Became the Villainess’s Guardian

Erine, Freyja’s niece and a fresh newcomer at Cardiff School, was well-acquainted with the mage named Edan.

No, she had even gone out of her way to learn more about him recently.

People spoke endlessly about Keres Martop’s seemingly innovative advancements, and those seeking to appear more knowledgeable would ramble about the intricacies and embedded magic of his inventions.
Given her aunt Freyja was the head of Keres Martop where Edan worked, it would be stranger if Erine didn’t know about him.

“Erine, you said your aunt is the head of Keres Martop, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then you must know about the mage Edan too?”

“…Not personally, though. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, I’m just envious. If you ask your aunt, maybe you could arrange for us to meet him?”

And with each word, Erine felt a pang in her heart.

In an era where even radios were scarcely used, let alone TVs, a mage achieving great feats was akin to being an idol or celebrity.

Apparently, his inventions had recently been exported overseas, but headlines like ‘secured a contract worth so much in the Belfast Republic’ wouldn’t sell well.

So they were appropriately arranged to make it sound like the demonic tribes were trembling and the southern republic was aghast. Who wouldn’t be popular after reading such exaggerations?
Like all domestic newspaper articles, they were embellished with all sorts of hyperbole – this fell into the realm of emotion and nationalism rather than reason.

And yet.
While Edan’s name occasionally came up when asked about respected individuals at school for inventing air conditioning, Erine still respected her aunt Freyja more.

It couldn’t have been easy raising her after she lost her parents, yet Freyja had never mistreated her under the pretext of not being her biological child, unlike what others might have done.
Edan might be remarkable, but to her, Freyja was far more precious and dear.

However, reality did not conform to her thoughts.

“Freyja? Ah, that head who has even less presence than her employees?”

“Take that back, what you just said…!”

People remembered Edan’s name but not her aunt’s.
In some cases, they even portrayed it as if hiring an outstanding mage was her sole life achievement. Belittling the point of comparison was a way to make someone stand out.

Clearly, in interviews, Edan himself had mentioned receiving much help from Freyja, that her support and research contributions enabled his achievements.
But reporters and people only shone the light on Edan, and her aunt seemed to have no intention of stepping into that spotlight.

No matter how many times Erine sulked over this, Freyja would just laugh and gently pat her head, as if to say it couldn’t be helped.
In truth, Erine knew that throwing such tantrums would change nothing. She had just voiced her grievances out of frustration.

She understood there was no fault to find with Freugne.
Guilt by association – what an atrocious practice. While human rights violations were still ongoing, that was already an outdated trend.

It was also difficult to place blame on Edan.
He had simply worked diligently for her aunt and Martop; to nitpick here would only amount to telling him to slack off, which was unsightly.

And Erine did not harbor the antiquated notion that she should be treated like a noble just because of her parents’ status.
Freyja had raised her well enough to avoid such a crooked mindset, one she might have developed otherwise. If Freyja had seen this thought process, she would likely have praised Erine and bought her a chocolate bar.

So when Erine first saw Freugne, her feelings were rather complex and ambiguous.

A tinge of envy, frustration with Freyja’s indecisiveness, an unpleasant feeling towards Edan from being constantly compared to him, and self-loathing for harboring such thoughts.

“So you’re Freugne?”

And the last emotion she felt was jealousy.

However, Erine lacked social experience and was inept at restraining her complex feelings.

‘Since she has a connection with my guardian and aunt, it might be good to remain on ordinary friendly terms.’

‘But to be honest, I don’t like your guardian. I wish my aunt, overshadowed by him, could receive proper recognition.’

‘It’s our first meeting, so how should I approach her? Should I mention commonalities to gain rapport?’

It was difficult to convey all she wanted to say in a single sentence under these circumstances.

“You two, don’t have fathers?”

Eventually, her words became as succinct and compact as a compressed program file.
Although Freugne was well-versed in major future events, a vein bulged on her forehead as she found herself unable to decompress this particular zip file.

“I have a guardian, you know?”

“Yeah, Edan, right.”

She was aware she had gotten off on the wrong foot, but like a car with faulty brakes, her reason had already lost control as she barreled forward.

So, unsightly as it was.
As wrong as it was, she wanted to return the words she had heard so many times before.

“Ha, looking at your appearance, I can see the level of that mage Edan too. Is he really as inflated as the newspapers claim?”

Before she knew it, her mouth seemed to have been waiting for this moment, spewing words of its own accord.

And at this point, Freugne’s reason had also begun to derail.

That helpless past was certainly a trauma for Freugne.

“…Haah.”

But it was Edan who had severed it.

In any case, from Freugne’s perspective, a total stranger had insulted someone dear to her. Naturally, she wanted to say a lot in response.

‘I can tolerate insults towards me, but I cannot accept attacks on my family(?).’

‘In my childhood, I didn’t have parents to fill that void, but Edan took on that role instead.’

‘Edan embraced me during my most difficult times, and since you insulted him, I demand an apology.’

Under normal circumstances, she could have articulated these sentiments coherently.
It was simply this particular situation that prevented her from maintaining her usual composure.

