This Three-Year-Old Is A Villainess - Chapter 39
My eyes widened, and even Conrad looked surprised as my father and I exchanged glances.
As my father approached the door, my grandfather shouted,
“Why are you taking that child with you?”
My father stared at my grandfather with an expression that said, ‘What’s so strange about that?’
“We need to leave for my jurisdiction.”
“What did you say?”
I was taken aback, looking at my father.
‘He’s taking me with him?’
It’s true that I was having a break, but usually the third generation (the Duke’s grandchildren) were meant to stay in the jurisdiction of their parents, but…
I had no idea my father was planning to take me.
Conrad appeared bewildered, and my grandfather’s brow furrowed.
For a while, my grandfather glared at my father, then said,
“Leave Erylotte behind.”
“I don’t want to.”
“I said leave her behind!”
“Is that an order?”
I snuck a glance at Grandfather.
His reason for wanting me to stay was understandable.
I needed to study the ancient language, and maybe he wanted to gather more information about the Physical Rejuvenation Elixir.
Besides, if I were indeed my father’s real daughter, I would make an excellent hostage.
So, it would be better to leave me at the main residence rather than be sent back.
But that couldn’t be an order.
He couldn’t just declare, ‘I’m taking her as a hostage’.
In the unique circumstances of House Astra, taking a child away from their parents was akin to an official declaration that the child was being used as a hostage.
It would be interpreted as ‘the Duke took his granddaughter to tame his son’. If such news spread, it would cause turmoil within the family.
People would be afraid that they might lose their own children.
And excessive fear could lead to fissures in the family.
Grandfather was aware of this, so he didn’t give a direct order.
After a moment of silence, grandfather shouted,
“Erylotte hasn’t finished reading the ancient history books yet—”
“She can continue reading them after the rest period is over.”
“She has been in the Twelfth Tower all this time, so she needs to learn the rules of the main residence—”
“I will continue teaching her in my jurisdiction until the rest period is over.”
“I have one more thing to ask. She fetched a potion I had never heard of, and I—”
“I will investigate it and send a report back to you.”
At that point, grandfather’s face turned bright red and purple.
Seeing that there was nothing more to say, my father turned and left.
Just then, Viscount Debussy entered the library.
“Lord Daymond, where are you taking the young mi—”
“Erylotte is better off with her grandfather than her father.”
Before Viscount Debussy could finish speaking, grandfather said that.
Then, Viscount Debussy turned to my grandfather with an expression that suggested he might have misheard something.
Conrad’s expression mirrored his, and so did mine.
‘…?’
Why was he saying that now?
Would Father be affected by such words anyway?
As I was pondering this, I felt a fiery gaze above me.
“Is that true?”
“…What?”
“I’m asking if what Your Grace said is true.”
I had never thought about it before.
Before, I had been in front of my grandfather, so I had called him “grandfather.”
Grandfather laughed haughtily.
“A child should grow up in the environment she desires.”
Viscount Debussy mumbled to himself, looking amazed. “Since when…”
The room fell into stunned silence as my grandfather and father’s gazes clashed in the air.
All eyes were on me, waiting for my answer.
Grandfather and Father each spoke.
“Erylotte, tell us who you like best.”
“You don’t have to be scared because you’re in front of the Duke. Your father is here with you.”
I felt cold sweat trickling down my back.
There was a great ominous feeling looming over me—the same kind I would feel in my past life from all my accumulated social skills.
It’s like,
“Who do you like more, the department head or the deputy head?”
It felt like an awkward moment in a social setting, where you’re asked to choose between two people, but this was even more intense.
With a dry swallow…
I managed to respond,
“…Puppy.”
“What?”
“What did you say?”
I jumped down from my father’s arms, raising both arms in the air.
“E-Ewywotte, um, wikes puppy the beee~est!”
Choosing one person didn’t seem right at this moment, and so I went for a child-like response. I heaved a silent sigh of relief.
“Pfft!”
Viscount Debussy let out a strange sound, like a choked laugh, and turned his head away, his shoulders trembling.
Conrad looked utterly bewildered, caught in the midst of this strange situation.
The all-powerful master of House Astra.
The most prevailing knight of the empire.
As for my grandfather, he muttered, “A puppy…” and seemed to be grinding his teeth, but he didn’t say more.
My father paused for a moment, then looked at me with a serious expression before speaking.
“Come to think of it, haven’t I been given the nickname ‘mongrel’?”
‘…?’
A hush fell over the room, and a gust of wind seemed to blow through the bewildered crowd.
