I Don’t Need a Dad Like This! - Chapter 92

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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 92>

 

‘Sigh.’

 

Emilia let out a sigh and finally looked toward the man who was holding out his hand.

 

“Is that really so? Then take more.”

 

The man who received Emilia’s cold stare, thinking she had given in, rummaged through his pocket and added more money on top of the change.

 

“But I heard that the Birdwell Viscount family is doing well these days, was that just a rumor?”

 

Please. Just disappear.

 

“If you’re so short on money that you have to keep working, I could…”

 

“Don’t you serve customers here?”

 

At that moment, a shadow fell over the man’s shoulder.

 

Along with a voice that was clearly tired of waiting.

 

Then, the man who was quite wealthy in this region let out a confident laugh.

 

“I’m also a customer. Right now the young lady is serving customers, don’t you see…”

 

No. He tried to laugh but quickly turned pale and bowed his head.

 

“S-sorry, Duke Theodore! I’ll step aside!”

 

Standing before the groveling man was Duke Casselik.

 

Casselik just looked down at him without saying a word. As he leaned his arm against the counter and poured out his gaze as if looking at something less than an insect, the man didn’t know what to do.

 

“Ah, haha. I was being rude. Farewell!”

 

Eventually the man retreated. When he disappeared, an awkward silence settled over the noisy shop.

 

“Why did you come?”

 

After the commotion was settled, Emilia glared at another unwelcome guest.

 

But Casselik answered calmly as if asking what she was looking at like that.

 

“I came to buy embroidery. What else would a customer come to an embroidery shop for.”

 

“You came all the way here to purchase embroidery?”

 

For reference, it took several hours by carriage from the duchy to this countryside.

 

And if Casselik really wanted to buy embroidered products, he would have called famous designers from the empire to the castle and asked for samples.

 

However.

 

“Do you have handkerchiefs with flowers drawn on them?”

 

He pretended to be a customer with an utterly shameless tone.

 

Emilia glared at Casselik silently, but having a staring contest in front of a man who came all this way to buy a handkerchief was a waste of time.

 

“…Here, there are about ten different designs.”

 

“This is what you embroidered, right?”

 

“I don’t know. This shop has several designers.”

 

“Then give me this one.”

 

A long, thick index finger pointed to a handkerchief with lilacs drawn on it.

 

Emilia sighed and wrapped the handkerchief.

 

“I’ll be going now.”

 

Contrary to her worries, he really did just purchase the handkerchief and disappeared.

 

Only then did Emilia, whose tension was released, hold her forehead.

 

“…How did he know which one I made?”

 

Somehow, he had found the handkerchief she embroidered like a ghost.

 

During her time as duchess.

 

Emilia had nothing she could give him, so she sometimes gifted him handkerchiefs she embroidered herself.

 

Back then she thought he pretended not to notice when she gave them.

 

‘Was he not pretending not to notice?’

 

Though it felt a bit unsettling, she erased Casselik’s visit from her mind.

 

Surely he wouldn’t appear again.

 

But a few days later.

 

Casselik appeared again in an unexpected place.

 

At a tea time attended only by noble ladies.

 

“D-Duke Theodore? No, you did send a letter saying you’d come, but I didn’t think you’d really come… That’s not right! Please sit here! Hohoho, the duke’s presence will make today’s tea time atmosphere very exciting!”

 

Countess Rioletta, who was startled, smiled with a face melting like jelly.

 

The other ladies were the same.

 

When a handsome duke appeared where only women had been gathered, how could they manage their expressions?

 

“Since I don’t attend social events, I don’t know how the world is turning.”

 

“Oh my… I see.”

 

The ladies nodded with their cheeks blushing red.

 

Except for Emilia alone.

 

‘Why on earth did he come? This tea time is a place only women come to?’

 

Emilia, whose eyes became triangular, just sipped her black tea because her throat was parched.

 

Casselik, who sat diagonally across from her on the right, just glanced at Emilia silently throughout the tea time.

 

And then he disappeared.

 

Such subtle encounters continued once or twice a week.

 

Once downtown a few days later. Once more at a small party.

 

Emilia chose to ignore him each time.

 

However, she couldn’t easily erase Casselik from her life—

 

The reasons were as follows.

 

First, Casselik was the man with the greatest influence in the empire after the Imperial Palace.

