A Contract Marriage with My Child’s Father - Chapter 33

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 33

 

Yawn. Opening my drowsy eyes with a yawn, I slowly sat up.

 

In the darkness, I could see a small pink bundle. Melody was curled up sleeping beside me.

 

I must have slept deeply because my body felt refreshed.

 

‘…I passed out just like that.’

 

I carefully got up from the bed.

 

Glancing out the window, I could see the moon hanging in the sky.

 

It was roughly close to midnight.

 

It seemed several hours had passed since I collapsed after taking the antidote.

 

I moved my arms and legs around to check my physical condition.

 

‘Hmm, as expected.’

 

Just as I hoped, there was nothing wrong with my body. It meant the antidote had worked properly.

 

Thank goodness.

 

I patted my chest in relief, though on the other hand, it also seemed natural.

 

If there had been any risk involved, I wouldn’t have done such a thing in the first place.

 

I was confident. Confident that there would be no problems.

 

Not only did I know information from the original work, but I had already confirmed the antidote’s effects beforehand.

 

‘I don’t want to die just yet.’

 

Jayden’s treatment was just beginning, and Melody still had a long way to go before becoming an adult. I can’t die until I’ve done everything I need to do.

 

‘But even if that’s the case for me… I think I made Cain worry a lot.’

 

Since my mind was hazy, I don’t remember exactly, but I recalled Cain’s face that I saw through my blurred vision.

 

He seemed very angry at me for doing something so reckless.

 

‘I should apologize later…’

 

Since it’s true that I startled him.

 

Just as I was stretching my stiff back, I remembered something I had forgotten.

 

‘Come to think of it…’

 

I remembered that I had promised to take a walk with Cain tonight.

 

Oh no. I’m in trouble. We were supposed to meet at 11 o’clock. I was already extremely late.

 

I started to panic but soon regained my composure.

 

‘Let’s calm down first.’

 

Thinking logically, the appointment must have been canceled. Since I had caused such a big incident right before his eyes.

 

It seemed better to lie down and sleep more today, waiting for my body to fully recover.

 

However…

 

Contrary to my thoughts, my feet headed not toward the bed but toward the wardrobe, and my hands immediately searched for an outer coat.

 

‘I took a good nap during the day anyway, and I’m not sleepy… Should I go out for a moment?’

 

My head knew it was unlikely, but I was concerned that Cain might be out there, just in case.

 

Thud, the moment I grasped the outer coat in my hand. Something felt strange around my chest area.

 

‘Ah, my necklace got disheveled.’

 

Did I toss and turn while sleeping? The position of the necklace inside my clothes was slightly different from usual.

 

Since I’ve been wearing it continuously since childhood, which I can’t even remember, it feels like part of my body now.

 

A necklace I had even before becoming an adopted daughter of the Deborae Duchy.

 

In the letter left by the late previous marquis, it was written that it was a keepsake from my birth mother and to treasure it.

 

I carefully adjusted the necklace to its proper position and then put on the outer coat.

 

‘Of course, there won’t be anyone in the garden.’

 

Even while thinking that, my steps heading outside were somewhat hurried.

 

* * *

 

A few hours earlier, in the Duke’s study.

 

Cain couldn’t concentrate on his official duties today and kept looking outside.

 

Whoosh. All that could be heard from the garden was the sound of leaves rustling in the wind.

 

‘…It’s quiet.’

 

The garden was peaceful as if the daytime commotion had never happened, but that tranquility was soon broken.

 

Knock knock. With a hesitant knocking sound, an unexpected visitor came.

 

“…Your Grace.”

 

It was none other than Jayden.

 

It had been three years since he became his guardian.

 

The boy who had avoided even making eye contact with him all this time had somehow come to the study on his own.

 

The boy, who had clenched his fists so tightly they turned white, raised his head to meet Cain’s eyes.

 

“…Celia Dorn. That woman dared to try to kill Viola.”

 

Cain quietly observed Jayden.

 

‘Surprising.’

 

This kid who was always busy running away with a frightened face whenever he saw me. Has he learned to make such expressions now?

 

Deep in Jayden’s eyes, fear could still be glimpsed, but at the same time, there was also an intense determination to protect someone.

