I Raised the Villain’s Daughter Too Well

“Virdem, what are you doing?”

It was Lady Firnea. She usually never came to my room at this hour.
“My lady? What brings you here?”
I hurried to hide the book and crystal in the drawer, but Firnea’s eyes were faster.

“Oh? What’s that? Something from the abandoned mine?”
She ran over and snatched the book and the crystal before I could hide them.
“Please return them, my lady.”

“Nope. Why are you looking at this alone?”
Firnea held the Heart Fragment up to the light. The red glow pulsed faintly, and her blue eyes sparkled in the reflection.
“It’s pretty under the light… It looks almost alive.”

“It might be dangerous, so please give it back.”
“It’s not dangerous. The mana’s stable.”
As expected of a magical prodigy. She instantly sensed the mana’s flow and stability—something I couldn’t perceive at all.

This time, Firnea opened the book. Though it was filled with indecipherable characters and symbols, she flipped through the pages with interest.
“There are a lot of symbols that look like magic circles… but they’re kind of different.”
“It’s a book on ancient dwarven magic engraving techniques. It’s difficult to decode…”

“Should I give it a try?”
“…Pardon?”
I doubted my ears.

“You’re saying… you can decode this, my lady?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure, but a lot of it looks similar to ancient magical language. And these symbols—they look like mana flow diagrams… Maybe it’s doable.”
Firnea opened the book confidently.
“…Truly, my lady?”

If Firnea could decode this book, it would be an incredible stroke of luck for me.
It could take me years alone—or maybe I’d never crack it at all.
“Then, wanna research it together?”

The young lady made the suggestion.
“It’d be boring to do it alone. Let’s read it together. You’ve got a lot of random knowledge, so you might be useful.”
Random knowledge, she said. Considering it included memories from my past life, it wasn’t exactly wrong.

“If that is your wish, my lady…”
“Great! Then let’s go through it together whenever we have free time starting tomorrow!”
Like a child who had found a new toy, Firnea bounced out of the room excitedly.

I stood there in a daze for a moment, then pulled the Heart Fragment back out from the drawer.
The red light still pulsed steadily.
From the next day onward, the young lady and I began our secret research.

Of course, I did ask her why it had to be a secret. It wasn’t like we were doing anything wrong.
“Because it’s more fun that way!”
“…Ah. Yes, my lady.”

We met in Firnea’s study or my room during the evenings, after her official schedule ended, or during spare time after tea.
To be honest—Firnea’s ability was astounding.
She quickly deciphered the ancient dwarven script and began deducing the flow and mechanism of mana by examining the complex magical symbols.

Of course, we hit many walls, but every time we did, Firnea didn’t give up. She formed new hypotheses and pieced together the puzzle bit by bit.
It’s not my place to say, but her level of comprehension and concentration was unbelievable for a child.
I took the role of recording what she decoded, searching for supplementary materials, or carefully suggesting ideas based on my engineering knowledge from my previous life (though much of it didn’t align with this world’s principles).

Amazingly, my so-called “random knowledge” occasionally gave Firnea the clue she needed to break through a dead end.
“Virdem, this part… it looks like a structure to amplify mana, but I don’t get why it’s twisted like this. Wouldn’t a straight connection be more efficient?”
She pointed to a part of the book. The structure was designed to make mana flow in a complex spiral pattern.

“Hmm… could it be related to resonance?”
“Resonance?”
“Yes. A principle that amplifies vibrations at specific frequencies. Perhaps mana also has properties like frequency or waves, and this spiral structure is meant to resonate with certain mana waves, maximizing efficiency.”

It was a clumsy explanation based on physics from my past life, but Firnea’s eyes sparkled.
“Mana waves… resonance… That might be it! Then the spacing and number of spirals would—ah!”
Firnea suddenly began scribbling notes in the book, as if something had just clicked.

For a moment, I was in awe once again of this elementary-school-age child’s incredible focus and intellect.
The research progressed slowly, but steadily. We successfully decoded the basics in the front of the book: fundamental magic engraving techniques and a few simple magic tool designs.
For example, a technique to enhance a blade’s sharpness with mana, or instructions on how to make a small lantern using a mana stone to emit light.

“Virdem, let’s try making this one!”
Firnea was ready to act the moment she deciphered the mana lantern blueprint.
“My lady, we don’t have the necessary materials or tools. And there are safety concerns…”

“I’ll get the materials! I’ll ask Dad, he’ll get me everything! And the tools… you make them!”
“…Me?”
“Yup! You’re good with your hands. You carved that bird out of a branch in no time, remember?”

That was just something I did out of boredom…
But I couldn’t bring myself to say no—not with the way she was looking at me.
“Understood. If you can provide the blueprints, I’ll give it a try.”

Over the next few days, Firnea begged Pitus until he provided her with rare mana stones and ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) metal materials, and I spent several nights creating makeshift but functional crafting tools based on the dwarven schematics.
A hammer, chisel, pliers, and even a specialized soldering tool capable of fine mana flow adjustments. I had to throw together every bit of knowledge from my past life and my butler training.
When everything was ready, we set up a small workshop in the corner of Firnea’s room and attempted our first magic tool production.

