Chapter 2
In the novel <From an Illegitimate Child to the Family Head>, Ruchella failed to raise Lucian properly.
She ran away because she had no confidence in raising such a wild child. She abandoned him to escape the exhausting burden of childcare and find her own life.
That was just how troublesome Lucian was.
If Duke Bellomon had acted like a proper father, things might have been different. But he was always away because of work. At most, he came home four times a year.
Because of that, he never even knew that the protagonist, Edwin, was being bullied by Lucian.
After the only person who had ever been on his side abandoned him, Lucian became even more twisted.
Come to think of it, it’s ridiculous. Did they think children would just grow up on their own after being born?
Lucian was the child of a woman the Duke never loved, so perhaps that explained his neglect.
But at the very least, the Duke should have taken proper care of Edwin. Edwin was the child born to the Duke’s lover.
Edwin had even lived in an orphanage until the Duke came to take him.
At this point, it’s not neglect. It’s abuse.
Thinking about the Duke’s room, which would surely be empty again today, I ground my teeth.
But what mattered most to me right now wasn’t the Duke’s fatherly love.
In the original story, Ruchella runs away when Lucian turns seven.
But I would never run away.
No matter how troublesome Lucian was…
No matter how much he tormented me with his pranks…
Please protect my child.
Lucian was the child of my beloved older sister.
When I remembered all the love my sister had given me, I felt like I could even endure Lucian pulling my hair.
But I can’t raise him into the kind of child who actually pulls people’s hair.
I would never leave Lucian’s side.
Still, it would make raising him much easier if he grew into a gentle person.
Besides, if Lucian becomes kinder, he won’t end up making an enemy of the protagonist.
And it wasn’t just the protagonist.
Because of his violent personality, Lucian clashed with many people.
That meant if he became a good child, he wouldn’t make enemies, nor would he die at the hands of the protagonist after Edwin became Duke.
So first…
I had to fix Lucian’s unruly personality.
“…Ptoo.”
…First of all, I needed to teach him that putting salt into his aunt’s tea was wrong.
“Aunt, you’re so dumb! What were you thinking? You didn’t even notice me putting salt in your tea!”
Lucian held his stomach and laughed hysterically as he watched me accidentally drink the salty tea.
I was too busy figuring out how to save your life, you little brat!
I desperately wanted to say that…
“Lucian. Sit down.”
I called him in a calm voice.
“The tiger that summons lightning! Grrr!”
But Lucian pretended not to hear me and continued playing with his tiger toy.
“Lucian Bellomon.”
“…Tch.”
The moment I called him by his full name, he reluctantly sat down.
At least he could read the room.
“Putting salt in your aunt’s tea… You mustn’t play pranks like that.”
“But you weren’t looking at me because you were thinking about something else.”
“Then you should’ve called me. Or at least tugged on my clothes.”
Lucian pouted.
“That’s not fun.”
“You can’t bully other people just because you think it’s fun.”
I bent down so our eyes were level.
His golden eyes looked exactly like mine… and my sister’s.
“Think about yesterday. Because you covered the room with flour, I slipped and hit my head. I could’ve been seriously hurt.”
“Ah, but that was really funny!”
“Laughing when someone gets hurt is a very bad thing.”
“…”
“Aunt was really sad. I was hurting, but you just stood there laughing.”
Until now, all I had done was scold Lucian whenever he misbehaved.
Of course, children deserved to be scolded when they did something wrong…
But besides me, no one in this mansion could scold Lucian.
The servants and retainers were all far beneath him in status.
None of them could freely discipline the young master of House Bellomon.
It would’ve been nice if the Duke had raised his son properly.
Sadly, the man who was supposed to be Lucian’s father was almost never home.
Which meant…
I was the only one who could discipline him.
So whenever Lucian did something wrong, I had always been the one to scold him.
But after remembering the contents of the novel yesterday…
I realized something.
Scolding alone would never work on Lucian.
If anything, it only made him more rebellious.
Then I’ll have to change my approach.
Instead of simply scolding him…
I needed to explain why his actions were wrong.
So he wouldn’t become rebellious for no reason.
So he would understand why hurting others was wrong.
“…You were sad?”
“Yes. Aunt was in so much pain, but you were happy because I was hurting.”
Perhaps my new approach was working.
Lucian carefully watched my expression.
Usually, whenever I scolded him, he’d simply snort and ignore me.
“If you’re feeling bad, how would you feel if Aunt stood next to you laughing?”
“I’d be annoyed.”
“Right? If you understand that feeling, then you shouldn’t play pranks that make other people suffer.”
“But I like fun things…”
Of course, it wouldn’t be easy.
His mischievous nature had been with him his entire life.
He couldn’t change overnight.
Still…
If I kept trying, he would change.
