I Live With My Villain Uncle

“I don’t think Uncle will let me go.”

My shoulders drooped and I didn’t even think about eating.

Zenda bent her back and tilted her head, then she met her eyes with mine.

“Then, shall I go and ask a little question?”

“Zenda…? What if you get in trouble?”

I shook my head.

“To be honest, I felt very empty during the half-day without the Miss. I thought it was good because you were going back to a bigger and better place, but I felt really empty. I think I have grown very attached to you for several days without even realizing it.”

“I like Zenda, too.”

I felt good as she seemed to think the same way as I did.

Zenda put her hands on her legs and made a somewhat grim expression.

“Even though I don’t have much strength, I will protect her with all my might. I’ll try to block as many places as possible that the Miss doesn’t want to go to. Wherever you want to go, I will beg him as much as I can.”

“But I don’t want Zenda to be scolded.”

“I’ll try to tell him well so I don’t get scolded. Would it be alright, then??”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

It was very reassuring to hear that Zenda was on my side.

As that thought struck me, another flashed through my mind.

Then if everyone else is on my side…?

So if Uncle tries to scold me or send me off again, won’t they stop me?

What if Chef Grandma, Zenda, and everyone else block him?

As I thought about it, a smile spread across my face.

“Zenda.”

“Yes?”

“I want to have others on my side, just like Zenda.”

“Are you trying to convince them so that I won’t get in trouble?”

Zenda said with a laugh.

Her smile grew even wider as I nodded eagerly.

“Then leave Gerard to me.”

“Gerard?”

“We’re like siblings. It’s not bloody, of course… It’s because we came from the same orphanage.”

Zenda said that she and Gerard were from the same orphanage, and Gerard was so good at swordsmanship even at a young age that Grandpa, who sponsored the orphanage, took notice and brought him to Valliot.

And as soon as he finished his adaptation, Gerard came to pick up Zenda, then when she became an adult, she had nowhere else to go, so she came along without hesitation.

After that, Uncle came out to live separately, and Gerard and Zenda came to this mansion together.

“Zenda, Gerard…”

(in the raws they actually have the same initial: Jenda and Jerard)

“All the children who came in the same year had the same first letter, so sometimes we were mistaken for real siblings.”

“I see. Zenda, Gerard. It’s for real… Even geranium flowers! Everything is pretty and nice, isn’t it! That’s why Zenda and Gerard are pretty and cool.”

She paused for a moment, then smiled.

“It really is. I didn’t know.”

Talking to Zenda reminded me of a good way to get everyone on my side.

“Zenda, lend me an ear.”

“Like this?”

I put my hands together and whispered in her ear.

She laughed out loud.

“Then now, since we have to do the side-making operation, shall we eat? I think the soup will be cold.”

With those words, I naturally had a fork and spoon in my hands.

***

Kassel was enjoying the peace that had come after a few days.

She lived in his house, so he pondered how many days he should sleep with his door hanging.

The little thing has such good stamina, she runs around and gasps, and when she’s tired, she collapses, then whenever she wakes up, she’s always back in place.

He didn’t even see her today.

Thinking that it was a little too much, he quickly erased the thought from his head.

There was nothing new about her because she was that kind of brat.

He returned from work and walked down the hallway, but the atmosphere in the house was different from usual.

The servants seemed to be smiling all the time, yet somehow they were mushy, giving a strong sense of sweetness.

The sweet scent that was from that child was flying away around those dark things.

‘What is this unpleasant feeling?’

However, the reason was soon discovered.

Every servant passing by and greeting him had a red flower attached to their left chest.

It looked like a brooch made of soft lace fabric, and as if it was quite precious, the servants often stroked the flower and smiled.

Today, he couldn’t see his niece, and the attendants were grinning as if they were warmed.

Everyone seemed to know the reason, yet he was the only one who didn’t, so it was only natural that his nerves were scratched.

It was then.

Aika was running from the end of the hallway with small, noisy footsteps.

With something red in her hands.

Her dark hair tied in pigtails fluttered whenever the child stamped her foot.

Of course it was like that.

Kassel pressed down on his temple, pretending to be troubled.

“Hello, Uncle! Did you get home safely?”

“I told you to stay calm.”

“I’m bust! Hello, Gerard. Gerard, this!”

Aika, who was greeting them, passed Kassel and stood tall in front of Gerard.

She took a deep breath and abruptly held out the red flower she was holding in her arms to Gerard.

It was a flower made of lace that was found on the servants’ chest as they passed by.

The reason was here.

Flowers soon bloomed on Gerard’s face as well.

“Good day, Miss. Are you giving it to me?”

“Yes, it’s a present! You can put it here. I even prayed to the flowers for Gerard’s good luck!”

Aika proudly said, patting one side of her chest.

“Thank you. I will cherish it.”

Aika’s face brightened as Gerard bent his knee to greet her in a gesture of loyalty.

Eventually, Aika looked up at Kassel.

If you’re going to give it, give it quickly and go. Look at it again.

Thinking that he would be less whiny if he roughly received it and pretended to put it on, Kassel held out his hand.

Then Aika was startled and took a step behind.

“Uncle, I’m sorry! I won’t disturb you anymore!”

Then she turned around and disappeared like a bolt.

Kassel’s eyebrows rose crookedly, without knowing that they were high in the sky.

At most, his outstretched hand was empty.

What’s wrong with me?

Kassel quickly turned around.

It was Gerard, who was nervous about the atmosphere that had suddenly turned bad.

Kassel’s lips twitched.

“You like it so much?”

Gerard lowered his head at the disapproving voice.

“…Yes, I really likeㅡno.”

At the same time as his honest answer, the surrounding temperature dropped by about 3 degrees.

“Yeah. Do it a lot.”

Kassel quickly disappeared on his way back.

“…Ah.”

Actually, Zenda told him to make His Grace feel better today, but it was a big problem.

Sensing a bleak future ahead, Gerard scratched the back of his head roughly and hurriedly followed him.

After that, the number of servants with red flowers hanging from their chests increased before Kassel’s eyes.

By evening, however, Kassel’s chest was empty.

After the evening passed quite a while.

Aika, who met him at dinner after making the problem, was so innocent as if she didn’t know anything.

His expectations, which was only a handful left, were shattered terribly.

***

“Whoa, what is this?”

As soon as I entered the dining room, I noticed a tree towering in the middle of the table.

The fries were like winter trees stuck together like snowflakes.

“It’s a fried food with root vegetables attached. In return for the flower brooch the Miss gave me. Would you like to try it?”

Grandma Sophie, the chef, snapped one of the eggplants and held it out to me.

“Can I really eat it? If I add fruit to this, I think it will look like a Christmas tree!”

I put the fried root vegetables Grandma Sophie had handed me to my mouth.

Crispy on the outside, crunchy on the inside.

The outside was savory and salty like sprinkled salt, yet the inside was warm and sweet.

It was an exciting taste that made my nostrils enlarge.

“It’s delicious!”

How can it be so delicious even though it’s not meat!

“Next time, shall we use fruits and leafy vegetables to make a tree?”

“Yes!”

“Anyway, it’s noisy. Sophie, don’t get involved with her.”

Meanwhile, Uncle entered the dining room.