I Don’t Need a Dad Like This! - Chapter 56

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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 56】

 

* * *

 

“This is ridiculous!”

 

When the figs were sold at auction for 7 dong per kilogram, Serena’s farmers who had been watching collapsed to the ground.

 

“If the Theodore Ducal House sells figs at this price, other merchants will want that kind of price from us too.”

 

“The fig market is ruined. No matter how much the trading volume is, they’ve slashed the price too much!”

 

“We can’t even trade at those slashed prices!”

 

At the end of their lamenting gazes was Serena.

 

Eyes filled with anger and resentment stabbed at her back and cheeks.

 

But Serena felt just as wronged.

 

‘They agreed to the contract knowing they’d take losses from the start! I didn’t know Rie would stab me in the back like this either!’

 

She had even lost the auction and failed to carry out Count Greenlenton’s orders.

 

‘Rie.’

 

That child from a mere viscount’s house who couldn’t even reach Theodore Castle had ruined everything.

 

‘Rie, Rie, Rie!’

 

Her eyes glaring at the child burned hot as fire.

 

Her clenched fists on her knees trembled violently.

 

She was imagining grabbing the child’s shoulders and shaking her back and forth when her body froze at an ominous voice that bound her ears.

 

“You have disappointed us twice now.”

 

Count Greenlenton in the shell of the Marquis’s wife had approached at some point.

 

He was a more frightening existence than the angry farmers.

 

“…But Rie unexpectedly…”

 

“When Mary’s identity was exposed, it was also because of Rie. Ah, I see. You are less capable than a four-year-old child.”

 

“…”

 

“We thought your desire would be greater than Rie’s. But it wasn’t.”

 

At the reproach sharper than a sword, Serena felt her breath stop.

 

“The goal has changed. The problem isn’t exposing Duke Casselik’s identity, but eliminating Rie.”

 

At those words, she turned pale as a blank sheet of paper and finally nodded her head.

 

Serena quietly rose from her seat while watching Rie shake hands with Casselik.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Nelson, who had won the reverse auction, watched Rie with a dazed expression.

 

The small child who didn’t even reach his waist had given him a miracle and was now shaking hands with the Duke.

 

Even now, when he closed his eyes, the scene of the orchard he had seen that night was vivid.

 

‘The fruits… they’re ripening and falling in an instant! Good heavens, other fruits are already bearing again.’

 

‘You’re supposed to keep it secret from Uncle Nelson! Rie can’t pick all the fruits by herself… Actually, Rie is a Time Ability User.’

 

When the child tearfully revealed her identity, it felt like someone had struck him on the back of the head.

 

A Time Ability User? Why hadn’t she said anything until now?

 

If she had, Emilia wouldn’t have had to get divorced, and they wouldn’t have had to live in a modest Viscount’s House.

 

But he understood from the child’s following words.

 

‘Rie, if people find out I’m a Time Ability User, I’ll be dragged back to the Duke’s Castle. Then Mother’s shoulders will droop. Rie will get scolded by scary teachers. And Father will only make Rie study really, really hard things.’

 

‘….’

 

‘Rie likes living with our family. I don’t need pretty jewels.’

 

Her lips pressed tightly together, leaving walnut-shaped marks. Her eyes brimming with tears. Even her clasped hands.

 

He could understand without asking any more questions.

 

He couldn’t send the child and Emilia back to the Duke’s Castle.

 

He promised to protect Rie’s secret until the day he died.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

The farmers who had been far away approached with sycophantic smiles.

 

“…Nel, Nelson. Congratulations on winning the bid. Since you were confident about the quantity, you must have participated in the reverse auction.”

 

“Right. By the way, would you consider contracting with us?”

 

“We harvested tons of figs, but there’s nowhere to sell them. The market price has even plummeted. This is tyranny by the wealthy!”

 

“Who was it that lowered those market prices?”

 

“Obviously the Duchess and Rie!”

 

Nelson answered coldly.

 

“No. It’s your fault for selling your goods to the Duchess at dirt cheap prices in the first place.”

