I’m Done With Unrequited Love - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 12
I had to send Kiara back into the mansion.
Otherwise, who would wash and feed the pink-haired girl? She must have crawled through dirt the whole way here to reach us.
‘I can’t let them run into each other right now.’
Without Sanna here, if anything went wrong, I had no confidence I could control both children.
So instead of arguing with Kiara, I’d quickly agreed to let her keep a cat.
My nagging conscience about whether I should’ve decided so hastily got pushed to the back of my mind.
Kiara was so delighted she looked ready to bounce right off the ground.
Though holding the cat made that actually impossible.
The undersized kitten with its dust-brown fur was small enough for Kiara to cradle comfortably.
Now I just needed to get Kiara inside the mansion.
“I think I might have dropped something on the Walking Path. Can you go in ahead?”
“Huh? Really? What did you drop?”
Kiara turned to head inside, her golden eyes lifting to meet mine with obvious confusion.
Looking into those eyes, I found myself completely unable to lie.
I rolled my eyes as if trying to remember, then answered.
“A handkerchief. The one Sanna gave me as a gift before.”
Kiara’s eyes widened in alarm.
“Then we have to find it fast! Do you want me to help look?”
“No, it’s fine. You go ahead with the cat. Once you find Sanna… well, things should sort themselves out.”
I smoothly handed off responsibility for the cat to Sanna.
‘Sanna, you’ve got this.’
When Sanna found out I’d given permission but dumped the actual cat on her, she’d have my head—but there was no help for it now.
The girl rolling around in the dirt until she crash-landed at House Jonas—the one who might be the Original Female Lead—needed shelter.
And Kiara mustn’t know about it.
As I wondered why I kept collecting children, a fragment of my past life suddenly surfaced in my mind.
My natal chart said I had the fortune of bearing children…
“Okay! Hurry back!”
Kiara bounded toward the mansion, waving the cat instead of her hand.
I nodded to acknowledge her, and once her figure disappeared from view,
‘Time to go.’
I crept slowly toward where the pink hair waited.
I made my footsteps as silent as possible so she wouldn’t startle and bolt.
It was the same reason I’d taken in Kiara.
The only exit was the forest behind her, and I couldn’t just abandon a child to suffer alone in that vast wilderness.
‘Even if she isn’t the Original Female Lead.’
I closed the gap until barely a meter remained between us, moving like I was stalking a cat.
And I reached out my hand—
“…Gasp!”
‘Got her!’
I grabbed the startled child’s arm so she couldn’t run away.
“Let go!”
The child struggled desperately against my grip.
But a malnourished little girl stood no chance against an adult’s strength.
“Wait, please—just listen to me for a moment.”
I held both her flailing arms and forced her to face me.
“…Sob.”
A terrified grey gaze fixed on me. Her face had gone so white it looked like she might faint at any second.
I rattled off my words rapid-fire to a child who looked too frightened to even cry.
“I’m trying to help you.”
“…”
“You’re hungry and cold, aren’t you? I’ll feed you. What do you say?”
The grey eyes of the disheveled girl wavered.
I coaxed her like I was some kidnapper, slowly releasing the tight grip on her arms.
“That mansion right there is my home. Don’t you want to lie on a soft bed and sleep?”
Fear had begun draining from the child’s eyes, replaced now by confusion and conflict.
“Once you’re better, I’ll send you wherever you want to go. I have plenty of money.”
Plenty didn’t begin to cover it—I was House Jonas.
Between my personal investments and business ventures doing well, even apart from House Jonas, my wealth was substantial.
The girl, still watching me with conflicted eyes, hesitantly looked away and asked in a faltering voice,
“Why, why…….”
“Hmm?”
“Why are you helping…….”
But the child fell silent mid-question, pressing her lips shut.
As if she’d been raised in an environment where questions were forbidden.
I’d heard that question once before.
<Why would a noble make such an offer to me?>
A red-haired girl with furrowed brow, bristling with thorns.
What had I answered then?
“Because you remind me of someone I know……”
<The biggest reason is that you resemble someone I know.>
“You resemble someone I know.”
And then,
<Your rosy hair was beautiful.>
“Your cherry-blossom hair is lovely too.”
“…….”
“And even if for no other reason—a child rolled into our front garden, and I couldn’t simply abandon her, could I?”
“…….”
“I’m not cold enough to turn away a lost little girl.”
Every word was sincere. Undeniable truth. I wanted her to believe me.
The child’s small lips remained sealed, quivering as if on the verge of speech.
“…….”
