Episode 10 – The Teacher of the Noble Kindergarten Has Another Hard Day
This was the family of the hidden villain in the original story!
It struck her like a bolt of lightning.
Vantaid Hildebon. The villain of the original.
What was Vantaid like in the story again?
“Is he stupid? Until the moment of death, everyone is alive.”
“It’d be more efficient if he begged to be killed. For his sake, too.”
“Your face disgusts me. So pitiful it’s boring.”
Those lines…
Every single one of them was a chilling one-liner. There was a reason readers called Vantaid the terrifying mouthpiece.
Efna turned to look again at the angel-faced Vantaid.
“Brother… I’m hungry.”
“When we get back, I’ll prepare your favorite scallop dish. Endure a little longer.”
“Mmhm. I’ll endure.”
Where did the original story go wrong?
Efna wondered seriously.
That adorable child is the same person as the original Vantaid? Just what in the world happened to him as he grew up?
As she pondered deeply, the affectionate conversation between the two brothers drifted back to her ears.
“Brother. That person fell over.”
Vantaid pointed at someone with his finger. A man who had tripped while dancing, perhaps from stepping on someone’s shoe.
Kaiden grabbed Vantaid’s arm and lowered it indifferently.
“That’s none of your concern.”
“Shouldn’t we help him?”
“It’s even less my concern.”
The lines felt familiar.
Didn’t the original story have something like that, too?
Yes, she remembered. After Vantaid became guild master…
“That’s not something you can solve just by knowing about it.”
“Please reconsider! You’ll make enemies of the Empire!”
“That’s not a problem I need to solve.”
The phrasing and tone were far too similar.
So he learned it from watching…
Efna realized: Vantaid’s textbook was none other than his older brother.
Her eyes narrowed. So the Grand Duke Hildebon was the source of the “destructive personality” of the Vantaid in the original? Her gaze darkened.
“……”
No—on second thought, maybe she could endure it.
Just look at the man approaching her directly, with an unflinching stare. She hated to admit it, but she was intimidated. She decided to endure.
Instead, she only said:
“I’m glad things were resolved well. If it’s alright, may I offer one piece of advice?”
Efna had always been the odd sort who, despite being scared stiff, still said what she had to say.
The man stroked Vantaid’s cheek with his thumb and replied,
“There’s no reason you can’t.”
“You mustn’t leave the child alone. You might think it’s fine since we’re indoors, but that actually makes it more dangerous. If he wanders outside, he’ll be harder to find. Especially at age five, children’s attention is so easily caught by stimulating things—you must be very cautious.”
She dared to nag the Grand Duke Hildebon for over five whole lines. With a stern face, no less.
Kaiden’s expression went briefly blank—a rare look for him. After glancing aside, he soon met her eyes again and faintly smiled.
His perfectly curved lips looked far too relaxed for someone who had just been scolded. Annoyingly so.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Y-yes, then I’ll take my leave… Vantaid, goodbye. You ate a lot of chocolate today, so make sure you brush your teeth before bed!”
“W-what…?”
Vantaid stared at her in shock.
Yes, you must be wondering how I knew about the chocolate you snuck behind your brother’s back.
Watching his trembling pupils, she smirked mysteriously, like a teacher who knew everything.
Kaiden frowned slightly.
“Vantaid. Don’t tell me you ate sweets again…”
“N-no, I didn’t.”
“If you lie, there’ll be no more snacks. I told you sweet things are forbidden until your cavities heal.”
So that was the poor boy’s plight…
But quarrels between siblings were like cutting water with a knife.
Leaving behind a devastated-looking Vantaid, Efna exited the banquet hall. It felt like she’d left a burden called “older brother” behind, but she proudly rode the carriage home alone—never realizing that the Grand Duke’s eyes followed her intently.
The next day, the moment Efna placed her bag down in the kindergarten teachers’ office, she smacked the floor in regret.
I should’ve lingered and talked more with him!
Was she really letting the villain of the original slip away like that? Who knew when she’d see him again?
Efna buried her head in her hands in despair at her own lack of foresight.
Watching her with familiarity, a fellow teacher handed her a book.
“Teacher, could you take a look at this? I found it while organizing the library this morning, but I don’t recognize the language. Do you? Could it be ancient script?”
“A book?”
Ancient texts in a kindergarten library? Were their kids secretly geniuses?
Efna suspiciously took the book. But as her eyes ran over the squiggly letters, they bulged wide.
“W-where did you say you found this? The library?”
“Yes. Why? Do you know the language? Isn’t it ancient?”
“Am I… hallucinating?”
Why did it look like Korean?
No—that wasn’t an illusion.
It really was Korean.
After five years, she was finally seeing her mother tongue again. King Sejong’s proud legacy, Korean letters, stamped boldly on an old leather cover.
[Past Side Story]
Past Side Story?
Efna’s voice trembled.
“T-teacher, may I borrow this for a bit? I’ll bring it back before the meeting.”
“Oh, yes, of course!”
Gulp. She swallowed hard, clutching the book like a thief before scurrying away to the empty teachers’ dormitory.
There, she carefully opened it.
Korean? Why is this in our library…? No, why is it even in this world?
She had thought nothing could shock her anymore after transmigration and regression. Yet her heart pounded as she read.
Efna Windister. She was an intolerable villainess.
“…Huh?”
Was her eyesight failing? She blinked, then read again, carefully.
Efna Windister. She was an intolerable villainess.
The words were the same. Her name, written clearly in the book—depicting her as a despicable villainess.
Her wrongdoings were countless.
She would often say it like a mantra: that she would kill the Saintess.
“…What?”
She had thought it was just a strange book, but this was apparently a crime novel. Kill the Saintess? She was already working herself to death every day—who would she even kill?
She flipped through the pages.
A cold wind swept across an execution ground. Efna’s neck rested on the guillotine.
Clang.
Crowds gathered to witness the downfall of the infamous villainess. Even the Saintess, long tormented by Efna’s threats, watched with an uneasy face.
Then the judge’s booming voice rang out:
“For grievously harming the Empire through the forbidden art of black magic! For daring to attempt the Saintess’s life! Efna Windister shall be executed!”
“Ha… haha… Fools.”
“Furthermore, Imperial knights shall be dispatched to the Hildebon Duchy, her accomplices!”
“Wait, wait.”
Execution? Black magic?
Me, practicing black magic?
It made no sense. She could barely manage her current powers, let alone learn forbidden ones.
And why did the Hildebon family suddenly appear?
She reread the sentence several times.
“……”
The book slipped from her pale fingers.
“…I remember now.”
Imperial knights shall be dispatched to the Hildebon Duchy.
She had seen that line before—in her past life.
The novel she’d transmigrated into had been popular enough to have extra side stories. Among them: the Past Side Story, which explained why Vantaid became a villain.
She hadn’t remembered it because she only ever cared about the romance and main plot. She had skimmed the extra story, found it boring, and closed the e-book.
And now… this is that very side story.
Efna looked down at the ominous book with unease. Why it had appeared here like an ancient tome, she didn’t know. But there was something far more urgent.
From what she recalled…
The reason Vantaid became the villain was…
To be continued…
