The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 126

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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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“Father…?”

Christine froze in place with a bewildered expression.

She could see her mother standing far away, gripping the railing.

For some reason, her mother’s complexion was deathly pale.

“Didn’t I tell you over and over again! Please control that temper of yours!!”

The Marquis of Richmond’s shouting was unlike anything she had ever heard before.

Christine stiffened at the entrance and hesitantly looked around.

All the servants had their eyes cast down, restless, and the atmosphere was utterly bleak.

“F-Father. Why are you suddenly acting like this…?”

“Abner has cut off all our newspaper’s sources of income! They’re trying to starve us to death!”

She doubted her ears.

But she forced a smile and replied.

“Oh come on, Father. What on earth are you talking about…? Our Richmond Newspaper is the largest newspaper company in the Empire, isn’t it? Everyone said it was a good acquisition…”

The Marquis of Richmond clutched his forehead and staggered in his seat.

“Even on my way here today, I saw our newspapers stuck in every manor! Just recently you said that more than half the Empire’s citizens read our newspaper…”

“Those scraps of paper! Even if we sell a lot, it’s just pocket change – why don’t you understand!”

The Marquis of Richmond looked at Christine as if she were pathetic.

Then he turned to the Marchioness and said:

“How is this child three years older than the Abner Duke’s daughter? She can’t even properly understand a single revenue stream of the business her own father runs!”

Her mother silently hung her head low.

The Marquis of Richmond threw something at Christine with a thud.

It was today’s newspaper, crumpled into a mess from how tightly he had gripped it.

“Wh-why are you suddenly giving me this…?”

Even as she asked, Christine turned to the first page.

The Empire’s economic situation, news from the Eastern Continent.

Even the major and minor incidents that occurred in the Imperial Capital last night.

New articles smoothly covered the front page.

And on the next page…

“…It’s empty?”

Literally, a page with nothing written on it was revealed.

Christine looked at the Marquis of Richmond with anxious eyes.

“Father? The newspaper printing must have gone wrong – an entire page is blank…?”

Frowning, she turned another page.

But no matter how many pages she turned, endless blank pages continued.

There were articles here and there, but at this point, it was fair to say almost half the newspaper was blank.

“Ha! Isn’t everyone getting too careless because business has been going well lately? I should go to the printing house right away and…”

“The printing house staff did nothing wrong.”

The Marquis of Richmond cut off Christine’s words with a cold voice.

“You’re the one who made the mistake! You dared to touch the Abner Duke’s daughter and caused all our newspaper’s advertisements to be withdrawn!”

Christine could understand those words very slowly.

“Advertisements… you mean all the advertisements were canceled?”

“Yes! And overnight, suddenly! Every single one without exception!”

The Marquis rubbed his haggard face with his palm.

“I went around begging advertisers from dawn, but it was no use…”

Behind him, the Marchioness began to sniffle.

“Seven journalists have already said they’re quitting. We expanded the building when we acquired the newspaper company – what are we going to do about that…”

Seeing despair flash in the Marquis’s eyes, Christine said urgently:

“W-we can just find other advertisements! We’re the Empire’s largest newspaper company, surely someone will want to place ads…”

“With Abner declaring war on us, who exactly would do that!”

Christine’s complexion grew darker and darker.

At this point, she was truly frightened.

The newspaper acquisition and expansion was a business the Marquis of Richmond had been preparing for a very long time.

Christine had seen with her own eyes how he had spent years losing sleep, holed up in his office all day long.

Successfully completing the acquisition, investing his fortune to expand the building.

Even consulting with numerous experts and agonizing over reorganizing the newspaper article layout methods.

Until then, everyone in Richmond had only expected a future of sitting on piles of money.

But there was no way such a business could be shaken like this just because of the Abner family.

“Wh-why would the Abner Duchy do this? It’s just a declining military family anyway. Maybe if it were the Longton Duchy, but the Abner Duchy is old-fashioned and can’t keep up with the times…”

“What era are you talking about!”

