Chapter 3

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: I'll Raise the Villain Properly - Chapter 3

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Tears streamed from Lucian's eyes as he wailed at the top of his lungs. It seemed he truly hated me for scolding him after claiming to love him.

"Hating your aunt is one thing, and knowing you did wrong is another."

His piercing cries made my head throb.

"If you keep crying, I'll call your aunt. We're going to apologize to the viscount."

I pressed my aching temple and rose from my seat.

"Waaah! Stupid auntie! Pig! Butt hole!"

Even after closing the door and leaving the room, Lucian's voice echoed loudly. I'd already warned the servants never to take his side, and now I headed to my own room.

"Haa..."

The moment I returned, I collapsed onto the floor. Without the chair right beside me, I surely would've landed flat on my butt.

"What on earth am I supposed to do with that walking disaster?"

If I didn't know Lucian's grim future, I'd have just let him be. He was still young; surely he'd mature with age.

But Lucian wouldn't change at all. If anything, he'd grow even more wicked.

"How did things end up like this?"

From Illegitimate Child to Family Head wasn't the type of novel that kindly detailed the villain's backstory. In the text, Lucian was simply portrayed as an innately aggressive and greedy child.

That's why, before possessing this body, I'd vaguely assumed the author just wanted to create a villain, nothing more.

But now, having witnessed every moment of that child's life from birth to the present, I realized how wrong I was.

Lucian had lost his mother at just two years old. His father, who should have filled that void, was too busy with work to stay by his side. Because of that, Lucian had been deprived of the love and attention every child deserves.

"He must crave attention."

Maybe that's why he kept causing trouble—to get the focus his parents never gave him.

"But every time, I've scolded him for it."

Lucian's recent words to me flashed through my mind.

'You said you're on my side! You said you'd love me no matter what! Why aren't you taking my side? Why do you always scold me?'

Perhaps what Lucian wanted wasn't unconditional support no matter what he did. No, maybe he just yearned for someone who'd always be "on his side."

With parents backing him, he wouldn't need to scramble for allies, but Lucian had none. Knowing he lacked true supporters, he might be desperately trying to make some.

Someone who'd love him unconditionally, through thick and thin.

But inevitably, I had to scold him. No matter how adorable my nephew was, I couldn't indulge his mistakes.

Yet Lucian was too young to understand my intentions.

'If you love me, you don't scold me! You have to adore me no matter what I do!'

He might even think I wasn't really on his side. That I only said I loved him, but my actions proved otherwise.

"Should I find him some friends?"

I wondered if peers who shared his experiences might help, but I quickly shook my head.

"How many kids has he made cry?"

Lucian was the only child at the ducal residence. Feeling sorry for him playing alone without friends, I'd often taken him to gatherings to help him make some.

But my precious Lucian never failed to disappoint.

'Waaah!'

'Lucian bullied me!'

He'd catch spiders and release them on kids, smash decorative vases, and once even shot a slingshot at the heir of Count Robent's family—leaving me seeing stars in rage.

"No six-year-old can handle Lucian."

Maybe the heroine, Amelia, could.

But Amelia was destined to become Edwin's lover. That meant she could never get close to Lucian.

"Should I just run away with Lucian?"

Part of me wanted to. But that wasn't a viable option either.

My family, the Lilfrey Earl Family, was under my uncle's control. I had no money or power to draw from there.

A noble lady raised in luxury my whole life? I had no skills to fend for myself. Sure, with my pre-possession memories, I might scrape by somehow, but...

Could I really leave this house with nothing and raise Lucian properly? He'd been born the ducal heir, living in wealth his entire life. If it were just us, he might not even get new clothes, let alone three square meals a day.

"That's impossible. Kidnapping the duke's sole heir? Not a chance."

I could face the death penalty for abducting the family's only successor. I was the Bellomon Duke's brother-in-law's daughter, but he was heartless.

"Then blocking Edwin from entering the ducal family..."

I shook my head vigorously at the thought.

Like Lucian, Edwin had lost his mother young. But unlike Lucian, who lived in luxury at the ducal residence, Edwin had bounced between orphanages in a harsh childhood.

