One Day, I Picked Up a Mom - Chapter 35

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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One Day I Picked Up a Mother – Episode 35

 

Why does she want to stay in this estate?

 

At first, she was afraid of Ludrio Rharhart. But in just one week, she had already let down all her guard.

 

Today, when dining with Ludrio, she seemed more comfortable than usual.

 

“The Count isn’t scary anymore, is he?”

 

I wanted to know if she had grown fond of Ludrio, but somehow the question came out a bit differently.

 

“Yes, not as much as at first.”

 

“Were you scared at first?”

 

However, Luna didn’t answer for a long time. Hearing her steady breathing, Iban gently shook Luna’s shoulder.

 

“Mother, were you scared of the Count at first?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“But why did you come to the Duke’s Manor? If you were scared, you could have chosen not to come.”

 

“…Because Iban wanted it.”

 

“Huh?”

 

The child’s eyes grew a little wider.

 

As Iban tried to see Luna more clearly in the darkness, her tired, completely relaxed voice continued weakly.

 

“Still, it’s fortunate. That I can spend time with Iban like this. That everything worked out well… We don’t have to be separated.”

 

“…”

 

“Now we can live just as Iban wanted. Mother, father, and Iban. We can live like this.”

 

Iban carefully shook Luna again.

 

“Is that why you’re going to get married?”

 

Because I wanted it.

 

“…Yes.”

 

At her answer, loosened by drowsiness, Iban’s heart somehow became much calmer.

 

The small ants that had been gnawing at his ribs instantly quieted down.

 

So the reason she came to the Duke’s Manor despite being scared was because I wished for it. And the reason she’s willing to marry the Count is also because I wanted it.

 

Without knowing much about Ludrio Rharhart, without understanding his ulterior motives, it was a foolishly innocent reason.

 

Yet somehow, Iban found himself laughing at that foolish reasoning. He didn’t know why.

 

Suddenly, he had this thought.

 

That Luna was like the small rabbit he saw in the forest.

 

Like a rabbit that barely hides its head in a rock crevice and believes it has escaped from predators, she was very soft, fragile, and foolish.

 

…So he had to protect her.

 

So that his little rabbit wouldn’t be caught in brutal hands and cry pitifully.

 

* * *

 

Ludrio was heading to the study after receiving a report from an employee that Luna had been waiting for thirty minutes.

 

Even though he had woken up earlier than usual today, she was already out there waiting before him.

 

Throughout his walk across the corridor, Ludrio’s mind was densely filled with thoughts about her.

 

‘What exactly is she planning to demand?’

 

That she wants to meet this early.

 

However, even when he tried to imagine what would unfold, he couldn’t particularly guess Luna’s conditions.

 

She had been hard to figure out from the beginning anyway.

 

She liked Iban very much and disliked hunting and blood.

 

She couldn’t ride horses but was quick-witted enough to imitate it passably, and she didn’t know how to read but could write quite well…

 

When he opened the study door and entered, the woman rose from her seat and bowed her head.

 

“She’s been waiting since seven o’clock.”

 

Ludrio gestured for her to sit and took a seat across from Luna.

 

“It seems you have many things you want to demand from me.”

 

Even though Luna had said she would accept the marriage, he had given her time to think about conditions because he wanted to know a little more about her.

 

“Feel free to talk.”

 

Usually, he could find out many things through what the other party revealed they wanted.

 

Starting from their values to what their current deficiencies might be, what their hidden desires were…

 

“How long do you intend to maintain this marriage, Count?”

 

Ludrio, who had been drinking tea to clear his throat after just waking up, paused and removed his lips from the cup.

 

As expected, the question that came from Luna’s mouth was something he had never thought of.

 

“I didn’t expect you to ask such a question…”

 

Ludrio looked at the woman for a moment.

 

In fact, for me, this marriage would only be valid until the woman recovered her memory.

 

Or until her family appeared.

