I Live With My Villain Uncle - Chapter 29

“Day off?”

 

Mister Green asked, cleared his throat, and looked around.

 

Then, as if to warn him, he said to Russphe.

 

“A guy who might become a crown prince in the future has such a private time? Shouldn’t words come out if you read one more book and train your swordsmanship during this time? Goodness, you’re this vulnerable.”

 

Zenda, Gerard, the palace servants who remained next to us, and even Russphe’s attendant bowed their heads to greet the uncle.

 

Who is that?

 

I opened my eyes wide and looked up.

 

Dark green hair and blue eyes.

 

And the crest on his uniform was a vine.

 

Vine?

 

The crest on the shield with the vines spinning around is said to be the family of the Duke of Notium.

 

So, is that man the Duke of Notium?

 

He wasn’t a bad person, then?

 

Just as Valliot followed the Emperor, Notium was similarly said to be on the Emperor’s side.

 

I heard he was from the maternal side of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor.

 

In any case, it was said their blood was connected to the Imperial Family.

 

So, of course, they’re in agreement with the Duke of Valliot, who succeeded in making His Imperial Majesty the Emperor himself, but before that, their power wasn’t so strong.

 

They said that it was a much older family than the Valliot, and that the Duke was a wise man.

 

I remembered Mom teaching me crests and saying that the Duke of Notium had a lot to admire.

 

I don’t think so, not at all.

 

But still, why would he say something to Russphe?

 

I saw him get scared and step back.

 

Russphe did nothing wrong, but he lowered his head as if he had done something wrong.

 

My friend was scared.

 

I opened my arms wide and blocked him in front of Russphe.

 

“Don’t bully Russphe, Mister!”

 

Then Mister Mustache raised his eyebrows.

 

“Who the hell are you?”

 

“I’m Aika. Aika de Valliot! Then who is Mister Mustache?”

 

“Valliot? You’re Aika de Valliot?”

 

“Yes!”

 

I lifted my chin, still protecting Russphe.

 

I couldn’t see how others were doing.

 

If I lose the eye contact battle, I lose the fight.

 

So I couldn’t see anything else because I was staring at Mister Green Vine Mustache.

 

“Haha. Have you given up on hiding now? Turns out you’re aggressive, brat. My name is Gale. Didn’t your grandfather tell you to be polite when you see an adult?”

 

“He did.”

 

“But you don’t look very good now.”

 

“But the person who bullies a child is a bad person.”

 

Actually, that’s what Mom said. Because Grandpa is Mom’s father!

 

I decided to think so.

 

“This Mister has never bullied you, though?”

 

“You just scared Russphe. You told him he can’t play.”

 

“That was a natural thing to say. He had to become a very big person in the future, that’s why I gave the advice, because he shouldn’t have the slightest flaw. He might be a crown prince, we don’t know.”

 

Hmph, I snorted.

 

What if it’s a crown prince? Is it that great?

 

Russphe was trembling in fear and lowering his head.

 

“My grandpa said that children only need to play and be healthy. Right, Zenda.”

 

“Yes, that’s right.”

 

The Mister jerked his head to the side with his mustache flying.

 

“Be sure to tell the Marquis not to neglect the kid’s education.”

 

Russphe’s attendant lowered his head and said.

 

Come to think of it, when we all met and introduced ourselves earlier, he said his name was Kamaye, right?

 

“Yes, Young Duke. In the meantime, he has been devoting himself to his studies without missing a day. Today, he set aside time for a special appointment, but he didn’t neglect his studies. I will definitely pass on what you said.”

 

(as we all know he’s certainly not ‘young’, the phrase ‘young duke’ actually means the successor of the current duke. so he’s going to be the next duke yada yada)

 

Then the Mister with a mustache sticking out like a gloomy green vine made a disgruntled face.

 

“Valliot brat, you, too, should work hard. Learn that you shouldn’t play together without thinking even if you’re friends.”

 

“Russphe is seven years old, just like me! They said I could study later. If not, I will ask His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!”

