My Ex-Boyfriend Gave Birth to My Child? What Does That Mean? - Chapter 2

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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 got my child pregnant, what on earth is this? Episode 2
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It wasn’t until I’d sent Pascal flying with a swift kick to his stammering backside that reality finally crashed down on me.
This wasn’t a dream!
The moment I slipped out of the reception room, familiar corridors and landings came into view.
The place was at once intimate and utterly strange.
This capital residence, passed down through generations of the Autrehe Barony, had been sold off by my mother after my marriage—sold to fund her third husband’s affairs.
And with it, I’d lost any claim to a family home.
After wandering through the house for a while, I caught sight of myself in my mirror, and that’s when it truly hit me.
A modest brown dress. Lustrous chestnut hair. Flawless skin. And most of all, olive eyes that still held their light.
It was me.
The me from back when I had dreams and hope—the version of myself I’d thought was lost forever!
I lifted both arms and spun in place. I could walk without a cane. My vision was clear, my breathing steady.
Shameful tears spilled down my cheeks.
I probably looked ridiculous right now.
But what did that matter?
I’d come back before all of it happened!
I flung myself onto the bed and gazed up at the ceiling—one I’d only seen in memories—trying to gather my thoughts.
‘I need to settle the debt first.’
If I didn’t pay off the debt my brother had incurred from his failed business ventures, I’d be sold to some man—not necessarily Pascal.
First, I had to make money.
But what could I possibly do?
Irina Autrehe. Twenty years old.
Not brilliantly beautiful, never became a master mage. Not an elegant woman with a knack for the arts, music, or literature. Just a dull, ordinary girl whose greatest achievement in life was dating the heir to the Young Duke of Voltaine for a year.
That was who I was now.
Even if I tried to use the knowledge I’d gained before my regression, every venture required capital—something I didn’t have.
‘God, after going back ten years, I’m still worried about money.’
I was racking my brain and swallowing tears when my door burst open without a knock.
“Irina Autrehe! What on earth have you done?”
Apparently Pascal had already complained, because Mother stood there with blazing eyes, her voice cutting like a whip.
“He’s handsome. He’s a gentleman. Setting aside his station, he lacks nothing. What’s wrong with him? Go apologize to him this instant! Newlyweds’ quarrels are best forgotten.”
“If he’s such a wonderful husband, why did he get another woman pregnant before marrying me?”
“……Another woman? You mean to say there’s a bastard child involved?”
“The eldest daughter of the Bestine Guild. Lea Bestine.”
Mother’s face went pale for a moment, but she recovered quickly, her voice rising again.
“That girl is merely the daughter of a merchant guild—what scandal is there in keeping a mistress? As for the child, well, accidents happen. The important thing is that before God, you alone are his lawful wife.”
Mother’s life philosophy, for the record, was: “A woman must have a husband.”
“I can live without marriage.”
In my previous life, Lea Bestine had lived steadily enough despite all the pointed fingers calling her an old maid!
Never mind that she was raising my ex-lover’s child in secret.
When I didn’t waver, Mother changed tactics instantly.
“Then you’re saying it’s fine if your brother loses his noble title and your mother ends up on the street? If the Oker Family withdraws their support, by tomorrow we won’t have so much as air to breathe. Would that make you happy?”
The shameless directness of the question left me speechless.
So it came down to this: I had to sell myself to pay off my brother’s debt.
“That’s what you get for going to the Magic Tower! You wasted the most beautiful years of your life there, which is why you can’t find a better match than Pascal.”
This was something I absolutely could not let slide.
“Mother, the money I earned as a mage was more than what my brother made from his investments!”
“Well, you never did become a high-ranking mage, did you?”
Just then, a sharp reek of alcohol and heavy footsteps announced another intruder.
“Irina! Have you lost your mind?”
My brother Shuler Autrehe, thoroughly drunk, suddenly grabbed me by the hair and shoved me.
“You! If there’s so much as a scratch on the body of a girl who’s supposed to be married, what then?”
“Mother, is that really the issue right now? You—you, you idiot—what exactly did you say to make Pascal Oker want to call off the engagement?”
Shuler’s hands shook as he shouted.
“Just wait a little longer. One more successful investment and I can make it all back! And you had to go and ruin it!”
I sat on the cold floor, looking up at the two of them bouncing around like demented creatures.
Unbelievable.
My past self—how on earth did you survive in this household?
If I were still the version of myself from back then, I would have been wounded. I would have despaired, given up, and done whatever Shuler and Mother demanded.
But now things were different.
I was no longer the twenty-year-old Irina of before.
