A Villainess Should Be Strong

Chapter 10: The Constellation

Noble conduct? Decorum? What was that all about?

Above the Clareste Dukedom, several 'fire flowers' were ignited with the help of fire magic and Estelle's Creation Magic.

Of course, Estelle did not directly proclaim that she would be helping and pushed Heine to take the job instead. Since the Creation Magic did not require her being close to the target, she could tinker with the 'fire flowers' and no one would suspect her.

She did not plan to hide her magic talent forever, but the Creation Magic was a completely separate thing. It was something no one had ever seen before, just like the 'fire flowers' that were full on blooming in the peaceful night sky.

The so-called 'fire flowers' were of course, something suggested by Estelle. Using the fireworks she saw in the past as a reference, she drew a vague outline on a piece of paper and handed it to Heine.

Thankfully, Estelle had always told him about her strange innovations, so he was able to redraw the entire thing and make out an understandable blueprint.

Borrowing the powers of lesser fire spirits, they were able to end the party by unleashing the rose-shaped red flame into the darkened skies. Because it was made with magic, there were no loud booming sounds, which took out some of the excitement.

Whether you like it or not, a huge part of every fireworks display was the thundering sounds that would escalate your heartbeat and add into the experience as a whole.

The problem was, there were no such thing as the regularly seen normal fireworks in the current timeline, let alone rose-shaped ones.

Without a doubt, it attracted the eyes of many. From the royalties, nobles, to common populace, all of them who were awake had their eyes glued to the skies above the Dukedom.

Some took it as a blessing, the others took it as a bad omen, and there were even people claiming it to be a forewarning for destruction.

Their eyes were focused on the Clareste Dukedom, anxious as to what the outcome will be. Their enemies rejoiced, thinking that the Dukedom will finally face their demise. Their friends worried for them, sending a bunch of letters that would pile up into one giant mountain.

Whatever the people's reactions were, the entirety of Clareste Dukedom was rejoicing and celebrating without a care.

After a few minutes, the fireworks ceased to exist and the party was starting to die down.

"The teddy bear," Heine stretched out an arm towards the silver-haired girl donning a blue dress.

"Hm?" Estelle was puzzled. What teddy bear?

"You said you already have an enormous collection. Give it to me, I will give you another present in return,"

"Hmm... Nope," Estelle smiled cheekily.

"Why? Won't it be useless to you?" Heine frowned his brows, not seeing why Estelle would prefer a useless gift instead of something she could utilize.

"Because... The gift's content and purpose doesn't matter, the real gift is the sender's feelings...? Or at least I think that's how it went," Estelle was unsure as to how the saying went, but she knew the general gist and meaning of it.

"But I got that because the spirits said that human children liked plushies, I wasn't even planning on giving you a teddy bear in the first place. What feelings are there?" Heine snorted.

"This would be your first time attending a birthday party of mine, right?" Estelle did not answer his question. Instead, she began walking towards the one and only body of water in the Clareste Dukedom's garden.

"... Yeah. I'm sorry for not coming to the previous years' parties. Even though I have more freedom than the other rulers, I am still a King, after all," Following suit in her tracks, Heine solemnly said.

Indeed, both Heine and Minerva was supposed to have their first birthday party attendance today.

In the previous years, Heine and Minerva always had a sudden urgent task to do. Even today, Minerva couldn't come because she had to help her sister out.

That's why, the gift really didn't matter to Estelle. Whatever she wanted, she could just create it out of thin air. Why bother waiting for gifts?

Attending the party without any troubles would suffice as a gift.

Of course, Estelle wouldn't say it out loud. It would attract pity and make it burdensome. They would feel as if they caused disappointment for not coming and force themselves to come the following years.

"I might as well say that the concept of 'everyone fails the first time' can also apply to this situation," Estelle stopped in front of the pool. She turned around and faced Heine, looking straight into his eyes.

"In short, I am inviting you to the next, next, and next birthday parties. Make sure to come and redeem yourself," Under the moon, Estelle's silver locks reflected the gentle rays of light, her eyes glimmering along with it.

Estelle's words were worded so that it could also apply to Minerva, but she was absent.

Heine rubbed his eyes. He thought he had seen Estelle's as an adult for a split second. However, after repeated rubs, the image disappeared and it was back to the five years old child as usual.

"Your answer, mister busy King?" Estelle pinched Heine in the leg.

"Huh? Ah, uh, yeah, I'll settle with that," Heine covered his mouth. He was embarassed, because he thought that the vision was caused by his unruly imaginations.

"It's settled, then," Estelle suddenly ran. She went behind Heine and kicked him from the back, ending it off with a free fall death hug.

Even with her tiny arms, since she trained herself not only in magic but also physical training and martial arts, her strength was enough to knock down the King into the pool, catching him off guard.

Splash!

Not only Heine, Estelle also had to sacrifice herself. Both of them were in the water, drenched and soaked all over.

Heine blankly looked at the floating Estelle and broke into laughter.

"What the hell was that?! You're stupid!" Heine exclaimed.

"What?! No! Why am I stupid? I am obviously this smart!" Estelle retorted.

Heine laughed heartily, and the short bickering soon broke into sounds of loud laughter.

"What happened?!" The knights were the first one to reach the scene, but the maids could also be seen running behind them.

"We fell!" Estelle made a peace sign and grinned.

Sighing, Heine carried Estelle out of the water using the princess carry method. It was nighttime, and the pool's temperature was naturally quite low.

It would not be a surprise if they came down with a cold the following morning.

After getting out of the water, Heine was met with a cold glare from Alan and a somewhat worried Sheila.

However, it must be said that amidst her worries, she was actually trying to hold back her laughter, indicating that she did not take the incident too seriously.

"Care to explain?" Alan sternly looked at the two.

"Look at what you did. You made trouble for me, future official disciple. How am I supposed to get their acceptance now?"

"I thought you were the Spirit King, and father would not have the guts to decline your offer?" Estelle wrung out her hair, the coldness slightly affecting her.

After all, she was still a child, and her shivers and teeth chatters were all part of the normal reactions.

"Peace, Estelle. We strive for peace above anything else. Even I would think twice before offending another country's Duke!"

"Well, you've done it now. Remember, there is no medicine for regret," Estelle got down and ran to hug her mother in a completely dried state.

Since Heine had wind magic, it was completely reasonable that Estelle was dry in just a few seconds.