 

“What?”

 

“His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!”

 

I’m also friends with His Imperial Majesty the Emperor.

 

His Imperial Majesty the Emperor is the highest-ranking person in Warford, so if I ask him, he’ll scold Mister Mustache too.

 

Thinking to myself, I swelled my chest even more.

 

Mom told me that the Notium family was fine, yet it wasn’t.

 

Where is there a law to bully a child!

 

“And we’ll have fun and later grow up to be much better and cooler people than you!”

 

“No, well, to this extent. Even the temperament and hair are the same as Valliot…”

 

“You seem to have spoken harshly, Young Duke. Take that word away. Otherwise, I have no choice but to report to my master.”

 

Gerard intervened.

 

Then Mister Green Vine Mustache made a puzzled expression.

 

“Ha, yeah. Pretend that it didn’t exist. Tsk, if only His Imperial Majesty was married, there would be no problem. Anyway, don’t waste this precious time.”

 

In the end, pushed by our momentum, the Mister muttered something and left.

 

“Russphe is my friend! You bad mister.”

 

I put my hands on my waist and snorted vigorously.

 

Suddenly, someone hugged me tightly from behind.

 

“Russphe?”

 

When I looked behind in surprise, Russphe was hugging me.

 

“Aika, thanks.”

 

I didn’t know why Russphe was doing this.

 

However, I heard that this wasn’t the first time Mister Mustache has nagged at him.

 

And it wasn’t the Duke of Notium that Mom said!

 

It was added that the Duke of Notium was about to abdicate and was going to pass on the title, so it was the Young Duke who was almost pretending to be the Duke of Notium.

 

That means he hasn’t been the Duke of Notium yet.

 

After it was decided that he was taking over the title, he became very interested in Russphe.

 

Russphe was also afraid of him because he would come over from time to time and nag him as if he kept an eye on him.

 

I understood after listening to Kamaye and Zenda talking next to me.

 

Heh, that Mister Nothing, to my friend.

 

He’s all dead!

 

I turned around and grabbed Russphe’s hand.

 

“Let’s go to the ancient library. Have fun there and become a better person than that Mister Mustache from earlier.”

 

Then Russphe nodded, his head dropping.

 

I came to the ancient library with Russphe.

 

Thanks to Uncle’s advance notice, as soon as I said I wanted to go to the ancient library, Kamaye took us there as if he had promised.

 

I took the key from my pocket.

 

‘A place Mom wanted to show me.’

 

I heard that it was only possible to enter with the permission of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor.

 

I gulped, staring at the locked lock.

 

Then, with Gerard’s help, I lifted myself on tiptoe and opened the lock with the key.

 

Eventually, Gerard pushed with my hand, and the large door opened with a loud, heavy sound.

 

Gerard guarded the outside, then Kamaye and Zenda decided to explore the ancient library with us.

 

“Miss, as you know, you should treat books with care. If there’s a book you would like to read, we will bring it out.”

 

Kamaye bent his knees and met my gaze.

 

I nodded and started exploring the ancient library with Russphe.

 

The windows in the old bookshelf weren’t large, but lanterns were lit at regular intervals.

 

There, the road split into eight branches, and bookshelves stood tall like a huge wall.

 

And instead of continuing all the way to the end of the wall on the other side, the bookshelf was broken in the middle, leaving a hole in the center.

 

The light was coming down in a straight line through the small window at the top, so I felt a sense of mystery.

 

“…Let’s go over there.”

 

I pointed to the center as if possessed.

 

Hearing the sound of Russphe’s footsteps following me, we headed toward the center, examining the old books on the bookshelves one by one.

 

There were some letters I could read, but most were full of unknown letters.

 

It was different from what I thought.

 

I don’t know anything, how can I find that something Mom left here?

 

“Russphe, I’ll look here first. You can read what you want to read!”

 

“I want to read what you read.”

 

“Huh? Alright. Then I’ll pick out a book for you!”

 

“Mm.”