If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 22

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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 23

Crackle.

Lester and Lionel, who got along quite well, started a staring contest.

“You’re going to sit next to me, right?”

“No way? Miela likes her big brother more.”

“What are you talking about! Miela and I are the closest.”

It was a very childish argument for fourteen and eleven-year-olds, but it couldn’t be ignored since these two hold grudges for a long time when they get upset.

I looked back and forth between the two of them, pondered for a moment, then shouted loudly.

“Miela will sit next to whoever wins! Just one round! Got it? Rock, paper, scissors!”

Despite the sudden announcement, everyone had good reflexes.

Three hands of similar size were thrust out simultaneously.

Two rocks and one paper, so the winner was decided.

‘Huh, but three hands?’

Following the dark pink sleeve that had thrown paper alone, I turned my eyes to see Merlin smiling awkwardly.

“I, I want to sit with Miela too!”

When all eyes focused on her, she seemed embarrassed and fidgeted with her fingers…

So cute!

“Great! Merlin won!”

I quickly sat down next to Merlin before any objections could arise.

Lionel and Lester didn’t seem pleased with Merlin suddenly joining in.

Still, perhaps trying to be hospitable, they didn’t voice any particular complaints.

‘Wow, this combination.’

Just adding Merlin to our siblings felt strange.

‘But this is the charm of regression.’

I raised my teacup to celebrate the new connection.

“Now then, to commemorate our meeting! Cheers!”

When I held out my cup for a toast, Merlin and Lester laughed and clinked their teacups against mine.

“Cheers!”

“Hehe.”

I also held out my teacup toward Lionel, who had stopped while holding his cup alone.

After Lionel toasted with an ambiguous smile, he subtly asked.

“Lester and Lady Ravis are one thing, but where did our youngest learn something like this?”

Lionel, who was also a minor himself, was trying to discipline me.

‘I was a wine enthusiast from my twenties.’

I spent more on premium wine than on dress purchases.

But right now I’m six years old.

“I saw Mom and Dad do this.”

I had to smile while cowardly making excuses about the adults.

“This is why they say you can’t even drink cold water in front of kids.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Lester shook his head as if he couldn’t help it, then received a glare from Lionel.

In Lionel’s eyes, Lester was also a young sibling.

Though it was said jokingly, Lionel sent quite a cold look.

Merlin, who flinched for no reason, quietly averted her gaze and put down her cup.

There was no way the perceptive Lionel wouldn’t notice that Merlin was feeling uncomfortable.

“If the tea doesn’t suit your taste, shall I have them bring something else?”

When he made eye contact and smiled with a hospitable, gentle voice, Merlin’s ears turned red.

“N-no. It’s so delicious!”

Then, despite having already drunk two cups with me earlier, she gulped down the still-warm tea as if her throat was parched.

I alternately looked at Lionel, who was worriedly watching Merlin in case she burned her tongue, and Merlin, whose face was getting redder under Lionel’s gaze.

‘Come to think of it, Lionel seems to be acting a bit more coy than when dealing with other people? What’s this? Am I perceptive?’

Right on cue, a gentle breeze brushed past Lionel and Merlin.

Lionel kept his gaze on Merlin’s lightly fluttering hair before belatedly looking away.

Fourteen and thirteen years old.

I thought it was a very good age.

“You’re here?”

Prince, who had come to the Empress Dowager’s Palace at the Empress Dowager’s summons, was greeted by the Empress who had arrived first.

“Yes, Mother. It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

Prince, who had been annoyed by the Empress Dowager’s request for an unscheduled meeting, managed his expression and greeted the Empress.

The Empress smiled at her son’s outwardly affectionate greeting and asked about his well-being.

“That’s right. You must be busy these days with all the engagement talk?”

Tsk. Prince clicked his tongue inwardly.

It was an unwelcome topic.

His father the Emperor was pushing for Duke Roderick’s daughter, while his mother the Empress was pushing for Lady Perington.

