If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 85

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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 85

After avoiding it until the very last moment, accepting it was surprisingly easy.

It felt as if all that avoidance had been time spent preparing my heart to accept these feelings.

I humbly acknowledged my feelings.

‘I might like him a little.’

Despite a few flaws, Leonhardt was really a decent man.

Even after practically dumping him, I still liked him…

‘What can I do about the Roderick bloodline being so pure-hearted.’

If there was one thing that bothered me.

I glanced sideways at Leonhardt.

‘Why doesn’t he like me?’

It was puzzling.

Just as Leonhardt was the Empire’s finest groom candidate, I was the Empire’s best bride candidate.

‘What could possibly be lacking? Beauty, family background, wealth, even personality…’

Strictly speaking, Leonhardt did like me.

But I couldn’t sense any romantic feelings in it.

‘Ah, my stomach hurts.’

It felt like taking medicine on an empty stomach and then drinking loads of bitter black tea on top of it.

But to move forward, I had to accept the current situation.

‘At least he doesn’t dislike me, right?’

One more positive point was that if Leonhardt were to fall in love with someone, I had the highest probability of being that person.

‘That’s good enough.’

I decided to view the situation positively.

It would have been a marriage that wouldn’t happen if I didn’t want it, but conversely, that meant if I wanted it, Leonhardt would marry me this time too.

‘Come to think of it.’

“Still, you married me thinking I was the best husband material you could choose from, right?”

“Well, that’s true.”

I remembered Leonhardt smiling contentedly after we had that conversation like a joke.

Even from a completely objective perspective, the situation was very positive.

‘I have tons of time!’

After all these thoughts cheered me up, I interrupted what Caspian was saying and shouted.

“I’m hungry! Let’s hurry and go eat sandwiches!”

One thing I learned from becoming a child again was that eating well was the best foundation for doing anything.

Especially before tackling a super difficult task like ‘winning over Leonhardt.’

‘I’ll eat two sandwiches! And I’ll have a muffin too!’

I clenched my fists and resolved to overeat.

“Really, children these days… They lack patience.”

Caspian resumed his nagging, which I thought had ended, clicking his tongue and shaking his head like a cranky old man.

Of course, I stubbornly ignored him and shouted.

“The last person to arrive is a fool!”

It was childish, but I was eight years old.

I was still at an age where this kind of play was acceptable.

I ran off shouting.

“Hey! What are you doing getting a head start!”

The surprisingly simple-minded Caspian immediately started running after me.

“Kyaah!”

I ran while screaming dramatically, like playing tag.

Caspian’s competitive spirit seemed to kick in as he picked up speed.

“As if I’d lose to you.”

A four-year age gap is quite significant when you’re young.

True to his boast, Caspian quickly caught up to me.

“Aah! Don’t chase me!”

“You said it was a race!”

“I’m going to come in first!”

If I had a banana, I would have thrown it at him.

For him to step on and slip.

Running with all my might left me breathless, but my head felt clearer.

When I laughed out loud with excitement, Caspian laughed along too.

“Are you a baby?”

Though he said it gruffly, Caspian adjusted his running speed.

So I could come in first.

Of course, Leonhardt was walking slowly behind us with an enigmatic expression, so it felt like a hollow victory either way.

“Leon Norken is a fool!”

Caspian, who arrived second, shouted.

Fool.

Fool…

Ool…

His voice was so loud it echoed.

‘That’s right, you’re a fool. A fool who doesn’t know my feelings!’

I glared at Leonhardt for no reason.

When I saw Leonhardt walking slowly by himself, I simply thought he wouldn’t play along with such childish antics.

But even after Caspian and I arrived at the picnic mat side by side, seeing him look somewhat dejected made me start to worry.

It couldn’t still be about what happened earlier.

I hoped that was the case, but that was just wishful thinking.

‘Is he hurt somewhere?’

As I received a sandwich from Caspian, who had sat down first, and looked at Leonhardt with concern, he seemed to notice my gaze and smiled gently.