“Even so, let’s try to hold back a little. You don’t live alone in this world. If you want fun, Aunt will buy you more toys.”
“…Okay.”
Seeing six-year-old Lucian obediently nod for the first time in his life filled me with joy.
If he keeps growing like this, maybe he really won’t become a villain.
That peaceful hope…
Didn’t even last three days.
“Ahhh!”
A scream suddenly echoed through the mansion.
The servants and I hurried toward the source of the noise.
It came from the middle of the hallway.
Standing there with both hands covering his face was Baron Chernin, one of House Bellomon’s retainers.
“Baron Chernin? What are you doing here?”
Did he see a bug?
Looking around, I cautiously asked,
“I heard someone scream. Did something happen…?”
The Baron slowly lowered his hands.
The moment I saw his face…
I couldn’t speak.
“Y-Your beard…?”
The beard that had once reached his chest had become much shorter.
Worse…
It looked as though rats had chewed through the ends.
“What else could it be?”
Bang!
The Baron slammed his fist into the wall.
“I was looking over documents in the meeting room and dozed off for a moment. When I opened my eyes… Young Master Lucian was standing beside me.”
“…”
“And he was holding a pair of scissors.”
I didn’t even need to hear the rest.
Lucian had done it.
“I’m terribly sorry, Baron.”
I knew better than anyone how much Baron Chernin treasured his beard.
“I have no excuse.”
Knowing that made it impossible to even lift my head.
“Forget the apology! My beard isn’t going to grow back just because you said sorry!”
“…”
“Just make sure Young Master Lucian never does something like this again!”
“Yes. I’ll make sure to scold him properly.”
“Though we both know scolding won’t make him listen.”
It was an incredibly rude thing to say about the future heir of the Duke’s house.
Yet I couldn’t argue.
Because everything he said was true.
I thought he was finally starting to understand me!
After bowing to the Baron several more times…
I headed straight for Lucian’s room.
“Lucian!”
I threw the door open.
Lucian was sitting on the floor.
“Whyyy?”
He turned toward me.
Good grief…
The moment I saw his cheerful face…
I was speechless.
Baron Chernin’s beard…
Was now attached to Lucian’s chin.
After staring blankly for a moment, I glared at him.
“It’s only been a few days since we talked, and you’ve already caused another disaster!”
With one hand on my hip, I shouted.
But Lucian remained as cheerful as ever.
“I wanted a beard too, but mine won’t grow. So I cut one off! I wanted to stick it on my face!”
He stroked the beard exactly like Baron Chernin and cleared his throat proudly.
Naturally…
He had none of the Baron’s dignity.
“Didn’t Aunt tell you before? You must never play pranks that hurt other people’s feelings.”
“If I cut off Baron Chernin’s beard… does that really hurt his feelings?”
“Of course! He treasures his beard so much. If someone stole your favorite thing, would you be happy?”
That example seemed to hit home.
Lucian frowned.
“Absolutely not! What’s mine belongs only to me! Nobody else can have it!”
Greed.
Possessiveness.
Those were the biggest reasons Lucian would eventually become enemies with the protagonist, Edwin.
Lucian had always been extremely possessive of what belonged to him.
How could he not be furious when the father who had never paid attention to him suddenly gave all his affection to Edwin, a newcomer?
And on top of that…
The dukedom that should’ve been his was about to be taken away.
Anyone would lose their mind.
“See? You’d hate it if someone took your things. So why do you touch other people’s things without permission? Besides, a beard isn’t even an object.”
“But I was booored!”
Lucian proudly lifted his chin.
“You said you’d buy me lots of toys.”
“I already have too many toys. They’re boring.”
“Then let’s have a sword fight with Aunt.”
“Aunt is too slow. I don’t want to sword fight a turtle.”
“…”
“Everything here is boring. It’s all boring!”
He stomped his feet while shouting.
Then suddenly…
He flopped onto the floor.
“Why won’t you let me do fun things?!”
“Cutting off someone’s beard isn’t fun. It’s something very bad.”
“I hate you, Aunt!”
I could say the same about you, Lucian.
You had no idea how hard I was trying to raise you into a good person.
But I couldn’t say something like that to a child.
“Even if you hate me, you still have to apologize to Baron Chernin. Tell him you won’t ever do something like that again.”
“No! I won’t apologize! And I’ll do it again!”
“Lucian!”
I shouted sharply.
But he ignored me completely.
Still lying on the floor, he began rolling around.
“You said you were on my side! You said you’d love me no matter what! Then why aren’t you taking my side? Why are you always scolding me?”
“I’m scolding you because I love you. I don’t want you to grow into a bad child.”
“If you love me, you shouldn’t scold me! You should love me no matter what I do!”
“I can’t do that.”
“I hate you, Aunt! I hate you more than anyone in the whole world!”
