Living as the Villain’s Stepmother - Chapter 142

Chapter 142 – The Perfect Father (1)

Back then, Hir was so light that whenever Lila carried him, she couldn’t even feel his weight. But as he grew up, little by little, his weight increased as well. Now, he is much heavier than before.

Thinking of how quickly time passed by, Lila tightened her hug.

Soon, he’ll become so big that I won’t even manage to lift him up. Maybe… he’ll even grow as big as Lacias.

She wanted to inject more force into her hug, but the strength in her arms slowly ran out. Her fragile and weak body was no longer strong enough to bear the weight of her own son.

I should do some exercises too.

She stared at Roxana with jealousy. The female knight’s body had those toned muscles that looked incredibly strong and powerful. Lila was envious of her figure, which seemed to never tire even after running for hours whilst holding Hir.

Roxana, who had misinterpreted Lila’s gaze, came closer with a bewildered face and held out her arms.

Lila tilted her head in wonder.

“Allow me to do it, my lady.” With worried eyes, Roxana noticed that the madam’s arm had begun to tremble a little. She thought Lila would hand over the young master to her, but surprisingly, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Wordlessly, Lila stared at the red-headed knight with widened eyes.

“Huh? Nooo—! I want to be with my mother!” Hir exclaimed aggrievedly, “Mother, don’t put me down!”

Meanwhile, Roxana’s poor little heart was deeply wounded when she heard Hir’s words. It felt like she was betrayed. Going back to her seat, Lugar smirked at Roxana and jumped at the chance to taunt her.

“How does it feel to get rejected by two people at the same time, Commander~?”

Roxana was still a bit too dumbfounded to reply, which is why she couldn’t give a rebuttal like she usually did.

*

After hearing about the situation from Lacias, Hizette stared at the desk with a serious face.

“A hole addiction…  This is the first I’ve heard of such a thing.”

“Which isn’t very surprising.” Lacias spoke, “It has only been discovered recently, and I reckon this was the first time it’s happened as well.”

He contemplated for a few seconds before adding, “Furthermore, the first target is our young master. Thus, we need to find a solution as soon as possible.”

Lugar’s face instantly became grave. This was an unprecedented move.

The way the shadows attacked others using holes was actually quite simple. Just like an arrow or a dagger, it could be used as a projectile to attack someone. When it was compressed enough to a certain level, it was definitely possible to inflict either a light or serious physical injury. After that, it would just disappear.

However, this was the first time that it had remained inside the body and showed a negative reaction towards a ring.

Tap, tap.

Roxana rapped her fingers on a table. Distracted by the sound, Hizette raised his head to look at her, but she just kept on repeatedly tapping the desk with a blank expression.

“…” It seemed like she wasn’t intentionally trying to attract attention by doing that.

Meanwhile, the others were already having their discussion.

“…just like your hypothesis, the young master did not show any reaction to my ring.”

“Mn. There is also an additional thing that should be taken note of. That is, when an addicted person is exposed to another person’s ring for the first time, he would feel a bit of discomfort.

Luger banged the desk with a loud punch. “All I’m saying is that, why does it have to be the young master?!”

When he heard about the child’s possible involvement in this case, the crease on his forehead hadn’t straightened ever since.

Roxana ripped off the dead skin of her lips with her teeth. Once she did, the metallic scent and taste of her blood stimulated her in a way that made her body tingle. “Noisy, man.”

“Roxana, you aren’t even mad?” he glared.

“Anger won’t solve anything, so don’t waste your emotions on useless things.” she glared back, “What ‘we’ have to do is find a solution.”

Lugar sneered and uttered in a mocking tone.

“Wow, so rational! I’m so jealous!”

“Don’t be sarcastic with me, kid.” Although Lugar had said she was being rational, Roxana was very clear that it was the furthest thing from the truth. Her mind was chaotic too, but the only indication of her emotions were her eyes that burned white with fury.

“It’s even worse because we don’t know the exact cause.”

Lacias mentioned that both Hir and Senior became addicted to the hole by grabbing ‘something.’ If so, that ‘something’ must have been a hole, but the hole they knew had no ability to poison people.

“If we can find someone with a corrupted ring, that would be for the better.”

“What are you going to do with that?” Lugar quibbled back at Roxana’s words. He obviously knew that she would say, ‘we have to do an investigation’,  but his questioning came from the desire to put some kind of needless bickering against her.

But Roxana’s response was completely different from what he expected.

“If I become addicted, it will be easier to find a solution.” she calmly answered.

Lugar’s back stiffened as he looked at her with narrowed eyes.

“Are you saying you’re going to be the test subject? Are you out of your mind?!” he laughed derisively, “I already knew you were insane, but I didn’t think you were crazy enough to go this far.”

Lugar’s expression drastically changed and his eyes sharpened. “I’ve always wanted to disassemble your head, but I’ve never felt the urge as powerful as it did today.”

“It’s the fastest way that we can know.”

He gritted his teeth, “Yeah, sure! Sure~! If you really want your head split in two, keep talking.”

“Don’t forget your place, boy.” her face hardened and she stared down at him, “I am the general here, and you are under my command. You don’t get to have a say in my decisions because all you have to do is follow my orders like a loyal dog.”

“If you’re so good, why don’t you tell that to the master?!” he goaded, “Tell him that you’re going to get a hole placed in your body!”

Lugar couldn’t contain his anger anymore after saying those words, he abruptly stood up, and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

There was a short silence after the sudden burst of anger before Roxanna broke it. “That little runt, it’s not like I’m going to put it in his body, so why the big fuss?’

She scowled.

“It seems like I’ve been too soft recently. That bastard needs a few rounds of beating and should be disciplined in the worst way possible.” Roxana grumbled to herself.

Hizette’s eyes turned subtle as he glanced at her enigmatically. Sensing his gaze, the female knight directed her gaze towards him and asked, “Well? What do you think about my proposal?”

He only shrugged his shoulders in response to the question and said.

“For one, I know this is the most accurate method that will yield the most promising results for the investigation.”

“Is that so? Then—”

“But it’s unethical.” he interrupted her words. “You’re hesitating because of that, correct? I don’t think the master will gladly give you permission to conduct your little experiment.”

Roxana puffed out a long breath of air as she ran her fingers through her hair..

If Lugar hadn’t been so hot-tempered and had thought calmly like Hizette, they could’ve resolved the issue so easily. But for some reason, he overreacted.

“In any case, that will only be our last resort. If the time comes that we have no other alternatives but to opt for that method,” Hizette eyed her through his periphery, “I am the better option, not the general.”

Roxana smiled mischievously, “Okay, then you do it.”

“.…”

Hizette felt a headache coming over his way, but it was no use crying over spilt milk.

What’s said, has already been said.

*