of their grave expressions.
After breakfast, we were summoned to the head of the household’s study.
“Ahem. Adelaide. Sneaking out of your room without informing any adults—why would you do such a thing?”
“Antoine was crying, but no one came, so I went to him.”
“And the nanny? Why would you go instead?”
“She wasn’t there. Antoine said she told him she’d come back after he woke up, so just in case, I slept with him.”
“What? The nanny? Setting that aside—why didn’t you pull the cord and call another maid?”
“Taking care of the child is the nanny’s responsibility. I thought it would put her in a difficult position if another maid came instead… I’m sorry.”
In truth, I’d simply forgotten in my rush to calm Antoine down.
It was a hastily improvised excuse, but my parents exchanged looks and let out a long sigh.
“There’s no need to apologize. Thinking of someone else’s position even in that situation deserves praise. Still… we’ll need to hear the nanny’s side of the story.”
* * *
Upon hearing that the lady of the house had summoned her, Madam Severine gnawed at her lips and paced in circles.
I’m going to be thrown out!
Her heart felt like it might burst from the despair and anxiety flooding her chest.
Why did it have to be yesterday? Of all days, why did that girl interfere then?!
Madam Severine glared at the door as if Adelaide herself were standing there, grinding her teeth.
Adelaide had always been cold toward her younger brother—bordering on cruel.
Even before, when Antoine woke up crying at night, Adelaide never paid him any attention.
At best, she would complain and tell them to quiet him quickly.
But last night, she not only went to comfort him herself—she even slept with him, throwing the entire estate into chaos from early morning.
And it had happened on the very night Madam Severine had stepped away.
No matter what, she couldn’t ignore a summons from the lady of the house.
At last, she reached the study where the family awaited and reluctantly lifted her hand to knock.
“M-my lady. You called for me…?”
* * *
The person who entered was a middle-aged woman, dried up like a broomstick.
Her lifeless eyes resembled thoroughly dried fish.
“Madam Severine. I heard about last night. I’ll get straight to the point. Antoine was crying—why didn’t you come?”
Unlike ordinary servants, a nanny—tasked with raising the master’s child and future employer—held a respected position among both servants and employers.
The Baroness treated Madam Severine with formal courtesy.
Though the anger in her voice was impossible to hide.
“…It was discipline.”
The answer—no, the excuse—she finally forced out was “discipline.”
“Young Master Antoine will one day inherit the Charmeuse barony. If one rushes to him every time he cries after waking, it will only ruin his future.”
“….”
When the Baroness didn’t respond, Madam Severine straightened her back and lifted her chin, apparently taking the silence as agreement.
“One destined to inherit a noble house must learn endurance and restraint. Even children are no exception—no, especially children. That training must begin early.”
Ah. That rigid nonsense—I remember now.
Madam Severine had once been a teacher at a monastery-run boarding school.
And boarding schools of this era were little more than prisons, where children were locked away for the crime of being students, waiting for graduation as their release.
In other words, she was advocating Spartan discipline for a four-year-old child.
“Well… even so… you could have told us in advance—”
“My lady. You entrusted Antoine’s discipline entirely to me.”
Sensing the Baroness’s wavering, she shifted the responsibility back without changing her expression.
The audacity of you trusted me before, so why interfere now left my mouth hanging open.
“Sugar and sweets corrupt a boy’s soul, turning him weak. Toys are no different. A boy playing with dolls? If he’s to become a fine soldier or official, he should already be memorizing history and ancient languages. How long do you intend to indulge him?”
“But Antoine is still very young—!”
“To raise a child properly requires correction, and proper correction requires control and discipline. Because you dote on him so excessively, my lady, I’ve been lenient until now—and this is the result. A future baron who can’t even sleep alone!”
Enough. I couldn’t listen any longer.
“Indulgent?”
A sharp, incredulous laugh cut through the air, followed by a firm voice crashing into Madam Severine’s ears like a storm.
“A four-year-old not being indulgent would be senile! If a child gets hurt sleeping alone, what then? Do you know how many kids suffocate in pillows? What if he falls off the bed and breaks a bone? It’s only fine because the weather’s warm—what if it were winter? What if a spark flew from the fireplace? Huh? What then? If something happens to him, will you take responsibility?”
Drip.
Coffee spilled from the Baron’s mouth as he silently watched the situation, frowning and holding his teacup.
Oof. That must be hot.
Turns out dealing with difficult customers actually comes in handy sometimes.
Among the seasonal trainings were lessons on handling unreasonable customers.
The staff would act as if possessed, performing dramatic role-plays.
I never imagined those memories would help me like this.
Not that I was grateful.
May you live a long, miserable life.
“T-this is all for the young master’s sake!”
Madam Severine cried out desperately, her face flushed to the brink of bursting.
Pfft.
I couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.
Once it started, it turned into open, mocking laughter.
“Are you mocking my methods of discipline?”
Madam Severine’s breathing grew ragged.
“Ah… my stomach hurts… Nanny, do you really believe that? That this is for Antoine? Really?”
“Lady Adelaide!”
“What do you think Antoine will become in the future?”
Wiping the tears from my eyes, I leaned back leisurely against the sofa.
By then, the corners of my mouth had gone stiff.