It seemed to mean he was fine.

But having just realized my one-sided love, I couldn’t feel reassured.

I approached Leonhardt under the pretense of checking on him since he was lagging behind.

“What’s wrong, did you hurt your ankle or something?”

Trying to look nonchalant, but unable to take my eyes off Leonhardt.

Then I stepped on a stone that had been placed to keep the picnic mat from flying away.

“Uwaaah.”

I twisted it properly and felt the pain in my ankle, regretting my actions.

‘So I was the one who hurt my ankle.’

But this realization lasted only a moment.

It was a stone large enough to make an eight-year-old lose balance.

I flailed my arms trying to regain my balance, but it was too late to recover my already collapsed center of gravity.

‘I’m falling.’

In that moment of certainty, I saw a rocky outcrop in front of me.

‘No, at this size it’s not just an outcrop but a boulder embedded in the ground?’

But whether it was an outcrop or boulder wasn’t important.

What mattered was that the boulder was positioned exactly where my face would crash if I fell.

I didn’t have enough physical talent to attempt a proper fall technique in this situation.

I just squeezed my eyes shut.

“Miela!”

Then Leonhardt, who spotted me falling, started running urgently, but the distance was too far.

“Uh, huh?”

Caspian, who was closer, had slower reflexes than Leonhardt.

So he just stood frozen with wide eyes, not knowing what to do.

At this rate, he would definitely get seriously hurt.

Just then, Caspian flailed his arms and shouted.

“Noooo!”

It was quite a desperate cry.

And then…

The rock moved away as if pushed by Caspian’s gesture.

It happened in an instant.

Thud.

Thanks to that, I was able to fall onto the ground where the rock had been cleared away.

“Ow!”

My knee was scraped and my palms were scratched, but I was fortunate to get away with just these minor injuries.

If I had crashed my face or arms into the rock, something would have been broken or fractured.

Compared to what I had braced myself for, this was a very good condition.

I knelt on the ground with my head down in what could be called a ‘resignation pose’ and let out a sigh of relief.

Seeing the exposed earth between the grass that had grown thick with the approaching summer, indicating where the rock had been just moments ago, I finally felt the reality of what had happened.

‘But what happened to the rock?’

Leonhardt, who had run over in the meantime, carefully helped me up.

“Are you okay?”

Not only Caspian but even Leonhardt looked bewildered.

“So right now… the rock was pushed away?”

At my words, Caspian asked back with a dumbfounded expression.

“Why?”

Then he rubbed his eyes as if sand had gotten into them.

“What is this…?”

Caspian suddenly made a fuss, gesturing toward somewhere on the ground.

“Can you guys see this?”

“See what?”

I looked in the direction Caspian was pointing, while Leonhardt was busy examining my palms and knees, half-listening to Caspian’s words.

However, even I, who was looking in the direction Caspian pointed, couldn’t see anything particular.

Frustrated, Caspian began to explain.

“It’s like a palm-sized dwarf… can you really not see it?”

A palm-sized dwarf…?

‘Huh? Isn’t that an earth spirit? He can suddenly see spirits?’

Even Merlin, who had stronger spirit affinity than Caspian, said she hadn’t been able to see spirits except when she was very young.

Moreover, if it’s a spirit that resembles a dwarf…

“That’s a Gnome, an intermediate spirit!”

I forgot about the stinging pain in my knees and palms and pressed Caspian urgently.

“That’s a spirit! Ask it to make a contract!”

“Huh? Huh?”

Caspian seemed unable to understand my words at all.

I almost grabbed Caspian by the collar and shouted roughly.

“Can’t you do it right now?”

Perhaps intimidated by my unexpected forcefulness, Caspian spoke hesitantly with a frightened expression.

“…Contract? Will you?”

There was a scent of wet earth.

Thanks to that, even I, who had no spirit affinity, could feel it.

That Caspian had become a Spirit Contractor.

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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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