‘Having to choose between a willful child and an idiot.’

Both were unsatisfactory options.

But it was also true that there were no better alternatives than those two.

Prince concealed his displeasure and changed the subject.

“I suppose so. But did you also come because Grandmother called you?”

“That’s right. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager still has a guest who hasn’t left yet.”

This answer also didn’t please him.

‘The old woman in the back room might have leisure time, but I’m busy.’

The Empress was also a busy person, though perhaps not as much as Prince.

He didn’t like that the Empress Dowager, who had the most free time among the three, had called his mother and him only to make them wait.

‘I’m going to be the future Emperor. There’s a limit to showing courtesy to an old person just because we’re blood relatives.’

Prince gritted his teeth to suppress his rising anger.

Recently, since Duke Roderick’s daughter arrived, nothing had been going his way, and for whatever reason, he couldn’t control his emotions well.

‘Don’t act like those stupid, dull street commoner children.’

Only after repeating this to himself several times did his emotions settle.

‘When I return, it’s foreign diplomacy class…’

The Crown Prince’s Palace had several whipping boys, who now only appeared in classical novels.

And the Crown Prince’s academic performance fluctuated very severely depending on his mood.

Prince’s eyes flashed fiercely as he planned cruel venting to soothe his mood.

Then the Empress Dowager appeared.

“Did you wait long? I’m late.”

Despite different inclinations and factions, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship wasn’t bad.

The Empress responded warmly to the apologetic Empress Dowager.

“Not at all. We just arrived ourselves.”

“I called you to see your faces since it’s been a while due to my long trip, but a guest happened to come.”

“We would have come anytime Your Majesty the Empress Dowager called.”

Just as their conversation was about to lengthen with mutual inquiries, Prince interjected.

“By the way, did you have a good trip to Whis?”

At first glance, he seemed like an affectionate grandson caring for his grandmother.

However, his words meant to quickly state any business that arose during her vacation.

“Of course, Grandmother bought souvenirs, and I’ll send them to your palace once they’re sorted.”

Perhaps it was the power of the mask he had instinctively worn since childhood.

The Empress Dowager, who had no idea of her grandson’s true nature, looked at Prince with loving eyes and spoke.

“Oh my, I was so happy to see you that I kept you standing too long.”

The Empress Dowager, belatedly realizing they were standing, offered them seats.

After all three had taken their seats, the Empress Dowager remained silent for a long while with an ambiguous expression.

“If you have something to say to us, please feel free to speak, Mother.”

When the Empress spoke carefully in a gentle tone, the Empress Dowager clicked her tongue lightly as if embarrassed.

“Tsk, getting old just makes me hesitate more.”

Still, the Empress’s words seemed to help her gather her thoughts.

The Empress Dowager hesitantly began her opening.

“…It’s about Leonhardt.”

For a moment, it was a name so faded from Prince’s memory that he had to think about who that was.

‘Leonhardt? Ah, that monster from the Separate Palace?’

However, his birth mother, the Empress, seemed different.

“What about that child?”

The Empress Dowager handed warm tea to the Empress, who had instantly turned pale and was acting defensively, as if to soothe her.

But she didn’t stop the words she had decided to say.

“Lady Roderick sent me a letter recently.”

The Empress Dowager wore a complicated expression as she recalled the contents of the letter Lady Roderick had sent.

“…It’s not that child’s fault he was born that way. Look in on him occasionally. I’ll pay attention to him from now on too.”

However, only the Empress’s hand holding the teacup trembled slightly, and no answer came back.

‘Keeping alive a monster whose very existence would be a disgrace to the imperial family is already showing enough mercy, so this pointless act is…’

Prince twisted his lips in a sneer.

However, the words he spoke were quite affectionate.

“He is my brother, and I’ve been too indifferent all this time. I’ll pay attention to him too.”

Both to the monster of the Separate Palace and to the House of Roderick that had pointlessly stirred up trouble.

Prince’s eyes once again flashed with a cruel light.

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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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