Became the Villainess’s Guardian

In the weeks following my agreement with Lord Norton, I lived a hectic life.

Establishing a new production line for basic daily necessity magic tools, employing those who had recently lost their jobs, handling the necessary paperwork, setting up the administrative system, and even advertising.
After completing these tasks that inevitably kept me out late, I finally returned home while the sun had not yet fully set, utterly drained.

“You’re home early today.”

“Ah, I’ve finished the urgent matters. Just a few more days of perseverance.”

“You must be exhausted. I went ahead and had dinner since I thought you’d be late again, but shall I prepare yours now?”

“No, no need. I’ll take care of it myself.”

After waving my hand dismissively, I flopped onto the sofa.
Having no energy to get up, I remained sprawled there for a while when Freugne gently approached and sat beside my head.

“Something on your mind?”

“Not really. I just wanted to stay like this for a bit.”

Freugne then began recounting her day at school and what subjects she had studied.
As I listened silently, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

It seemed I needed to adjust my parenting approach.
How neglectful must I have been for her to worry about being abandoned like the children from the other orphanages?

Viewed through that lens, her eyes gazing at me as if seeking praise appeared somewhat different.

Perhaps Freugne was appealing to prove her usefulness out of fear of being discarded.
That was more akin to the relationship between a sponsor and beneficiary than an ordinary parent-child dynamic. A rigid relationship of demonstrating contractual fulfillment rather than seeking attention out of affection.

‘Have I been lacking in emotional connection?’

Come to think of it, Freugne was gradually entering that sensitive phase of puberty brimming with emotional turmoil.

I had fed her, put her to bed, sent her to school, even helped with her magic studies on weekends, so from my perspective, I had done everything.
But perhaps the busyness of the recent panic had prevented me from devoting sufficient attention, understandably causing her unease.

“Come here.”

“Heheh……”

I gently patted Freugne’s head, and a conviction arose within me.

‘I cannot remain idle like this.’

If I were to hear words like ‘I never saw you as a father’ later on, it would undoubtedly shatter me.
Of course, I would still love her even as an unruly daughter, but what use would that be if Freugne did not perceive it as such?

I decided to once again seek counsel from the experienced father, Professor Magni.

After laying out his beloved chocolate cookies, I poured out the recent events and asked for advice.
Midway, it devolved into a contest of boasting about how adorable and intelligent our respective daughters were, but after deftly steering the conversation back on track, the professor pondered for a moment before responding.

“How well do you know Freugne?”

“I’d say I know most things. What she’s studying at school, how she spends her allowance, her height, and so on.”

“And what about her private life?”

“Well, Freugne is no simpleton, so I’m sure she’s handling it just fine. I figured I should just support her studies from the sidelines-”

“That’s not what I mean. Isn’t that no different from before you took her in as an adopted daughter?”

“Huh?”

“She may bear the name of daughter, but if you’re merely sponsoring her expenses like before, wouldn’t the child feel insecure? Wouldn’t she occasionally doubt whether she’s truly become a daughter? Have you ever properly reassured her of that?”

“We go on outings almost every weekend. Though the recent exhibition didn’t end too well, we did visit it.”

But it seemed my response still did not satisfy Professor Magni’s inquiry.
While I had been spending time together as before, there had been no real change from before and after her adopted daughter status, apart from the official government records.

“Nothing else?”

“……”

“Even if it appears intrusive, take an interest in her private life, listen to her worries. Those kinds of things.”

Now that I thought about it, I didn’t know what Freugne enjoyed.
I had simply assumed she liked whatever snacks I brought home, willingly followed wherever I decided to go for outings, and displayed no dislike for magic studies, so I had taken those for granted.

It seemed I had been somewhat negligent in that regard since Freugne was growing up so well on her own.
While I had treated her as a somewhat mature adult due to her precociousness uncommon for her age, that might have been the problem.

When I had been shot before, Freugne had been unable to cry sorrowfully.
Although she hadn’t directly said so, from the way she had continued worrying and hovering nearby, it seemed she had felt partially responsible for obstructing me.

“Then what should I do first?”

“That’s for you to figure out. Find out what she plans to do when she grows up, if she’s facing any difficulties lately, if she has a boyfriend, and assess the situation yourself. Wouldn’t you know better than me what to ask Freugne?”

“…I suppose so.”

Instead of further inquiries, I returned home and created a list of conversation topics for the ‘Getting Closer to Freugne’ project.
Having taken a day off from the Martop to meet with Professor Magni, I had ample time. Thanks to that, I was able to complete it before Freugne returned from school.

