I’m a Villainess but So Popular

Editor: Aru

Side Story 10. Castle with a Summer Lake (1)

“Finally done…….”

I slept for two hours every day for three days in a row and collapsed on the desk as soon as I finished with the paperwork.

My cheeks touched the cold desk, and a thick bundle of papers came to my eyes blurred.

‘I’m glad it’s over today.’

Every year around this time, I went on vacation with Cassius.

This is because when summer approaches, there are fewer things to do than usual.

However, this year was an exception.

Beasts suddenly appeared at the border, so I had to set up a sweeping operation and clean up.

And it was necessary to restore the damage to the estate due to the flood that came much earlier than usual.

In addition, due to several other trivial things overlapping, delaying the vacation.

Taking my face off the desk, I stretched straight and got up from the chair.

‘Now I can sleep with Cassius!’

In the meantime, I haven’t slept in the same room as Cassius because I’ve been sleeping in my office.

Sometimes it broke my heart to see Cassius’s sombre look on his face.

However, I thought that I could enjoy my time with Cassius leisurely after finishing work quickly, so I handled the documents while saving my sleep.

“The time now…….”

The clock on the wall was pointing at 2:12.

Yssius was still in class with his tutor.

I’ll start with Chaerine and surprise Yssius when he comes back from class later.

The steps to leave the office and move to the playroom became faster and faster.

I felt sorry that I couldn’t play with my children often recently, and I wanted to hug them right now while looking at their faces.

While working, the soft hands and twinkling eyes of the children kept glimmering in my eyes.

Especially after seeing Chaerine, who puts up with her lips tightly shut, and Yssius, who comforted Chaerine by showing his adult-like appearance.

When I opened the playroom door slightly, I saw a familiar back. The same purple hair, black hairband, and a very cute sky blue dress that I picked

“Kael.”

When I called her name in a soft voice, big golden eyes turned and looked at me.

“Mommy!”

A bright smile spread over Chaerine’s face.

Standing up from her seat, she ran and jumped into my arms, and I hugged her tightly.

“Are you done with your work, Mom?”

“Yes, Mommy can play with Kael now.”

With the word that we can now play together, a small golden light sprang up from Chaerine’s body.

“Oh, Chaerine, do you like it?”

“Yes!”

I smiled as I looked at Chaerine, whose face had been dyed peach-coloured, and found the wreath hanging from her right wrist.

“Kael, did you play with what your friend gave you today?”

“Yeah.”

Chaerine took the white clover crown out of her wrist and nodded, holding it with both her hands.

The white clover wreath that Aster gave to Chaerine a month ago still had white petals and fresh leaves.

For Chaerine, who has been looking at the wreath for a long time even after breaking up with Aster, I cast preservation magic to keep the wreath from withering.

Cassius was very unhappy about this. But he couldn’t say a word at all because Chaerine is so fond of the white clover wreath.

“Mom.”

“Yeah, why?”

“You know…….”

Chaerine fiddled with the wreath in her hand and said.

“How do you make a wreath?”

Clear golden eyes looked at me.

The same colour of the sun, just like Cassius’s.

One day this child will be someone’s sun.

Thinking of such a thing somehow warmed my heart.

“Why? Do you want to make a wreath, too?”

Chaerine replied with a bashful smile.

“Chaerine too wants to give some……….”

I covered her mouth with my hands as I looked at the bright smile of Chaerine.

‘Oh, my God.’

She didn’t mention it openly, but it was obvious who Chaerine wanted to give the wreath to.

‘Aster will love it when he finds out.’

I thought I should contact Eugene soon so that the meeting could take place quickly, so I took her out of the playroom.

“Yeah, it’s not that hard to make a wreath. I’ll teach you, so let’s make one together.”

“Yes, thank you, Mom!”

“But you have to keep it a secret from Oppa and daddy that Kael made a wreath with mom.”

“Huh? Why?”

Tilting her head, Chaerine asked with her golden eyes wide open.

Looking at that angelic face, I couldn’t say that when her brother and father find out that she made a wreath for another boy, they will turn the castle upside down.

“Well, Oppa and daddy are still busy, so they haven’t met mom. They’ll be sad to know that Mom only played with Kae alone.”

“Oh, yeah. All right, Mom! I’ll keep it a secret!”

Chaerine put her finger on her lips and answered with a ‘shush’.

‘Cute……’

Looking at my lovely daughter’s face, it seems that the fatigue accumulated over the three days is dissipating.

Looks like saying that seeing our children’s smiles make us better is true after all.

With a sense of warmth in my heart, I hummed while holding Chaerine and headed to the backyard.

“Chaerine, what kind of flower do you want to make into a wreath?”

“Eum, a pretty…….”

“……”

“Kael will choose the prettiest one.”

Chaerine, who was carefully looking at the wildflowers with a slight frown, made up her mind and poked me in the shoulder.

