My Ex-Boyfriend Gave Birth to My Child? What Does That Mean? - Chapter 20

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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 — Episode 020
Countess Chastang’s eyes traveled slowly across my dress before lifting to my face.
“A choice like that usually comes from someone who knows their place well.”
The ladies around us leaned in to listen.
“Or,” she continued,
pausing to glance toward the staircase,
“from someone whose mind works very quickly indeed.”
I kept my head bowed and said nothing.
“Which are you?”
“You’ve invited me, so I’ll simply do my best.”
“Ah.”
Countess Chastang’s gaze swept across the upper staircase once more, where the main guest had not yet appeared. She’d grasped at once that the child’s entrance was part of her hostess’s design.
Whether it was my imagination or not, Countess Chastang seemed rather warmer toward me than before.
‘Well, having gone this far, I certainly wouldn’t be fool enough to set my sights on her precious son.’
Whether I harbored such intentions or not, the moment her son mentioned that “Lady Otreha once saved my life,” she’d have no choice but to suspect my motives. A woman who demands marriage as payment for a life saved — it was a cliché, after all.
Given Countess Chastang’s station and temperament, she would inevitably grow far stricter with anyone who might become hers. But if that woman carried another man’s illegitimate child?
My burden had become someone else’s problem!
Countess Chastang went so far as to introduce me to the other ladies with a rare display of generosity.
Some ladies greeted me warmly, but others showed open disdain and turned their backs.
“Countess Chastang, I do worry that Lady Otreha’s conduct might tarnish your reputation.”
One woman’s words came out sharp as a blade.
“To bring both an illegitimate child and a lover to an official ball — has the Kingdom ever witnessed such an insult?”
At the cutting remark, Countess Chastang’s eyes hardened with frost. She raised her fan and snapped it shut with a crisp sound, then pointed its end directly at the woman’s face. Her bearing was cold as ice.
“Madam, I believe you’ve forgotten something.”
Her voice fell like a guillotine blade, silencing the other woman’s words.
“How His late Majesty, King Hyeonmyeong, came to the throne.”
That’s right.
The Kingdom had a king born of illegitimacy.
A man who’d rewritten the very Succession Law itself to claim the crown.
“That is—!”
“Of course, that depends on how Duke Voltaine conducts himself.”
As Countess Chastang added this remark, her gaze found Leon, who’d been watching us.
“But he shows no sign of hiding the child, nor of denying him.”
Silence settled among the ladies as they exchanged glances.
* * *
In truth, I’d been waiting with barely contained eagerness for Princess Isabella’s entrance.
The reply to the letter I’d sent her not long ago had never arrived.
Unlike Lucian, who played with his son while I gritted my teeth and smiled until my face cramped, Leon Voltaine appeared shamefully at ease.
Never one to concern himself with propriety, he’d been giving mere nods to those who approached to greet him, all while teasing the drowsy child clinging to him.
In the moment when Leon’s eyes met mine across the crowd, the music in the Ball Hall shifted.
The lively waltz that had filled the space moments before gave way to a slower, deeper melody.
And then, from the top of the grand staircase, a figure in scarlet slowly came into view.
“Princess Isabella.”
She wore red again today. As the crimson dress swayed with her movements, through its shadows rippled a subtle violet, a blue-green like a silk moth’s wing, a golden shimmer as if dusted with gold leaf—shimmering with the lustrous beauty of the inside of an oyster shell.
The moment I beheld her, I understood: I’d passed the test.
Yes.
Princess Isabella was wearing a dress made from the Red Fabric of our Workshop!
* * *
The development of the fabric had been completed long ago.
Soft fabrics had adequate demand but limited profit potential. To grow the Workshop’s business meaningfully, I needed something far more exceptional.
And I had just that.
A masterwork jointly developed by an inventor who’d visited the Ocker Family in my past life and myself in this one—entirely by chance.
The reason I’d kept it hidden until now was that I’d been waiting for a perfect stage worthy of unveiling such a fabric.
Something like, for instance, a ball hosted by Princess Isabella herself.
And sure enough—
reactions far more fervent than what I’d elicited erupted from every corner of the hall.
“The Princess’s dress…”
“Goodness, it’s absolutely stunning…!”
Some whispered and looked between the Princess and me with meaningful eyes. I pretended not to notice and scrutinized Isabella intently.
As blade-sharp Isabella descended the stairs step by step, light seemed to pour from the hem of her dress like liquid gold, shimmering with each movement.
When I first met her, I’d thought her beautiful, but today the Princess seemed almost sacred.
‘Absolutely flawless.’
Pale skin and silver hair that gleamed like jewels, set against the brilliant crimson of her dress. There was simply no other word for it.
I fought to keep my lips from curling upward uncontrollably.
The moment I returned, I’d need to prepare for mass production. Thinking of the orders about to flood in, my heart trembled.
Isabella was exactly the perfect promotional model I’d anticipated.
A month ago, the moment Isabella invited me to the ball, I’d immediately begun crafting the Red Fabric for her.
Isabella was of direct royal lineage, full sister to Second Prince Adrian. Which meant Lucian had likely already learned he was the dragon’s child.
She was one of the rare few in High Society who could harbor no ill will toward either Leon or Lucian.
‘Which means the Princess cannot be my enemy either.’
Above all, that red fabric was among the most exquisite ever to come from my Workshop. For any woman with an interest in textiles, for anyone meant to stand out, even if some slight doubt lingered about me, it would be utterly irresistible.
Red shoes stepped forward, the hem of the dress shimmering with several colors trailing in my direction. A voice that rang out with an elegant hardness addressed me.
“Miss Otreha.”
“I offer my respects to Isabella, Star of the Kingdom.”
I bowed with perfect courtesy—neither too slow nor too swift.
“Excellent eye. How did you manage it?”
“I used Magic in the fabric’s finishing.”
I felt it then—a silence.
A silence heavy with thought, pregnant with meaning.
“I’ve never seen Magic used with such refinement before.”
“It required long years of research. Creating beautiful fabric is Magic as complex as building a fortress—it demands intricate formulae.”
“I see.”
The Princess nodded as though satisfied, opening her Fan halfway.
“The reason I called for you today was……”
Her gaze shifted toward Lucian, who was at play with Leon.
“To settle these tiresome rumors that have spread across High Society.”
She tilted her chin, signaling me to follow, then moved slowly toward Leon Voltein’s side. Her spine remained perfectly straight, her stride flawless—the very image of a royal, a textbook example of perfection drawn from dreams alone.
She came to stand before Leon Voltein, surrounded by radiant light.
“Leon Voltein.”
“Princess Isabella.”
A man who offered the Princess no basic courtesy rose effortlessly with a child cradled in his arms, looking down at her with perfect ease.
How to describe it……
The light in both their eyes burned fiercely.
“The two of you are……competing in beauty……!”
Yes. Like some thoughtless young noblewoman gasping from her corner, they resembled two peacocks with their tail feathers spread to the fullest, vying over who blazed more brightly.
The silver peacock tilted her head first, her lips parting.
“I have a question.”
She asked it quietly, as casually as ‘what did you eat for dinner’—yet the words struck like a thunderbolt.
“There are rumors that the Illegitimate Child of Duke Voltein resembles Miss Otreha very closely. What do you make of that?”

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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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