My Ex-Boyfriend Gave Birth to My Child? What Does That Mean? - Chapter 16

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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-Boyfriend’s Child Was Born to Me — Episode 16
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The reunion between Dominique Chastang and Leon Voltaine happened far sooner than expected.
To be precise, I met Leon Voltaine waiting for me in front of the main gate, where I’d gone to see him off.
The moment Leon laid eyes on Dominique, he raised one eyebrow and spoke.
“Why do you look so bloated?”
I could do nothing but admire Dominique’s patience genuinely.
If it were me, my fist would’ve flown before his sentence ended!
Dominique straightened his posture and offered Leon only a light reply.
“You remain unchanged.”
Then, speaking as though Leon didn’t exist in this place at all, he turned to me.
“Call upon me whenever you wish. I intend to remain in the Capital for some time.”
“Don’t wait for that call.”
It was his way of saying I wouldn’t be calling, but he parried it with perfect ease.
“If waiting grows tedious, I’ll come find you.”
“Dominique——!”
Just as I raised my voice, he turned away with a formal bow.
Leaving me alone with Leon Voltaine.
Hmm.
A bleak wind swept past my back.
Did I have to explain this?
“You use a pet name for him?”
Ah. Damn. Starting there, are we.
“He’s a friend I made at the Mage Tower. It’s just a habit from those days.”
“I see.”
The man who’d pushed past me and settled against the landing wall now waved a piece of paper with an exaggerated, sulking expression.
“Sending a letter like this and then dating another man.”
The letter Leon had brought read: “I miss you. Kisses.”
I lunged to snatch the letter from his hands, but the difference in height was insurmountable, and I quickly tired and gave up.
“This is all your fault! Who sends a gift so loudly and ostentatiously?”
“If I don’t do it this way, how will people know of our connection? I don’t want another bastard like Chastang’s second son appearing.”
“What connection do we have?”
I placed my hands on my hips and glared at his fatally beautiful face.
“No marriage contract has passed between us, no engagement either. Officially or unofficially, we’re not lovers. Anything that happens between a man and woman in such a relationship is scandal!”
“That’s harsh treatment for the man who fathered your child.”
“That’s precisely the problem!”
I braced myself for the world to turn upside down and did what I had to do.
Spoke ‘that word’……!
“That child couldn’t possibly be your son!”
No.
No, no, no. Before you throw stones at me for spouting words that would undoubtedly rank high on “The Top 10 Things a Man Must Never Say in His Life,” please hear my defense.
On my honor, nothing of the sort ever happened between Leon Voltaine and me that would result in a child!
“That was a magnificent piece of garbage that would certainly belong on ‘The Top 5 Things One Must Never Say,’ Irina Autreha.”
“No, I’m truly wronged by this. First of all, there was no physical relationship between us that would result in a child…….”
“I understand recent negotiations have progressed on that point.”
“That’s not something that can be resolved retroactively!”
I looked around. The staff had discreetly vacated the moment Dominique and Leon met, but this wasn’t a conversation for the front door regardless.
I grabbed Leon’s sleeve and pulled him toward the sitting room. The man, who resisted briefly, eventually followed behind me with an expression that said ‘I surrender.’
Our household’s top-tier staff had already swept away every trace of Dominique from the sitting room in that short span. After Leon surveyed the pristinely organized space without a speck of dust, he felt compelled to comment.
“You’ve made money now. Why not update the sitting room furniture? You’re a regular miser.”
“It’s antique.”
“That’s what you call well-maintained furniture.”
I didn’t listen further and shoved the man I’d brought toward the sofa. After he stumbled about dramatically for a moment, Leon settled comfortably onto the couch with a soft thud. The worn furniture creaked ominously.
I sat across from him and clasped my hands. This was something I’d only thought about for so long, and now that it was leaving my lips, I felt the tension.
“You’re trying to give Lucian proper standing, aren’t you?”
“Hm?”
“I know about the Kingdom Succession Law. I looked it up again this time.”
The Kingdom Succession Law states clearly that illegitimate children could not properly claim rights.
There is one exception: when a first wife acknowledges her husband’s extramarital child as her son. In that case, the status and property the first wife brought from her birth family are not inherited, but partial inheritance of the husband’s property and rights is permitted.
‘That’s the reason Pascal forced me to acknowledge the boy as my son.’
But there is a more certain way to inherit all rights.
For instance, in the case of a child born before marriage between known lovers. If the child’s parents later marry formally, that child would acquire a legal status perfectly identical to one born within a normal marital union.
It wasn’t traditional—a king from a few generations back, when royal authority ran strong, had rewritten the law to pass the kingdom to his lover’s son. When that son actually became the next ruler, the law took complete hold.
“Lucian’s birth mother must be someone whose identity cannot be revealed, yes? We happened to be lovers at the time. If the intention is to have me pose as his mother to give him proper legitimacy… then for Lucian’s sake, there’s no reason I cannot bear the scandal.”
As a woman who had nearly raised another’s child once, and who, despite having no memory of it, had nonetheless raised one—I had thought this through very carefully.
I had no intention of using the marriage card again in this lifetime anyway. So there was no reason not to spend a useless card on the Duke of Voltaine. It was, after all, a life he had given back to me.
Just as one must repay debts of enmity, so too—even more so—must one repay debts of kindness.
Leon Voltaine’s expression grew strange as he looked down at my resolute face.
He started to speak, then rested his chin on his hand and fell into thought for a moment.
Then…
In the tense silence, the man opened his mouth.
“So. You were thinking such thoughts?”
“You must do the same. If you have a child, you have to think seriously about the child’s future. If you just go around saying, ‘I bore this alone, by my own will’—who in the world would believe you?”
“Well… I’ll grant it’s a sound scenario.”
“A manifest truth, surely.”
“That’s precisely where it fails.”
The man placed a hand on my shoulder.
“We’ll need a witness to prove that I fathered him.”
“Pardon?”
“Let’s go to the Royal Palace.”
“Pardon?”
* * *
This is my first time inside the Inner Palace.
It was hardly conceivable that I, who had never been valued within my own family and whose very existence was dim beyond its walls, would ever come to the Royal Palace.
Before the palace’s great gate, I felt immediately cowed.
Above the massive black doors, the coat of arms of the Soleian Royal Family blazed resplendent. The sun at its center symbolized the royal house; the dragon beside it, catching the sun, represented the dragon that brought magic to the world; and the lion on the other side symbolized the Nobility Council.
The door beneath the coat of arms opened with a ponderous sound, and attendants of elegant bearing came into view.
“Duke Voltaine.”
The one who stepped forward gave a shallow bow toward Leon. His white-gloved hand gestured gracefully ahead.
“Prince Adrian awaits.”
I wanted to ask again.
Did it have to go this far?

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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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