I Don’t Need a Dad Like This! - Chapter 117
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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 117】
Because Emilia was holding a fancy fan in her left hand.
Of course, if she were an ordinary noble lady, carrying around a fan wouldn’t be anything unusual.
But for Emilia, who hadn’t properly enjoyed the life of a noble lady and was accustomed to working, this was an unfamiliar sight.
Rather, she would carry around practical items like handkerchiefs.
Something felt unsettling, but after having breakfast.
Rie pressed herself against the window and stared at Emilia’s retreating figure as she left for work.
“Hmm…? That’s weird. She’s definitely our mother, but something’s strange.”
It was hard to pinpoint exactly why, but she seemed different from her usual mother.
‘I guess I’ll have to check it out myself.’
Rie immediately went to find Mary.
“Mary, I want to go play at the shop where Rie’s mother works. Let’s go together.”
“What? Did Emilia give you permission?”
“Mm-hmm.”
When she lied without batting an eye, Mary naturally went along with it.
So Rie, who had come outside with Mary, immediately visited the embroidery shop where Emilia worked.
“My goodness, Lady Rie. It’s my first time meeting you. I’ve only heard about you, but I’m truly delighted to meet you in person!”
“Rie came to see Mother!”
The owner who was manning the counter greeted her with a pleased face.
But then-
“What? Emilia quit the embroidery shop a while ago. Didn’t you know?”
“Huh?”
She had definitely told Rie earlier that she was going to work at the embroidery shop.
At the owner’s words, goosebumps rose along her small back.
At the same time, she recalled the warning she had heard from Chronos before her regression.
-If you regress, causality is unavoidable.
Then could it be…
Because of causality, Aunt Serena became our mother instead of the marquis’s wife?!
If that were the case, it would be a disaster.
Serena’s original purpose was to enter Emilia’s body and manipulate Duke Casselik.
Manipulate.
That meant someone would willingly do bad things because they loved the other person too much.
“If Aunt says she loves him while looking like Mother and asks him to join her with dark magic, Father will definitely fall for it!”
Rie, who had imagined something terrifying, gulped.
“Then Aunt Serena, who lied about going to the embroidery shop… must have gone straight to Father, right?”
She felt like she needed to hurry to Theodore Ducal Castle first.
She had to stop Casselik before he fell head over heels for the fake Emilia.
* * *
At that moment, Theodore Castle was turned upside down by an unexpected guest.
It was Emilia, who had visited without any notice.
Casselik, who had visited the Birdwell Barony for the Cradle Blessing Festival, had been endlessly waiting for Rie’s letter ever since.
But instead of a reply, Emilia had come in person.
“Quickly escort her inside. No, I’ll go greet her myself.”
He hastily got up and went down to the first floor, where he encountered Emilia being guided by the maids.
She was dressed in her usual modest attire, but somehow she seemed different from usual.
She was holding a fancy fan and wearing a jeweled hairpin.
‘Could it be… she dressed up because she’s coming to the ducal castle?’
To see me?
Casselik touched his lower jaw with his hand to hide his face that was about to turn red.
“Duke. I’m sorry for visiting so suddenly without notice.”
“…Not at all. Feel free to visit anytime if anything comes up.”
“Really?”
At those words, she smiled as if truly delighted, showing her white teeth.
Casselik stared blankly at the dimples above her upturned lips.
‘Emilia is smiling at me like this.’
Perhaps her heart had been moved by the effort he had shown Rie during their last meeting.
Filled with hope, Casselik extended his arm to escort Emilia.
“Let me guide you to the reception room first.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Then, just when he thought this might be going too far.
Emilia obediently linked arms with him.
“…?”
At the unexpected situation, Casselik’s facial muscles stiffened.
“…Duke?”
“What, no. Yes, we should go. I said I would guide you.”
Emilia tilted her head with a puzzled expression.
He, who had stopped for a moment like a broken wooden doll, carefully took a step as if internally restraining something.
Meanwhile, Emilia stared up at Casselik’s rigidly stiff face.
Then she frowned where he couldn’t see.
‘He cherished Emilia this much?’
It was fortunate that she could approach him more easily than expected, but she didn’t feel good about it.
Right after the divorce, he hadn’t been like this. Even then, he wasn’t favorable toward her, but she had found comfort in the fact that he disliked both her and Emilia.
But at some point, he seemed to become obsessed with Emilia, and now he was even treating her this well.
Emilia’s, no. Serena’s body trembled with a sense of betrayal.
That’s right.
As Rie had suspected, Serena was parasitizing Emilia’s body.
The causality that the god had mentioned was exactly this.
Time flows with tens of thousands of possibilities based on people’s trivial choices.
Due to the causality triggered by Rie’s regression, the mercenaries Serena had commissioned succeeded in collecting Emilia’s hair, unlike before.
When Serena, who had arrived at the reception room, unlinked their arms, Casselik sat on the opposite sofa with a composed appearance.
However, he somehow looked regretful.
Serena felt her previously bad mood lifting.
Even though what he was looking at was Emilia, she was Emilia right now.
Casselik being flustered because of her.
It felt like the wish she had dreamed of for so long was finally coming true.
‘As expected, dreams come true if you work hard. Choosing dark magic was the right decision!’
The black tea and refreshments that came out soon after were the same high-quality food she had eaten during her brief time as a duchess.
“By the way, what brings you here today?”
Serena, who had been lost in memories while eating them with satisfaction, came to her senses.
This was nice, but now wasn’t the time for this.
To live as ‘Duchess Theodore’ for the rest of her life in Emilia’s body, she needed to get close to him as quickly as possible.
However, if Emilia, who had always been cold, suddenly said she wanted him, he would find it strange.
“Ahem, hmm. About this Cradle Blessing Festival.”
Serena, who had deliberately coughed as if nervous, looked up at Casselik with her head lowered.
“I would like you to be the partner for Rie and me.”
A brief silence flowed.
Casselik seemed quite surprised as he stared down at the red color of the black tea he hadn’t taken a single sip of for a long while.
But he naturally accepted, as expected.
“…You don’t need to hear my answer to know it. I’ve been waiting only for those words.”
My goodness.
To think such a pure romantic answer would come from that man of iron.
Serena, who was once called the angel and flower of High Society, inwardly cheered while outwardly blinking her eyes innocently.
“You were waiting for these words?”
“Yes. It might sound a bit strange, but even after divorcing you, I’ve kept dresses I wanted to give you stored in the warehouse.”
Huh? That’s something even I didn’t know about?
Serena unconsciously asked back bluntly.
“The dresses, didn’t Lady Serena wear them?”
“Serena was the Duchess, but since she didn’t fulfill the role of mistress, I didn’t give her the warehouse keys either. As you know from that time, marrying Serena was the worst sin I committed. I’ll live the rest of my life in atonement.”
“…”
Casselik’s eyes drooped as if he truly regretted it. The corners of his eyes even reddened slightly.
At that, the corners of Serena’s lips, which had been gently closed, twitched.
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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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