But no answer came—her small body swayed and suddenly tipped sideways.
“……!”
I reached out instinctively, and her light weight settled into my arms.
I caught her and held her close, drawing in a breath.
“…….”
The child had lost consciousness.
* * *
Who was Rene Cleor?
Compressed into a single sentence, she was this:
‘The female lead of a Family Regret Novel who found happiness after meeting the male lead.’
The word to note here is ‘Family Regret Novel.’
That’s right.
The female lead Rene had grown up suffering abuse!
The reason was obvious. She was an Illegitimate Child.
That was the female lead Rene’s trauma, and later it became the common ground she would share and heal through with the male lead.
A painful childhood belonging to both male and female leads.
And……
‘The villainess.’
The painful childhood didn’t belong only to the male and female leads.
Rather, the one who shared an all-but-identical childhood with the female lead Rene was not the male lead, but the villainess Kiara.
<Rene, we’re exactly alike, like mirrors. Both abandoned by family, both abused, both dramatically adopted into noble houses.>
Two people who traced similar arcs, if not perfectly identical.
<But why are you in heaven and I’m in hell?>
Kiara felt inferior to Rene, and she had indeed lived a lesser life than her.
<Was it because I went hungrier than you? Or did I steal more food? Please, Rene. Tell me.>
It was, in a word, a downgraded version of Rene’s life.
Rene Cleor, beloved by everyone.
The male lead loved Rene, not Kiara, and even the adoptive mother showed more favor to Rene.
‘Poor Kiara.’
And with that thought, I scrubbed the child in the bathtub thoroughly.
“The water seems to be getting cold. Are you not chilly?”
“……Y-yes.”
I smiled without showing it and turned on the hot water.
“You don’t have to lie.”
“…….”
The child’s cheeks flushed faintly.
I was bathing her myself rather than delegating to a servant to keep her hidden from the others.
What I had overlooked was that from the moment I consented to the cat, it would be difficult to expect Sanna’s goodwill.
Let me imagine Sanna’s reaction if I were to bring Rene here now.
—Isn’t she already cooped up in her research without me having to care for Kiara? And if you go ahead and permit a cat all on your own? You’ll lock yourself back in that laboratory, won’t you? Then I’ll be the one stuck looking after both Kiara and the cat by myself? And on top of that, another child……! No, I understand you had no choice but to bring her, but still!
Sanna’s stress levels would spike rapidly, bringing with them anxiety and depressive symptoms, likely triggering cardiovascular disease or chronic illness—and I’d collapse under the weight of guilt.
Sanna, like me, had never been particularly fond of children.
‘Kiara’s situation is different, though.’
A moment ago, I’d carried the unconscious child through a side entrance of the estate and made my way up to the highest floor.
With dozens upon dozens of rooms in such a vast mansion, there was no risk of being discovered.
I brought the child to the most secluded room among them.
After laying her down, I went to a small unused kitchen and prepared some oatmeal.
The mansion’s size saved me; otherwise I would have been caught long ago.
“W-where is this……?”
The pink-haired child, waking from her faint, nearly lost consciousness again at the sight of the unfamiliar room, but managed to calm herself upon seeing me.
I placed a bowl of oatmeal, cooled to a suitable temperature, into the child’s hands and asked:
“What’s your name?”
“……..”
“Don’t worry. Tell me. I won’t tell anyone. Oh, I’m Fidellia Jonas.”
“…….R-Rene Flora……..”
So the child truly was Rene.
The protagonist of this world, created for no one but her sake alone.
‘An illegitimate child of Count Flora, then.’
Count Flora was known to be frail by nature, confined to his estate—at least that was the reputation throughout the Southern Region.
‘With such a weak body, he still managed to indulge his urges.’
One of two things: either his weakness was a lie, or his lower instincts ruled him so thoroughly that even a sickly frame couldn’t stop him.
Either way, he was equally pathetic, so I promptly erased the name ‘Flora’ from my thoughts.
There was nothing to worry about—the monster who tormented the child would later face justice at the hands of a grown Rene, wielding righteousness’s hammer.
Besides, even if I wanted revenge, true revenge tastes best when delivered by one’s own hand.
So I decided not to interfere, and instead focused on keeping Rene well-fed and well-clothed.
“Why were you there in the first place?”
“H-how do you mean……?”
“The place where we met…… You were in the bushes then, weren’t you?”
“Oh, ah.”
Only then did understanding dawn, and Rene’s complexion darkened all at once. I couldn’t fathom what one had to do to cast such a dark shadow across a child’s face.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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