Firnea took on the role of engraving the magic circle into the mana stone and injecting mana, while I shaped and assembled the metal parts.
At first, it was a mess.
Mana injection failures cracked the stones, and parts didn’t fit properly due to mismatched sizes.

But we didn’t blame each other. We analyzed the problems, made corrections, and tried again.
After several failures—finally, we completed a palm-sized mana lantern.
When Firnea carefully injected mana, the mana stone at the lantern’s center emitted a bright, soft blue light.

It was far brighter and more stable than any ordinary lantern.
“Wow! It worked! Virdem, we made it!”
Firnea cheered like a child, waving the lantern excitedly. Which, of course, she was.

I also felt a swell of pride. Even if it was just a small lantern, the fact that we’d made something real…
It felt genuinely good.
“Excellent work, my lady. It was only possible thanks to your mana control.”

“You did great too! You made the tools and parts so well!”
We exchanged a shy but satisfied smile.
And then it happened.

Firnea, who had been watching me smile, suddenly opened her eyes wide in surprise and closed her mouth.
Puzzled by her strange reaction, I tilted my head and asked:
“My lady… is there something you wish to command?”

“Hmm…? Hmmm?”
Firnea stepped in closer and examined my face, getting dangerously near.
From a distance close enough to feel her breath, she stared at me, deep in thought, then muttered to herself.

“What is it…? That’s strange. You look so average, but why…?”
“Pardon?”
“What was it again…”

Firnea tapped her chest a few times, then left the room holding the lantern.
…I should be the one asking that.
What was that?

 
****
Time passed quickly.

Even though I had to play the young lady’s playmate, research partner, and even ballroom partner on a daily basis, I still had to fulfill my butler duties consistently.
“V-Virdem, sir, please leave this to us—”
“This is a task for the young lady. Please allow me.”

“Y-Yes, of course…”
The last part was non-negotiable—for the sake of maintaining at least a minimal reputation.
If I became known as a spoiled, frivolous butler who basked in the young lady’s favor and played around (not that any of this was actually “playing”—it was exhausting), I’d be labeled a bottom-feeder in the household I had to endure for the next ten years.

Naturally, there was no end to the work.
I’d close my eyes and open them, and the night would be gone.
By the time I came to my senses, a whole week had passed.

…And just like that, it was nearly three years since I had started serving Lady Firnea.
During that time, Firnea had changed a lot. She still had childlike moments, but her stubborn, tantrum-throwing tendencies had noticeably diminished.
Instead, she was starting to explain her wants and emotions more logically, and even made efforts—however small—to consider others’ perspectives.

Though “others” still seemed to only include me and Maclaine, for now…
The social training and dwarven legacy research we worked on together continued steadily.
Firnea now had a decent knack for reading through noble intrigue and responding with wit, and her progress with decoding the dwarven book had reached a point where she’d uncovered several fascinating magical enhancement techniques—and even some clues about the Heart Fragment itself.

As suspected, the Heart Fragment wasn’t just an ordinary mana crystal. It was an ancient relic that could act both as a mana battery and a control core.
The dwarves had apparently used it as a power source for powerful golems or as a core component in devices that regulated mana across certain regions.
In the latter chapters of the book, there were even instructions on how to use the Heart Fragment to create personal accessories that could amplify the user’s mana or enhance the power of certain elemental spells.

But the details were so complex—and the risk so high—that we hadn’t dared to try anything yet.
Then one day, Maclaine came looking for me while I was arranging flowers, his expression more serious than usual.
“Virdem, I need a word with you.”

“What is it, Chief Butler?”
“A few days from now, there will be a founding celebration banquet at the Imperial Palace. Naturally, the Master and the young lady are expected to attend.”
“A banquet, sir? That would be on a whole different scale from the previous tea party.”

“It’s incomparable. It’s the grandest official event—every major noble family and high-ranking government official in the Empire will be present.”
Maclaine paused for a moment, then added in a low voice:
“And I have a special task for you at this banquet.”

“You do, sir?”
“Of course you’ll be accompanying and guarding the young lady… but I also want you to observe a certain individual. And if possible, make brief contact.”
“A certain individual…?”

I was surprised. It was rare for the Chief Butler to assign me a covert mission like this personally.
“Yes. The eldest son of the Laurencia marquessate—Kyle Laurencia.”
The Laurencia family. The same family as Lady Emily, the one who harassed Firnea at the last tea party.

Kyle Laurencia—he was the heir to the Laurencia house, and a young man known for competing for the top spot at the capital’s academy.
“Why must I observe him?”
Maclaine glanced around and lowered his voice even further.

“There’s been suspicious movement from the Laurencia house lately. Specifically, there are rumors that Kyle has been meeting secretly with heirs from other noble houses and plotting something. No solid evidence yet, but… it might be a move to rally anti-Seriratus forces.”
“…So this is a political matter.”
“Exactly. I feel sorry asking you to take on such a dangerous mission, but I believe you’re the best man for the job. You’re still young, and a butler—he’s less likely to be wary of you. And I trust your eye for detail and ability to think on your feet.”

Maclaine’s gaze was firm.
“More than anything… I have a bad feeling about this banquet. Like something terrible is going to happen.”