Reincarnated as the mother of an otome game's villainess?!

Chapter 5. This must be the place.

—What if I make a mistake and they cut my head! —I said to one of the attendants.

—They wouldn't never do anything like that, at least not to a Dragonroot. Where did you ever heard about that?

I didn't know, but in retrospective, it was probably some faintly memory from my past life, where royals and aristocracy were usually cruel and arrogant people. Even in "Promises of an Enchanted Heart", most of the possible love targets with a noble background had a dark side to them, specially the prince Julius, the fiancé of the villainess of the game.

But even then, when I received an invitation from Erzi to a tea party, I really wanted to go. Mother approved of it, and so, I started going to her mansion somewhat regularly during our childhood. Even after we grew up, we kept exchanging letters, and meeting up every so often. We also talked whenever we crossed paths in socialite events. That's it, until she married and became the Queen officially.

It is a bit embarrassing to admit it, but I had been purposely trying to put distance between us. There had always been many rumors circling around me, something that I only became aware as I grew older, and I didn't want to tarnish her Highness' reputation.

—Don't give me that "your Highness" trash —she said, grabbing me by the cheeks and forcing me to see her face—, we are friends, aren't we?

Her eyes were sincere, and I could see she was hurt because I had abandoned her.

—Y-yes. Yes, we are, Erzi.

Her mood changed completely, a smile appeared on her face.

—I was really worried when I heard what happened to your husband, more because you were pregnant and all of your letters were so pragmatic. I feared you would turn into your mother.

—That could never happen!

Right?

—I see that now. I could never imagine her carrying her own baby like you do.

—Ah, well... I want to appreciate every moment I have with her.

—I'm envious; I didn't get to carry Gaius when he was a baby.

Gaius was the first son of Erzebeth, who was around three years old at that time.

—Why not?

—Well, you know, her Wet Nurse would have more experience about it. I might have hurt him if I did it wrong.

—Really? I don't think it is that complicated —I said.

Carrying Violett has been as natural for me as breathing. Granted, I had carried my cousin's babies in my previous life, and they had to teach me how. An idea sprouted on my mind.

—Do you want to carry her?

—N-no, I couldn't —she said, but I felt she really wanted to do it.

—Come on, I'll help you —I said, and got up of my chair to get closer to Erzi.

She was surprised, but she followed my indications, and held Violett perfectly once she was on her arms.

—Awww, she is such a cutie —she said, as Violett pouted.

—She is, right?

We were so engrossed on my daughter's cuteness, that we didn't hear the sound of high heels approaching us.

—Your Majersty, what might you be doing with that baby? —The newcomer said, sounding a lot like Carmila, but there was a bit too much poison on her last two words.

Before any of us could reply, she took Violett out of her arms and shoved her on mine, and proceeded to use a purification spell on Erzi's hand.

—Touching a commoner's baby is totally unacceptable, your Highness.

—Agatha, you are fired.

—Eh? —the woman was paralyzed for a few seconds—, Your Highness, what did you said?

—I said that you are fired, be glad I'm not throwing you into a dungeon.

—B-but, your Highness, why?

—Why, you ask? You insulted the head of the Dragonroot clan, and my best friend, right in front of me.

—W-what, that's... a noble would never dress as simple as that! Much less a Dragonroot! There is no way that-

She looked at the direction where I was, surrounded by my attendants, and shut up suddenly. Either she finally recognized that my dress, while simple, was made with high quality cloth, or she looked at how pissed I was. If there was something I was proud of, even on my previous life, was my angry glare.

—Guards, take her away —the Queen said, and the soldiers obeyed.

Erzi explained me that Agatha had been appointed as a child raising consultant, recommended by her own mother, and had "helped" her raise her firstborn. She was apparently very famous among other noble families, as every kid she was put in charge ended up as a proper noble. I could see she was a bit too much into the strictness, though. Still, I would feel pity for her losing her job, if she hadn't handled Violett so rudely.

—I had been misguided all this time, apparently —Erzi said, sulking a bit.

—I'll help you out —I impulsively said, trying to comfort my friend.

Objectively, that should have sounded like an empty promise. I was a lot less qualified than the consultant she had just fired, and since the Queen didn't know about my previous life, I must looked even less than that. But even so, she smiled.

—I'll be in your care.

We keep chatting after that, eating a few pastries while I tried to pass onto her my limited child raising knowledge. After a while, another person arrived, carrying a three year old with her. This attendant, however, didn't immediately attack me.

—Rossane, this is my son Gaius, and her wet nurse, Miranda.

—It is a pleasure —she replied, bowing towards me, after leaving the kid on the floor.

Gaius seemed really interested in Violett, so I showed her to him by kneeling next to him.

—She is very young and delicate, so you need to be very careful, but you can touch her —I said.

The Queen and the wet nurse were a bit worried; Gaius was a bit energetic, just like her mother was when she was a kid. But he actually listened to me, and very carefully touched her cheeks and her hair, all while giggling and saying how she was really small. After that, the Queen had to return to the palace.

—I'll take your recommendations seriously, but please come to visit and help me out, will you? —she said while leaving —Julius will be born in a month or so, I'll send you a letter to meet up afterwards.

—Be careful, I'll be praying for a safe delivery —I said, also getting ready to leave the coffee shop.

It was already past noon, so I had to speed up and finish what I had come to the city for. However, as the Queen disappeared on the distance, holding the hand of her firstborn, a realization crossed my mind.

—Did she say her baby was going to be called Julius?

—That's right, Madame.

—O-oh. I see...

How could I have not realized it earlier, the shock of meeting my old friend had been enough to distract me that much? The baby she was carrying was no other than Prince Julius, the future fiancé of my Violett, and the one who would betray her to marry the protagonist. Granted, my daughter was a villainess and had bullied the protagonist. But I have decided to scrap that future entirely, so this was actually a good thing, right? Prince Julius and Violett will love each other and live happily ever after, and Erzi and I will be co-mothers-in-law! I just needed to fix some attitude problems that the Prince will have had, but since Erzi was open to receive my suggestions, that shouldn't be any problem now!

The only thing that kept bothering me was that, in the game, Julius didn't have an older brother...