I Don’t Need a Dad Like This! - Chapter 83
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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 83>
What was it like when he regained his memories and became a duke?
‘I should call you Duke… shouldn’t I? Still, I’m glad you regained your memories. Though it’s a shame we won’t see each other anymore.’
While other people were desperately trying to cling to him, Emilia tried to distance herself upon seeing how unfamiliar he had become.
‘Don’t go.’
It was Casselik who held onto her.
‘You said you couldn’t abandon a sick person. I’m not fully healed yet.’
The two married thanks to Casselik’s proactive actions.
His gaze was filled entirely with her, as if a pin light was shining on Emilia alone.
The same was true for Rie, who was born afterward.
Looking at the life form that mixed his beloved woman with himself, he suddenly found a reason to live.
But what had Casselik done to them?
‘If I become a Time Ability User, I can live with Mother in the Duke’s Castle, but… Rie can only be loved by Father if she becomes a Time Ability User.’
For such words to come from a young child’s mouth, how had he treated them?
‘I don’t think my ex-wife would be happy about staying at the house.’
‘That was unavoidable because of ability user production. What do you expect from a contract marriage?’
He turned away from the woman’s tears, using the excuse of an unavoidable contract marriage.
‘Your life isn’t decided by you, but by the Theodore Family, and by me.’
He even brought sadness to his daughter who knew nothing.
But what had Rie done to protect such a pathetic father?
‘I had something to tell Father. Serena and Mary keep following Rie around. I wanted to talk about this.’
‘On Mary’s neck, there’s a black crescent moon drawn. And the black crescent moon is proof of being a Dark Mage. There’s a Dark Mage in the Duke’s Castle!’
A sudden chest pain pierced through him.
It felt like being lost in the middle of a thorny path.
“…Emilia.”
Drip.
As soon as he called her name, tears fell to the floor.
But this was nothing.
Compared to the neglect and contempt Rie had received all this time, he didn’t even deserve to cry.
Casselik barely managed to compose his emotions and sat up.
Rie had fallen asleep at some point.
She seemed to have fallen asleep from exhaustion after using her ability too much all day.
He carefully lifted the child who was sprawled on the floor.
Though late, he now truly wanted to turn everything back.
* * *
The gates of Theodore Ducal Castle opened.
The Butler and Head Maid greeted their master as they always did.
“Have you returned, Your Grace… Lady Rie came with you too?”
But Casselik didn’t even answer and simply disappeared.
‘What’s going on?’
The Butler and Head Maid were momentarily puzzled, but thought it was nothing serious.
Duke Casselik was originally a man of few words anyway.
But shortly after.
They came crying and wailing to their master with sudden dismissal notices.
“Y-Your Grace. What is this sudden matter? If we did something wrong, please tell us.”
“I’ve worked here for over 30 years! I want to at least hear the reason for dismissal!”
Even the Maids who had been in charge of Rie even once, and other Attendants connected to those Maids were the same.
With the lightning-like dismissal notices, the Servants knelt in front of Rie’s closed Room door waiting for their master.
And soon, having apparently put the child to bed, Casselik quietly opened the door and appeared.
He asked.
“Who is the master of this Castle?”
“Of course it’s you, Duke. We know this well, which is why we’ve continued serving you all this time…!”
“Then I ask again. Did I ever tell you not to give Rie cream bread?”
“Pardon…?”
The Servants’ eyes widened.
They had never heard such an order. Moreover, Rie hadn’t even stayed at the Duke’s Castle recently.
‘But why such a question…’
“W-We only followed Your Grace’s orders.”
“No. You acted independently during the time the child stayed at the Duke’s Castle. You gossiped and even mocked her in front of the child. Did I order you to do that?”
“!”
Only then did the Servants who grasped the situation turn pale.
‘Could it be that Rie told him?’
The Head Maid looked around cautiously.
She knew that the Duke had been showing interest in Rie and Emilia lately… but she didn’t know he would trust the child to this extent.
But she was just a four-year-old child.
Just because the Maids gossiped a few words behind her back, could she have understood it all?
‘I need to speak well from now on.’
Taking a small deep breath, the Head Maid bowed her head with a respectful attitude.
“Your Grace, it seems there’s been a misunderstanding, and though I’m sorry, I wish to correct it. Among the people here, there were certainly Servants who talked about Lady Rie. But that was about Lady Rie’s attitude and abilities that were too disappointing compared to Theodore’s prestige. Of course, Lady Rie is now a Time Ability User, but…”
“So you’re saying you all followed along with what I said about the child’s shortcomings.”
“We didn’t follow along, but we sympathized with Your Grace’s opinion.”
“When did I ask for sympathy?”
A suddenly lowered bass tone.
The air around the Duke turned cold.
“Are you my close friends?”
His shadowed gaze pierced down at the Servants.
The Servants couldn’t escape from that eerie stare.
Some were glaring at the Head Maid who had spoken wrongly.
“I never ordered you to gossip about my daughter, nor did I order you not to give her Dessert. While I trusted you and left the child in your care, you acted as you pleased as if you were the masters of the Duke’s Castle.”
Casselik, who had been silent for a moment, tilted his head.
“I thought about having you all beheaded.”
The Servants turned ashen in an instant.
“But that wouldn’t be good for the child’s education. This is the last chance my child is giving you, so pack your things and leave immediately.”
Click.
The Bedroom door closed quietly with a cold rebuke.
* * *
Bellik quietly knocked on Rie’s Bedroom door.
Upon entering, Casselik was sitting in a Chair beside her, watching the sleeping Rie.
“Your Grace, I heard you dismissed the Head Maid and Butler. With so many Servants dismissed, won’t there be disruptions in managing the Duke’s Castle?”
“There will be.”
“Then, at least the Butler…”
“Bellik.”
A gloomy voice cut off his words.
Casselik’s gaze remained fixed on Rie.
“Thanks to them, the Duke’s Castle management might have been perfect, but my Home was burning.”
“…”
“I’ll manage it directly from now on. Whether that’s hiring a new Head Maid or whatever else.”
“I understand.”
Bellik asked no more questions and quietly bowed his head.
But there was another reason Casselik had called him.
“Oh, and tell the chef to come here.”
“…Don’t tell me you’re going to fire the chef too…”
“No, so don’t worry and call him.”
A moment later.
Assistant Bellik brought a middle-aged man with a tense expression.
His name was Tom.
He was currently the head chef of the Theodore Ducal House.
“Your Grace, you called for me?”
Casselik cut straight to the chase and got to the point.
“Yes. Do you happen to have any family or acquaintances who need work?”
“Work is always needed, sir. Especially my daughters are causing trouble these days. They go to dozens of interviews a day but say there are no results.”
“Then what about the Theodore Ducal House?”
“Pardon?”
“How would it be if they got jobs as maids at the Theodore Ducal House?”
Tom hesitated.
Did those words mean he would let them work as maids for the ducal house?
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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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