This Three Year Old Is a Villainess-Chapter 284
Grimie’s face was rigid.
No doubt—he had laid out tremendous talismans in the underground passage. Their magical data alone was a vast treasure. And above all, he could not afford to lose his monsters.
He glared at me.
I smiled innocently, pretending ignorance.
‘He must be furious.’
Grimie ground his teeth.
“...We should return to the Jurisdiction. Come, Dalia.”
“Uh? Ah, yes...”
Dalia hurriedly bowed to me and our cousins, then scurried after Grimie.
A strong wind blew.
I smiled softly.
“The wind’s on our side too.”
Balzac and Joshua approached. Balzac looked uneasy.
“If they investigate the fire, they might trace it back to us.”
“There will be no investigation.”
“No investigation?”
I grinned slyly.
“If they open an inquiry, the underground of Grimie’s Jurisdiction could be exposed—do you think they’d welcome that?”
“Oh...”
“We’ll prevent it at all costs.”
Thanks to Grimie’s own misdeeds, we had nothing to fear.
I hummed a cheery tune as I turned away.
“Brothers, let us return as well.”
I said brightly.
The next morning.
I bathed and then began preparing to go out.
Seated at the dressing table, the maids neatly assisted me. Chatty Heidi and Betty chattered about the fire in Grimie’s Jurisdiction, though no one had asked.
“They say the blaze only died down at dawn.”
“I heard the annex was completely destroyed.”
“And they blamed it on those talismans Lord Grimie brought.” 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Their excuse to block any real investigation.
“Well, at least it didn’t spread to civilian homes.”
“Indeed. Good thing the main manor hurriedly dispatched mages—”
I giggled.
Of course, I had arranged for mages from the main estate to arrive.
‘As soon as the fire started, I told them to report it to the main estate, not the Jurisdiction.’
With so many from the main estate there, they couldn’t extinguish it quickly. And if any monsters emerged from below, Grandfather would discover everything. So they had little choice but to let it burn.
‘They burned too, along with the flames.’
By the time I finished laughing, my hair was done.
“But there’s another summons from the main estate today...”
Heidi looked at me worriedly. Betty’s lips protruded in concern.
“You just returned from the Jurisdiction—I’d think you’d rest...”
Betty grumbled and Heidi sighed.
“There’s no choice. It’s to introduce Lord Grimie and his daughter to the direct line...”
Right—today Dalia formally meets the direct heirs.
I rose.
“I’ll be fine. I need to discuss branch consolidation with the blood relatives. And send the letter I asked for.”
“Yes, miss.”
I bade the maids farewell and boarded the carriage to the Imperial Works. My brothers were already aboard. We chatted as we rode.
“What of Masa’s whereabouts?”
Joshua shook his head.
“Still unknown. I’ll keep searching.”
“Understood.”
“And the Crown Prince?”
“He returns the day after tomorrow. Since he promised to trade the Asar, he has no reason to stay.”
“The Baranese will return soon too?”
“They can’t be gone much longer—Laon’s Crown Prince seat is under threat after all.”
Mid-conversation, the carriage drew up at the main estate. Balzac said,
“We have a mission report—must we call on Grandfather, or...?”
“I’ll go straight to the Shrine—my cousins are there.”
“Very well.”
After greetings, I headed at once to the Shrine, which was bustling.
“Dionera, you’re in trouble. Haven’t even graduated bloodline training yet?”
“I—I am...”
“How long will you linger in bloodline tutelage? Only four of us remain in that program now.”
“I know...”
“Being that dense might be a disorder.”
The hall was full of cousins. As I entered, I said,
“Dionera is a genius in other ways—she’ll manage.”
All eyes snapped to me. Dionera’s face brightened.
“Erilot!”
“Hello, sister.”
“Uh—yeah!”
Fabio, who’d been teasing Dionera, snorted.
“Genius? Ridiculous.”
“Why ridiculous? Brother’s never beaten you one-on-one, have you?”
“Tha—that’s...!”
Other cousins tittered at Fabio, whose face burned scarlet. He turned away with a snap. Dionera laughed.
“Thanks, Erilot.”
“No problem. It’s true, isn’t it?”
“Uh-huh!”
“It seems many cousins haven’t arrived yet.”
I’d assumed they’d want to talk about branch affairs like I did.
“Oh, no—they’re all here!”
“Well, you’re last, Erilot.”
My cousin, the Black-Scaled Dragon—Selene’s sister—fanned herself teasingly.
“Where are they? Many faces missing, you know?”
“That is...”
Dionera hesitated until Liantin slammed her hand on the table and stood.
“How low—only houses without two-year-olds cling together!”
Ah, the old “opposition faction.” Led by Kara and including Lizzy, Milan, Loreina, etc. All those whose in-laws rule Jurisdictions.
“So where are the opposition cousins?”
“Here.”
Through the door came the opposition cousins, led by Loreina and Kara.
“Hello, Erilot.”
“Greetings, Kara. Loreina, how have you been?”
Loreina folded her arms and nodded lightly.
“Still no house needs our faction, I see?”
Liantin (Uncle Decons’s daughter), Dionera (Aunt Vasile’s), Fabio, Leona, Armand (Uncle Gustav’s), Selene and Juliana (Aunt Bastina’s). All fell silent—including me.
Liantin groaned,
“Grandfather said he’ll name as heir whoever strips the branches of their autonomy. If you side with them, you lose succession forever.”
The Black-Scaled Dragon nodded.
