I Won't Clear Up the Misunderstanding. I Don't Mind Being the Villainess. - Chapter 3

The racket the boys were making carried all the way up to the second-floor room, even with the windows shut.
The maid I’d seen earlier was completely unfazed. I figured it must be a normal, everyday sound for anyone living here.
In my previous life, I was married and had children. I know how loud two young boys can be. What I couldn’t understand, though, was why absolutely no one was stepping in. Especially since the younger one was so obviously being singled out.
I left the room and went to the play area I had spotted from the window. It looked like a standard spot for children, with swings and a slide tucked away at the edge. But the boys ignored them.
They both had black hair and blue eyes. From a distance, only their height was clearly different. Judging by their size, one was in upper primary school and the other was in the middle years. I felt a pang of nostalgia, reminded of my own sons’ childhood.
The two didn’t seem to get along at all. The taller one was yelling furiously at the other.
“Just do what I told you, you have to bother her!”
“I don’t know… but what if she gets hurt…”
“Shut up! You don’t want a mother everyone hates either, do you?”
“I… but…”
“Hey! Are you seriously telling your older brother you won’t listen?!”
Saying that, the boy raised his hand to strike his brother. I rushed up and grabbed his fist with both hands from behind.
“Since when did being an ‘older brother’ become an excuse to act like a tyrant, I wonder?”
“Wha—”
“You’re getting all worked up and shouting just because he won’t obey. You’re acting like a baby.”
“What did you just say?!”
“Using violence just to make people listen? That’s not how you grow up to be a decent man.”
“Don’t you dare say that, you wicked woman!”
With that, the boy forcefully shook off my grasp. He stood there, panting heavily, his blue eyes blazing at me.
“Everyone’s been saying it—that you’re a terrible person!”
“‘Everyone’s been saying it,’ have they? So if everyone told you to drop dead, would you actually do it?”
At my extreme argument, the black-haired boy’s eyes went wide, and his face turned crimson with rage.
“T-That’s not what I meant at all!”
“It is exactly what you meant. You wouldn’t throw yourself under a carriage just because someone told you to, would you? That means you’re perfectly capable of deciding things yourself.”
“I couldn’t possibly…”
“Stop hiding behind ‘everyone said it’. If you hate me, just say so. And leave your little brother out of your mess.”
If you want to cause trouble, stop relying on others and do it with your own hands. When I said that, the boy gave me a dark, frustrated glare.
“I hate you! Even if Father tells me to, I’ll never, ever accept you as my mother!”
He pointed his finger sharply as he declared it. I simply offered a soft smile in return.
“Oh, that’s absolutely fine by me.”
“Eh…?”
“It would be rather awkward for me, too.”
When I said that, the black-haired boy looked completely shattered. He was the one making a fuss about never acknowledging me as his mother, yet he looked so hurt. Why?
“After all, we haven’t even properly exchanged greetings. We’re practically strangers.”
Erica was hastily made the bride after her step-sister, Rose, backed out of the marriage at the last minute. Treated like a servant at the Count’s house, she hadn’t even been introduced to the Ducal family as Rose’s sister. She hadn’t been given a proper dress and wasn’t even scheduled to attend the wedding.
The Duke’s household had been fed a lie: that Erica was a spoilt, anti-social girl who hated any kind of interaction. Considering the other rumor already circulating—that she was having many lovers—the stories were wildly contradictory.
That’s why the conversation on the wedding night was pretty much the first time she had spoken directly with Kevin. This was also the first time she’d properly seen the faces of his two sons. However, she knew their names, ages, and general personalities because they’d been explained in the manga ‘A Single Flower Melts the Ice’.
The older brother was Leo Avenius, the eldest son of the Avenius family, who turns ten this year. He was a boy with black hair and blue eyes and a defiant look about him. In reality, he was a strong-willed, mischievous type.
And the younger brother being bullied by him was Ron Avenius, who is eight this year. He looked exactly like his father and brother, but unlike them, he was slightly hunched and had a timid personality.
The fact that these two did not accept Erica as their mother was also according to the original story. In the story, Erica would gradually win over the sweet-toothed Leo by baking delicious cookies and cakes. Leo would then accept Erica as his mother and actively support her relationship with Kevin.
However, I didn’t want to take such a slow, easy approach. Besides, I didn’t want Leo to like me, nor did I want him to cheer on my relationship with Kevin.
“You don’t have to treat me like your mother, but you must stop bullying your brother.”
“Wha— that’s none of your business!”
“It is my business. It makes me sick to watch.”
Before Erica tamed him, Leo had used his brother Ron like a mere lackey and constantly tried to cause trouble for Erica. When his schemes failed, he’d often fly into a hysterical rage and hit Ron. In my previous life, every time I saw that scene, I desperately wanted to jump into the manga and slap the little brat.
“Your brother is not your henchman, nor is he your toy. He is not yours to treat however you please.”
I said what I had always wanted to. I felt unilaterally relieved, but Leo twisted his face and screamed at me.
“Don’t talk about things you know nothing about! There’s a reason he has to listen to me!”
After shouting with a voice that echoed across the garden, Leo ran away. Ron watched his brother’s retreating figure, trembling. I gently stroked his head.
“Don’t worry. There is no such reason.”
When I said that, tears welled up in Ron’s blue eyes. But he quickly turned his face away.
“No, you’re wrong. There is. You just don’t know it.”
“I do know. That’s why I’m telling you.”
I stroked his head one more time. I knew the reason why Leo bullied Ron. Ron was born eight years ago. Their mother had died eight years ago, too. Leo was so harsh because he genuinely believed his younger brother’s birth had killed their mother.