My Ex-Boyfriend Gave Birth to My Child? What Does That Mean? - Chapter 52

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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 52
I quickly turned my attention back to the Magic Circle blueprints spread across Herdi’s workbench.
“……We’ve succeeded in miniaturizing it to fan size, at least! Do you think we could shrink it further? Something like a brooch or ring?”
Herdi, studying the blueprints beside me, muttered with a sullen expression.
“Obsessing over miniaturization alone feels like it compromises the Inventor’s Pride a bit…….”
“Walls and ceilings that emit Barrier Shields when destroyed exist in ancient ruins too. We haven’t stolen anyone’s invention. We’re the first to successfully miniaturize something to this degree! I promise we can take pride in that!”
“Honestly, is there any economic sense in it? It’s a single-use device, and the Magic Stones required are expensive — far too expensive.”
“It’s a defensive Magical Device. It’s practically a spare life. People with money will spend whatever it takes.”
And more than that, I’d already laid the groundwork.
“Besides, we delivered a sample to Lady Shastand. We might even receive an order from the Behemoth Knights! If that happens, other knight orders will be desperate to have one just based on the Behemoth name alone.”
Herdi’s expression, which had seemed uncertain, finally began to brighten. Regardless of all the hemming and hawing, this was someone who’d started inventing with the dream of creating military equipment, so it was only natural that the results would excite him.
“You had a whole plan already, didn’t you?”
“Of course! My intention to find a tutor for Lucian is genuine, but since I’m already spending a fortune, shouldn’t I achieve two birds with one stone to be a true investor?”
Of course, I had no intention of letting this invention end as a military product.
This Magical Device, refined through miniaturization, would possess tremendous potential.
A Magic Stone brooch or ring that could save one’s lover in times of danger. How romantic could it be?
Throughout history, love had always turned profit!
I could already hear Herdi’s voice protesting, “I’m not a person who makes sparkly things!” But that was a problem for later.
* * *
Lady Shastand was truly remarkable.
Upon hearing my request, she’d nodded and provided us with an etiquette instructor perfectly suited to our household’s circumstances.
“Lady Voltaine.”
I offered a respectful bow to the woman who addressed me by this unfamiliar title.
“Lady Fontaine. Have your lessons concluded well? I’ve baked some new cookies and brought them along.”
As I handed over the gift basket, Lady Fontaine smiled faintly. It was a small gesture of goodwill offered separately from her tuition.
“I’ve mentioned you needn’t prepare such things.”
“I was going to make refreshments anyway! With four children running about, the kitchen hearth never goes cold.”
Lucian peeked out from behind Lady Fontaine and approached me with a bright smile, offering an earnest little bow.
“Miss Otreha.”
That solemn bearing, like a miniature grown-up, made me laugh outright.
“Lucian, how can you call your mother that?”
Even Lady Fontaine, known for her strictness during lessons, couldn’t resist a small child’s sweetness. The wrinkles around her mouth softened into a warm smile as she looked at Lucian’s round, soft hair.
Three more children emerged slowly from the room behind Lucian. Though they’d only recently begun their etiquette lessons, they already showed signs of what they’d learned.
“Lady Fontaine, won’t you join us for refreshments today?”
Lady Fontaine regarded Evening, who spoke shyly, and answered gently.
“I’m expecting distant relatives to visit tonight, so I must take my leave. All of you — don’t forget what you’ve learned, and practice on your own.”
Watching the children respond to Lady Fontaine in their own voices, I felt vindicated in my decision to approach Lady Shastand.
Lady Fontaine was truly an excellent teacher!
“You’ve studied hard, so now go have some refreshments! Everything is already prepared in the dining hall.”
“Yay!”
Lucian bounced and scampered toward the dining hall with a pitter-patter of footsteps. Evening, Noah, and Peron, unlike the younger Lucian, didn’t forget their manners.
Each of them, with composed bearing, offered their respects to Lady Fontaine before departing — a sight I found truly admirable.
Once the children had gone, I immediately abandoned all pretense and raised my voice in admiration.
“Lady Fontaine, you’re truly magnificent! In just one month, the children have become completely different!”
Lady Fontaine was a woman of unbending character and upright etiquette, the sort who’d earned even Lady Shastand’s approval.
Yes, unbending character.
In her nature — rigid but not brittle — there was now a single problem.
Namely…….
“Lady Voltaine, then I shall take my leave.”
She absolutely refused to call me Miss Otreha.
“Yes, I’ve prepared a carriage for you, so please be sure to take it.”
“My…… I’m always grateful, Lady Voltaine. How very thoughtful of you.”
In other words, Lady Fontaine was currently experiencing a kind of serious cognitive dissonance.
I was known to have fathered a child out of wedlock, yet I myself had never married.
Whatever chemical reaction occurred in her mind, it had produced the title “Lady Voltaine” — calling me by the name I would someday have seemed to ease her mind better than addressing my current state.
Even the stern, frost-edged Lady Fontaine had ultimately grown one step further!
……Let’s call it that for now.
As I waved goodbye to the carriage carrying Lady Fontaine, I indulged in comfortable self-rationalization.
“Master, the background investigation into Baron Giz has been completed. Would you like to review the findings in your study?”
“Yes, let’s do that. Should I stop by the dining hall first and bring some refreshments along?”
I had let my guard down completely.
Everything was unfolding exactly as planned, proceeding without a hitch.
And so.
“……You’re telling me there’s not a single suspicious thing about Giz?”
I’d assumed this would be no different.
In other words, at some point the Giz family was simply ordinary.
No suspicious mages came and went through the Territory, and there were no high-ranking noble families bound by kinship.
Like the Otreha Family of old, they were unremarkable—a thoroughly commonplace noble house with no connection to intrigue whatsoever!
“……So this man simply, purely, wanted to hold a child hostage and make demands of our household, with no hidden machinations behind it at all?”
My mind went white-hot with fury.
That was it. Giz had nothing suspicious about him. He wasn’t even third-rate enough to be a villain hiding sinister conspiracies.
He was just a damnable bastard.
The investigator’s report confirmed it exactly: reconstruction work at the Lord’s Castle using child labor, various repairs delayed or left unpaid for days, and taxes levied at triple the standard rate.
I pressed my forehead against the crumpled documents in my hands and gritted my teeth.
“Cyril, the thing is…….”
“Yes, my lord. Please, speak.”
“Every time something like this happens, I just want to shout ‘Deploy!’ to Leon.”
“Why not try it once? He’d be delighted.”
She had quite the way with words, suggesting we reduce someone else’s house to rubble.

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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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