A Contract Marriage with My Child’s Father - Chapter 34
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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 34
When the moon hung in the sky, I unconsciously headed here out of habit.
Cain wandered aimlessly through the garden.
Even though he knew that staying longer wouldn’t fill this longing, he couldn’t bring himself to return.
He stood in front of a flower bed he had no interest in and gazed at the flowers.
Viola would often light up with joy at things like this.
Unfortunately, Cain couldn’t find any particular enjoyment in it.
Yesterday seemed fun. He couldn’t understand why it wasn’t the same now.
Ha. What am I even doing?
Just wasting time pointlessly. Rather than becoming peaceful, his mind only grew more complicated.
Cain finally decided to return.
It was the moment he turned around and was about to step toward the manor.
A familiar presence gently brushed against his sensitive senses.
Rustle.
Light footsteps treading on grass.
And that distinctive bitter grass scent carried on the wind.
The Duke’s servants wouldn’t dare wander around here at this hour.
Then the owner of this presence must be…
“Viola?”
Cain wondered if he was hearing things. Because it couldn’t be possible. Why would she, who should be asleep by now, come out at this hour?
But she was too vivid before his eyes to be a fantasy.
“Your Grace…!”
As if her skirt that reached down to her ankles was bothersome, she slightly lifted it up and ran toward him.
Then she finally stopped in front of him and caught her breath.
When Cain said nothing, frozen by the unexpected encounter, she drooped her eyebrows.
“I’m sorry, I’m very late, aren’t I? Hehe…”
Viola said this while scratching the back of her head embarrassedly.
Cain could only stare down at her blankly for a moment.
Wasn’t she supposed to be asleep?
‘Why did she come out at this hour? No, before that.’
There was something he needed to confirm. Cain asked.
“Your body, is it alright?”
The woman who had been blinking let out a short sigh.
“Ah, my body? I’m perfectly fine! More importantly, I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t cause you unnecessary worry…”
So she was aware that she made him worry. Though for someone like that, she seemed to cause trouble quite often.
Still, her words about being fine didn’t seem to be lies as she began chattering as usual.
“But I was surprised to wake up in the bedroom. Someone must have moved me there, I’m so sorry… It must have been heavy.”
Heavy? How ridiculous.
She was even more skinny than he thought. Does she even eat properly?
Cain answered indifferently.
“Not particularly.”
“What? Don’t tell me Your Grace carried me?”
She who had been walking forward turned to look at him in shock.
Since she looked like she’d faint if he said yes, Cain didn’t give any particular answer.
Seeming to interpret his silence as confirmation, the woman’s ears instantly turned bright red.
“Oh my. It really was true. Thank you for helping me.”
How embarrassing… It must have been heavy… She quietly added while fanning herself with her hands to cool the heat from her face.
‘As if a woman the size of a squirrel would be heavy.’
Unaware of his thoughts, she fluttered her hands and spoke again.
“I feel like I keep showing you unseemly sides of myself.”
Her standards were truly difficult to understand. She acted so timidly over trivial matters while being surprisingly bold about serious things.
“That doesn’t matter. Unless you’re recklessly eating poisonous plants.”
“That… that’s true. I’m sorry. I was desperate in my own way back then. Proving it myself was also the most certain method.”
Looking quite awkward, the woman’s steps quickened.
If left alone like this, she might overexert herself unnecessarily.
Cain decided to change the subject.
“Come to think of it, I met your daughter. Melody, I mean.”
“Gasp. Really?”
Perhaps it was a welcome topic, as she stopped walking.
“Yes. She was spirited.”
Cain recalled Melody.
Usually little children would cry hysterically when they saw him.
Melody not only wasn’t afraid of him, but rather boldly demanded this and that.
If not for her appearance being exactly like Viola’s, he would have believed she inherited Ashern blood.
‘Are those who possess powerful holy power different from ordinary people?’
Perhaps she simply takes after her mother. Viola is equally fearless.
When he gave the brief compliment, Viola’s expression brightened.
“Actually, I’m not just saying this as her mother, but our Melody isn’t just spirited.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes! You don’t know how clever she is. She’s really kind-hearted too. Not to mention how cute she is. Just the other day, she gave me all these flower rings as gifts!”
Like a dam bursting, she poured out praise for her daughter. Could she really be that excited?
Her sprout-like eyes sparkled and rippled in the moonlight.
The sight wasn’t unpleasant to watch. Cain smiled faintly and listened to her story.
“Unlike me, she’s good at finding her way! She has good athletic ability too. She came in first place in the village running competition the other day. Haha, I wonder who she takes after.”
Cain’s slightly raised lips suddenly stiffened.
Who she takes after.
He knew it was just casual talk, but he couldn’t understand why those words bothered him.
His mood unknowingly sank.
Why all of a sudden?
“Your Grace? What’s wrong?”
Perhaps his emotions showed on his face unusually, as Viola looked up at him.
But asking wouldn’t produce an answer. He didn’t know the reason himself.
Cain tried to say something but ultimately closed his mouth.
He just continued the walk, pretending nothing was wrong.
The night grew deeper and deeper.
* * *
The next day, afternoon.
I was suddenly being scolded by Jayden.
“I heard everything! What were you thinking, really!”
As soon as Jayden entered the bedroom for treatment, he approached me and began getting angry as if he had been waiting.
He must have somehow heard about what happened yesterday.
‘Oh no. I didn’t expect Young Master to hear about it too.’
Somehow I felt like I kept getting scolded by children lately.
First Melody, now Jayden. I’m an adult, you know!
“Viola doesn’t even have Tamuttar disease, so why did you dangerously eat that!”
“I’m sorry. But I had to confirm it.”
Honestly, even if it hadn’t been for Celia, I would have done it eventually.
It’s not just any ordinary plant, but an extremely dangerous poisonous herb.
While I was confident that I would be safe, I didn’t know how Jayden, who would have to take it, would react.
Who would willingly agree to suddenly being told to eat a poisonous plant?
So I had no choice but to verify and prove it myself.
I had simply carried out what I thought was necessary, but that action seemed to have hurt Jayden’s heart.
I suddenly noticed Jayden’s reddened, swollen eyes. It looked like he had cried himself to sleep last night.
‘I must have worried him a lot.’
Though he was now scolding me with determination, he had clearly been quite shocked.
Jayden wrinkled his nose and shouted again.
“Then I, the patient, could have eaten it from the beginning! I’ll have to eat it eventually anyway!”
“The formulation is still incomplete, so it would be dangerous if you carelessly consumed such a thing.”
And what I had eaten yesterday was merely an antidote, not medicine for Tamutarbyeong.
Taking poison and then taking an antidote was clearly a different concept from properly combining the two to complete a medicine.
The latter minimizes the side effects of the ingredients, making it relatively much safer. I had simply done what I did yesterday to demonstrate the stability of the antidote.
I was lost in other thoughts, pointlessly counting the patterns on the floor, when it happened.
Jayden suddenly hit the nail on the head.
“But you’re fine with it?”
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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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