I Don’t Need a Dad Like This! - Chapter 22

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

【Chapter 22】

 

It was when the terrified Rie closed her eyes.

 

“Little one!”

 

“…?”

 

She opened her eyes that had been closed at the familiar voice.

 

Black wings fluttering appeared in her field of vision.

 

Kami had stopped time.

 

Looking around, everything except Rie and Kami had stopped.

 

“Why aren’t you using your ability quickly! You almost died!”

 

Peck peck peck.

 

“Owww!”

 

Kami isn’t a woodpecker, but he’s pecking Rie’s head like a piece of wood!

 

“It hurts, Kami!”

 

At this rate, she’d be eaten by Kami instead of the bandits.

 

Rie, covering the top of her head with both hands, quickly got out of the carriage.

 

Then she saw a man stretching his large palm toward the window. It was Philip.

 

“Marquis’s hands are really really big!”

 

Behind him was a sharp dagger aimed at him.

 

Kami quickly flew there and snatched the blade the bandit was holding with his leg.

 

“Let’s steal the blades while time is stopped. I’ll help too, so move quickly!”

 

“Mmhm. Rie, charge!”

 

And so, a little while later.

 

“Bandits are scary guys! But they’re nothing in front of Rie and Kami!”

 

Rie proudly stuck out her baby belly and looked down at the daggers piled up like a mountain.

 

“But Kami. What should we do with these blades?”

 

Kami, who had been proudly showing off his wings, pondered and answered.

 

“Hmm. If we leave them like this, they’ll take them back. Don’t you have a bag or something to hide them in?”

 

“If it’s Rie’s bag, I have one….”

 

Her small hands like fern leaves grasped the ribbon bag she was carrying.

 

The bag that Grandmother and Grandfather had prepared for this wedding, even selling jewels…!

 

‘But what’s more precious than the bag is Marquis Philip and Mother.’

 

The determined child’s eyes opened resolutely.

 

“Let’s put the daggers in this bag! And hide the bag behind the tree!”

 

Soon Rie’s ribbon bag was filled with daggers instead of her belongings.

 

“Goodbye, ribbon bag. Thank you!”

 

Wave wave.

 

Rie, who hid the bag behind the tree, waved her hand while holding back tears.

 

Rie burrowed back into Mother’s embrace.

 

And after greeting Kami, she pressed the clock’s button firmly.

 

* * *

 

“Marquis, it’s dangerous! Look behind you!”

 

Philip quickly turned his head.

 

Suddenly he had the intuition that his left eye might go blind. The light of a sharply honed dagger was pouring down over his pupil.

 

He had never imagined becoming one-eyed in this way.

 

Still, wouldn’t losing one eye be better than Rie and Emilia getting hurt?

 

Philip thought this was a fair trade.

 

‘…I’ll have to buy a nice eye patch when I get back.’

 

Just as he gritted his teeth in preparation for the coming pain and was about to squeeze his eyes shut.

 

“?”

 

Right before that moment, the dagger disappeared in an instant.

 

“What, what?”

 

His opponent also realized that the weapon in his hand had vanished, and panicked while breaking out in cold sweat.

 

Philip, who had been momentarily confused, didn’t miss the opportunity. He grabbed his approaching opponent’s wrist and quickly twisted it.

 

“Aaaahhh!”

 

The bandit screamed, and Philip stabbed his thigh with the blade he was holding, bringing him to his knees.

 

Then he quickly bound both his hands as well.

 

‘One down. I need to quickly get to the others…’

 

Just as he was about to run without rest.

 

“The bandits’ weapons have disappeared! Quickly finish them off while we have the chance!”

 

Suddenly a loud voice rang out.

 

Philip blinked as he watched the guard knights cheering triumphantly.

 

‘…Don’t tell me. All the bandits lost their weapons simultaneously?’

 

Was such a thing possible?

 

While Philip’s gaze wavered, the situation was suppressed in an instant.

 

The knights who had bound the bandits came rushing up to Philip.

 

“Marquis, are you alright!”

 

“I’m fine. But where are the bandits’ weapons? Didn’t they disappear in an instant?”

 

The corners of the knights’ mouths, who had been laughing cheerfully, turned downward.

