A Contract Marriage with My Child’s Father - Chapter 85

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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 85

5 minutes ago.

Jayden, who had been lying on his bed rolling around, suddenly sprang up like a coiled spring.

‘I’m bored.’

So, so bored!

He was restless and couldn’t stand it anymore.

Recently, Jayden had been receiving swordsmanship lessons directly from Cain.

Was it thanks to learning from the strongest person in the world?

Jayden’s stamina was improving day by day. It was on a completely different level from when he learned from Captain of the Knights Morden.

‘I think I did well to gather courage and ask His Grace.’

Thanks to that, his sword skills improved dramatically and his body became strong.

Everything was perfect. The only side effect was that he had too much energy overflowing.

Being stuck in his room in such a state was boring him to death.

‘When will Viola come…’

Looking at the clock, there was still a full hour left before she would arrive.

“This won’t do.”

Until recently, Jayden rarely left his room first.

While his body was sick, he didn’t want to show himself to other people.

But now his body was fine and strong, so was there really a need to wait obediently?

Thanks to Viola, he had become this healthy!

‘If I’m bored, I can go meet her first!’

Jayden immediately stepped out of his bedroom.

“Hehehe.”

A hum naturally flowed out.

‘What is Viola doing right now?’

Every day, every day she would shut herself in that boring apothecary and focus on making medicine all day long.

She was truly an amazing person. To genuinely love studying that much.

‘In this regard, she’s similar to Brother Noah.’

Jayden’s older brother, Noah Ashern, who was the academy’s top student and called a genius.

Somehow Viola and Brother Noah had similar aspects.

Both could sit at a desk and concentrate all day long.

Either way, both were people Jayden loved most in the world.

‘I want to introduce Viola to Brother quickly. Brother would definitely like her too.’

What would Brother say if he introduced her as someone who was like family?

Jayden walked down the corridor while briefly imagining Noah’s reaction.

Given that Brother had been quite prickly since childhood…

“If she’s family then she’s family, if not then she’s not. What do you mean like family? You seem too enchanted by that woman. Get a grip, Jayden.”

Ugh.

At times like this, having too vivid an imagination was also a problem.

Even though it was just imagination, Noah would definitely say exactly that without missing a single word.

‘What does Brother know!’

Even though he knew Brother hadn’t actually said that, he somehow felt indignant at the imaginary Noah.

Jayden pouted his lips and retorted to thin air.

‘That’s not true… It’s real. Viola is like family…’

Really, at some point Viola had become family itself to Jayden.

Of course, not legally…

But you don’t have to stamp papers to become family.

‘Or do you.’

Since Jayden didn’t know much about law and wasn’t interested, his head was starting to hurt.

“Ah, whatever, whatever.”

Forget it, let’s just go play with Viola quickly.

‘Viola will be surprised if I suddenly visit, right?’

Jayden moved his steps energetically again.

However, his gait was a little different from usual.

A very unique and stealthy footwork that made no sound when stepping.

It was the footwork for concealing presence that Cain had directly taught him recently.

Though still clumsy, he could imitate it quite well.

‘I’ll sneak up and surprise her with a “Ta-da!”‘

Jayden approached the front of the apothecary stealthily, full of excitement.

But then it happened.

Through the crack of the apothecary door that was slightly open, perhaps forgotten to be closed tightly, a familiar voice flowed out.

“Vi…”

Viola!

It was the very moment Jayden was about to fling the door wide open and call her name.

“…I guess there’s no choice but to get married after all.”

Jayden’s entire body froze at the shocking word that pierced his ears.

Marriage?

Marriage?

The marriage I know? That thing where a man and woman vow to be together for life?

Haha… I must have heard wrong. Why would Viola get married.

But as if mocking Jayden’s hope, her monologue continued like a finishing blow.

“Sigh, marriage of all things.”

Thump.

It felt like his heart dropped to the floor.

Though not as much as Cain, Jayden was also dragon blood who inherited dragon’s blood.

His hearing, far more sensitive than ordinary people, told him that she had really spoken the word marriage.

His legs went weak.

Jayden unknowingly collapsed beside the door.

Until now, many of the manor’s maids had left the manor saying they were getting married and starting families.

Then if Viola was getting married… Could it be that Viola was like that too?

Getting married and leaving this manor? Leaving his side like that?

‘You said you wouldn’t leave.’

You said you’d stay by my side and watch over me until I became an adult.

“…Huh?”

That’s when it happened.

As if noticing the presence, he heard Viola walking toward the door from inside.

‘No. If she finds out I was eavesdropping…!’

He didn’t want her to see his face that looked ready to burst into tears.

Just before she opened the door, Jayden jumped up and hurriedly fled from that spot.

* * *

“Hm?”

Was it just his imagination?

I opened the door and looked outside, but the corridor was quiet as a mouse. No one was there.

‘Strange. I definitely heard a sound.’

‘That’s strange. I definitely heard a sound.’

Did I hear wrong?

I tilted my head and looked around the corridor again, but there wasn’t even an ant in sight.

In the end, I firmly closed the door and returned to the chair in the apothecary, slumping down heavily.

Phew.

As soon as I sat down, the worries I had postponed continued, and a headache washed over me again.

Coming to the conclusion that I need to get married was fine, that much.

But when it came to actually executing it, there were more than one or two problems.

The first obstacle was who exactly to do it with.

Marriage isn’t something you do alone but something two people do together, yet no suitable partner came to mind.

Even though I’d been racking my brains ever since I started considering a contract marriage.

First of all, I didn’t know any nobles.

Even though I was an adopted daughter of the Marquis’ Household, I hadn’t properly debuted in high society, so I had no connections whatsoever.

So I tried to use information from the original work with a desperate mindset, but…

‘There’s absolutely no useful information!’

The original work was surprisingly unhelpful.

In a child-rearing story that constantly repeated lovey-dovey episodes at the manor, the information I needed—unmarried noble heirs from decent families—wasn’t even mentioned as extras.

‘Unless they were petty villains…’

Of course, I would pass on such villains.

No matter how urgent things were, eating something rotten would cause problems.

‘But well, let’s say that’s understandable.’

Actually, before that, there was something else I absolutely had to confirm.

Melody.

What my precious daughter thought about it.

In a situation where there’s a child, marriage was absolutely not just my affair alone.

The child’s opinion was most important. Even if it was a dry contract marriage.

After all, it would have a tremendous impact on the child’s childhood.

‘Sigh… How do I talk to Melody about this?’

How shocked would the child be if I suddenly brought up marriage without any warning?

Especially when we’ve been living together just the two of us all this time.

If I suddenly said a strange mister would become family… it was obvious the child would feel anxious.

Wondering if someone might steal Mother away.

‘I want to explain it properly.’

That this isn’t an ordinary marriage but something absolutely necessary for our safety.

But I was at a loss for how to explain not just marriage, but a contract marriage to a child who was only four years old.

Ugh.

I eventually held my head in my hands and half-collapsed onto the table.

Explaining the necessity of a contract marriage to a four-year-old… it was far too difficult a task.

‘I’d rather invent a hair loss remedy—that would be easier than this…!’

I hadn’t even reached a conclusion yet. While I was pulling my hair out, time cruelly flew by.

It was already time to go meet Jayden.

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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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