The Female Lead Takes Care of Everything - Chapter 100

At first, Soles didn’t believe it. He had already felt hurt and betrayed by Al and Rubens for taking Rima’s side.

But the more he watched their behavior at the banquet, the more something felt strange.

“It was like they were keeping an eye on her.”

Soles said the thought out loud as if speaking to himself.

There was also a sense of distance. And sometimes, it even felt like they were mocking her.

Rima, however, didn’t seem to notice. In fact, she looked pleased, almost proud of the attention.

“And…”

Soles hesitated.

“I don’t know how to explain it, but…”

After thinking it over for a while, he finally said it.

“She creeped me out.”

“…”

“I don’t mean just because she bullied Nini. That alone makes me hate her. But the way she talks and acts…”

Aref quietly added what Soles couldn’t finish.

“You mean the way she pretends to be a baby?”

“Yes. That.”

Soles answered loudly, then quickly covered his mouth.

“Mmm…”

Nivellia stirred in her sleep. Her eyebrows twitched, and she turned slightly at the sound.

Both boys held their breath and waited without moving.

“…”

Thankfully, soon they could hear her soft, steady breathing again.

Now calm, they lowered their voices even more.

“She’s supposed to be seven. That means she’s a year older than Leticia.”

And yet she claimed she couldn’t go up the stairs on her own.

But she clearly walked just fine. They had both seen her running during the treasure hunt.

What stood out most, though, was how she talked.

“She speaks worse than Nini.”

“She’s pretending.”

“I know. I saw her yelling at her father.”

When they first met her, she had mumbled and lisped. But when she was angry and shouting that she was being treated unfairly, her speech was perfectly clear.

“What was she like in the orphanage?”

“She was terrible,” Aref said.

“But now she’s even stranger.”

“Ugh…”

Soles ran both hands down his face and let out a long sigh.

Why does a scary kid like that have to live right next door?

Of course, Rima would never be allowed to set foot in the Deiamor estate again. Caleo was furious after what happened earlier that day.

Celletina was just as upset.

She might have looked calmer compared to Caleo, but Soles actually found her silent anger even scarier.

“What are Al and Rubens thinking? Why are they still keeping her around?”

“It looked like they were trying to figure something out.”

“Figure out what?”

Aref pulled the blanket up to his chin and spoke quietly.

“I don’t know exactly…”

But it felt like Rima was hiding something important.

And until they found out what it was, Al and Rubens were going to keep her close.

“…”

Soles stayed silent, thinking hard. Then something came to mind.

“Could it be that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure if I should say it…”

Soles hesitated, then leaned in and told Aref this was a real secret, and he shouldn’t repeat it anywhere else.

Aref held out his pinky finger to promise.

The two boys linked fingers.

“I was actually surprised when I saw her hair.”

“Rima’s?”

“Yes. It’s pink.”

Soles lowered his voice.

“The Duchess of De Gladius and her daughter have pink hair too. Not exactly the same color, but very close.”

“Duke De Gladius has a wife and daughter?”

Aref’s eyes grew wide. This was the first he had heard of it.

“Of course he does.”

Soles continued.

“Well, not anymore…”

Late at night

“Oh my…”

Della offered a cup of warm water to Ardores, who had come to visit her at this late hour.

She listened to the story of the birthday banquet that Ardores shared and sighed with concern.

“Lady Nini must have been so upset. You only turn five once.”

“She didn’t show it, but I’m sure it hurt her deeply.”

“Would it be alright if I visited her tomorrow?”

“That would mean a lot. You know how fond Nini is of you.”

Della smiled softly, as if honored.

“But still, is this how you treat a guest?”

Ardores grumbled while eyeing the plain water.

“But the teacup is the most expensive one we own.”

Della explained why she had served him warm water.

“Lady Muniel left strict instructions. She said you haven’t been sleeping well lately and told me not to give you tea or alcohol.”

“Sigh…”

That woman again.

Ardores let out a long breath and drank the warm water like a machine.

“You two really do love each other.”

“Enjoy the sight while you can. I feel like I’m dying.”

“Oh no, don’t say things like that. Lady Muniel is still very popular, you know. If you two ever got divorced, young men would be lining up to propose to her.”

“That’s why I’m keeping both eyes wide open and staying right by her side.”

“Ahaha.”

Della laughed cheerfully, but then her smile quickly faded.

“So what are you going to do next?”

Recently, her intelligence network had almost suffered major damage because of Rima.