 

Everyone seemed happy about wiping out the bandits, but they appeared to have the same questions.

 

“That’s right. I was crossing blades with one when suddenly my opponent’s blade disappeared, which startled me. But they seemed just as clueless about what happened.”

 

“Strange. At this point, it can only be explained as a miracle from God… For now, interrogate the bandits. We need to find out who was behind this.”

 

“Yes!”

 

Just as Philip sent the knights away and was heading toward the carriage to check on Rie and Emilia.

 

“…What’s that?”

 

Something caught his eye behind a nearby tree.

 

Between the thick grass and trees, something pink sticking out incongruously…

 

“A bag? Isn’t this the one Rie was carrying?”

 

For a child’s bag, it looked quite heavy.

 

* * *

 

Same time. 30 minutes before the wedding.

 

“Hey, that child called Rie is really funny. Even though she’s going to be a stepmother, she hasn’t shown her face once before the wedding?”

 

“Mother. Rie is a good child. It’s just that she hasn’t opened her heart to me yet.”

 

“Sigh, Serena. You’re good in every way, but being too kind is your problem.”

 

“What? But…”

 

Serena, who was hesitating, looked like a fragile deer.

 

Dressed in a white wedding dress, she looked even more pure than usual.

 

“Still, Rie will come on time, right? No matter how much she dislikes me… she should come to the wedding on time…”

 

On the surface, she looked like an angel full of worry, but in fact, Serena was particularly emphasizing that Rie seemed likely to be late.

 

Don’t they say that all accidents have warning signs?

 

That’s right. A big accident was scheduled to happen today.

 

By now, Rie’s carriage would be having a headache because of the mercenaries Ella had hired.

 

‘How many escort knights could a four-year-old kid and a mother from a beggar family have?’

 

Pretending to know nothing, she arrived at the wedding venue entrance with the help of her maid.

 

The Archbishop’s voice could be heard from beyond the door.

 

“Before Chronos, who is the beginning and end of this world, we solemnly swear. Serena of the Mersilla Marquis House, who seeks to end her time alone and leap into married life, enters.”

 

Finally, it was beginning.

 

With the solemn declaration of the Archbishop who was officiating, the massive doors opened to both sides, revealing the Virgin Road.

 

Serena gladly welcomed the pouring gazes and smiled shyly.

 

Wavy pink hair that matched well with her pure white dress.

 

The corners of her mouth, smiling shyly, visible beneath the veil that barely revealed her face.

 

The bride’s gait was reminiscent of a fairy walking on water.

 

Normally, she would have pretended otherwise while enjoying people’s gazes, but today Serena had something more enjoyable than that.

 

‘Rie isn’t here, right? No one’s there, right?’

 

She pretended to greet those around her while checking the seats in the back.

 

Of course, there was no way Rie and Emilia would be sitting in the front row.

 

As a result of her careful examination without losing her smile, there was no distinctive silver hair and blue eyes.

 

‘She didn’t come…! Even though her surname was changed to Birdwell, she’s still Duke Casselik’s bloodline. This should be enough to get her excluded from high society…!’

 

It was when she was certain the child wasn’t there and was smiling as brightly as a flower, intoxicated by her success.

 

Clatter-

 

Sharp sunlight poured behind her as she walked.

 

The door had suddenly opened.

 

“The bride, Miss Serena is… Who is it? Who dares to disturb this sacred time?”

 

The Archbishop, who had been reciting the ceremony, glared at the uninvited guest with an unpleasant expression.

 

The wedding guests who had been looking at Serena also shifted their gazes to the suddenly appeared visitor, looking surprised.

 

‘Rie has finally arrived.’

 

A subtle sneer crept across Serena’s lips.

 

“…What’s going on?”

 

But in an instant, she changed her expression and turned her head with a forlorn look.

 

Anyone who saw her would have wanted to caress the cheek of this tragic bride.

 

However—

 

At the unexpected scene, Serena’s clenched mouth involuntarily fell open.

 

“I-It wasn’t me! I just received a request and commissioned it on someone else’s behalf!”

 

Why is Ella over there?

 

And why is she being held by the knights!

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————