Chapter 18: The Villainess Hunt

The next morning rose bright and early. Sunlight slipped through the gap in the curtains, falling right onto Neo’s head and warming his face. A few minutes passed before he finally stirred awake. He opened his eyes in a sleepy daze, looking around the room while wiping a bit of drool from the corner of his mouth.

He glanced to his side and saw an open book about elemental magic. He had been reading it late last night while lying in bed.

*Yawn~*

"It feels truly satisfying to fall asleep while reading," Neo muttered to himself. "I had a nice dream about becoming the strongest person in the world, and the male lead even became my loyal servant. Hehe, maybe in some alternate timeline, that actually happened."

He stretched his small body languidly, finally sitting up and jumping out of bed. He walked straight to the washroom to brush his teeth and take a quick shower.

Fifteen minutes later, the sound of dripping water stopped. Neo stepped out wearing comfortable clothes and walked over to the mirror to inspect his small figure.

"Hmm... I feel like my height increased by an inch? Well, maybe. I am a growing child, so I should be growing faster."

After smoothing down his messy silver hair, he walked out of his room. Surprisingly, his parents hadn’t come to see him yet. Most days, they always started their morning by visiting him first.

"They must be busy with work. Of course they are. They probably have a massive pile of paperwork waiting for them because of my birthday ball."

Neo shook his head. He couldn’t do anything to help them right now. He knew nothing about handling political paperwork or ruling a giant dukedom. Even with his high intellect from his past life, those were skills his parents had spent years mastering. He would eventually have to learn all of that when he grew up a little more. For now, his only job was to live a carefree life, keep his family safe, and make sure a certain little Villainess didn’t hold a grudge against him.

"So, let’s start the mission: Villainess Hunt!"

He immediately walked down the halls, looking around the large mansion to find the quiet girl.

He checked her designated guest room first. Empty.

He walked through the long corridors. Empty.

He searched the entire garden and the pond. Empty.

Finally giving up on finding her by himself, he went to her mother to ask about her whereabouts. He had no clue where that sneaky girl was hiding.

"Auntie Elara, where is Nora? I have been searching for her everywhere, but I can’t find her."

Elara looked down at him and smiled, leaning slightly to his eye level.

"Oh, you want to know where Nora is?" She tapped her chin in thought, keeping a playful smile on her lips. "Hehe... She must not want you to find her, so no, I will not spoil her secret. You should find your own friends, Neo." She patted his head and went back to her tasks.

Neo felt disappointed getting no real answer. He slumped his shoulders in defeat and walked toward the playroom. He pushed the door open. The room was mostly empty, except for the scattered toys and teddy bears on the floor. Feeling tired, Neo walked over to the desk and sat in the chair. He folded his arms on the table and leaned his head down against the soft tablecloth that draped over the edges.

"It seems I will never be able to find her at this rate. I really wanted to test my new artifact and feel her emotions."

Neo closed his eyes and relaxed. Suddenly, his entire world went dark. All the ambient sound around him turned dead silent. He couldn’t even feel the gentle breeze in the room, or perhaps he just couldn’t hear it brushing past him.

Then, a strange tingle washed over his skin. It felt as if his very skin was burning with a quiet, suppressed intensity. He snapped his eyes open, sweat beading on his forehead. He looked around in utter confusion, trying to figure out what that strange sensation was. Was it the bracelet artifact reacting to someone nearby?

His eyes suddenly caught sight of a pair of small, pale knuckles resting on the floor, barely visible beneath the edge of the draped tablecloth.

Neo jumped out of his chair, crouched down, and lifted the cloth.

What he saw left him stunned.

Nora was sitting there calmly under the table, holding his plushie dragon. Her head rested sideways on her knees as she sat quietly in the enclosed space, hiding far away from the outside world.

’What is she doing under the table? Is she just hiding, or did she really hate me squeezing her cheeks so much that she took such extreme measures to escape me?’

"Nora...?"

Neo reached out a finger and gently poked her hand.

Nora immediately turned to look at him with blank eyes, but Neo caught a tiny hint of surprise flashing across them.

He smiled awkwardly, reached up to the desk, and grabbed a small notebook and a pen from the drawer. He quickly scribbled a note and held it up for her to see.

[You can come out. I won’t squeeze your cheeks.]

Nora looked at the text. She glanced back at Neo’s face as if he had just grown a horn on his forehead. Finally, she stirred and began to crawl out as Neo pulled the chair back to give her space.

After she stepped out, still clutching the plushie dragon, she immediately walked toward the door to leave.

"Hey, wait! Where are you going? You should stay here."

Nora stopped mid-stride as Neo quickly stepped in front of her, blocking her path. He grabbed the notebook again, wrote another quick sentence, and showed it to her.

[Let’s talk.]

Nora stared at the words, looking puzzled. She didn’t reply, but she turned away from the door, walked over to the couch, climbed up, and sat down with the plushie on her lap.

Finally getting her attention, Neo hurried over and sat beside her on the couch. He began to write faster this time.

[Hey, sorry for making you stay, but I wanted to ask you something...]

She read the text and glanced back at him, finally giving him her full attention, even though she didn’t look particularly interested in whatever he had to say.

Neo scribbled his next words rapidly and held the notebook up right near her face.

[Are you okay? Does it hurt?]

Nora’s breath hitched at the question. For the very first time since Neo had met her, she showed first visible reaction. It was as if she herself was surprised by the words on the page.

Her parents always asked her similar questions out of care, and she had grown used to it from them. But this was the first time someone else had ever asked her that exact question.

She sat quietly for a few seconds, analyzing his expression, trying to figure out if he genuinely meant the question or if he was just asking out of casual formality.

"No..."