Crack

“All done.”

This should bring about some change, at least.

After the shocking Black Everyday, the stock market had entered a lull.
Following Freugne’s instructions, Lord Norton had gobbled up all the discounted properties, while also wielding the charitable foundation to provide economic life support, of sorts.

While not entirely normal, like having dismembered limbs and a heart shoved to the opposite side, it had at least avoided the level of devastation Freugne had initially foreseen.

Having neatly resolved the situation like running a strategic simulation game, Freugne returned to school with a satisfied expression.

“As of yesterday, the northern and southern railways have resumed operations. Apparently some investment firm acquired and is running them in place.”

“At least people can return to their hometowns now.”

“Say, have you found a new job yet?”

“At the Edan Foundation, was it? I managed to get one of the positions they arranged. The pay isn’t as good as before, but in times like these, I should be grateful.”

Of course, as this world was no fairy tale, not all problems could be resolved in one fell swoop, but she had done her best.
And from the conversations I overheard on the way, it seemed her actions had not been entirely meaningless.

As Freugne set down her bag and took her seat, Erine approached and asked:

“What did you do over the weekend?”

“Me? I, umm…”

Freugne trailed off.

Unable to honestly admit to having advanced closer to the shadow government by planting people in Parliament and co-opting socially prominent figures, she gave a vague response instead.

“I studied magic with Mr. Edan.”

“Is that so? Sounds more boring than I expected.”

“No, it was really fun!”

This was sincere. While self-study could be tedious, having someone respond beside her made it enjoyable.

‘…Or perhaps not quite that.’
The truth was, it had been because of Edan himself.

It had felt good to demonstrate that she was not merely playing around despite being sent to school.
It had felt good to receive praise, with head pats and words of encouragement like “Well done” or “You worked hard.”

However, while such affirmation from others certainly brought pleasure, it did not match the joy of receiving it from Edan.

“Right, right. I get it.”

But Erine, seeming unconvinced, turned her head away.
Perhaps studying with her guardian Freyja was not as enjoyable for her. Then again, Erine’s life trajectory differed from her own, so it was understandable.

As if recalling something, Erine let out a small exclamation and retrieved a letter from her pocket, handing it to the silently listening Sithe beside her.

“Ah, that’s right. A boy from the neighboring class asked me to give this to you.”

“What is this…?”

“Isn’t it a love letter?”

“Huh, huh, huh?!”

Having received the letter while completely oblivious, Sithe froze in the same posture, clutching the envelope.
The girl, who had been uttering what could barely be called words, soon began trembling as she tore open the envelope.

And then, poof.

“Hueheheheh……”

“I was right, wasn’t I?”

Nodding repeatedly.
Sithe had ultimately short-circuited.

Thus, having sufficiently teased the mumbling Sithe with remarks like “Why would someone like you…,” Erine seemed to consider it enough and turned her head towards Freugne.

“Haven’t you received something like that before?”

“Me?”

“Well, you’re cute, academically gifted, and skilled with magic. I’d expect you to have received at least one before.”

“Ah, well, about that…!”

As Freugne hesitated, unable to respond, the barely recovered Sithe answered on her behalf.

“She introduced you as having a boyfriend last time, didn’t she?”

“What? Really?”

Now it was Freugne’s turn to stumble over her words.
After briefly considering a lie to defuse the situation, she ultimately could not find one and opted for honesty.

“That was merely an excuse to refuse! It had no relation to reality whatsoever.”

“Then why did you need an excuse?”

“I wanted to refuse, but if I didn’t say that, similar incidents would have kept occurring.”

Promptly shifting the topic to the upcoming school exams or what the other two had done over the weekend to shake off Erine’s suspiciously lingering gaze, Freugne had at least experienced a student-like dilemma for once.

Conversing with Erine reminded her of the simple fact that before being the force lurking behind the kingdom, she was an ordinary Londinium high school student.
It provided a refreshing breather amidst the hectic shadow government buildup.

As for the boyfriend discussion, Freugne decided to leave it at that.
As she had said, it had merely been an excuse to avoid further trouble, hardly a matter she had deeply contemplated. Unless something extraordinary occurred, she would leave it buried in the depths of her memory, with no need to revisit it later.

However, a few days later…

“Freugne.”

“Why are you like that?”

“You have a boyfriend, apparently?”

“…Huh?”

When she had directly heard it from Edan at home, she could no longer brush it aside.