TBDS 04

Chapter 4

The Villainess Builds a Department Store

Kidnapped? Could she really have been kidnapped? Call the police at once!

We must tell the master immediately!

Wait, what about the young master? Is the young master safe?

Urgent footsteps came rushing down the hall, and then the large door suddenly flew open.

“Young Master Antoine! Are you safe—Gasp!”

The servants’ pale faces turned toward Antoine’s bed.

But instead of a peacefully sleeping child, there sat a girl, casually leaning against the headboard.

“L-Lady…?”

The girl gave the shocked servants a light smile and raised a finger to her lips.

“Shh. He’s still sleeping.”

Her bluish-purple eyes lowered as she pointed toward the blanket.

Ssshh. Ssshh.

A small black silk hill rose gently beneath the blanket, slowly moving up and down.

Along with its movement came the soft, warm sound of little breaths.

Adel gently lifted the blanket.

When they saw Antoine sleeping peacefully with an angelic expression, the servants finally relaxed. Each of them frowned with relief, let out a long sigh, and rubbed their chests.

Viscount Charmoize and his wife, like most noble couples, had been brought together through a political marriage.

But their relationship was as tender as true love that crossed the boundaries of social status.

No, they could understand what the other was saying just by looking into each other’s eyes.

You do it.

You say it first.

Isn’t this the mother’s job?

How is this an ordinary situation? The father should step in at a time like this!

Ha, but I’ve never scolded them before…

Then what about me? Do you think I carry a switch around every day?

When the conversation reached a dead end, the husband finally pretended not to notice his wife’s signals at all.

In the silence, Viscountess Charmoize, Elenore Arjand de Charmoize, glared at her husband in disbelief.

Charles Brode de Charmoize! Are you really going to do this?

Elenore deliberately poked her husband hard in the side.

Caught off guard, he shuddered like an earthworm sprinkled with salt water and looked at her.

This time, it was her turn to ignore him.

They really are affectionate.

Watching their silent exchange right in front of me, I let out a relieved sigh.

Sadly, my plan to greet my parents with a smile had failed.

How could I smile brightly in front of my parents when they both had such serious expressions?

We were summoned to the head of the family’s study as soon as we finished breakfast.

“Ahem, hm. Adelaïde. You left your bedroom without telling any of the adults and went off on your own. Why did you do that?”

“Antoine was crying, but no one came, so I went to him.”

“But what about the nanny? Why did you go yourself?”

“The nanny had left. Antoine said she would come when he woke up, but I was worried, so I took him to bed with me.”

“What? The nanny? No, forget that for the moment. You could have pulled the cord and called another maid!”

“Taking care of a child is the nanny’s responsibility, and I thought the nanny might get in trouble if another maid came instead…. I’m sorry.”

In truth, I had completely forgotten about it because I was too focused on comforting Antoine first.

It was a rushed excuse, but my parents said nothing. They simply looked at each other and let out a long sigh.

“You don’t need to apologize. In fact, thinking about someone else’s position even in that situation is something you should be praised for. I suppose we need to hear the nanny’s side of the story as well.”

When Madame Severin heard that the mistress of the house had summoned her, she nervously bit her lips and paced around in circles.

I’m definitely going to be fired!

Her heart felt ready to burst from despair and anxiety as everything seemed to go dark before her eyes.

Why did that girl have to interfere yesterday of all days? Why yesterday, of all days!

Madame Severin glared at the door as if Adel were standing right in front of her and ground her teeth.

Adelaïde had always been more than merely indifferent toward her younger brother. She had been downright cold to him.

Antoine had woken up crying before, but every time it happened, Adel had not even cared.

If anything, she would have gotten annoyed and told them to make him quiet as quickly as possible.

But yesterday, she had not only gone to comfort her brother herself, she had even slept with him. The entire mansion had been turned upside down since morning.

And it had happened on the very day she had been away!

Still, she could not ignore the mistress of the house after being summoned.

In the end, Madame Severin arrived at the study where the family was waiting. She reluctantly raised her hand and knocked.

“M-Mistress. You called for me…?”

The person who entered was a middle-aged woman who was thin as a broomstick.