 

And second, he was Rie’s biological father.

 

That’s right.

 

The ‘Cradle Blessing Festival’ season was approaching.

 

This was a festival held only once every five years, a family festival attended by noble children under ten years old and their parents.

 

Though the apparent purpose seemed heartwarming, in high society this blessing festival was called the ‘Cradle Shame Festival.’

 

This was because the family circumstances of houses were revealed to the world depending on whether the participants’ parents attended.

 

Of course, the situation between Theodore and the Birdwell family had already been revealed to the world since the divorce trial, but Emilia was worried about this festival for a completely different reason.

 

It was because Rie had been following Casselik well lately.

 

* * *

 

Emilia, crouched in a corner of the bedroom, bit her nails.

 

“…For the child’s sake, it would be right to attend together with the child’s father, right? But what if because of that, the child’s father gets triumphant and asks to reconcile…? No, Emilia. Just think of Rie. Everyone will be watching. I can’t make the child attend without her father…”

 

“Mother? Uwaaah!”

 

At that moment, Rie, who opened the door without knocking, gaped her mouth open.

 

‘Mushrooms are going to grow on Mother’s back!’

 

How long had she been crouching in the dark?

 

Rie, who remembered that Emilia’s expression had been bad for the past few days, searched the entire house as soon as she realized Mother was nowhere to be seen at home.

 

She tried opening the bedroom door just in case.

 

‘At this rate, moss will grow on Mother too!’

 

That’s right. Emilia’s condition was terrible.

 

Rie ran toward her and flapped her short arms.

 

“Mother, for the cradle festival, Rie is fine even if Father doesn’t come. Rie will be happy attending with just Mother! And, Olivia said…”

 

Swoosh, swoosh.

 

After looking around. She whispered in Emilia’s ear.

 

“Olivia’s father is having an affair, so the marquis’s wife will bring her boyfriend. To get revenge on her father…!”

 

Emilia, who had been gloomy, finally raised her head.

 

“Countess Rioletta’s husband is having an affair…?”

 

“Yeah. But this is a secret. Olivia only told Rie.”

 

“My goodness. How must the marquis’s wife feel… No, but wait a minute. She said she’s bringing her boyfriend to play Olivia’s father’s role?”

 

“Mmhm.”

 

“She’s really bold. Since it’ll become a rumor anyway, she’s going to reveal it at a public event…!”

 

Emilia, who had been worried about the marquis’s wife, was now admiring her spirit.

 

Then Rie raised her hand and said.

 

“How about Mother brings a new boyfriend too? Let’s get revenge on Dung Cart!”

 

“What?”

 

Emilia’s eyes widened at the child’s bold words. A new boyfriend, revenge!

 

“Rie, where did you learn to say such things, oh you heard it from the Marquis’s Wife….”

 

Emilia, who had been getting angry, shook her head back and forth.

 

“Just like Olivia. Friends are always together!”

 

Emilia’s shoulders slumped as she looked at her daughter speaking so cheerfully.

 

Two women betrayed by their husbands and a daughter, each with their respective boyfriends going around together. What could be more scandalous than that.

 

“But Rie. Don’t you like Father? You even went to play at the Duke’s Castle a few days ago. Mother is fine with you attending with Father if that’s what you want.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

Rie’s little head tilted. As if she had never thought about such a thing.

 

“The person Rie wants to go with…?”

 

* * *

 

<Cradle’s Blessing Festival, Opening Soon. Children’s Custom Clothing Designers, Busy Busy!>

 

At that moment.

 

Casselik and Philip, reading newspapers in their respective offices, muttered.

 

“…Since it’s a festival where parents also participate, Rie will need me.”

 

Casselik pestered his assistant, asking if perhaps a letter had come for him.

 

“But the child’s guardian doesn’t necessarily have to be the biological father, right? There’s no legal problem with that.”

 

Philip asked his law firm employees with a sly smile.

 

Soon after, both men picked up their quill pens and sent letters asking if they could visit soon.

 

And so, a few days later.

 

Knock knock knock-

 

During peaceful lunchtime, knocking sounds were heard at the front door of the Birdwell Viscount’s Mansion.

 

“Oh? Someone’s here-!”

 

Excited Rie rushed to open the front door, and the person who appeared was.

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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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