A Contract Marriage with My Child’s Father - Chapter 55
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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 55
Yujin belatedly realized he had overreacted and was feeling awkward.
‘If I was going to act like this, I might as well have just outright said something happened…’
Fortunately, Craig tactfully changed the subject.
“More importantly, Lady Viola!”
“Yes?”
“Our captain. Doesn’t he resemble someone?”
“Ah, yes. I was just thinking I’d seen him somewhere before.”
“I knew it! I thought you might think so.”
Craig deliberately made exaggerated gestures as if drawing out Viola’s interest.
“He’s father and daughter with Lady Silvien, who serves as acting administrator.”
“Oh? Now that you mention it, he does resemble her?”
Viola nodded in surprise, finally realizing the identity of that sense of familiarity.
‘He definitely resembles her.’
Though his eyes were slightly different, his overall impression was identical to Silvien’s.
“How interesting. I was thinking he looked familiar but couldn’t figure out where I’d seen him.”
“Haha! You had that kind of expression.”
“Does it all show? Sir Craig must be very perceptive. Other people tell me they can’t read my thoughts.”
Viola curved her eyes and smiled innocently.
‘As if.’
To Craig and Yujin’s eyes, Viola was a very pure person.
A rare disposition, warm and bright like spring sunshine.
Originally, a clear lake shows its bottom no matter how deep it is, and she was exactly like that.
However, Squirrel Lady seemed completely unaware of this fact.
At her innocent reaction, Craig soon burst into quiet laughter, but Yujin forced down the corners of his mouth.
However, it was hard to suppress the twitching at the corners of his lips.
“Ahem.”
The moment he habitually cleared his throat and raised his hand to cover his mouth…
“Oh? Sir Eugene, are you hurt?”
“What? No. I’m not.”
“That sounds like a lie? Let me see your hand.”
Viola spoke with a stern expression.
Oh no. Eugen Hart. You’ve finally caused trouble.
He put his hands behind his back and tried to hide his swollen wrist, but she watched him with sharp eyes.
Usually oblivious, but at moments like this, she had the eyes of a hawk.
Having no choice but to show his wrist, Yujin acted nonchalant and put on airs.
“I am hurt, but just a little.”
“How is this just a little? It’s a mess. Sigh, did you get hurt during training? Could you try rotating your wrist once?”
As expected, Viola’s eyebrows drooped as she worried about his injury.
Yujin’s heart grew heavy, so he blamed Craig to change the atmosphere.
“I didn’t get hurt during training—Craig hit me!”
“I did?”
Craig looked flustered, widening his eyes and pointing at himself with his index finger.
But his burly junior’s round eyes weren’t cute at all. Craig wasn’t Squirrel Lady.
Yujin decided to shamelessly frame his junior completely.
“Craig was after my ointment…”
When he pretended to cry, burying his face in his forearm and shaking exaggeratedly, Viola laughed softly.
“My goodness. I didn’t see you that way. Sir Craig, you’re quite a frightening person. Shall I scold Sir Craig for you?”
Even the falsely accused Craig laughed at the sight of her clenching her tiny fists.
“I’ll just take my punishment myself.”
When he really raised his hands as if being punished, Viola laughed out loud.
“That’s enough. Put your arms down.”
The atmosphere had become pleasant before they knew it. She had skillfully finished the treatment too.
‘I don’t think she caught on, right? About what happened.’
Yujin continued to feign laughter while watching her reaction. He didn’t want to let Viola know about what had just happened.
It was just when Yujin was trying to quietly disappear, taking advantage of the softened atmosphere.
Viola whispered to Yujin with worried eyes.
“You said it was a wound caused by Sir Craig, but…”
“…”
“If something is really going on, please be sure to tell me, okay?”
Softly.
Her added smile was as warm as sunshine.
* * *
The Knight Captain’s Office.
Morden looked puzzledly at the guest who had suddenly come to visit.
“I didn’t expect you to come looking for me first, Silvien.”
The other person was Silvien, his daughter and the manor’s acting administrator.
“…”
“Did you come to see your father’s face after a long time?”
“Today I came not as a daughter, but as the acting administrator.”
Silvien said, hardening her expression.
“Is that so? State your business, acting administrator.”