Thus, Freugne’s compressed response was:

“Mr. Edan might as well have been my father.”

“…What did you say?”

“……”

“……”

When words fail, one resorts to actions.
The reason Freugne’s face turned beet red and her hands instinctively reached out, leaving no room for further words, was this trivial.

So, why had she become so agitated?

Gently brushing her numb cheek with her fingers, Freugne slowly recollected.

Sif had waved her arms behind her, trying to dissuade her, and Freugne had remained silent, listening to Erine’s words until a certain point when she lurched forward.
And in the ensuing commotion, a major fight broke out until teachers intervened, sending them home amicably.

That was the end of the situation.

“Alright, I understand the situation, so go home now.”

“…Huh?”

“If you want to fight, do it again tomorrow. I need to leave work too.”

“Well, isn’t it normal for kids to fight while growing up? How about a drink after work, teacher?”

There was no troublesome school violence committee convened or event where they had to apologize to each other in the staff room.

This was the modern era, after all.
In a place where child labor was not only prevalent but encouraged, was it not stranger to fuss over minor scuffles between students?

Such luxuries would only arise if someone’s head was cracked open or a couple of fingers lost.
While they had grabbed each other by the hair, in this brutish modern magical society, it was not uncommon for boys to grievously injure each other’s limbs while grappling.

Hence, it was only natural for Cardiff School to take no more than a ‘boys will be boys’ stance.

“Nothing serious happened, right…?”

“Yes, I apologize for my unsightly behavior.”

“No, not that unsightly, but, well, no.”

After parting ways with Sif, who found it difficult to approach her after the day’s events…

“…Phew.”

Freugne let out a deep sigh as she opened the door.

The school might not have said much, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t done anything wrong.
Upon entering, there were signs that Edan had returned home earlier than usual. Of course, she knew the reason why.

She knew Edan wouldn’t simply abandon her on the streets over this. How could she not, after living under the same roof for so long?

‘But he will still be disappointed.’

Even if he didn’t show it outwardly, he would likely be thinking that.
After going to the trouble of sending her to high school to study, if this happened on the very first day, even her biological parents wouldn’t take it well.

“…I’m back.”

“Welcome back. Come here for a bit.”

Freugne spoke in a dying voice, hoping against hope that Edan might not know, but…
Edan was already waiting, fully aware of what she had done.

Contrary to her concerns, it wasn’t a grave enough matter for her guardian to be contacted.
As for Freyja, well, she was simply overly worried about her niece and had requested constant updates, so she knew separately.

I had only taken a carriage as far as the East Londinium gates while Freyja gave me a rough explanation.

“I’ll have to look into the details later, but… it seems our niece said something about Freugne being an orphan.”

“I see.”

What’s this? Self-loathing?
Unable to comprehend, I rolled my eyes and glanced sideways at Freyja, who was already staring intently at me.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh, I was just wondering if you might suddenly want to leave Martop or something…”

“No. I hear Freugne even grabbed her by the hair, so I should be the one apologizing.”

After an awkward conversation ensued a few more times, I reached an agreement with Freyja to not dwell on this incident before disembarking from the carriage.

Freugne was not the type to needlessly fret over things.
There must have been some reason, so I should at least hear her out first.

And as soon as I returned home and took off my outer garments, the sound of the front door gently opening reached my ears.

“…I’m back.”

“Welcome back. Come here for a bit.”

It seemed she was not her usual self, as if she were a different person with the same name.

In an ordinary household, they might have asked, ‘So you won?’ or encouraged her not to lose next time if that wasn’t the case.

Instead, I decided to hear the account directly from her. At the very least, I believed she would not lie.

“That girl named Erine insulted me first.”

“What did she say to insult you?”

“She called me an orphan. Said I don’t have a father.”

“Was that all?”

“No. She insulted you too, Mr. Edan. Asked if you were far more overrated than reality.”

“Hmm…”

It was something she would have experienced sooner or later, even if not today.
I had heard those words many times in my life, and each time, I couldn’t expect someone to come and resolve the verbal altercation for me.

“That’s enough, then.”

“…Huh?”

“Next time, don’t try to resolve it with force.”

For now, this level of warning seemed sufficient.
She hadn’t caused any serious trouble so far, and a scuffle of this degree was truly just child’s play. Apparently, they engage in magical dropout duels in university.

While resolving issues through force is not good, I am not in a position to say that with full propriety.
So I’ll continue observing, and if such incidents keep occurring later, I’ll firmly reprimand her then.

In any case, like Freyja and the school, I decided to let this matter rest for now.

Instead, I took this opportunity to make a suggestion.
I quickly ran some thoughts through my mind.

The root cause of complexes lies with one’s parents.
Then wouldn’t creating parents resolve the issue?
I had intended to make this proposal eventually, so I might as well do it now that the topic had come up.

“Freugne.”

“Yes.”

“It’s been… three years since I became your guardian.”

“It has been that long, hasn’t it?”

“So, how about becoming my adopted daughter?”

“…Eh.”
Freugne froze on the spot.