A Contract Marriage with My Child’s Father - Chapter 80

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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 80

When Cain declared that he would take Melody as his daughter, the expressions of the clerics, who had been wearing strangely smiling faces all along, contorted for the first time.

“…Are you saying you intend to make the Temple your enemy?”

“You’re wrong. The Temple made me their enemy first. They dared to lay hands on my daughter.”

At the sharp warning, the clerics retreated without daring to retort.

This attitude was quite different from their willingness to kill Viola, the guardian, just to get their hands on Melody.

Afterward, Cain took the unconscious Melody to his manor and truly made her his adopted daughter.

『Future Saint』 was a child-rearing story that began like this.

Recalling the original work only deepened my unease.

‘Coming to find Cain and proposing the contract was definitely the right choice.’

No one else could openly stop those arrogant clerics but him.

Nevertheless, the reason I’m worried now is…

‘Unlike in the original, Melody isn’t Cain’s daughter right now.’

The Temple had such regulations.

Anyone with even the slightest divine power must become a servant of God and belong to the Temple. However, the Empire’s nobles could be exceptions.

This was a regulation that came about hundreds of years ago when a certain marquis’s only heir gained divine power.

They judged that forcibly taking to the Temple the heir of someone already living for the Empire would cause chaos between the Empire and the Temple.

‘In the original, Melody became a noble by becoming Cain’s daughter.’

Moreover, the child’s guardian was the powerful figure Cain Ashern.

So the Temple couldn’t openly covet Melody.

But now, while Melody and I were under Cain’s protection, we weren’t nobles.

This meant the Temple had justification to reach out their hands.

‘Hmm. Apart from Cain’s help, it seems like I should somehow obtain a title myself.’

Unfortunately, the original work didn’t provide any information that would help in obtaining a title.

‘Should I… get married?’

That way, both Melody and I could become nobles.

Actually, I had been considering a contract marriage all along.

I had just postponed thinking about it since it wasn’t an urgent matter.

‘And above all, I’m worried about Melody.’

Even if it was a contract marriage, it wasn’t something to take lightly.

Especially since I had a young daughter.

Even if I became a noble through a contract marriage, I couldn’t know how the other party would act. It might even become a choice that would hold me back.

‘I guess I need to think about this problem a bit more.’

Right now, there was something else I needed to do first.

Suddenly, a circle marked on the calendar caught my eye.

“I think it would be good to start divine power training in earnest about a month from now.”

A conversation I had with Cain some time ago flashed through my mind.

Before I knew it, that month he mentioned was right around the corner.

* * *

Starting with Morden being imprisoned in the Eternal Prison, positive changes came to the Silver Dragon Knights.

The corruption and chronic bad practices that had spread within the knight order were uprooted all at once.

The atmosphere changed overnight. The members’ expressions became noticeably brighter.

And naturally, their conversation topics turned to the greatest contributor who had resolved this situation.

It was none other than Squirrel Lady.

Within the knight order, the story of Viola confronting a Sword Master with her bare body was told like a legendary heroic tale.

“You should have seen Lady Viola shouting at that bastard.”

The knights who were there that day spread the story as if they had witnessed the battle of the century.

Thus, before long, a rumor circulated among the members.

That Squirrel Lady had defeated a Sword Master!

“She really is an amazing person. Well, that’s why His Grace treasures her too.”

“I heard before that His Grace can’t do anything against Lady Viola either. She must be our future lady, right?”

It was a moment when her heroic tale was unfolding again today in a corner of the training grounds.

Craig, who was usually full of mischief, suddenly opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“Indeed… Now I finally understand. The fact that I’ve been ignorant all this time.”

At the serious voice that was completely devoid of his usual lightness, Eugene’s eyes sharpened.

“What’s wrong, Craig? Did you suddenly gain some enlightenment?”

“Yes. Now I know for certain.”

“Know what?”

“Lady Viola truly wasn’t called Squirrel Lady for nothing!”

Actually, Craig had been secretly questioning that nickname all along.

While it was an undeniable fact that Viola resembled a squirrel, he felt that modifier was somehow insufficient to capture her essence.