 

“Wh, what?!”

 

The farmers’ faces turned pale.

 

“If you had proceeded directly without contracting with the Duchess in the first place, the market prices wouldn’t have fallen this much. Think about the other reverse auctions – mandarin, olive. The lowest winning bid was 60 coins. But figs?”

 

“….”

 

“The Duchess called out 50 coins from the start. That’s what she thinks you’re worth.”

 

Nelson turned his head away as if telling them not to talk to him anymore.

 

“Nel, Nelson. We were wrong, Nelson-!”

 

The farmers who had nowhere else to go grabbed onto him, but it was useless.

 

Nelson resolved not to waste the miracle that Rie had created for him.

 

He would pour all his gratitude only onto Rie and her family.

 

So those who had hurt the child weren’t even worth showing mercy to.

 

* * *

 

At the same time, outside the auction house, in a secluded corridor where people’s gazes couldn’t reach.

 

Jair was watching all of this while hiding his body in the shadows.

 

He had been waiting with the knights in case Dark Mages appeared as Casselik had predicted, but it seemed he had gained an even greater harvest.

 

The Duke’s daughter, Rie, who had no presence for 10 years but was particularly noticeable during this regression.

 

Until then, he had only harbored suspicions based on possibilities, but from the moment he revealed the identity of the child called Mary, he became somewhat certain.

 

So he had been watching carefully at this reverse auction too, but to think she would overturn the situation with her own power.

 

‘She must be a time ability user after all.’

 

The problem was that Rie was hiding that fact.

 

“The situation is playing out quite interestingly.”

 

The future changing after 10 years was fascinating.

 

The boy with crossed arms spun his body around.

 

First, he needed to find out who the dark mage in this place was.

 

While scanning the people in the auction house and reading their futures.

 

He noticed that Duchess Serena’s future was quite peculiar.

 

“Why is Duchess Serena trembling so much 5 minutes from now? There’s nothing but fearful thoughts in her head, which makes me even more curious…”

 

Jair, who had been muttering, suddenly closed his mouth.

 

The boy who had seen a terrible future urgently commanded his assistant.

 

“Mill. Order the knights to close all the doors in the hall.”

 

“What? Ah, if it’s an emergency situation, we should also inform Duke Theodore…”

 

“I’ll handle the Duke myself, so move quickly!”

 

“Yes, yes!”

 

There was no time.

 

Jair quickly entered the hall.

 

* * *

 

Casselik bent his knees and met the child’s eyes.

 

His expression reflected in those blue eyes was quite tense.

 

“I didn’t expect the winning bidder to be my blood relative. Anyway, let’s shake hands.”

 

The child extended her hand without hesitation.

 

After hesitating briefly, he gently clasped the small hand.

 

At first. When Rie appeared as a participant in the reverse auction, he had briefly considered stopping the auction.

 

‘Auctions are not a joke!’

 

Serena’s words were right.

 

Because of the paddle raised like a joke, the market price of figs was falling mercilessly.

 

What if the bid was successful but the Birdwell Barony couldn’t meet the quantity?

 

One of the many export goods would be canceled, and that minor cancellation would damage trust with the northern region that was to become a future trading partner.

 

But Casselik proceeded as planned.

 

He had given Birdwell the invitation in the first place, but even that reason was unclear.

 

If he had to think about it… perhaps he wanted to create an opportunity to meet Emilia and Rie again?

 

That’s right.

 

This wasn’t a decision made as the head of the Theodore Ducal House.

 

It was the first decision he had made as ‘Casselik,’ free from all his official positions.

 

“Duke. The thing is….”

 

“Rie. Let me ask first.”

 

The child’s lips moved as if trying to say something, but Casselik cut off the child’s words.

 

“Since things went as you wanted, speak honestly. If you participated as a prank, it could cause big problems. Of course I can resolve it, but from now on, such pranks….”

 

“Rie won the reverse auction. C-congratulations.”

 

Just then, Serena suddenly climbed up onto the platform without permission.

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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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