I Don’t Need a Dad Like This! - Chapter 54

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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 54】

 

Thud, thud thud.

 

After that, the figs repeated shrinking and growing every 10 seconds.

 

“Heh-.”

 

Rie opened her mouth at the amazing sight.

 

A moment later.

 

“Huh?! This is an emergency!”

 

When she came to her senses, there were so many figs that had fallen to the floor, piled up as high as Rie herself.

 

* * *

 

“So you’ve decided not to participate in the reverse auction after all? That’s fine. This old man is too tired to even pick fruit, so I should respect the opinion of the one who’s working.”

 

“It’s barely enough to put food on the table~ But since we won’t be attending banquets anymore, I guess we should sell these clothes~”

 

No.

 

Nelson stiffened as he watched his parents trying to sell the clothes they had bought with such effort.

 

When he turned his head to somehow stop them, Emilia was nodding off while doing embroidery.

 

“I have to make sure Rie can have her debutante somehow. For that, I need to work even if I have to stay up all night. Since Nelson said he’s too tired to participate in the reverse auction…”

 

No. That’s not it.

 

Though he felt wronged, he questioned himself.

 

Isn’t it?

 

As the farmers said, if he had just tried to get on Serena’s good side, this wouldn’t have happened.

 

Should he have shown off the sturdy body that the Duchess praised?

 

Should he have smiled even when he felt humiliated?

 

It’s my fault.

 

Everything is my fault…

 

“Uncle Nelson!”

 

That’s when it happened.

 

His sleeve was tugged downward.

 

Surprised, he looked down to see Rie looking up at him with earnest eyes.

 

“Please help me, Uncle Nelson! If you carry me on your back, I won’t be tired!”

 

Seeing the child, Nelson closed his eyes with a miserable heart.

 

What’s so important about this petty pride?

 

I should have just made a contract with Duchess Serena.

 

I should have acted cute and smiled prettily.

 

I should have done that.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

“Un-cle!”

 

Nelson’s eyes opened at the urgent voice.

 

When he came to his senses, he saw the child who had come to his bedroom was mercilessly slapping his cheeks.

 

Slap, slap, slaaap-!

 

“Wake up, Uncle! Something terrible happened!”

 

“What’s wrong-”

 

Slap!

 

“…Ow.”

 

The stinging pain completely drove away his sleepiness, and he gently took the child’s hand.

 

“Hurry, Uncle! I need your help! I need really, really strong help!”

 

Just like the face he had seen in his dream, tears were welling up in the child’s eyes.

 

Suddenly feeling anxious, Nelson quickly left the small cabin and followed the child.

 

“The orchard! Something terrible happened!”

 

But contrary to Rie’s fuss, the orchard looked perfectly fine.

 

Figs packed in boxes.

 

Even the trees that looked empty after their fruit had been picked.

 

“…I don’t know.”

 

He was so confused that only a brief answer came out.

 

The child was still stamping her feet as if she could see something he couldn’t.

 

Then suddenly she handed him a black feather and made a request.

 

“You must keep this with you. Okay?”

 

“…Alright.”

 

‘A crow feather? Did she pluck it herself?’

 

Nelson nodded obediently, but thought he should definitely warn the family members when he returned to the Viscount’s House.

 

Coming outside the home at this hour.

 

He didn’t know if she had a nightmare or what, but if she came out alone with Emilia, it would be dangerous.

 

It was the moment he stepped into the orchard, led by the child’s hand.

 

“…?”

 

The sky surrounding him suddenly became bright.

 

Thinking he had seen wrong, Nelson blinked his eyes.

 

But this time the sun seemed to fall rapidly like a shooting star, then it instantly became night and morning came again.

 

Unable to believe it, Nelson kept looking around and soon discovered fig trees and stopped in his tracks.

 

Around the trees, fruit was piled up like mountains.

 

There seemed to be about two hundred of those trees… wait a minute.

 

‘A dream? Is this a dream?’

 

He eventually slapped his own cheek hard, the same cheek that Rie had hit.

 

But it wasn’t a dream.