‘No matter how cute squirrels look, they’re quite fierce.’

Having been bitten on the finger by a squirrel in the mountains during his childhood, Craig knew very well how terrifying rodents could be.

So he thought Viola was more like a gentle puppy instead.

But after witnessing this incident up close, his thoughts completely changed.

That spirit of confronting an enemy several times larger than oneself.

That was unmistakably the behavior of a squirrel. One with wild fighting spirit alive!

“I’ve been foolish all this time! Lady Viola is indeed the perfect squirrel!”

At Craig’s confession while even clenching his fists, Allen, who was passing by, inwardly sighed.

‘What nonsense. He should swing his sword one more time instead of wasting time like that.’

He’s going to get hit by Sir Eugene at this rate.

Allen thought nothing of it and tried to pass by.

Then he stopped dead in his tracks at Eugene’s voice that followed. Eugene’s reaction was completely unexpected.

“Indeed. You’re right.”

“…You mean ‘you’re right,’ not ‘you deserve a beating’?”

Allen, who was naturally taciturn, spoke without thinking due to his surprise.

The knights’ gazes instantly focused on him.

Eugene asked with resolute eyes.

“Allen. What kind of nonsense is that? Are you saying you don’t agree that Lady Viola is like a squirrel?”

His tone suggested he might order Allen to run laps around the training grounds as punishment right away.

Normally, Allen would have banged his head and run around the training grounds rather than bother speaking.

But this time, Allen, who absolutely could not yield, opened his mouth with firm eyes.

“She’s not a squirrel, but an angel.”

“What?”

Eugene asked back in confusion, but Allen was serious.

On a day when he was hiding his pain and pretending to be fine.

Viola had approached him first and recommended treatment.

That kindness and attentiveness!

That day, Allen was certain. Viola was definitely an angel who had descended to earth.

But to dare compare her to a creature that lives on the ground.

For Allen, it was blasphemy he absolutely could not tolerate.

Several members murmured in agreement with Allen’s words.

“Honestly, she is like an angel.”

“Right, not just the atmosphere but especially her character….”

Then Craig scrunched up his face in frustration.

“An angel! You say that because you didn’t see her spirit that day! That was a wild squirrel!”

“Her very existence is that of an angel!”

“Squirrel!”

“Angel!”

Soon the training grounds split into two factions.

Those who had directly witnessed Viola’s fighting spirit that day became the squirrel faction, while those who had experienced her benevolence became the angel faction. The knight order divided in two and began engaging in fierce verbal battles.

“Accept the results gracefully! Whether you look at the numbers or the atmosphere, the angel faction is winning by a landslide.”

“Agh, seriously! She’s a squirrel! Sir Eugene, please say something! Isn’t she a squirrel!”

At his juniors’ outcries, Eugene’s expression became even more serious.

He crossed his arms for a moment and fell into grave contemplation.

She is kind of like a squirrel, but she’s also kind of like an angel.

After repeating thousands of considerations in his head, he opened his mouth.

“I’m… voting for angel.”

“As expected!”

“No way!”

Joy and sorrow were divided.

The squirrel faction despaired, beating the ground, while the angel faction cheered as if they had achieved victory.

“Sigh, if Sir Eugene had been there too, he would have voted for our side!”

“That’s nothing but a loser’s cowardly excuse!”

The sounds of continued fighting echoed through the training grounds.

Was it because the tyrannical captain of the knights had disappeared?

Drunk on excessive liberation, the knights each had a screw loose—no, two or three screws loose.

In short, they were so excited that they were starting to go crazy.

Fortunately, a figure returned who could rein in their loosened restraints.

Clop clop. Along with the heavy sound of hoofbeats striking the manor’s main gate, a man in black uniform appeared.

“V-Vice Captain!”

Amid the knights’ shouts, the man slid down from his horse.

His coral-tinted orange hair fluttered in the wind.

Perhaps it was his narrowly slanted eyes and the attractive mole below his lips. He exuded a languid yet decadent atmosphere.

Wearing a faint smile that had hardened into habit at the corner of his mouth, the man opened his lips.

“Ernst, Vice Captain of the Silver Dragon, returning after completing my mission.”

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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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