One Day, I Picked Up a Mom - Chapter 76

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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 76

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A pitch-black bedroom with all the lights extinguished.

Rustle. The occasional sound of blankets shifting could be heard.

Rustle rustle.

As time passed, the intervals breaking the silence grew shorter and shorter.

“Haah….”

Soon Ludrio sat up, letting out a deep sigh.

Tonight the crackling of the burning logs was particularly loud and bothersome, so he had extinguished the fire, but the room still felt suffocatingly stuffy.

Unable to bear it any longer, he got out of bed and strode toward the window.

The glass window his fingertips touched was cold without a trace of warmth, telling of the current season, but he opened the window without hesitation.

Click, clatter.

The sharp winter wind that rushed through the gap lightly swayed his hair and the curtains.

Only after facing that ice-cold air head-on did he finally feel like he could breathe.

Ludrio checked the time by the faint moonlight streaming through the window.

5 o’clock.

To think he had been unable to sleep and had been tossing and turning for three hours already.

He gripped the frost-covered window frame with a deep sigh.

As the cold wind continuously brushed his face, his turbulent thoughts gradually quieted.

But that was as far as it went.

Perhaps because he had let his guard down for a moment, her voice began echoing in his ears again through the gap in his relaxed tension.

‘Because I like you. So, it was because I came to like Your Grace.’

Against his will, he was drawn back to that moment again.

Her trembling voice and the way she looked up at him. Her shaking breath.

Her red lips, her slender fingers gripping and shaking the hem of her clothes.

Such things.

“Damn it.”

Ludrio knocked his forehead against his hands and hung his head over the back of his hands.

To think such words would come from her mouth.

He swore it was something he had never expected at all.

Of course, as much as he was surprised, no, she must have been even more surprised than him….

A confession.

It wasn’t something forbidden, but it was close to being unconventional by normal standards.

Even though she was a patient with memory loss, she couldn’t have forgotten old customs.

Looking back on her behavior up until now, and recalling today’s confession.

So….

‘Because I like you.’

Her voice had been trembling terribly.

While saying she was sorting things out, that’s why she had deliberately kept her distance.

She had planned to quietly bury it all by herself.

But he had pressured her into saying words she didn’t want to say.

“Crazy bastard.”

She surely had her reasons.

So he should have waited longer.

‘But you chose to keep your mouth shut, and I waited thinking it might be something that needed time. But this is your answer, isn’t it.’

He had cornered her again with his position and power.

He hadn’t meant to frighten her.

He hadn’t meant to messily dig up the feelings she had hidden away.

He really hadn’t meant to pressure her like this to extract her secrets.

So it was just….

‘If you tell me what I did that made you uncomfortable, I’ll fix it.’

That calm voice came to mind and Ludrio let out another deep sigh.

Everything had been his fault.

Without any room for excuses.

Now he felt lost about how to face Luna, with what expression.

What would be the right thing to do for her sake.

‘…I’m not asking you to do anything about it. I won’t do anything either.’

Should he just treat her as usual?

‘I have no intention of making Your Grace or Iban uncomfortable with these shallow feelings. This relationship started because of Iban in the first place, and I have no intention of taking anything away from that child.’

Would it be better to avoid her altogether?

In any case, not dwelling on that moment and just burying it would be the right thing to do for her sake.

‘Because I like you.’

Like a madman, it was that moment again.

“Damn it….”

Ludrio roughly rubbed his face and suddenly thought it was fortunate that the Dowager Countess was staying at the estate.

That would be better for Luna too.

* * *

In the end, Ludrio stayed awake through what was said to be the longest night of the year.

It wasn’t that he had found any proper solution, but his conclusion was to act as usual while avoiding situations where they would be alone together as much as possible.

Clink.

The neat sound of silver utensils clinking filled the silence of the dining room.

A rather peaceful morning, no different from usual.

That fact was the only thing that comforted Ludrio’s anxious mind.

Just as his tension was gradually easing.

“I’m thinking of going down to the duchy this afternoon.”

The Dowager Countess, who had lightly dabbed her lips with a napkin, suddenly brought up such a topic.

The knife that was about to cut the steak scraped the bottom of the plate, making a sharp screech.

“Tsk, making a mistake that even Iban wouldn’t make. You should be ashamed.”

Only after the lady’s sharp rebuke did Ludrio look up in a daze.

Going down.

Why so suddenly.

“You’re going down?”

Luna, who had been reading the situation, carefully spoke up.

“Yes. I told the servant to get me a train ticket.”

“…Then when will you come back up?”

Luna also looked just as flustered as he was.

Only Iban sitting next to her seemed like it didn’t matter to him….

No, looking at the slight upturn of his lips, he actually seemed to welcome it.

“I should come up before your wedding ceremony. While I’m gone, don’t cause any trouble and be careful.”

“What time did you book the ticket for?”

“Two o’clock.”

Upon hearing the answer, Luna slowly blinked as if calculating something.

“Won’t it be too late when you arrive at the duchy? I think you’ll be tired.”

Indeed, she seemed to hope that the Dowager Countess wouldn’t leave this estate.

Yes, that would naturally be the case.

“I’ll pass on the concern. Old as I may be, I can still take care of myself.”

At the lady’s firm words, Luna slowly nodded and looked at him.

The moment Ludrio’s eyes met Luna’s, he had to try very hard not to avoid her gaze.

Hoping to appear exactly the same as usual.

‘…What am I supposed to say here?’

While he pondered what he would have said in this situation normally, Luna was the first to look away.

“Then I’ll get up first.”

Then the Dowager Countess rose from her seat as if she had nothing more to say.

“…I should get up too.”

Ludrio hesitated for a moment, then belatedly followed the Dowager Countess out of the dining room.

“….”

The Countess who had been walking ahead stopped as if asking what he had to say.

Ludrio hesitated for a moment before asking.

“Must you really go?”

“…What?”

“I asked if you must really go to the duchy.”

The Dowager Countess narrowed her eyes as if surprised.

“I thought you’d be quite pleased if I said I was going down there. How unexpected.”

Ludrio slightly turned his head away from her stare.

Even though he knew it couldn’t be, somehow today he felt like his true feelings would be exposed.

“Your wedding is coming up soon, and I can’t be the only one attending.”

“For something like that, couldn’t you just send someone?”

“Would he listen to a mere employee?”

The Countess shook her head as if it was out of the question.

So she was going down to persuade the Previous Duke for my and Luna’s wedding.

There’s no need to go that far….

“Just having you attend the wedding would be sufficient, Countess.”

Ludrio couldn’t bring himself to meet the Countess’s eyes and only looked down at the innocent floor.

“Ludrio….”

Even so, the Dowager Countess seemed to have no intention of changing her plans.

He bit his lips and let out a low sigh as if resigned.

“If you must go down there regardless, I’ll prepare a carriage for you.”

Ludrio raised his head to look at her.

The Countess’s eyes wavered greatly.

“So the day….”

Soon, something transparent began to well up in her dry eyes, and Ludrio found himself at a loss for words.

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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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