This Villainess’s Parenting Method is Her Fists

‘Gasp.’

Her hair stood on end at his murderous intent.

‘Wait, he asked me to answer as Lady Offensa?!’

…Still, slapping away his outstretched hand might have been too much.

“My, my hand slipped…”

“I’m not the type to make offers twice.”

Yulid cut off Calliphe’s words. If not for her ability, he might have killed her on the spot.

Instead, he exercised patience by asking for her reason.

“I’m curious why you’re rejecting cooperation with me when you know it would benefit you?”

“Well.”

“You might be afraid to join hands with the Black Hand. But surely our young lady knows it’s worth the risk?”

“I do know.”

Calliphe nodded.

“If I support you with my family’s power, the Black Hand would conduct various covert operations. Enormous amounts of money would flow in. Even if someone tried to use that against me, you would eliminate them.”

“See? You understand perfectly.”

“That’s exactly why I’m refusing.”

“…Hmm.”

Yulid slightly frowned and smiled, seemingly asking ‘Did my ears deceive me?’

For a moment, the memory of having her earring violently torn off flashed through Calliphe’s mind, making her earlobe tingle.

‘Indeed, the law is distant but fists are near.’

‘Who would have thought I’d be afraid of getting sliced up?’

But this was a discussion between the leader of an organization and a direct descendant of a great family. As a candidate for family head, she needed to make her position clear.

“I’m taking care of a sponsored child.”

“I know. So what?”

“As his guardian, I don’t want to do anything I would be ashamed of.”

“Huh?”

Seemingly unexpected, Yulid let out a disbelieving laugh.

“What naive nonsense is this?”

“I don’t want to raise a child with blood-stained money.”

“……”

Suddenly, Yulid’s face turned pale. Red fury rose over his whitened face.

But instead of rising, his voice sank lower.

“Whether stained with blood or excrement, money is money. The child neither needs to know nor should know about that.”

“Yes. A thoughtful guardian would hide the dirty parts and only show the good side to a child. However.”

Calliphe looked directly into Yulid’s eyes and spoke clearly.

“Wouldn’t they slowly grow to resemble you?”

A child is like a blank canvas. They gradually take on the colors of those closest to them.

Any color, without discrimination.

“Noah is always watching me. He’s constantly following behind me. I thought I knew everything about Noah. But I was wrong.”

Hadn’t she realized this when she met Noah as Ferica?

‘That attitude of openly disliking someone he didn’t approve of… that’s totally me.’

Thankfully, he seemed to have adopted some of Lynen’s righteousness too.

“You’re naive. Do you think a child will remain pure forever just because you behave well? Survival isn’t so simple. Act innocently and you’ll get your nose cut off.”

Yulid, glaring at Calliphe, smiled crookedly with contempt.

“But with power, it’s different. If you want to protect someone, you must give them power.”

This was partly why he was determined to seize the Black Hand organization.

Gold and power would continue to grow. If his precious daughter benefited from it, all his hardships would be worth it.

This conviction was the flame that had driven Yulid to reach this point.

He wanted nothing else.

“You have a point. But…”

There shouldn’t have been anything else.

“Personally, I wouldn’t want to be close to someone who reeks of blood. Because that smell transfers whether you like it or not.”

“……!”

Yulid’s eyes bulged.

His jaw clenched involuntarily, and his fists tightened in frustration.

Why?

‘It’s just the prattle of a mere youngster.’

There was no reason to get so agitated. Despite knowing this, his mind instantly heated up.

Although Yulid primarily used daggers and other concealed weap*ns rather than swords, his skill level approached that of a Sword Master.

The air around them grew heavy from his anger-fueled aura, making it difficult to breathe.

Gasping for breath, Calliphe cautiously observed Yulid.

‘Why, why is he suddenly radiating murderous intent?’

Anyone would think she just pointed out ‘Your child hates you!’

For whatever reason, the thoroughly provoked Yulid was even trembling with rage. The leather sofa he gripped was already terribly torn.

‘He’s not going to kill me, is he…?’

Just as she was seriously considering whether to flee:

“…Get out.”

“What?”

“I said get out before I kill you.”

“……!”

Calliphe immediately rushed outside.

As soon as she closed the door, an eerie silence fell on the other side. Then the floor gradually began to vibrate, followed by the sounds of objects falling and breaking inside the room.

He’s really furious!

Calliphe hurriedly entered her own room and locked the door.

‘D*mn… I really want to escape. I should have listened to Lynen!’

※※※

Crunch. The gold coin crumpled once more in Yulid’s grip.

He remained seated where he had been during his conversation with Calliphe.

While everything around him was a mess of overturned furniture and fallen items, he alone was still.

But his eyes burned with rage.

‘My thinking isn’t wrong.’

What could possibly be wrong with wanting to give his daughter abundance and power rivaling that of the imperial family?

That was his way of compensating for the long time he had been absent from her side.

As someone suddenly appearing and claiming to be her father, he wanted to be the one providing help rather than receiving it.

No matter how he thought about it, what he needed was money.

Money. And power.

Those two things were absolutely necessary, even just to discover his daughter’s identity and whereabouts.

For a rat from the gutter to grasp these things, he had to become numb to many things.

He ruthlessly eliminated those who stood in his way. He betrayed without hesitation those who didn’t provide the help he wanted.

This position was gained through bloodshed.

He felt no shame and had no intention of stopping. It was all for his daughter.

Yet Calliphe Offensa was saying it was wrong.

“Personally, I wouldn’t want to be close to someone who reeks of blood.”

He couldn’t accept it.

It felt like a denial of all the efforts he had made for his daughter. He had every right to be angry.

‘I can just hide it from my daughter. I had no intention of discussing my business in detail anyway. She just needs to accept what I give her. Then safely and abundantly—’

“Because that smell transfers whether you like it or not.”

His previously unimpeded train of thought came to an abrupt halt.

The smell of blood transfers.

It was a smell that dragged even those nearby into misfortune.

Could it be that his daughter would think the same way?

Would she be more repelled by that one thing than all he could offer?

‘No. There’s no need to mind what that kid said.’

It was just idealistic talk from a green youngster. Besides, since when did he pay such close attention to what others said?

It was unknowable until he met his daughter anyway. So…

‘Wait.’

Wasn’t there a way to make an educated guess?

“There are orphans here, come to think of it.”