Her lifeless, dried-out eyes made her look almost like a well-dried fish.

“Madame Severin. I heard about what happened last night. Let’s get straight to the point. Why didn’t you come when Antoine was crying?”

Unlike ordinary servants, a nanny held a fairly respected position, since she was responsible for raising the master’s child, who would one day become her future employer.

Mother also spoke to Madame Severin politely, as she was the woman who had been taking her place in caring for the children.

Though there was unmistakable anger hidden in her voice.

“…It was discipline.”

The answer—or rather, excuse—that she barely managed to utter was “discipline.”

“Young Master Antoine will one day inherit the Charmoize Viscounty after his father. If I ran to him every time he woke up crying over something as trivial as sleep, I would only ruin his future.”

“……”

When Mother showed no reaction, the nanny apparently took it as agreement. She straightened her back and raised her chin.

“Anyone who is to inherit a great family must naturally learn patience and self-control. Children are no exception. No, it must begin while they are young.”

Ah, that old-fashioned… Hearing her rigid speech made me remember.

Madame Severin had once been a teacher at a boarding school attached to a convent.

And boarding schools in this era were basically places where students were imprisoned in a school for the crime of being students, waiting for graduation to finally set them free.

In other words, this woman was saying she wanted to give a four-year-old child a Spartan-style education.

“That may be true… but still…. You should have told me beforehand….”

“My lady. You were the one who trusted me and entrusted Antoine’s discipline entirely to me.”

When Mother showed hesitation, the nanny did not even change her expression. Instead, she tried to shift the blame onto Mother.

Her attitude was basically, You trusted me with him before, so why are you interfering now?

I was so stunned that my mouth fell open.

“Let me make this clear while we are on the subject. Sugar and sweets will only cloud the young master’s mind and corrupt his soul, causing him to grow into a weak boy. Toys are the same. A boy playing with dolls? How disgraceful! If he is to become an excellent soldier or government official someday, he should already be busy memorizing history and ancient languages. My lady, how long do you intend to indulge the young master’s childish behavior?”

“But Antoine is still a child!”

“To raise a child properly, one must educate them. And proper education requires control and the use of the switch when necessary. I have overlooked quite a lot until now because you have treated the young master far too preciously… but this is the result. Good heavens, the young master who will one day inherit the viscounty has become such a spoiled child that he cannot even sleep alone!”

Enough. I couldn’t listen anymore.

“Spoiled?”

Heh.

With a short, incredulous laugh, a firm voice crashed into Madame Severin’s ears like a storm.

“For goodness’ sake, what else is a four-year-old child supposed to do? Act senile? And what are you going to do if a child gets hurt while sleeping alone? Do you have any idea how many children suffocate because they sleep face-down with their faces buried in a pillow? What if he falls out of bed and breaks a bone? We’re lucky it’s warm now. What if it were winter? What if a spark flew out of the fireplace? Huh? What would you do? If something happened to the child, would you take responsibility?”

Drip.

My father, who had been silently watching the situation with a frown while slowly sipping his coffee, let the coffee spill right out of his mouth.

Ugh, that must be hot.

I never thought dealing with unreasonable customers would actually be useful someday.

At my old job, we had seasonal training that included lessons on how to deal with what people commonly called difficult customers.

Every time, the employees acted as if they had been possessed, putting their whole hearts into the performance.

I never thought those memories would come in handy like this.

Though I wasn’t particularly grateful for it.

I sincerely hope you live a long, long life.

“This… This is all for the young master’s sake.”

Madame Severin’s face turned bright red with humiliation as she made one last desperate attempt to defend herself.

Pfft.

I could not hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

Once it started, my laughter quickly turned into an openly mocking roar of laughter.

“Are you laughing at my method of discipline?”

Madame Severin’s breathing grew rough.

“Ah… My stomach hurts…. Nanny, do you really think that? That this is for Antoine? Really?”

“Lady Adelaïde!”

“What do you think Antoine will look like in the future?”

Wiping the tears from the corners of my eyes, I leaned back comfortably against the sofa.

At some point, the corners of my lips had hardened into a cold smile.