 

At least, that’s how it was for now…

 

“Do you already want to set an end?”

 

The woman seemed to want to clarify the end even more than I did.

 

As if my words felt like reproach, Luna quickly shook her head and continued speaking.

 

“I thought it would be good to make things clear. I mean, you might already have an end in mind, Count… Even if not now, you might want to take someone other than me as your wife later.”

 

Her head dropping in the middle and the corners of her mouth stretching sideways.

 

Ludrio felt that Luna’s explanation somehow sounded like an excuse.

 

“It doesn’t seem like you’re suggesting we set a deadline purely for my sake.”

 

When he stared at her as if asking whether that was really the only reason, the woman seemed flustered and blinked rapidly.

 

After hesitating for a moment, Luna slowly began to speak.

 

“I know that the proposal you made me is far too generous for someone like me. It’s true that I want to live here with Iban, but…”

 

“But?”

 

“When I think that a lifetime is at stake, that promise seems too heavy for me.”

 

Feeling pressured by the urging, Luna stretched her mouth sideways once more as she finished speaking.

 

Her tone was so roundabout that it took quite some time for Ludrio to properly understand what Luna was saying.

 

In the end, what she had said was this.

 

That being bound to me for life through marriage was burdensome.

 

Ludrio’s head tilted involuntarily.

 

In his twenty-eight years of life, this was the first time someone had said that being bound to his life through marriage was burdensome.

 

Regardless of noble or commoner status, marriage was both livelihood and goal for women.

 

In that sense, the position of mistress of House of Rharhart was a status that many women coveted.

 

Beyond guaranteeing a stable life, it was a position that offered wealth and honor in one go that couldn’t be reached even with a lifetime of effort.

 

Yet this woman was saying that living as the mistress of House of Rharhart was a burdensome matter for her.

 

She was the one expressing rejection first.

 

“Do you have someone you like?”

 

In this situation that was hard to understand, such a question suddenly popped out.

 

“What? No, that’s not it.”

 

Luna quickly shook her head.

 

If she didn’t have someone she liked, then what was the reason she disliked being bound by marriage?

 

‘She used to act as if her life was only about the child…’

 

Ludrio had no idea what Luna was thinking.

 

In Luna’s case, it wasn’t like she had a dowry to get back if she divorced.

 

Even if she planned to demand living expenses after divorce, being a duchess would be much more beneficial than such petty money.

 

“Since you don’t have someone you like, I’m curious about your reason for rejecting the opportunity to live as a duchess for life.”

 

He thought quickly but no answer came, so Ludrio ultimately chose to ask directly.

 

Otherwise, he would never know the answer.

 

“The truthful reason, I mean.”

 

Ludrio looked at Luna quietly.

 

Was making such incomprehensible choices also due to her memory loss?

 

Though it was the clearest demand of all, Ludrio couldn’t read any of Luna’s deficiencies, values, or desires from it.

 

“I don’t need this marriage to last long either.”

 

When Luna seemed to have difficulty bringing up her story, Ludrio spoke again.

 

“So I can adjust the timeframe however you want.”

 

Only then did Luna lift her eyes to look at me.

 

“However, as I said, I’m just curious about the reason. It’s not a typical request.”

 

“…It’s also not a marriage born from love.”

 

Only then did Luna open her mouth.

 

Love.

 

Was she the type who dreamed of soulmates bound by love?

 

“Living my entire life as a Duchess doesn’t seem to be my dream.”

 

Dreams and love.

 

‘Didn’t the romantic movement end a few years ago?’

 

Of course, it was an ideology that had spread passionately through literature, art, and even philosophy.

 

To think Luna had been influenced by it too.

 

That would mean she wasn’t from the working class or commoners, but from the educated upper-middle class or higher.

 

‘Yet she says she can’t read.’

 

Ludrio examined Luna once more.

 

Where exactly did that gap come from?

 

What could this dream she spoke of be?

 

Once again, his mind filled with curiosity about Luna.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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