If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 34

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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 35

 

“Right, Prince?”

 

I poked Leonhardt’s side secretly while Mother wasn’t looking, urging him to answer.

 

Leonhardt tensed his soft belly and endured it.

 

Though he tried to hide it, his face clearly showed his confusion.

 

‘Well, how would you know how a four-year-old acts?’

 

The only child Leonhardt had ever experienced was himself.

 

‘I don’t know what he was like at four either, but from what I remember of six-year-old Leonhardt, he wasn’t exactly a normal kid.’

 

It meant that the dry, humorless twenty-two-year-old Leonhardt hadn’t just popped out of nowhere with a ‘poof.’

 

‘A dry and bleak six-year-old wouldn’t have been adorably cute at four either.’

 

For a moment I thought maybe he should just act like he normally did, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind.

 

‘His confused look is more entertaining anyway.’

 

Finally making up his mind, Leonhardt nodded with the most docile expression I’d ever seen from him.

 

“I like it.”

 

His belated beaming smile felt familiar, like I’d seen it somewhere before.

 

‘Come to think of it, there’s one more child he knows besides himself. Me…’

 

Hey, don’t copy me!

 

I frowned as I realized the source of Leonhardt’s childish imitation.

 

Perhaps as a trade-off, Leonhardt became a bit more confident.

 

Leonhardt smiled so prettily that I wondered if his facial muscles could move like that, then ran toward the bed with little pattering steps.

 

Then he buried his face in the large rabbit doll on the bed and mumbled.

 

“Especially this one. It’s cute.”

 

His soft cheeks pressed against the rabbit doll as he rubbed against it.

 

The rabbit doll’s silver fur, carefully chosen to match, blended naturally with Leonhardt’s silver hair.

 

“Oh my, how adorable. Really.”

 

Mother exclaimed with double meaning.

 

Leonhardt, not realizing she was talking about him, nodded in agreement with Mother’s words.

 

“I like everything else too, not just this. You must have worked hard preparing everything. Thank you.”

 

Though he was somewhat conscious and used informal speech, his tone and expression didn’t match.

 

‘If you’re going to do it, do it properly.’

 

I chuckled watching Leonhardt’s clumsy acting.

 

But I was the only one who knew the reason for this strange way of speaking, having regressed together with him.

 

To Mother and Nanny’s eyes, it must have looked like a gentle, good child trying to act mature.

 

Nanny gripped her skirt trying not to laugh, while Mother responded to Leonhardt’s words half-playfully with proper etiquette.

 

“Not at all. I only hope you’ll be comfortable during your stay.”

 

Leonhardt, still not realizing he was being doted on by Mother, offered another word of praise in response.

 

“You welcomed an uninvited guest without complaint, so that’s excessive modesty.”

 

It was far too mature a way of speaking for a four-year-old, especially one who had never received proper education.

 

It was as ironic as watching a child who seemed incapable of understanding love sing about tragic and desperate romance.

 

Finally unable to hold back, Mother burst out laughing.

 

“Ahahaha.”

 

Nanny, who had been holding back with only gentle smiles, saw Mother’s laughter burst forth and began laughing in earnest while covering her expression with a handkerchief.

 

Leonhardt looked puzzled as if demanding an explanation.

 

His attitude of being completely unaware of his un-childlike nature made Mother’s laughter grow louder.

 

‘He’s handling it well on his own. Whatever.’

 

I realized I’d lost my chance to tease Leonhardt sooner than expected and pouted.

 

Only Leonhardt, oblivious to the situation, kept blinking his eyes.

 

Leonhardt wasn’t stupid, just awkward with human relationships and a bit slow at reading others’ emotions.

 

Having grasped how to behave in the Ducal House from Nanny and Mother’s attitude toward him, Leonhardt quickly adapted to this place.

 

“We have a couples’ tea party to attend, so we won’t be able to have breakfast together today.”

 

To Mother, who came to inform us that she’d miss the daily breakfast gatherings that had increased to seven times a week for Leonhardt’s quick adaptation.

 

“It’s quite cold today, why don’t you wear a shawl? If you dress too lightly and catch a chill in your bones, your joints will ache and you won’t be able to walk later.”

 

“Hahaha, I have that white fox fur shawl I had made recently, I should have it brought out.”

 

He earned laughter with his un-childlike nagging remarks, and.

 

“If Your Highness trains harder, you’ll be able to handle an iron sword like this with ease, just like me.”

 

“It must be nice having more strength than a four-year-old, young master.”

 

He smoothly countered Lester’s subtle jabs at the boy younger than him.

 

“My strength is pretty good. If you’re jealous, just say you’re jealous!”

 

Eleven years old.

 

Still too young for his physique to be established, it wasn’t very effective against Lester who was excitedly showing off his thin biceps, but whatever.

 

‘He actually seems to be adapting much better than the first time around.’

 

I thought while watching Lester and Leonhardt engage in their comedy-like verbal sparring.

 

‘No, not “seems to” – he’s definitely doing better.’

 

In the first life, Leonhardt came to the Ducal House when he was eight.

 

Perhaps because he’d spent so long alone at the Separate Palace, that Leonhardt had been much more guarded.

 

It took quite a while for him to become comfortable enough to chat freely with Mother and Nanny, who tried to take good care of him, and Lester, who was naturally somewhat meddlesome.

 

‘Was that why? Even after we married, his relationship with my family remained distant.’

 

Though it would be more accurate to say that since the relationships had already solidified by then, even becoming family through marriage couldn’t change anything…

 

‘If only they’d been this close, it would have been fine.’

 

My family neither opposed nor supported my marriage to Leonhardt.

 

‘It was more like they didn’t stop me since I said I wanted to do it.’

 

But even I, who had accepted Leonhardt’s proposal, wasn’t certain of my own feelings.

 

‘It was just a shallow thought – if I had to get married anyway, it might as well be to Leon.’

 

As a newly adult, I was under tremendous stress as the wedding approached.

 

It might have been better if I’d at least been confident in my decision, but even when we’d reached the point of no return, my heart was still wavering.

 

On top of that, the relationship between Leonhardt, whom I could rely on, and my family was awkward.

 

‘Their exchanges were polite, but the atmosphere wasn’t really warm.’

 

Thanks to that, my heart became even harder to sort out.

 

Even after marriage, the relationship that never progressed beyond surface politeness remained a subtle source of trouble for me.

 

Come to think of it, our marriage had been wrongly buttoned from the very first button.

 

‘Though I’m only saying this now.’

 

I chuckled softly as I reflected on the past.

 

Leonhardt looked at Lester, who was having a childish argument with him, Lionel, who was smilingly trying to stop them, and Miela, who was blankly poking at pieces of paprika, and thought.

 

‘If only we’d been this close, it would have been fine.’

 

Miela had deep bonds with her family.

 

The burden of having married against her family’s wishes must have played a significant role in making her feel unhappy in married life.

 

Leonhardt was dreaming of marriage to Miela in this life too.

 

And if possible, he hoped Miela would be happier than in the first life.

 

‘For that, I’ll need to get along well with the people of House Roderick too.’

 

In the first life, he had subtly put up walls against everyone in House Roderick except Miela.

 

The people of House Roderick were all good people, but they weren’t aggressive enough to break down the walls of a prickly child and approach him.

 

After marriage, he was treated like a thief who had stolen their precious daughter.

 

‘I was immature back then.’

 

Now Leonhardt knew.

 

How to become a beloved son-in-law to his in-laws.

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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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