One Day, I Picked Up a Mom - Chapter 62

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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 62

“Yes.”

It was probably because of Luna’s tears.

Since he wasn’t used to this kind of situation…

Ludrio felt like he had to comfort the grieving Luna.

So the current situation was very uncomfortable for him.

“So stop crying.”

“…Yes.”

Luna hurriedly rubbed her cheeks and nodded vigorously.

However, contrary to her clear response, the tears that had burst forth once showed no sign of stopping easily.

Rather, the more she tried to force herself to hold back, the more ragged her breathing became and the tears fell in thick drops.

“I don’t want to cry…”

Perhaps embarrassed by this herself, Luna sniffled and stood up. As if she’d rather flee and escape from this place.

However, he couldn’t let her leave like that.

Even if she left the study to avoid him, she would encounter the servants in the corridor.

Moreover, there were still more things that needed to be said.

Things like how to conduct herself when the Count and Countess visit tomorrow. And what she should do going forward.

If he sent her away without properly explaining things, she would be frightened and afraid again.

“Just sit down. We still have a lot to talk about.”

Ludrio let out a light sigh and stood up.

“First, I’ll bring some tea.”

Only then did Luna nod and sit down.

Ludrio turned away, leaving her behind.

Behind him, he could hear her suppressed breathing irregularly.

Somehow that small sound seemed to transform into thousands of ants gnawing at him.

As if they would fill their bellies and grow in size, eventually ruining everything completely.

Click.

Ludrio firmly closed the study door, rubbed his neck once, and ordered a servant waiting in the corridor to prepare tea.

“…”

And then it became very unclear what he should do or how he should do it.

Going back in, she would probably still be crying, but he couldn’t just leave the study entirely either.

In the end, he decided to guard the door until the servant brought tea.

But waiting was more of an ordeal than expected.

‘Were there this many servants in this estate?’

The light bows and greetings they offered, and the glances that briefly met his eyes, were things he was noticing for the first time.

How must he look to them, standing guard blankly in front of the study door?

He must certainly look quite strange.

‘…Why did I come out?’

The tea was something he could have just ordered to be brought.

Even though the woman was crying…

“Hah…”

Ludrio let out a deep sigh and leaned his back against the wall.

Wouldn’t this make it seem like he had fled?

‘I really don’t have to leave?’

Suddenly, that very desperate voice echoed in his ears again.

When was it that he tried to end a marriage that hadn’t even begun? What could be the reason she didn’t want to leave this estate?

Because her child hadn’t fully grown up yet?

Was she so sad because she might be driven out, leaving her child behind?

Ludrio, who had been quietly speculating about the woman’s intentions and emotions, closed his eyes with a light breath.

And not long after, as if by natural progression, very red earlobes and cheeks came to mind.

Even when introducing herself as a prostitute or explaining how she came to have the brooch, she had never been this ashamed.

Why was she so embarrassed today…

As Ludrio’s thoughts grew deeper, approaching footsteps stopped nearby.

“…”

Ludrio opened his closed eyes and checked who had stopped in front of him.

“Your Grace.”

Jen.

Her cheek was swollen, and dark reddish-brown liquid was smeared along the wound.

“Why are you outside…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Ludrio quickly cut off Jen’s awkward question.

“…Did the Countess hit you?”

Instead, he quietly asked while looking over the red marks on her face again.

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

The Dowager Countess had postponed detailed explanations to Luna, and Luna also couldn’t tell him everything about today’s events in detail, but he could roughly understand how the situation had unfolded.

The Dowager Countess must have laid hands on Jen to quell the disturbance.

“When Rosemond Bain laid hands on Luna, wasn’t the Dowager Countess there?”

“No, the Countess was attending to other business. While Lady Luciana had moved to the gallery to admire paintings, Rosemond Bain approached her.”

“I see.”

So Jen had followed Luna, and during the time Rosemond Bain approached Luna and laid hands on her, she had just watched the situation.

“She called Lady Luciana ‘hey’ in a demeaning way and whispered something. Then she grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the servant’s corridor behind the gallery.”

“And then.”

“Lady Luciana called for help and I intervened.”

Ludrio quietly waited for Jen’s next part of the story.

“She seemed very startled, and even after we came out to the gallery together, she continued to ask those around for help. She said she didn’t know Rosemond Bain, and to my eyes, it seemed to be true. At that time, Rosemond Bain also appeared quite flustered.”

Jen’s quiet voice quickly scattered through the corridor.

“Since there were many watching eyes, I first obtained an apology from Rosemond Bain to settle the situation. However, Lady Luciana pressured Rosemond, who said she was sorry for mistaking her for someone else, demanding she explain who she had mistaken her for to commit such rudeness.”

It was Luna who had been afraid that Rosemond Bain had recognized her.

‘First, I pretended not to know Rosemond.’

But even so, had she deliberately questioned her to avoid arousing Rosemond Bain’s suspicion?

“After that, the Dowager Countess came…”

“Stop.”

Ludrio raised his hand to cut off Jen’s report. Heavy silence settled between the abruptly cut air.

“Jen.”

“Yes.”

She bowed her head slightly.

“What was your reason for just watching until Luna called for help?”

“…I judged it to be an opportunity to ascertain Lady Luciana’s identity.”

After hesitating a bit, Jen answered.

She seemed to know that this had been wrong.

“Right. Before going out, I clearly ordered you to protect Luna.”

Ludrio’s low voice quietly fell.

“You disobeyed orders based on your personal judgment.”

“I’m sorry, Your Grace.”

Jen’s head bowed even deeper.

“I’ll hold you accountable later.”

Ludrio looked at Jen quietly and then spoke.

“You may go.”

Even though the dismissal order was given, Jen remained in that spot for a while.

She moved her lips as if she had something left unsaid, but eventually bowed her head once more and left the corridor.

“….”

In the corridor where only silence remained, Ludrio once again tried to piece together what had happened today.

A stranger who had suddenly tried to drag her away, and the employee’s indifference.

‘In the carriage, she trembled as she confessed that she thought I had sent that Countess to harm her. She worried that I might want to abandon her too.’

The words he had heard from the Dowager Countess weren’t particularly pleasant, but it must have been a sufficiently frightening situation.

“…Abandon.”

He murmured quietly and leaned his head against the cold wall. His head slowly tilted.

Then, footsteps could be heard approaching from the distance again.

It seemed the employee was returning with a tray.

Finally.

The employee who had finally climbed all the stairs discovered Ludrio standing in the corridor and hurried his steps in surprise.

It was the moment he straightened his posture, thinking he could finally end this ordeal.

Suddenly, a fact he hadn’t been aware of flashed through his mind.

“Ah….”

A small sigh that couldn’t even form a proper shape escaped from Ludrio’s lips.

He had never once considered whether it would be better to cast her out.

He had never considered it.

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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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