“Who would side with you when you undermine branch autonomy to become heir?”
“Indeed—Juliana speaks sense for once.”
Milan smiled.
“When has any Astra succession gone properly?”
“What?” Liantin asked, and Milan shrugged.
“Sons always overthrew fathers to claim the dukedom.”
Meaning you needn’t uphold Grandfather’s decrees to succeed.
‘They could amass power from branches and opposition to strike at him.’
Liantin gasped,
“If Grandfather knew, my brother would—!”
“Don’t misunderstand. We don’t mean strike Grandfather.”
“Then what do you mean?” Kara asked.
“That the power we wield rivals the Estate’s.”
“....”
“Some of his retainers side with us too.”
“Wh-what?!”
“They hold autonomous domains themselves.”
“No way...”
“As time passes, we’ll only grow. Until autonomy talks end, we remain strong.”
“....”
The opposition surveyed the others.
“So you’ll all need to choose wisely.”
I thought: ‘They’re remarkably united.’ That would restrain uncles and aunts—any who challenge autonomy recovery become their enemies.
‘What should I do...’
Just then, a soft voice called from outside.
“Why take away autonomy?”
Everyone froze and looked to the door. Dalia drew in her shoulders.
“Ah, sorry... I overheard...”
She glanced at a man beside her—Grimie’s adjutant, no doubt. He spoke gently to her:
“I explained they’re selecting a proper heir.”
“Yes. Selecting an heir?”
“Correct. The Duke will pass the inheritance to whoever restores branch autonomy.”
“Oh—I see. To be ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Duke, one must reclaim autonomy?”
“Precisely.”
“But why? Why must you do that?”
“Pardon?”
“No, I feel autonomy shouldn’t be taken—”
Dalia fidgeted, continuing:
“Silencing the people is dictatorship, isn’t it?”
“Miss!” the adjutant hissed, glancing around—wary a loyalist might have overheard.
Dalia, wide-eyed, tilted her head.
“I don’t know much about this world... oh!”
‘You fool.’ She’s advertising she’s a transmigrant.
The adjutant paled further.
‘But who would believe such a fairy tale?’
Even here, with magic and blessings, such travel is unknown.
Dalia smiled awkwardly:
“Politics means ‘righteous governance.’ Believing in potential and planting hope for a better tomorrow—”
As she spoke, the cousins’ expressions softened—especially the opposition, who surely ached to hear those words.
I clicked my tongue.
‘No wonder she’s the protagonist—her words carry weight.’
And I—
“Politics means governing the country.”
—the former villain specialized in harsh reality breaks the mood.
“Huh?”
“Politics doesn’t mean righteous governance. It simply means governing the land.”
“‘Righteous’ plus ‘govern’ makes politics, right?”
Politics uses the character 政, not 正. Stupid.
Some people get it wrong—even my stepsister Se-eun...
“In any case, such politicians are the problem, right? Don’t you agree, Father? Politics is ruling justly—正!”
“Haha—you know that too?”
I couldn’t show off knowing the character; that’d blow my own transmigrant cover.
The other cousins, unfamiliar with hanja, looked puzzled.
“What’s 正?”
“Exactly.”
I looked at Dalia.
“So? What do you think should be done?”
“Um, I—well, I think...”
Everyone waited, hushed. Grimie’s adjutant also watched Dalia.
She thought a moment, then smiled.
“I think we should all get along.”
“Pardon?”
The adjutant stared, baffled.
Dalia beamed:
“It’s rare we have so many relatives here. They say blood is thicker than water—but having more precious bonds than friends is a blessing!”
“That’s...”
“So I hope we can all get along.”
She stepped inside and took my hand.
“Right, Erilot?”
“....”
“Um, I’ve missed you so much. When I read novels, my heart would pound—I always wanted a friend—”
The adjutant flinched, the cousins murmured “novel?” Dalia quickly corrected:
“So... um, well... oh! It’s famous—The Rose of Astra! Right?”
“....”
“Father prepared delicious desserts for us all. Aren’t you excited? Let’s go!”
She skipped over to Loreina and Kara, nudging them.
“Sisters, let’s go!”
“What—what is this?!” Kara exclaimed.
“You’re a strange one...”
No cousin had ever been like this. Kara and Loreina, too, were flustered as Dalia dragged them off. Selene watched, wide-eyed.
“Strange child...”
Milan chuckled.
“I guess she didn’t grow up in Astra.”
He looked amused.
‘She adapts unbelievably quickly.’
Even for Dalia, this was astonishingly fast—especially among our cousins...
One by one, the cousins left.
‘Something’s wrong...could it be?!’
I hurriedly activated my blessing.
“What’s this...?”
“What happened to all your cousins?!” Han Jihyeok entered the silent hall, puzzled to find only me.
I said with a hardened expression:
“I can’t read it.”
“What?”
“My Viewing doesn’t work...”
It crackled with noise as if an error flickered.
Han Jihyeok stiffened.
“Could it be...!”
No sooner had he shouted than the words on my blessing began to rearrange.
I recognized this phenomenon:
‘When a world’s story is rewritten...’
The story of this world—so carefully made my father the hero—was changing.
In moments, the text fully transformed.
Reading the new title, I closed my eyes tightly.
Han Jihyeok urged me:
“What? What does it say?!”
I bit my lip and gave a bitter laugh:
“...<She Was Possessed, But She Turned Out to Be the Villainess’s Granddaughter>.”
We have returned.
To the world of , so horrific to me.
But one thing had changed:
The introductory blurb.
