The Female Lead Takes Care of Everything - Chapter 69

“The Demon King makes people fight each other and he enjoys it. He’s a pervert.”

Nivellia, who had once witnessed the Demon King’s power with her own eyes, scowled deeply.

“But Grandma defeated him. So, he’s gone now.”

“Yeah. Grandmother Muniel got rid of him,” Leticia nodded.

“But our Nini even knows all about the Demon King. You’re so smart!”

Then, as if trying to spook her, Leticia lowered her voice to a creepy whisper.

“If you’re too smart, the government comes to take you away. They make you study and work every day.”

“……”

“And they don’t even pay you for it.”

“Eek! That’s scary!”

Nivellia shook her head furiously, horrified.

Unpaid labor was scarier than the Demon King.

Anyway, Leticia’s fairy tale narration continued.

“The prince and the princess defeat the Demon King with the power of love, then promise each other eternal love with a kiss, and live happily ever after.”

“The power of love?” Aref tilted his head.

They beat the Demon King not with swordsmanship or magic—but love?

“……”

When Aref looked totally lost, Leticia giggled.

“Aref, you’re still a baby.”

“I—I’m eight years old!” Aref shot back, offended.

“Oh, really?” Leticia widened her eyes in surprise.

“I thought you were six, just like me!”

“I—I may be small now, but I’ll grow soon!”

Aref mumbled, suddenly feeling self-conscious about being smaller than other kids his age.

“My hands and feet are big. They say if your feet are big, you’ll grow tall later.”

“Ohh, is that so?”

Truthfully, Leticia didn’t care much about Aref’s future height.

But she was very interested in the concept of love, so she eagerly continued explaining.

“The power of love means the prince and princess have deep, heartfelt feelings for each other. That warmth melted the Demon King’s cold heart—until he died!”

Leticia was usually composed and mature, but when it came to love stories, she got more passionate than anyone.

Aref was a little scared of this side of her.

On the other hand, Nivellia listened with sparkling eyes.

“Grandma loves Grandpa too!”

She made a mental note to ask Muniel later if she had defeated the Demon King with the power of love—because Nivellia hadn’t been alive back then.

“Hey, Leti.”

Nivellia asked, “What’s this? A kiss?”

“Oh, you mean the kiss where they promise eternal love?” Leticia praised the question.

“The prince and princess make a vow to love each other in this life, and even after they’re reborn. That kiss seals the promise.”

“So it’s a kiss, right?”

“No, it’s not the same!”

Leticia pointed at her cheek with her finger.

“A kiss on the cheek is just a kiss.”

Then she pointed to her lips.

“But a kiss on the lips—that’s called a ‘true kiss.’”

“It’s different? Isn’t it all just mouth-touching stuff?”

“No! Kissing on the lips is something only people in love can do.”

“Have you done it, Leti?”

“Unfortunately, no. I don’t have someone I love yet.”

Is this really how kids talk?
From a distance, Deter and the maids watching the scene all had the same thought.

They sneaked a glance at Leticia’s personal maid.

She just watched with a resigned expression, as if to say, there she goes again…

“But they say it feels like cotton candy and floating through the sky.”

“Ooooh…”

Nivellia’s eyes sparkled.

Then, she stood up from her seat.

“My big sister said she tried it once. But instead of cotton candy…”

As Leticia was rambling on, her gaze naturally followed Nivellia.

Nivellia had walked right up to Aref.

“Aref!”

“Yes?”

“Let’s do it too!”

“…Huh?”

Before he could even ask what, something soft pressed against his lips.

Something warm and tender.

It smelled sweet—like chocolate cookies and fresh milk—and her tiny hands cupped his face tightly.

Nivellia kissed him.

“…!”

The moment Aref realized what had happened, his red eyes widened like they might pop out of his head.

“Mm—mmpf!”

Aref, completely shocked, tried to stumble backward in panic.

But Nivellia wasn’t having it. With determined hands, she grabbed his face again and leaned in, aiming for his lips once more.

Her blue eyes blazed with a fierce resolve that said, I will never let you go—and the intensity made Aref shut his eyes tightly on reflex.

“Kyaaa!”

Leticia let out a cheer in Aref’s place.

“It’s the kiss of eternal love!”

When you have a daughter, your worries never end.

The biggest one? Some strange, unknown boy lurking around her.

“Sigh…”

Caleo, until just a few moments ago, was exactly that kind of father—filled with those classic worries.

But now, it seemed he had a different one.

With a grim face, he looked at his daughter and at the boy whose lips had just been stolen by her.