“Mom, can I make a wreath with that flower?”

I rolled up the corners of my mouth, looking at the purple flowers pointed at by the fingertips of Chaerine.

“Sure, of course.”

* * * * *

“Chaerine, you have to keep this a secret. Can you do it?”

“Eung.”

Chaerine held the wreath with preservation magic so that it would not wither, tightly.

Fortunately, Yssius and Cassius still had some time before they finished their work.

“If anyone ever asks who you’re going to give it to, say it’s Kael’s. Mommy made it for Kael.”

“Yes!”

Nodding her head, Chaerine answered, carefully placing the wreath in a purple box in the corner of her playroom.

Chaerine put precious things in the box, like gifts from Cassius and me, or toys from Yssius.

Most of the people who could go to and from the playroom knew what the box meant to Chaerine, so they didn’t bother to open it.

It was definitely the perfect place to hide the wreath.

Then I heard the sound of the bell ringing.

“Oh, oppa’s class will be over soon.”

Chaerine said while looking at the clock hand pointing to 4:10 in the afternoon.

“Shall we go see him?”

Chaerine nodded furiously, and I left the playroom holding Chaerine’s hand.

‘Yssius’s last class was the monarchy, right?’

Monarchy classes were held in the eastern study area, where many related books were put.

And it was a bit far from the playroom to the eastern study area.

It was about a 10-minute walk, so if I walk to the eastern study area from now on, I will be able to meet the time Yssius comes out of class.

“Mom, when does Kael’s lesson start?”

Chaerine asked, waving her hand slightly.

“Well, soon? When Kael is five years old, Kael’ll have a lesson, too.”

“I can’t wait to be five years old.”

I thought it was surprising.

Don’t normal kids say they don’t want to take lessons?

“Can’t wait to take the class?”

“Eung, Oppa said it is fun.”

“Oh…….”

Yssius made his mark when he first started taking his lessons.

When the tutor who teaches Yssius praised him to the bone, he was both bewildered and happy.

And as if proving his talent for using flame magic from an early age, I was very proud to see Isius’ magic skills growing day by day.

“Keal too wants to take a class with Oppa.”

“Yes, Kael just needs to wait a few more months.”

“Yes!”

While talking with Chaerine, we arrived near the eastern study area.

Now, just around this corner, it was the entrance to the eastern study area.

‘He will be surprised to see us, right?’

Smiling and excitedly turned the corner.

However, turning the corner, it was not the entrance to the eastern study that I saw before me.

“Ugh, what is this!”

It didn’t take long before I realized that the black object that covered my eyes and pressed my nose was someone’s hard and wide chest.

It seems that I bumped into someone who was walking without looking around in a hurry.

“This is your one and only husband. That’s too much.”

“Cassius?”

When I still rubbed my nose and raised my head, I saw a familiar face.

“Oh, my God. Is your nose okay?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s okay, it’s just a little bump.”

“Mom, your nose is red.”

“Well, as long as it doesn’t bleed, it’s fine.”

“Kael, do you want to blow ‘hoo’ to mommy’s nose?”

“No, Daddy will do it.”

Cassius sneaked in and kissed the bridge of my nose briefly.

Frowned, I glanced at him and said.

“This isn’t a ’hoo’, is it?”

“Well, people may have different ways to do it.”

Cassius replied, with a sly smile.

“But you’re already done with your work? I thought it would be over at five.”

Well, I was preparing to surprise Yssius.

“I heard you were done with your work, so I quickly cleaned up and came out. I can’t wait to see you.”

Cassius, who smiled mischievously and brought up embarrassing words, seemed to heat my face up, but I hid it as much as I could and talked as if nothing was wrong.

“Are you sure you’re done? You didn’t just run out in the middle, did you?”

“No, I finished everything right.”

Then he snapped at me and wrapped his arm around my waist and said.

“By the way, I really missed you, honey.”

Seeing his big smile seemed to melt my heart.

Maybe it was because I wasn’t there for three days, so seeing Cassius’s slightly skinny face made me feel a little salty.

My heart jumped at the thought that I could do whatever I wanted with him now.

“Yerine?”

Eventually, I could not overcome my overwhelming heart and jumped into Cassius’s arms and hugged his neck.

Cassius, who naturally caught me, smiled and hugged me and circled around.

I burst into laughter on his shoulder and said.

“I missed you so much.”

“Really?”

“I think I’ve missed you, even more, this time.”

“Really? I’m very happy about that.”

I giggled and whispered softly into Cassius’s ear so that no one else could hear it.

“I was really bored without you at night.”

Cassius blushed when he heard that.

“Wow, you….”

“You understand what I’m saying?”

Cassius answered my question with a grin.

“Okay, but I don’t think I could let you sleep tonight even……….”

It was just then.

“Your Majesty the Empress!”

I fell from Cassius, frightened by Clayton’s shrill voice calling me.

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