Even as a bastard, Edwin was the Bellomon Duke's blood. Blood is thicker than water, but I couldn't make an innocent child suffer just to protect my nephew.

"Can't run away together, can't block the protagonist. So what can I do...?"

As frustration made me want to tear my hair out, a good idea suddenly struck me.

"Come to think of it, Edwin's at the orphanage right now, isn't he?"

Dark under the lamp—the orphanage where Edwin lived was in the duchy.

But the Bellomon Duke wouldn't find him for another three years. Until then, Edwin would spend lonely days there.

"What if I go and help him?"

I couldn't just march to the duke and say, "Your son's here!" That would raise suspicions about how I knew.

Plus, I couldn't ignore the original story's causality.

"But volunteering at the orphanage? That's perfectly natural."

I'd use volunteering as an excuse to visit Edwin's orphanage. Spend time with him, build a bond.

"And at the end..."

Tell the duke. That there's a little boy at the orphanage where I'm volunteering who seems like his son.

"I'd befriend Edwin and become his benefactor."

Not only pulling him from the orphanage, but reuniting him with his real father.

Then, seeing my face, Edwin might spare Lucian? We'd share history by then.

Once I had a plan, it was best to act fast.

At dawn, I dressed and boarded the carriage.

"Auntie, where are you going?"

"Just meeting someone briefly."

"Me too!"

"Have you apologized to Viscount Chernin yet?"

"..."

"No going until you do."

Lucian scrunched his face at my stern warning.

Apologizing would let him come along, but saying sorry was apparently that hard?

"Apologize before I get back."

I shut the carriage door without looking back.

"To Vusnie Street, then?"

"Yes. To the orphanage on the second block."

I gave the coachman detailed directions and leaned back.

I'd already informed the maids asking about my destination.

'I need to meet more kids to understand Lucian.'

'The orphanage?'

'Yeah. The kids there lost their parents young, just like Lucian. Befriending them might help me get him.'

Luckily, they didn't suspect a thing. They were even teary-eyed, moved by how I cared for Lucian despite not being his real mother.

'But why Vusnie Street? It's quite a way.'

'That area's especially underdeveloped in the duchy. They must be short on supplies, so I'll check and provide aid.'

An excuse I'd made up on the spot. I worried it wouldn't fly, but the maids praised me: "Lady Lucella has such a kind heart!"

It was embarrassing, since all I'd been focused on was saving Lucian.

Of course, the other servants—not my personal maids—eyed me warily, as if a guest meddling in affairs.

'At least I can head to the orphanage smoothly.'

Gazing out the window, I thought of Edwin, whom I'd soon meet.

A boy with his mother's red eyes and the Bellomon Duke's black hair.

When Edwin first met the duke, he was stunned. The man looked just like him.

So much so that he wondered if he'd look exactly like that as an adult.

Had he ever seen his father's face, he wouldn't have been so shocked—but sadly, Edwin never did until leaving the orphanage.

Because Iris, the duke's lover, had said her goodbyes.

A commoner like Iris could never become the duchess. All she could do was watch another woman take her lover's side.

That patient life lasted only a moment. When Leila—my sister and the duchess—gave birth, Iris finally snapped.

With those words, Iris left the Bellomon Duke.

But there was one thing she didn't know.

'She didn't realize she was pregnant with Edwin.'

Two months after parting, Iris learned of her pregnancy.

Yet she never returned to the duke.

She knew exactly how a bastard with commoner blood would be treated.

He might even be eliminated by factions supporting Lucian.

So Iris raised Edwin alone. She stayed in the duchy not far away, hoping the duke would one day acknowledge him.

But Iris died of pneumonia when Edwin was four. With no father or relatives, he ended up at the orphanage.

'Edwin's six now, so about two years there.'

I wished his orphanage days were peaceful. But Vusnie Orphanage was far from ideal.

The old building let in drafts every winter; summers saw kids collapsing from heat. Clothes were scarce, so they wore patched rags.

And worse: the cruel director exploited the children for chores like cleaning and laundry—work for adults.

'Not just Edwin— I can't stand by while tiny kids suffer.'

Ignorance is one thing, but now that I knew, I had to act. It was what adults do.

Let children be children. That's our role.

And that was why I rushed to the orphanage.