Both of them had flushed, slightly swollen lips.

How am I even supposed to scold them for this?

It was obvious Nivellia and Aref liked each other.

Nivellia, especially, was smiling like she’d just won a battle—and had absolutely no shame about it.

Even Aref, though blushing deeply, didn’t look upset.

No… this isn’t something I should be judging.

So, Caleo decided to talk to Aref privately.

“Aref.”

He tried to speak in the gentlest, most serious tone possible. Otherwise, the absurdity of the moment might’ve made him laugh out loud.

The last time he’d tried this hard to steady his voice was when he confessed to Celletina.

“Are you okay?”

“……”

Aref lowered his blushing face, too embarrassed to respond.

“If you didn’t like it, you’re allowed to say so.”

“……”

“No matter how much Nini likes you, what she did just now wasn’t right. Even when people like each other, they can’t just kiss out of nowhere. You need permission.”

“…But…”

Aref’s voice trembled with emotion, his words barely above a whisper.

Caleo leaned in closer, quieting even his breathing to hear.

“But… I’m supposed to be the older one…”

At last, big, teary drops began rolling down Aref’s red eyes.

As a father of the offending daughter, Caleo gently pulled Aref into a hug and offered an apology on her behalf.

“Aref, I’m really sorr—”

“I should’ve gone first!”

“…So it’s not that you didn’t want it, huh?” Caleo quickly redirected the conversation.

Aref lifted his head again and shouted, clearly frustrated.

“The prince is supposed to kiss first! Right?!”

His tear-filled eyes looked to Caleo for validation.

“My boy, these days there’s no rule about who has to go first. That’s an old-fashioned idea. Girls can make the first move too. Look at the women in my family.”

Not a single one of them is what you’d call ‘ordinary’…

Caleo tried to soothe the sniffling Aref, making it clear he’d have to get used to that kind of boldness.

There wasn’t a man in the entire Deiamor household who could win against the women.

“But she always gets to do the cool stuff, and—hic—I’m just…”

“Nini is pretty cool. She takes after me.”

“Nini’s more like Lady Muniel and also a bit like Lady Celletina.”

“Wow. Look at us, having such a deep talk now.”

After some effort, Caleo managed to calm Aref down and brought him back to the room.

But Nivellia, who had been eavesdropping with her ear pressed to the door, bolted away as soon as they arrived.

Caleo, looking more drained than ever, called her back with a silent wave.

Nivellia, sensing her doom, shuffled back over slowly, clearly expecting to be scolded.

“Nivellia.”

Caleo’s voice was firm.

“From now on, if you want to kiss Aref—”

“It wasn’t a kiss. It was a true kiss.”

“…Whatever it was.”

You have to ask him first. Got it?

He waited for her reply.

But Nivellia didn’t answer. Instead, she stuck her lower lip out in a pout, her expression full of sulky defiance.

There wasn’t even a hint of remorse in her face.

“Nivellia.”

He said her name again, more sternly this time.

“…Hnnngh.”

This time, her blue eyes welled up with tears. She gripped the hem of her dress in both fists, scrunching her face.

“No! I don’t want to!”

“Nivellia!”

“I will! I want to kiss Aref!”

“No—what I mean is, just ask him first—”

“I love Aref! And we’re going to get married! And have ten babies!”

“You think having kids is easy?! Ten’s way too many! And you’re four! You can’t say that in front of your dad! I’m not ready to send you off to get married—!”

Now Caleo was on the verge of tears too.

Just then—

“My lady.”

Aref wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and spoke.

“Um… from now on… please tell me when you want to kiss me.”

“Hnnngh…”

“Then I’ll do it first next time! Please let me be the one to do it! I want to kiss you too!”

“It’s called a true kiss!”

“O-okay, that too!”

“Then do it right now!”

Nivellia opened her arms.

Aref opened his too.

The two children hugged each other tightly, and gave a loud smooch right on the lips.

“……”

Caleo, watching it all unfold, turned pale—as if his soul had just left his body.

He was nothing more than emotional ashes.

The “kiss incident” between Nivellia and Aref spread like wildfire.

“Soles should’ve seen it too! It was so cool! Nini was super bold, and Aref was like a delicate princess…!”

Leticia was mostly to blame, she told the story everywhere she went.

Baron Preto tried to silence his daughter afterward, but it was far too late.

The story that the young lady of House Deiamor had stolen Aref’s first kiss was now common knowledge.

It wasn’t just gossip anymore, it had become fact.

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