The Marquis of Richmond beat his chest as if his insides were bursting.

“Abner recently surpassed even Longton! That family’s academic society’s influence now rivals the Academy of Pharmacy! Moreover, the Abner Duke’s daughter’s magical formulas!”

The Abner Duke’s daughter – that is, Annellia Abner’s magical formulas.

These were the various technologies, big and small, that the young lady had been consistently creating since entering the Academy of Pharmacy until now.

“From micro magical power engines to magical wave devices and magical automation equipment!”

“…”

“There’s no product that doesn’t incorporate that Duke’s daughter’s technology! From weapons to magical tools used at home, even children’s toys!”

“F-Father.”

“All products are made based on that Duke’s daughter’s technology! Who exactly would entrust us with their advertisements!”

“I-I…”

“Miss Christine will be the one to regret this.”

Heather Villaba’s words flashed through her mind.

‘She knew.’

That’s why she had said those words to her.

Christine’s legs gave out and she collapsed to the floor.

But immediately, strong hands lifted her up.

“Get up right now! We’re going to the Abner Duchy.”

“Wh-why are we going to the Abner Duchy…?”

“Do you want everyone to end up on the streets because of you alone?”

“…”

“If we can’t resolve this, we’ll have to get on our knees and beg.”

Christine’s face turned pale with humiliation.

“We were wrong!”

I looked down at the Marquis of Richmond while sitting on Grandmother’s lap.

He was bowing his head so low his forehead nearly touched the floor.

“What are you doing! Hurry up and bow your head in apology!”

And beside him, Christine bit her lips and reluctantly bowed her head.

“Our child is just so immature. She must have inadvertently offended the Abner Duke’s daughter – please, just once… just once, we beg for your mercy!”

The Marquis of Richmond looked haggard.

From the stress he’d endured in just one day, his under-eyes were dark and his lips were chapped.

“If you could just tell us how to appease your anger, I would…”

“Well.”

At that moment, Grandmother spoke in a chilly voice.

“I have no intention of appeasing my anger.”

“…Pardon?”

“I’ve always disliked how gentle our Annellia is.”

Grandmother suddenly covered both my ears with her hands.

The surroundings became quiet.

I could faintly hear what Grandmother was saying.

“Even when despised by those around her for being from an orphanage, even when mocked for being a princess in name only, she just says it’s okay, it’s okay.”

The Marquis kept glancing at me nervously with an anxious expression.

“Are you aware that your daughter called my granddaughter a mongrel?”

The Marquis’s expression hardened.

“And yet our Lia just smiled. Even when she came to me, she said it didn’t matter that she had been insulted.”

“Y-Your Grace…”

“She said she was only upset that the family had been disgraced, that the Lieri Sisters who are like family to her had been bullied. The child is too kind for her own good.”

Slowly, Grandmother’s hand fell away from my ear.

I rolled my eyes, pretending I hadn’t heard anything.

“The newspaper company. Hand it over to us.”

Grandmother said coldly.

“Wh-what, pardon…?”

“It’s a business that won’t last another month at this rate anyway, isn’t it? I’ll generously offer 3 billion tera.”

“Your Grace! 3 billion tera is less than a quarter of what I paid to acquire it! That’s absurd!”

“Then sit there and lose even that remaining 3 billion tera.”

Marquis Richmond’s face contorted.

The knuckles of his clenched fists were bulging white.

“I think your daughter needs to learn. How much one can lose with a single word.”

Marquis Richmond couldn’t give any response and hung his head low.

“Of course, you need to learn as well. How to properly raise a child.”

“Y-Your Grace…”

“It may seem harsh, but I’m saying this out of genuine concern for you. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay an even greater price in the future.”

Grandmother spoke her final words in a sunken voice.

“Having driven a nail into another’s child’s heart, I trust you weren’t expecting a hopeful future.”

Three days later, the advertisement section of the Richmond Newspaper returned to normal.

But the newspaper’s name was no longer ‘Richmond.’

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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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