 

‘He wants Celia Dorn to be severely punished.’

 

Cain answered quietly.

 

“It will be as you wish.”

 

“…Thank you.”

 

Only then did the boy’s face, which had been stiff with tension, relax a little.

 

With that conversation ended, Jayden immediately withdrew, but in fact, there was no need for the kid to come so resolutely.

 

Cain had already decided on the punishment even before Jayden knocked on the door.

 

By now, Celia Dorn would be loaded onto a carriage like luggage, heading toward the Dorn Estate, her family home.

 

Cain put down his pen and recalled what happened after leaving Viola’s room.

 

Celia Dorn, held by both arms by knights, was dragged into the study.

 

With disheveled hair, she prostrated herself on the floor and babbled incoherently with frightened eyes.

 

“I, I’m innocent! For Your Grace’s sake…! I was just trying to catch a fraud! Young Master Jayden is…”

 

I heard she caused a disturbance in Jayden’s bedroom. She seemed to have lost her mind, overwhelmed by the chilling aura of bloodlust.

 

Cain looked down at her with coldly sunken eyes.

 

As if some reason had returned, she urgently opened her mouth.

 

“In, in the first place, that woman ate the poisonous plant on her own, didn’t she? Even if I forced her, it’s not like I pried her mouth open…!”

 

Cain’s brow furrowed at the excuses that blamed others until the end.

 

“Stop.”

 

“Your Grace…! I really did nothing wrong-”

 

“Did you think I wouldn’t know that you’ve been investigating my guest behind the scenes with Count Dorn’s help?”

 

“…!”

 

Celia’s mouth was struck dumb.

 

“Conrad must have warned you. To be careful with your behavior.”

 

Celia was officially Jayden’s maid, but in reality, she was closer to a dependent.

 

The title of maid was given only because of the friendship between his father, the previous duke, and Count Dorn.

 

Of course, it wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to assign a proper maid to Jayden. But each time, Conrad reported like this:

 

“Young Master Jayden doesn’t seem to want it. Your Grace, if I may speak out of turn… how about trusting and waiting for the young master?”

 

Cain, who agreed with the statement that the child didn’t want it, maintained Celia’s position. Instead, he secretly assigned servants to help with the work.

 

Celia Dorn remained in Ashern as a maid in name only.

 

The Ashern family wouldn’t collapse just because one parasite was attached.

 

But she shouldn’t have crossed the line.

 

There was no longer any value in discussing it further.

 

Cain commanded with eyes so cold they seemed frozen, beyond mere composure.

 

“Take him away.”

 

“Yes, Your Grace.”

 

The situation was settled with that, and thus Cain severed all dealings with Count Dorn’s family that had continued through his father’s connections.

 

Since it was practically their main source of income, the blow to the count’s family would be severe. The family would essentially collapse completely, but that wasn’t a problem I needed to concern myself with.

 

It was the severe punishment Jayden had hoped for.

 

After Jayden left, only silence once again lingered in the study.

 

Come to think of it…

 

The clock hanging on the wall suddenly caught his eye.

 

Late at night. The time he had promised to meet with Viola was gradually approaching.

 

Though he knew it was an appointment that had already been canceled.

 

He picked up his coat.

 

* * *

 

Cain, who had stopped still under the moonlight, finally emerged from his reverie.

 

‘I’m having many distracting thoughts today.’

 

The reason Cain usually took walks at night was to clear his complicated mind.

 

Walking through the quiet garden made him feel like his nerves, which had been sharply on edge all day, would somewhat ease.

 

Therefore, even though he generally had no particular preferences, Cain rather favored this quietude that night brought.

 

Yes, that should have been the case…

 

He couldn’t understand why this familiar silence felt so tedious today.

 

Perhaps it was because there was no chattering voice beside him, unlike last night.

 

A subtle sense of regret kept holding him back.

 

They had only walked together for a single day. It was ridiculous that he already felt the empty space.

 

‘Should I head back now?’

 

Though they had promised to be together today as well, Cain knew it was essentially a canceled appointment.

 

Viola wouldn’t come tonight. By now, she would be sleeping soundly in her bed, oblivious to the world.

 

Even knowing this fact perfectly well, somehow Cain was here in the garden now.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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