That clever child had committed a crime so dangerous, it threatened the stability of the entire empire.

She had nearly caused the collapse of the largest bank in the empire.

In the middle of winter, she had almost caused dozens, maybe hundreds, to freeze to death.

“If it weren’t for Lady Muniel’s instructions, we wouldn’t have made it out of the investigation unharmed. But honestly, I’m scared. What is that child?”

“They say she came from another world.”

Ardores replied calmly.

“You mean she’s a monster?”

“Muniel said she’s not sure yet.”

“She’s not sure…?”

“But after what happened today, I think she’s starting to figure it out.”

A heavy silence settled between them.

They both became lost in their own thoughts.

Della was thinking about how Rima might act from now on, and how her information network would need to respond.

Ardores, on the other hand, simply stared at Della with a neutral expression.

“The Empress…”

He finally spoke, slowly.

“The Empress gave the forest of Lustria to the children.”

“I heard. She suspects Aref might be her nephew.”

“Doesn’t he look just like him?”

“Yes.”

That bright blond hair and sharp expression.

He looked exactly like the missing daughter of the De Gladius family.

“I thought you sent him on purpose, to be noticed.”

“Partly.”

“Why?”

“Because now the imperial family will have to reopen the search for the missing De Gladius heiress. And when that happens, we will tell them which orphanage Aref came from.”

“And what will that achieve?”

At that, Ardores spoke without hesitation.

“You know why the heiress disappeared, don’t you?”

“Yes. The Empress was against the man she loved.”

That was why the De Gladius heiress and her lover had run away together. Muniel and Ardores had helped them.

They settled far from the eyes of the palace and built a family. Years later, they had a child.

That child was Aref.

In other words, the heiress had been alive and well.

But five years ago, the family vanished.

Aref was finally found last year at an orphanage and brought back, but his parents have still not been found.

Della’s eyes grew wide as the pieces began to connect.

She covered her mouth with both hands, shocked.

“Don’t tell me… that too?”

“Muniel suspects that strange thing is the cause of all this. And honestly, there’s plenty of reason to believe it.”

Even the curse placed on Magia 180 years ago had changed.

Even the identity of the dragon that cast the curse had shifted.

“That thing has the power to twist not only the present, but also the past and everything we believed to be true. And if it really is the one behind all of this, then it might also be the only one who knows how to fix it.”

“…”

“That’s why we can’t just kill it.”

“Yes… I see.”

Della agreed quietly.

If that was true, then the Duchess and daughter of De Gladius…

Her thoughts became tangled.

She sincerely wished for their safety and happiness, but part of her still wanted to deny everything that had happened.

If Rima truly was…

If that unknown being was behind it all…

Then it wasn’t human.

Aref had never treated Rima like a human either. He always referred to her as that strange thing.

But Della understood how Ardores felt.

Whether Rima was human or not, today she had committed a grave offense against the Deiamor family.

“Oh, by the way.”

Trying to lighten the mood, Della brought up something she had nearly forgotten.

“The poisonous mushroom you and the Tower Master sold to me earlier, I passed it on to Philia Tere.”

“That must have been a hassle.”

“Not at all. But why did you ask us to make both poison and antidote in the first place?”

“Because the family has grown stronger. We should have a few weapons prepared.”

That was all there was to it, Ardores said with a shrug.

A few days later

A letter arrived from the De Gladius family.

It included an official apology for what had happened during Nivellia’s birthday celebration. It also asked for leniency toward Rima, reminding them that she was still just a child.

Before writing a reply, Caleo called for Nivellia.

She entered the office in tiny, quick steps, her soft white hair tied in two fluffy bunches like rabbit ears.

“Rima sent you a letter saying she’s sorry.”

The moment Nivellia heard Rima’s name, the smile on her face disappeared.

Then she said firmly,

“That’s a lie.”

“Yes, it is a lie.”

Caleo agreed without hesitation.

“But the De Gladius family did send you a formal letter of apology.”

“Al and Rubens didn’t do anything wrong to me.”

“Even so, they had to apologize because she’s someone they sponsor.”

“…Then do I have to forgive her?”

“No.”

Caleo answered gently that she didn’t have to.

Nivellia let out a relieved sigh.

“She’s not allowed to come back to our house, right? Daddy said so.”

“That’s right.”

“But Al and Rubens didn’t do anything bad, so I can still be nice to them?”

“Yes.”

Nivellia tapped her chest twice with her tiny clenched fist.

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