 

“Rie wanted to give Uncle lots and lots of figs as a present. I wanted to keep it a secret. But the figs became so, so many that it became difficult.”

 

“You… did this?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Nelson looked at Rie nodding as if it was nothing and realized.

 

Ah. This must be a dream after all.

 

* * *

 

Time passed quickly, and the day of the reverse auction arrived.

 

The grand hall used as a banquet hall was already filled with people.

 

The nobles walked around with attendants carrying trays, on which their confidently displayed specialty products were arranged.

 

Serena had also brought an attendant.

 

Having contracted with 53 farmers throughout the southern region, she was confident in this volume battle.

 

And her trump card that would make Casselik restless—the revelation that he was an illegitimate child.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

While she was inwardly waiting for attention directed at her, she heard whispering sounds from not far away.

 

“Isn’t that the Duke’s daughter?”

 

“She is blood-related, but since she doesn’t follow Theodore Castle, calling her a princess would be…”

 

“Don’t tell me she’s participating under the name of House Birdwell? What could she possibly compete with, having an orchard the size of a bean?”

 

When Serena turned her head, she saw a small child toddling along with Nelson.

 

‘She really came? But why did she bring Rie?’

 

She’ll just be embarrassed again like last time anyway. How pitiful.

 

“…Pfft.”

 

When her eyes met Nelson’s, she couldn’t help but laugh openly and covered her mouth with her fan.

 

“We will now begin the reverse auction for Theodore Ducal House’s southern specialty products!”

 

Just then, the host announced the start.

 

The competition in the reverse auction was fierce.

 

“This is 1 kilogram of mandarin. The first purchase amount starts at 30 tons, with plans to purchase 10 tons once a month. We start at 1 silver per kilogram of mandarin. Do we have 99 copper?”

 

“99 copper!”

 

“Yes, number 2. We have 99 copper. Do we have 90 copper?”

 

“90 copper!”

 

“What’s 90 copper, let’s make it 80 copper!”

 

“Yes! We have 80 copper. Do we have 70 copper?”

 

“70 copper!”

 

“We have 70 copper. Then 10 more down…”

 

“Oh come on, 60 copper!”

 

“Yes! 60 copper! Anyone else? Then we confirm 60 copper per kilogram of mandarin!”

 

The mandarin was sold at 60 copper.

 

Mandarin usually sold in the market for 2 silver per kilogram.

 

Though the unit price had decreased due to the reverse auction competition, since it was a deal that could secure regular contracts for 10 tons, it was actually profitable for the nobles and merchants.

 

The selected noble came up to the platform with a smile stretching from ear to ear.

 

When Casselik, who had been sitting, personally offered a handshake, the noble bowed so deeply his forehead nearly touched the ground.

 

“Oh my, please take good care of me.”

 

The olives, oranges, and other items that followed in succession were equally competitive.

 

‘Everyone’s working hard. The fig auction will be over in less than a second though.’

 

Serena was planning to offer an absurd amount.

 

The nobles and merchants here employ a few farmers in their own orchards to harvest specialty products, but she had contracts with dozens of farmers.

 

Even if she lowered the unit price, she had an overflowing supply to back it up.

 

‘Once I win like that, all eyes will be on me, and the moment I go up to the platform to shake hands with the Duke…’

 

Bang-.

 

Count Greenlenton would reveal his identity as an illegitimate child to the whole world.

 

The reverse auction was attended by everyone from nobles to commoner merchants. The information revealed here would spread quickly throughout the Empire.

 

Also, if she showed an image of being skilled in business at this opportunity, wouldn’t people see her differently?

 

They’d say, “Lady Serena, who was like a hothouse flower, has such business acumen?!”

 

In truth, her ideal was to be an eternal hothouse flower, but things had changed now.

 

She would shed her innocent facade and transform into a cool and confident woman.

 

But then, a chilling warning wrapped around her ears.

 

“Taking revenge on House Birdwell is fine, but our goal is the Duke.”

 

It was Count Greenlenton in the body of Marchioness Conn.

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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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