My emotions felt distant, as though I were watching someone else’s misfortune unfold.
I staggered to my feet.
I didn’t bother smoothing my disheveled hair or straightening my wrinkled skirt. My mind was consumed by a single thought: I could no longer live as I had lived until now.
In my past life, I had already learned that this house would never truly protect me.
Relying on anyone was nothing but a fantasy.
My future rested entirely in my own hands.
“If I can only maintain my noble title and honor by marrying Pascal Oker, then count them as if they never existed!”
“Irina! Are you going to be this selfish?”
“Yes, yes! I’m a thoroughly selfish person. Think of me that way and forget everything!”
I spun around to face Shuler Autrehe, who stood trembling with clenched fists beside Mother.
“Have you thought about what will happen to this house if you drain your entire fortune into some investment and lose it?”
And I turned to address the Autrehe Countess as well—Shuler’s mother, though she had never truly been mine.
“Don’t you worry about bankruptcy every season when you buy jewelry and dresses? If you sold even half the jewelry you’ve accumulated, perhaps you wouldn’t need to sell your daughter. Didn’t that occur to you?”
A brief silence fell over the room. Then Shuler shoved Mother roughly aside.
“Have you lost your mind?!”
He struck.
The moment I squeezed my eyes shut, I heard hurried footsteps approaching.
Mother, ever concerned with propriety, managed to barely restrain Shuler, and someone poked their head through the cracked door.
“M-madam, master!”
It was Rita who appeared.
She was the only maid of rank remaining in our household.
Rita, who oversaw the wardrobe of both Mother and myself, held a relatively high position among the servants and rarely stooped to menial tasks like delivering messages unless the matter was urgent.
Knowing this, Mother raised her chin slightly and pressed her for information.
“You’re being careless, calling out like that. Just tell me what the matter is.”
“The steward says someone very important has arrived.”
“Is that so?”
Mother’s expression brightened. She quickly ushered the still-fuming Shuler from the room.
“Rita, we don’t know what this might be about—make sure Irina is presentable! Really, that girl makes my chest feel so tight just looking at her.”
Someone important coming to this house?
How could such a thing even be?
But Mother and Shuler thought differently. They must have been hoping that Pascal Oker had changed his mind.
Unfortunately, that was not to be the case.
Pascal Oker would be occupied meeting with Lea Bestine, whom he loved and who loved him in return—there would be much for them to discuss.
As Mother and Shuler withdrew, Rita hurried toward me.
“What am I to do? Miss….”
Tenderhearted Rita’s eyes glistened with tears as she examined me from head to toe.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine.”
Rita’s hands trembled as she combed through the tangles in my hair, disheveled from the beating and fall, and smoothed out the folds of my dress.
Sensing something was amiss, I asked her.
“Rita, what’s wrong?”
“It’s just—the steward said a very high-ranking person has come.”
“For what purpose?”
“The steward was worried they might have come to collect a debt. Miss, what if that’s really it? What will we do?”
Rita was completely disheartened.
If our family fell into ruin, she too would have nowhere to go. I could write her a letter of recommendation, but a recommendation from a fallen house held little weight.
I recalled what had happened at this point in my previous life.
Originally, I had been persuaded by Pascal and apologized for the “misunderstanding” between him and Lea.
It was a humiliating first defeat, a wrong choice that had determined the rest of my life.
Once I had “cleared up” the misunderstanding, Pascal became affectionate again. The wedding proceeded smoothly according to schedule.
Had a creditor come calling during that time?
I didn’t think so.
“There we are, miss. Perfect now.”
While I was thinking, Rita finished tidying my hair and spoke in her usual gentle voice.
She was smoothing out the wrinkles in my dress when Mother returned from downstairs.
This time with an unusual sense of urgency.
“Rita, Rita! What are you doing just standing there? Is that how you’ve arranged her hair? Braid the side longer in the current style and tuck it behind her ear! Irina looks beautiful that way.”
Mother clasped her hands together as if in prayer and paced my room in a state of agitation, muttering to herself.
“Good heavens, why must your brother be drunk right now of all times? I’m not sure he’s even greeting them properly….”
“What on earth is going on?”
Mother gazed at me and broke into a brilliant smile—the kind of bewitching smile that had ensnared countless men throughout her life.
“Irina, Irina! Your troubles are over now, my dear. Happiness begins today!”
“I’m sorry?”
A chill ran through me.
It was precisely the same thing she’d said when she sold me off to Pascal.
“The Young Duke of Voltaine has come to call!”
I caught my breath without thinking.
I swear—this had never happened in my previous life!

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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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