Morden twisted the corner of his mouth in a smirk and gestured with his chin.
“I’ll ask directly. How long do you intend to continue your tyranny against the members?”
Silvien asked coldly.
Even though Morden’s tyranny was frequent during the previous duke’s time, she thought it had somewhat subsided after Cain became duke.
She didn’t know it would start again immediately as soon as Cain left the manor.
However, Morden seemed unaware of the seriousness of the matter and responded nonchalantly.
“I didn’t know you were monitoring me. The acting administrator shouldn’t interfere with the knight order’s affairs and should focus on administration.”
“It was His Grace who assigned me that monitoring.”
“So what?”
Silvien replied coldly.
“Do you think I’m the only one of His Grace’s eyes in this manor?”
“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m merely fulfilling my duties as a retainer properly.”
Indeed, that was the case.
Wasn’t cleaning up the little rats in the house when the master was away the true duty of a retainer?
Since the previous duke’s time, Morden had done countless cleanings like this and had proven his results.
He hadn’t served as captain of the glorious Silver Dragon Knights for nothing.
At Morden’s attitude, acting as if he was completely justified, Silvien cried out in frustration.
“Father! Please don’t misinterpret His Grace’s intentions. You know he’s clearly different from the previous duke!”
“…”
“Do you think His Grace would leave you alone if he knew about this?”
Morden, who had been indifferently dismissing his daughter’s words all along, looked her in the eyes for the first time since she entered and spoke.
“Dying for one’s faith is called martyrdom.”
Eyes consumed by blind conviction flashed coldly.
* * *
Returning to the apothecary, I habitually began organizing herbs but suddenly stopped my hands.
‘Hmm. No matter how I think about it, something feels off.’
Yujin’s damaged wrist kept flickering before my eyes.
And his smile as he tried to act like nothing was wrong.
‘That wound wasn’t typical.’
Since it was already a scarred area, it was less noticeable at first glance, but those marks weren’t the kind that could happen by accident during training.
Traces that would be difficult to create unless someone deliberately pressed down hard.
Yes. As if trampled by a boot heel….
‘Could there be some problem within the knight order?’
Originally, this type of profession had strict discipline within the group.
They emphasized military discipline because a single mistake could cost lives.
So this might be part of such matters, but….
The uncomfortable feeling persisted.
I wondered if he might be caught up in some unreasonable situation.
Especially considering Yujin’s attitude of desperately trying to hide something, it wasn’t entirely impossible.
‘What kind of situation is he caught up in?’
The Silver Dragon Knights in the original work were described as a group with a non-oppressive atmosphere and excellent unity.
All the members truly respected and followed Cain as their lord, and they also treated Melody, his adopted daughter, as a princess.
‘Actually, that’s not easy to achieve in a group that includes nobles.’
Someone might well look unfavorably upon Melody, who went from commoner to princess overnight.
Yet all the members cherished and served Melody.
This was possible because their loyalty to Cain was very deep and everyone was a good person.
So the knight order in the original work seemed quite distant from any unreasonable practices.
‘Cain isn’t the type to overlook such things either.’
But this was only a story of the future.
This was still an earlier time period than when Melody became Cain’s adopted daughter in the original work.
I fell into thought for a moment.
From three years ago until recently, Cain had been incredibly busy due to countless repeated monster waves.
Therefore, it was highly likely that the internal organization of the manor wasn’t completely finished yet.
So if it was really before completely cutting out the rotten parts within the knight order….
‘Hmm. I’m still concerned.’
Sense spoke up. Whatever it was, this seemed like a problem that couldn’t just be ignored.
‘This is troublesome.’
The situation wasn’t good.
Even Yujin seemed to want to hide whatever had happened.
As merely a temporary healer, I couldn’t get too deeply involved in the knight order’s affairs.
Especially since I hadn’t directly witnessed any unreasonable practices within the knight order or had solid evidence.
No matter how much I wanted to help, realistically I had neither the right nor the power to do so.
If I went around stirring things up, it would just be overstepping my bounds and meddling.
But I couldn’t just let this uncomfortable feeling pass either….
The most reliable method I could use in this situation was ultimately just one.
Namely-
‘Tattling!’
Very sneakily and despicably reporting it.
And to the highest-ranking person in this area at that!
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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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