My Ex-Boyfriend Gave Birth to My Child? What Does That Mean? - Chapter 55

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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 fathered my child? What in the world is he talking about? Episode 55
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After coaxing the children away from their play and herding them back into the house, I showed the man to the drawing room.
A few of the servants with combat training kept watch over him, and I stationed several more hired hands to guard the corridor nearby.
The gleam of curiosity in those children’s eyes was something else entirely.
“Don’t let the children near him.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
I had the man wait, then made straight for my study. All the information I’d gathered was kept there.
Settling into my chair, I held out my hand to Siril.
“Give me the list of Mother’s lovers that you’ve found so far.”
That’s right. The Lady of House Otreha, who absolutely does not look her age with her striking beauty, was not a woman of singular romantic interests.
There were enough of them to warrant filing them all in documents.
Siril brought the papers before me and spoke softly.
“We’ve confirmed five so far.”
Tears of admiration prick my eyes at the sight of Mother living her life so fully……
I flipped through the documents, studying the recorded descriptions. One of them caught my eye. Blond hair. Tall, handsome features. Mid-thirties.
The description roughly matched the man who’d come visiting today.
“So his name is… Julian.”
“Julian, no family name on record. A wandering poet versed in music who stayed by the Lady of House Otreha’s side for some time. However, their interactions seem to have become infrequent recently.”
Siril recited the information without even glancing at the documents.
I was taken aback to find that everything she said matched the papers exactly.
“You memorized all of this?”
“It’s basic training for a lady’s personal attendant.”
Becoming Siril really must be an impossible task……
I nodded, feeling a twinge of competitive spirit toward House Voltaine that had raised her.
“Let’s go hear what this is all about.”
If he’s here to demand money or blackmail me, I won’t let him off lightly.
Yet my carefully laid assumptions shattered the moment I met the man in the drawing room.
Upon catching sight of me, the blond beauty placed a hand over his heart and raised his voice in anguish. Like reciting verse.
“Oh, Heavens, I beseech you! Deliver her from the clutches of evil!!”
The man even dropped to his knees, stretching his hands toward the hem of my skirt. I sank deep into the sofa’s back rest and thought to myself.
‘Mother’s finally met her match……’
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Julian, a self-proclaimed poet and, by all other accounts, a vagrant, harbored a dream. The dream of becoming a great lady’s lover and living in comfort for the rest of his days……!
“I have given everything to love!”
After nearly an hour of conversation that reduced to my summary, the man shouted passionately, as if to reject my conclusion.
“But Simon Mercier! That man is nothing but a complete opportunist, a vulgar charlatan!”
I watched the man before me deliver his oration with clenched fists, as if observing a theatrical performance. He certainly was versed in music—his vocal projection was formidable.
“He dared cloud the beautiful eyes of the Lady of House Otreha with honeyed words! Now Her Ladyship has lost her former brilliance and fallen prey to his seductions……!”
To his lengthy medley of “she never would have abandoned me if not for him!” I nearly fainted from the sheer absurdity.
“You do understand you’re making a romantic plea to the daughter of the Lady of House Otreha herself, yes?”
“Of course!”
At Julian’s emphatic affirmation, Siril’s shoulders tensed. I caught her with one hand just as she seemed ready to surge forward and break his arm.
Julian, oblivious to how close he’d come to danger, continued singing his words.
“I am fully aware, Young Lady of House Otreha. You, her daughter, renowned throughout the capital for your brilliance—only you……!”
Julian raised both hands to the heavens, his voice taking on the cadence of prayer.
“You alone can break the curse that binds her…….”
I came to a conclusion.
This man either knows nothing of my relationship with Mother or has only the vaguest notion of it.
I had no intention of humoring a man who treated life like a dramatic performance. Still, there was no reason to dismiss the information he’d brought.
“Simon Mercier. Siril, what do you know about him?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Siril straightened her posture and began her recitation.
“He is one of the Lady of House Otreha’s lovers and has recently enjoyed her greatest favor.”
“I imagine he’s good-looking. And?”
“He is a merchant. He owns shops in the Otreha Territory and in one neighboring territory.”
I let out a sigh. I could see where this was going without needing to hear it. In fact, I’d already seen this story once before—it was the exact path my stepfather, Mother’s late second husband, had already shown me.
“……How many of those shops did Mother set up for him?”
“Two locations in the Otreha Territory, including a dressmaking shop, financed entirely by her. Though to be fair, Simon Mercier has shown good business acumen—the shops are doing quite well from their initial opening.”
“She tried to force me into marriage for money, but buys lovers their own businesses? Our mother really is something…….”
Here the reason our house nearly collapsed comes to light once more.
My brother’s compulsive investment habit was inherited from Mother! The difference is that while he falls easily into others’ traps, Mother throws money at her lovers.
Julian, who had been listening to our exchange, shook his head and cried out.
“It’s all lies, lies!”
“Julian, mind your tongue. My employees do not lie to me.”
I glanced at Julian as he paced restlessly through the parlor, unable to keep still.
“……But there may be things they haven’t discovered yet. Go on. Do you have reason to think this way?”
“Oh, absolutely. I know his true nature—the demon hiding beneath a merchant’s mask who seduced the Lady of House Otreha.”
“Speak plainly.”
“He’s an actor from the Western Theater of the Capital! A failed second-rate who peddled laughter to various ladies and never made it on stage!”
I looked at Siril. She maintained her poker face, but gave a slight shake of her head. It meant this was information our family’s intelligence network hadn’t uncovered.
I gestured toward Julian with my chin. Siril grabbed him as he paced rudely back and forth before me, and forced him down onto the sofa in front of me.
I sat back on the sofa and questioned Julian, who bounced his legs nervously.
“How did you find this out?”
Julian opened his mouth frantically, his tone desperate and breathless.
“How could I not know! His real name is Simon Mercier. He was an apprentice actor who prepared theatrical costumes and fitted wigs, but then one day he simply stopped showing up at the theater without a word! And now such a man suddenly appears as a merchant just a few months later?”
Julian’s tone was comical. His gestures were theatrical, utterly unconvincing. Yet his words themselves were far from simple.
He’d changed his name and washed his status clean to claim his place at Mother’s side? This smelled of meticulous planning.
“Suspicious indeed. How did you come to know he attached himself to my mother?”
“Meeting him at Otreha Castle was certainly coincidence.”
“Coincidence, you say.”
I raised one eyebrow with deliberate skepticism on the surface, but inwardly I was inclined to believe him.
Mother had an infuriating way of brightening her face.
It wasn’t the first time she’d met two actors from the same theater troupe.
Whether Julian knew Mother’s past or not, he began whining like a man wronged by the world.
“Whatever that devil told the Lady of House Otreha, she refuses to see me now…….”
He began to weep.
I leaned back against the sofa and deepened my frown for effect.
“But Simon Mercier seems to have a talent for business. If he’s increasing our family’s assets, I have no reason to stop him.”
The golden-haired sparrow swallowed the bait I’d thrown in one gulp.
“This so-called business of his is a pathetic lie!”

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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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