I’m Done With Unrequited Love - Chapter 40

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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 40
Ernan reached silently into his coat and withdrew his wallet.
He plucked out a few silver and copper coins and pressed them into the child’s hands.
“Wow! Thank you!”
The child, having traded the flowers for coins, bounded away with delighted steps toward another corner of the street.
Everything happened in an instant.
‘Am I dreaming?’
A bundle of Primrose—tiny yellow petals clustered thickly on green stems and leaves—looked dreadfully out of place in Ernan’s hands.
Perhaps because of that……
“……What is this?”
Ernan held the bouquet out to me.
“A gift.”
‘I really must be dreaming.’
I accepted it with an odd, hesitant feeling, reaching out for what he offered.
“……Ah, yes. Thank you.”
We resumed walking toward the Post Office.
As I moved, my eyes remained fixed on the small bouquet nestled in my palms.
“I’ve lived a long time, but this is the first time you’ve given me flowers.”
The Primrose’s name means “the first rose to bloom in spring.”
True to its name, whenever the wind stirred, the petals trembled softly in my hands, releasing the scent of spring.
“Is this really supposed to count as a flower gift? It seems far from the traditional approach.”
“You don’t understand. That’s the romance of it.”
We stepped into the Post Office.
True to its status as the Central Post Office, it was vast—at first glance, it resembled a hotel lobby.
I ignored the few people who glanced in our direction, as I always did.
We went to the counter and purchased Letter Paper and envelopes.
“But why did you ask whether I actually like Diego or not?”
I picked up a pen as we moved to a table set aside for writing.
“A passing curiosity doesn’t require explanation.”
“In other words, ‘just because.'”
I wasn’t surprised.
Ernan had always been prone to asking random questions out of nowhere.
I gave a light nod and began writing the letter, continuing our meaningless conversation with him as I worked.
Then the subject turned to the “silver-haired handsome man.”
“Do you have any idea who it might be?”
“Well, the silver-haired people I know are only the royal family and Siren.”
“Same here.”
Yet I deduced, without looking far, that the culprit was among them.
In fact, I already had some understanding of this.
If this world differs from the Original Work, then it is because of the Butterfly Effect resulting from me, who carries the Memories of Previous Life.
Now then, the question was—
How exactly had Flora been affected by the Butterfly Effect?
What had changed about Fidellia from the Original Work?
Two things stood out.
1. She did not marry Diego Leonard
2. She majored in biology instead of pharmacy
And there was one person tightly interwoven with both of these facts.
‘Siren Marco.’
“I suspect it’s Siren.”
* * *
Contrary to Fidellia’s hopes, the Gossip Gazette’s publisher had not died.
Far from it—the Gossip Gazette returned every day with fresh scoops.
《Shock! Ernan Cleor Proposes to Fidellia Jonas?》
《What meaning does the Primrose H gave to P hold?》
《”I cannot live without you”…… The Primrose’s confession》
A photograph of Ernan and Fidellia dominated the front page of the Gossip Gazette.
None other than Ernan Cleor presenting a bouquet to Fidellia Jonas!
“As I understand it, the flower language of Primrose means ‘first love.’ What else could this signify? Isn’t it clear that the Duke’s first love is Lady Fidellia?”
“But Primrose has recently become common—street children sell them everywhere. What His Grace is holding appears to be one of those as well.”
“Is that really what matters right now?!”
High society was in an uproar.
Though in truth, it seemed never to settle, yet this time the upheaval was especially pronounced.
Ernan Cleor had presented flowers to Fidellia Jonas in the heart of the Capital!
“Now that I think about it, isn’t Lady Fidellia somehow connected to the Duke’s custody dispute?”
“Quite so. The two were seen entering a law office together, or so I’ve heard. Do you know what’s remarkable about this?”
“What is it?”
“The owner of that law office is Lady Fidellia’s former fiancé!”
“Good heavens!”
Those with an appetite for gossip—young and old alike—all weighed in on the custody dispute with their own theories.
The hottest news in Corvalyu at present was their custody dispute.
Or rather, Fidellia and Ernan.
* * *
Time passed until the day of the oral argument arrived.
‘Roughly three weeks have gone by since the coronation.’
Under ordinary circumstances, I would already have returned to Jonas Territory to resume my research, yet I could hardly abandon Rene’s matter and depart.
The date I’d set to head down to Jonas Territory had long since passed.
‘As they say, who knows what will become of us.’
After the coronation, I had sworn never to see her again, yet this cursed custody dispute had caught me by the heel.
At least the Gossip Gazette’s publisher had been caught in a crackdown and disappeared—small mercies, if one could call them that.
I had been occupied all this while dispatching people to gather evidence for use at trial.
I had not managed to locate Flora’s daughter.
The Papal See was out of the question, and the public school was likewise absent during the holiday break. There had been no sighting reports from anywhere.
Her whereabouts were utterly obscure.
‘And yet, to visit the Flora Estate myself…’
The very architects of this lawsuit dwelt there.
Thus we had secured neither the testimony nor the evidence that Rene had been abused.
‘We’re finished, aren’t we?’
That’s what I thought. In this situation, I had no choice but to trust Diego’s oratorical prowess and his record of victory.
Yet in truth, that bordered on desperation—though it wasn’t as though we possessed absolutely no evidence. Whether what we had could be called evidence was another question altogether.
<We hold the overwhelming advantage in this dispute.>
Diego’s expression, as he spoke, was serene.
<The Count Flora possesses no Parental Rights over Rene. Parental Rights are predicated on marriage, you see. But Rene is an Illegitimate Child.>
<Blood relation alone cannot guarantee Custody Rights. Moreover—>
<If there exists a Legal Disqualification regarding parental fitness, the custody dispute becomes all the more unfavorable for her.>
‘Legal Disqualification.’
This was the Central Court of the Capital.
I sat in the spectators’ gallery of the courtroom.
Count Flora sat at the plaintiff’s table with his wife and their counsel, while Diego occupied the defendant’s table.
Notably, Ernan was absent.
‘He said something came up at work and he’d be a bit late.’
With Diego, his legal representative, present, there was no need for him to attend in person. The answer to the complaint had been filed in advance, and all evidence that could be submitted beforehand had already been submitted.
Given Ernan’s status, the proceedings were held in camera. With only parties to the suit and witnesses permitted observation, the courtroom was all but empty.
Unlike the plaintiff’s side, the spectators’ gallery behind the defendant’s table held only me.
‘And I’m the sole witness.’
I had become a witness as the person who first discovered Rene in Jonas Territory.
Diego had said we would prevail, yet with so few witnesses, my confidence wavered. Especially since Count Flora appeared to have brought numerous witnesses who looked like estate servants.
‘And of all times, Sanna couldn’t make it because of work.’
She said there had been complications with her graduate school enrollment process.
What kind of day was this? Ernan and Sanna both—everyone who might offer testimony had business to attend to.
‘And I can hardly have brought Kiara; she’s still too young for this.’
I suppressed a sigh.
It was after the judge had confirmed the attendance of the parties and their counsel.
First, the counsel for Count Flora’s side spoke.
“The plaintiff, Paulo Flora, is the biological father of the child Rene and has been her guardian and caregiver since her birth until the present day. Through this, he has fulfilled the duty of parent and protector, having raised Rene all these years.”
‘Unbelievable.’
Lies from the opening statement.

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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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