A Villainess Should Be Strong

After a long, loving embrace, Estelle detached from her parents and went over to the nearby crib.

Inside laid her baby brother, Noah Clareste.

He was sleeping peacefully, sucking on his thumb as if it was a delicious candy.

This harmless looking creature was what almost caused Sheila to meet her doom at an early age.

Noah inherited both of his parents' features, making his hair a somewhat duller silver than what Estelle and Alan had. If you look closer in the right angle, you could also see the yellowish tinge from Sheila's platinum blonde hair.

"Grow up well. I hope that you can chase after me one day. I look forward to it," Estelle strongly believed that the infant had potential.

If only he was born in a normal family, he wouldn't have survived.

Luckily, he had her as his older sister.

Estelle's brows creased as she remembered Noah's condition. Although he didn't show any signs of possible ailments right now, something terrible might develop as he grows.

Thus, she had made preparations.

"This is my gift to you..." She pulled out a pendant. It had no strings or cords.

A small gem was embedded in the middle. It was a blood red color. The shade of Noah's eyes.

This was something Estelle created. Well, to be clear, something she envisioned, something that would help Noah in the long run.

It was made by replicating Noah's own mana, then creating a tamer version of it. It also served as a magic restrainer.

Yulia had a massive part in making the jewelry, as she placed careful seals that would not harm the user, but would restrict the magical elements they possessed to a certain level.

In Noah's case, it was made to be flexible. The suppression level could change along with his growth.

The more Noah administers his mana, the more the seal will suppress it to a healthy level.

This way, Noah wouldn't face any backlash. He also wouldn't go into a mana overload condition.

Yulia's helping hand completed more than fifty percent of the work. Estelle only created the pendant using her [Creation Magic], making sure that it was strong enough to withstand Yulia's seals.

Thinking about it, Estelle felt the urge to go and try out the 'Spirit Borrowing' technique. Yulia's powerful Arcana Magic was too powerful to not be learned.

Of course, the suppression wouldn't be applied forever. After Noah matures and understands the gravity of his power, and is able to control it, the necklace will naturally be removed.

She would personally teach him when he grows up. As promised to Sheila.

Estelle took the pendant and hovered it above Noah's neck area.

The gem couldn't be covered with invisibility magic, as it would cancel Yulia's sealing magic.

She planned to make it an earring so that it wouldn't stand out in a bad way.

Pressing it against his right ear, she imagined her creation.

Then, she created an invisible metal stud. It was long, but narrow in width.

Next was the piercing.

She cast a pain blocker magic on Noah. With a thin needle that was larger than the stud's width, she pierced the infant's ear.

Immediately, she healed the surrounding skin enough for the hole to not close.

She bound the stud with the red gem and inserted it through the hole. Curling the hole to go around his ear loop, the final creation was complete.

The beautiful gem was now comfortably sitting on Noah's ear.

Earrings weren't uncommon in male nobility. In fact, it was the current fad. Nobles scoured throughout the world to find the most beautiful jewels to make earrings out of it.

It was believed that giving the jewel earrings to your children would bless them with great things.

Thus, Estelle wasn't worried about what people might think of Noah.

Satisfied with the result, Estelle puffed her breath.

"Big sister has to leave, so be good, alright?" Estelle caressed his soft cheeks, afraid of waking him up.

The pain was lessened, but the touch will still be there. Perhaps, if Noah was a light sleeper, this touch would be enough to wake him up.

That worry was then realized as the infant started to open his eyes. Noah cast his gaze on Estelle.

He looked at her in a daze, like he was lost.

Noah always had some type of affinity towards Estelle.

The only reason why this would happen was probably because of Estelle's hand in calming his outrages down.

The infant had gotten used to her and regarded her as a safe place, someone that made him comfortable.

Even though he was waken up abruptly, he didn't cry. With his clear, beaded eyes, he scrunched his nose and tried to turn around.

Although it took him a minute or two, he became successful.

Now, he was kneeling on the bed and in a loss on what to do next.

Estelle chuckled at the baby's antics.

"What are you going to do next, huh?" She rested her arms on the crib's railings, grinning at Noah's efforts to reach her.

The baby fiddled around the crib, touching the railings and observing Estelle with great interest. After a few minutes, he finally gave up and relented to his pitiful fate of being unable to escape from the crib.

Estelle was reminded of her infancy period, where she met Heine.

If only Noah also had past memories like her, he would definitely be able to achieve the same feats she did. She stood on her feet one day after her birth. Noah would be able to accomplish that as well.

Noah stretched his hand upwards, frustrated.

He seemed to imply that he wanted to be carried.

"Your sister grew bigger in just a short while, you didn't notice anything? Did you miss me?" Estelle carefully took the baby out of the crib and cradled him.

Noah showed a satisfied smile, raising his arms to grab at the air.

Estelle decided to lend him her pointer finger as she brought it to Noah's face, close enough for him to reach it.

Noah happily grabbed at the finger and swung it.

It was funny, because Estelle knew that babies could forget the faces of their own parent if the baby didn't see them for a while. But somehow, Noah was capable of remembering her.

Perhaps it was just natural instinct.

She hadn't planned on bidding her farewells with Noah since she thought that the infant wouldn't remember her.

However, Noah seemed a bit peculiar.

Even after four months of not seeing a glimpse of her, he still recognized her.

"Noah really likes you. If you don't come back for him, won't he cry for you once he can speak?" Sheila commented, fondly looking at the two siblings' interactions.

"Then let him chase after me! Don't trouble mother and father, got it?" Estelle placed a light kiss on Noah's peachy face.

"Is there any other matter that I have to mind?" Estelle asked, lightly patting Noah and babying him in a way that she thought was good.

"What about Sierra and Derrick?" Alan reminded.

He had personally given the executive decision on the matter to Estelle. Whatever happens to the siblings will have to rely on Estelle's views.

He thought that it was the right choice since the parties involved were all strongly connected to Estelle. She was also the one who made the elaborate plan to trap the young Witch.

Estelle thought about it.

Sierra Sullivan.

A potential great Witch. After all, she was born from the same father as Minerva and Yulia. There was great potential.

"Like I've mentioned before, I do plan to release and nurture her.. Actually, why don't I go and see her right now?" Estelle didn't worry about Derrick.

The main problem was Sierra.

"They're still in the dungeons right? I'll visit them," Estelle made up her mind and prepared to get out of the study to meet the siblings.