My Ex-Boyfriend Gave Birth to My Child? What Does That Mean? - 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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My Ex Got Pregnant with My Child, and What Does That Mean? Episode 12
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“Come right in, please! Oh my, what an adorable young man! He has his mother’s face exactly!”
“I’ve come to purchase a dress. Do you have anything already made that’s waiting for an owner?”
“Oh my! You’ve found the right place. As it happens, we have a dress searching for its owner. There’s nothing wrong with it at all! It’s simply that the young lady who ordered it has had a change of taste…”
I brought him along in the end.
Lucian’s round eyes gleamed like stars as he explored every corner of the Dressmaker’s Shop. The laid-out measuring tapes, boxes scattered here and there, the neatly displayed ribbon and lace samples—all of it seemed to fascinate him.
Today Liohn had deliberately worn subdued clothing and arrived in a carriage bearing no mark of the Duchy. Even if someone recognized his face, he clearly expected that discretion would be the wise response to such careful disguise.
Rita had already begun discussing matters with the dressmaker.
“This one won’t do. It doesn’t match the lady’s hair color.”
“I agree. But this one might work. If we change the lace at the bodice and attach a ribbon here…”
“Oh, what a wonderful idea! Wait, let me fetch my sketch materials…”
Yes, a pleasing sight indeed.
Liohn seemed to have no interest whatsoever in the dressmaker’s shop. After my measurements were taken, I became absorbed in examining the fabrics.
Everything was different from fashions ten years in the future, and the styles currently in vogue struck my eye as somewhat provincial. But I mustn’t fall into the trap. If I emerged wearing clothes fashionable ten years from now, they would look nothing but strange to people’s eyes at present.
But the fabrics themselves…?
I ran my hands over several fabrics in the shop, lost in thought.
Fabric—especially that which touched the skin directly—anyone would prefer something soft.
‘In my past life, someone brought that technique to Autrehe. Perhaps I should scout them out beforehand.’
While I was absorbed in my musings, a ticklish sensation brushed the nape of my neck. Liohn had drawn close without my noticing, and he whispered softly from behind me.
“Your neck looked bare.”
A cool, heavy sensation settled about my throat. It was a necklace with a large green jewel that matched my eye color perfectly as its centerpiece, and radiant diamonds cascading like water pouring from a fountain across its length.
“Goodness! How beautiful!”
Rita hurried over with an exclamation, and Liohn offered her a small box. Confirming its contents, Rita nearly shrieked before withdrawing a pair of earrings that clearly matched the necklace and fastened one to each of my ears.
I narrowed my eyes and looked up at him. We had come directly from Autrehe Mansion to this shop just moments ago. There wouldn’t have been time to purchase such jewels, would there?
“Where did you get this?”
“Found it on the way.”
“You found this? Where? Did you raid a dragon’s nest?”
“Something like that.”
What wordplay!
I struck him in the ribs with my elbow. Though it seemed my blow landed ineffectually against his solid waist.
The dressmaker’s cheeks flushed as she gasped in admiration.
“With jewels like these, everything changes! The dress can be altered far more boldly without any concern—it will suit her beautifully. I’m suddenly inspired! What if we commissioned an entirely new dress to match these jewels?”
Before I could answer, Liohn nodded.
“Make three or four.”
He withdrew a check from his pocket, signed it, and offered it to the dressmaker.
“Set the price as you see fit. Have the finished garments sent to the Voltein Duchy.”
“The Voltein Duke?!”
The dressmaker released a cry of alarm and hastily bowed with proper courtesy.
Silence fell.
Just as the whispers among the staff and customers began to swell, Lucian, who had been playing with ribbons in the corner, came scurrying over.
The boy wrapped his arms around Liohn’s leg and called out clearly with a bright, innocent face.
“Daddy! My legs hurt. Pick me up!”
Again, silence fell.
I closed my eyes in resignation.
The Voltein Duke shopping for a woman’s dress, and a small child calling him daddy.
How long would it take for this news to spread throughout the Capital? A day? Two?
Liohn lifted Lucian without hesitation.
“Yes. Let’s go with Dad.”
As Liohn held Lucian at ease, his gaze swept across everyone in the shop. His savage beauty and cool eyes silenced the murmuring dressmaker’s shop in an instant.
‘I shouldn’t have come out at all…’
But it was bound to happen eventually.
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The fact that the unmarried Liohn Voltein had an Illegitimate Child spread like wildfire.
Liohn said matter-of-factly, “That’s why I said we should rent the entire shop,” and then murmured lazily, “Actually, it’s for the best. It will keep away those tedious people.”
I attended a party at Countess Chatang’s residence, braced for interrogation and attack.
“Does the Voltein Duke have an Illegitimate Child?”
“Oh my…”
It was narrow-minded gossip born of limited understanding.
At least, let’s say that Liohn Voltein does have a child.
Who would recognize the woman standing beside him at that moment?
The party was too consumed with debating who the subject of the rumors actually was to spare a thought for me.
Yes, I was being thoroughly excluded from the conversation.
‘Whether that’s a blessing or not……’
The party progressed like water flowing downstream.
I watched as Countess Chatang, who had conversed with every attendee, finally approached me, and I straightened my posture even further.
“Countess Chatang.”
I bowed toward the countess, whose hair was speckled with white.
Then I finished with brief greetings, calling to mind one by one the names of the noble ladies standing beside the countess.
It was flawless etiquette, if I may say so.
After all, it was something I had honed ruthlessly since being corrected by Countess Chatang in my past life.
Countess Chatang opened her mouth.
“The Autrehe heir appears different from what one hears.”
“I’m trembling at the honor of meeting you, madam.”
“Never mind that. Rumors are hardly reliable. Shall we view the flowers together?”
“Your glass garden has long been a dream of mine, madam.”
Countess Chatang seemed to give my flattery a passing grade. She did not smile at me, but with an elegant gesture, she invited me to accompany her.
Honestly, my legs were trembling.
Countess Chatang’s garden was a greenhouse, but since winter had not yet arrived, the temperature inside was not much different from outside.
There were many flower varieties I had never seen before, but what truly captivated me—more than all the exotic blooms—was the elegant flow of wrought iron framework that covered the sky and the thin glass panels.
“My word, this greenhouse is nothing short of a masterpiece of Magical Engineering. The method of temperature regulation is elegant and ingenious.”
An exclamation escaped unbidden.
The iron framework curved in an irregular pattern, forming a vine-like shape, and between the curves, glass panes fit without the slightest gap, their smooth curves unmarred by any impurities or thickness variation, maintaining a domed form. It was an architectural marvel that only magic could achieve in this era.
‘A feast for the eyes!’
As I admired the greenhouse, my inner applause echoing silently, a noblewoman’s voice pierced through, aimed directly at me.
“Speaking of which, the Autrehe heir will be married soon, won’t she? I should send a congratulatory gift.”
She could not have been referring to Liohn—it was surely about Pascal.

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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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