A Contract Marriage with My Child’s Father - Chapter 79

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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 79

“Jayden.”

“Yes?”

“…He came to me and asked me to teach him swordsmanship. Directly.”

“…!”

Viola’s light green eyes widened instantly.

Her large eyes, as if about to overflow, were filled with joy.

“My goodness! Congratulations, Your Grace! This is truly wonderful news!”

She smiled brightly, genuinely happy as if it were her own affair.

It didn’t feel bad to receive the expected reaction.

‘Is she really that happy?’

Well.

She was the one who had worked harder than anyone to bridge the gap between Jayden and Cain.

It was right to share such news with her first.

Though it was the result of unconscious impulse, he was thinking it was good to have come here when it happened.

As if seeing through Cain’s inner thoughts, Viola narrowed her mischievous eyes.

“Well, well, what brings you here first of all…”

She rested her chin on her hand and began examining Cain’s face intently.

“…”

“Your Grace, you’re excited right now, aren’t you?”

“…Me?”

Excited?

Understanding the sentence and accepting it emotionally took some time.

It was an unusual sentence for her to say to him.

Him being excited. Why on earth?

Was he feeling such emotions that he thought belonged only to ordinary people?

“It’s no use pretending otherwise. I’m quite perceptive, you know?”

She answered triumphantly to the confused Cain. She looked somewhat proud too.

“You’re happy because the emotional distance with Young Master Jayden has narrowed. Right?”

Certainly… thinking about the logical context, it wasn’t an unreasonable story.

The elation that seemed to lose its usual composure and sway beyond control.

The footsteps that headed toward her as if wanting to share the news immediately.

“…I see.”

Finally, Cain acknowledged it.

He was excited.

Because he wanted to quickly share the good news with her.

He chuckled at this first realization.

“Oh? You smiled! I was right, wasn’t I?”

The mischievous woman’s smile was lovely.

Cain answered quietly with his usual calm expression.

“Perhaps.”

“You’re not denying it. Hehe.”

“Let’s say that’s the case.”

A gentle curve formed at the corner of Cain’s mouth.

His gray world was gradually, very gradually being colored with vivid hues.

It was a slow but certain change, like clothes getting wet in a drizzle.

* * *

Jayden’s expression had become noticeably brighter recently, suggesting the swordsmanship lessons were going well.

“Are the swordsmanship lessons fun?”

“Yes!”

Jayden’s answer was incomparably more energetic than before.

“I’m working really hard! I’ll work even harder from now on and become really cool!”

His sparkling red eyes were filled with eagerness to learn.

“You’re already cool though? Your efforts will make you even cooler.”

“E-even if you flatter me like that, I can’t show you yet! How strong I’ve become!”

I hadn’t even asked yet.

Jayden turned his head away in surprise as if it were impossible.

It seems he’s decided to keep his training progress a secret from me.

Hehe. It looks like he wants to polish his skills and show off his remarkable improvement with a “Ta-da!”

This was certainly the opposite attitude from before.

With Morden, Jayden had wanted me to watch from beside him.

Back then, Jayden wanted me nearby with half worry and half expectation. But now, the child showed only confidence toward growth.

‘Cain must be teaching him really well.’

I was worried because despite my earnest efforts to connect the two, there seemed to be no progress.

Perhaps my efforts weren’t in vain, as the two had grown quite close.

Seeing this put my mind at ease.

‘Children really do need a reliable guardian.’

The belief that someone will protect rather than harm them.

If the previous Jayden seemed precarious without such assurance, the current child was sparkling brightly.

‘It’s peaceful in many ways.’

Of course, that didn’t mean there were no problems at all.

‘Like the vacant position of Captain of the Knights, for example.’

Still, the atmosphere in the manor was no longer ominous.

The child’s smile, which had become much brighter and more lively, was proof of that.

The Silver Dragon Knights all looked spirited, and so did Marie and Becky.

It was when I was walking down the corridor after leaving Jayden’s bedroom.

Marie and Becky approached me with highly excited faces.

“Lady Viola! We just heard the news. My goodness! You fought against that Captain of the Knights?”

When did she ever properly call him Captain of the Knights? Becky naturally downgraded the title as she asked.

“Fought against him? No, no, it wasn’t like that!”

Had rumors spread?

It was fine that Becky and Marie heard about the incident with Morden, but the expression “fought against” was embarrassing.

Where on earth did such words come from?

My face felt hot.

If I had really fought against him, I wouldn’t be embarrassed.

In reality, it was closer to recklessly charging without knowing my place, which was mortifying.

But Becky and Marie were looking at me almost like a hero.

“We both noticed long ago that the Captain of the Knights was trash, but it was beyond our reach to do anything. But thanks to Lady Viola, it’s finally been resolved.”

“R-right… If it weren’t for Lady Viola, it wouldn’t have been settled this quickly. We’re truly grateful…”

What did I even do to deserve this?

Still, seeing their bright expressions didn’t make me feel bad.

‘Come to think of it, quite some time has passed since I came to this manor.’

Returning to my room, I suddenly gazed at the calendar on the desk and fell into thought.

By bringing Melody to the manor, I had significantly twisted the original story’s flow and spent fairly peaceful days here, but I couldn’t be completely at ease.

‘That means the day from the original story is also approaching.’

According to the original work, the Temple would soon create a new sacred artifact.

A tool that detects the being with the strongest divine power.

The saint who bears God’s emblem always possesses the strongest divine power in the world, so they intend to use this to find the saint.

‘In the original story, that was exactly what led to my death.’

The clerics who discovered Melody in the countryside using the sacred relic kill me.

In order to completely obtain and use Melody after she loses her guardian.

I suddenly felt a chilling coldness around my neck.

‘Let’s not worry too much. Things are very different from the original story now.’

I was no longer an unwed mother living alone with her daughter in the countryside.

Since Cain promised to protect Melody and me, the flow would be different from the original.

‘But I still feel strangely uneasy about it…’

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Cain, but one scene from the original story bothered me.

When Melody, who lost her mother to the clerics, had been running away for a month.

The child eventually finds herself cornered into a crisis.

The clerics gradually closing the distance from behind. A dead-end alley.

There, Melody grabs onto a man she encounters by chance and begs him to save her.

“Hng, woo…”

A cry filled with desperation. But Melody was actually in a state of despair.

Because no one would be able to understand her words.

But an unexpected response came from the man.

“You want to escape from those bastards.”

A response as if he somehow understood her words. Melody gripped his collar even tighter.

“Woo, wooh…”

Please take me away. Please.

Melody let out a plea with the last of her strength and then collapsed unconscious.

The clerics approached Cain, who instinctively caught the child in his arms.

As if wearing smiling masks, they spoke with emotionless, hollow eyes.

“We didn’t expect to see Count Ashern in a place like this. Excuse us, but that child belongs to the Temple. Would you return her now?”

“What if I refuse?”

“That child is a saint. Even Count Ashern cannot arbitrarily take away a saint. You must know about the Temple’s regulations, Your Grace.”

Watching them speak unnaturally like marionette dolls, Cain replied coldly.

“Sound logic. If only this child weren’t my daughter.”

“Of course, so please return her… Pardon?”

A cold gleam flashed in Cain’s blood-red eyes.

“I said I’ve decided to make this child my daughter.”

“…”

“Do you still claim she belongs to the Temple even 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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