My Ex-Boyfriend Gave Birth to My Child? What Does That Mean? - Chapter 43

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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—what does that even mean? Episode 43
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”
“That is unacceptable!”
Vivian, the Temple’s chief priestess, straightened her spine and fixed the High Priest with a steady gaze.
Her refusal to hide her displeasure, confronting him openly like that, made the High Priest Faction’s two senior priests furrow their brows.
“We could save so many people. Truly, so many! Are you suggesting that their lives and health matter less than our scandal?”
“Ha, this woman. How could you speak in such a way…….”
“And I’m afraid I cannot refrain from mentioning that this matter is no longer Autreha’s problem alone.”
“What……?”
“Duke Leon Voltein has pledged to donate twice as much as his betrothed.”
“That is…… the first I’ve heard of this.”
“He made that promise today.”
Looking up at the High Priest, Vivian continued.
“So if you mean to refuse Autreha’s donation, you must likewise refuse Leon Voltein’s donation as well.”
Murmurs rose among the senior priests.
Leon Voltein!
The son of the king’s most treasured sister, a duke who commanded the kingdom’s near-absolute trust despite his excess, a leader of nearly one-third of the Nobility Assembly. An arrogant, merciless mage!
Among the absolute infamy that circled about him in the Temple was this: ‘Despite his wealth, he has never once donated anything to the Temple.’
The High Priest could no longer hide his shock, barely managing to speak.
“How could he possibly…….”
“Thanks to Autreha.”
Vivian spoke with finality.
“It appears she has him wound quite tightly around her finger.”
“A mere lady from a baron’s house?”
“Well, Duke Voltein is still just a man, after all. From what I can see, he appears quite thoroughly in love. If anyone were foolish enough to insult that betrothed of his, who knows what that madman might do?”
The senior priests murmured again, and the High Priest’s complexion shifted through several shades. Vivian seized the moment to speak once more.
“I think it would be wise to deepen your friendship with her through this opportunity.”
After a brief pause, Vivian lifted her chin toward the High Priest and spoke one final word.
“Otherwise, you could send someone directly to Leon Voltein to convey this: we cannot accept a mage’s donation.”
Looking at the High Priest’s contorted expression, Vivian felt something unseemly stirring in her heart—something for which she would need to ask forgiveness from the divine tonight.
It was exhilaration.
“I dare not do such a thing myself.”
* * *
The Temple began moving in earnest the day after Vivian, the chief priestess, visited our home.
Money.
A great deal of money.
Watching what money could accomplish, I found myself marveling anew.
Leon and I had been very clear about where the donation would be used.
Once such a sudden, massive sum was devoted entirely to the people’s relief and treatment, everything proceeded like a boulder rolling down a hill—swiftly and inevitably.
A large tent was erected in the Temple’s courtyard, meant for treating patients and distributing relief supplies.
Between checking on Cyril’s condition and managing the trading company’s operations, I made frequent visits to the Temple to oversee the work’s progress and never failed to make my presence known to Vivian.
After all, someone who would one day earn the title “Angel of Disinfection” was surely worth befriending.
“Autreha.”
Vivian approached me with a pleased expression and opened her mouth to speak.
“I will visit your home soon as well.”
“No, the priestesses you sent are doing wonderful work. Everyone’s condition is visibly improving, so it’s truly a relief.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I’m in a position where I cannot step away from this work at the moment…….”
“It’s good work, after all. If the chief priestess confirms the progress herself, I can be at ease. I’m counting on you for matters here.”
“Of course.”
A few priests passing nearby scowled openly as they looked us over. Among them, I recognized a familiar face.
It was the face of a priest who had come to our home with Pascal and merely watched as I was forced to sign the marriage contract.
“……Who are those people?”
Following my gaze to the group of priests staring openly at us, Vivian spoke matter-of-factly.
“Priests who have attached themselves to the High Priest. Don’t be too alarmed. They have never cared much for me anyway.”
From today onward, the High Priest is my enemy.
He would be quite flustered if he knew he’d made it onto my enemy list because of his followers.
Of course, I have ample reason.
First, it was already well-known that he was a worldly man who played the rope-walker between two princes for his own gain.
Second, anyone who would oppose Vivian could not be a good person.
“The Temple’s political situation seems quite complicated.”
“They don’t recognize the grace of being raised to this point, and now they dare oppose the High Priest and treat me as a rival. Well, I do wonder if there was ever any genuine intent to raise me when rumors of my possessing a ‘Blessing’ began to spread.”
Yet the promotional effect of the Blessing could not be denied.
Word had already begun to spread that the High Priest—renowned as a midwife blessed by the divine—had opened a treatment clinic, and people were converging on it in waves: patients who could walk under their own power, patients carried on stretchers, injuries of every conceivable kind and severity.
“I thought we’d resolved this quickly, but to think this many people have been hurt.”
Vivian answered the idle remark I let slip.
“The Beasts are moving disasters. If you count those who went to the Capital Hospital and those who chose to treat themselves at home, the number of patients easily doubles what we see here now.”
The Beast Colosseum was not only a shrine for gamblers, but also a tourist destination that any resident of the Capital visited once or twice without much thought.
The crown did not wish for people to fear the Beasts excessively. That is why they permitted citizens to witness the creatures slaughtering one another, bleeding freely in the arena.
Yet it was precisely in the Beast Colosseum’s holding pens that this catastrophe had occurred.
“Public opinion must be in quite a state of upheaval.”
Vivian nodded, then laughed softly and spoke.
“But right now, that’s not what we need to worry about.”
“No?”
Vivian gestured with her chin toward the treatment clinic and continued.
“The doctors at the Capital Hospital won’t sit idle while this is happening.”
The face of Noel Erdan, the Capital Hospital’s physician, flashed across my mind.
Certainly, he did not seem the type to stand by and watch.
* * *
Among the patients who came seeking out the Temple’s clinic, there was one face I recognized.
“Um, Mage. Thank you so much.”
A young girl bowed deeply to me.
Her appearance had become cleaner, so I didn’t recognize her at first, but looking closely, she was the child that Leon and I had rescued from the forest during the Beast escape incident.
I opened my mouth in surprise.
“Are you injured somewhere?”
The young girl, her cheeks flushed red, shook her head.
“I’m here to care for my grandfather.”
“Ah…”
Now that I thought about it, I remembered—back then, everything had happened so quickly that I hadn’t paid much attention, but I recalled there had been a deep wound on the grandfather’s arm.
“That’s very kind of you. Care for him well.”
“Yes, um, I heard that you helped make it possible for this clinic to open… I really wanted to thank you. And um…”
The young girl looked up at me with worried eyes, her small fists clenched tight.
“I believe in you, Mage. I hope you won’t be hurt by the strange rumors. Please stay strong!”
Speaking shyly in a small voice, the girl soon bowed deeply to me, then dashed off toward the ward for minor injuries, disappearing from view.
I watched her departing figure with a warm smile on my face when I suddenly realized something.
‘Strange rumors?’
And it wasn’t long before I came to understand what she meant.

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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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