The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 181

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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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“Theo! You bastard! You son of a bitch!”

Theo looked down with pained eyes at Isabel, who was beating his chest.

“Why are you showing me this! Why are you showing me this kind of thing now!”

Isabel’s face was flushed red.

Her eyes were wet with tears, and her breathing was unstable and ragged.

“Mom still has nightmares about that day’s memories… How could you do that to me, to our mother…”

“Because I want to stop.”

“…”

“Because I want to stop too.”

At Theo’s answer, Isabel hesitated and closed her mouth.

Then she stepped back and stared at Theo with trembling pupils.

“I told you. Because of you, I couldn’t properly do what I was supposed to do, not a single thing!”

Theo clenched his fists tightly and lowered his voice.

“I’m not as kind as you, Isabel.”

“…”

“I’m not the kind of person who comes out first without even putting on a coat because I hate making someone wait for me.”

Isabel’s eyes silently stared directly at Theo.

Her body’s trembling had also stopped at some point.

Theo continued speaking.

“I’m already finished. I shouldn’t have felt those emotions toward you, but it ended up like this anyway. Even now I’m doing this crazy thing and I can’t control it.”

“…Keep talking.”

“I’m a being who has to follow orders given to me anyway. That’s how I was made. …But when I left you, I did test Father’s patience. I said I didn’t have the confidence to kill you. Because I really didn’t want to.”

“…Sure you didn’t.”

“The result wasn’t as I expected though.”

Isabel nodded with a much calmer face.

“Father is in an incomplete state. The more living Michaeliann Clan members there are, the weaker Father’s power becomes. His magical power recovery speed also slows down.”

“Then his power must have weakened significantly once more when I was born.”

“Exactly. That’s the reason Father was able to find your mother and you.”

After taking in Sharon Abner, the Abner Family kept her origins thoroughly secret for a while.

It was because of the negative perception about the Michaeliann Clan.

“Father didn’t know at first either. He didn’t think there would be any Michaeliann who escaped alive. But he gradually began to suspect that his power wasn’t fully returning…”

“When I was born, he became certain. That the Michaeliann lineage hadn’t been cut off and was continuing somewhere. Specifically here, in Abner.”

Isabel’s eyes sparkled.

It was the look that only appeared when she was absorbed in something.

Theo sighed and then nodded.

“…So Father decided to use me.”

Isabel quietly looked at Theo like that.

“Father cannot directly attack the Michaeliann. Because of the memory of being defeated by Lasandra, he feels instinctive fear.”

“…Do we have the power to block Crookiatus’s attacks?”

“That hasn’t been confirmed yet. But Father doesn’t want to ignore even small risk factors. Because he’s afraid of losing his power again.”

Silence fell between the two.

“How truly tragic.”

Isabel was the first to speak.

“I loved magic studies. From childhood, I could just see complex principles. I always wanted to do research, but Mom opposed it.”

“…”

“She was pathologically worried that I might be misunderstood as a dark mage.”

As she spoke, Isabel plopped down on a large tree stump nearby.

“But the Mage that Mom worked so hard to bring in was a being who came to kill me.”

A short sneer burst from Isabel’s mouth.

She gestured with her eyes for Theo to sit next to her.

Theo answered.

“…There doesn’t seem to be room for two people.”

“If we squeeze together, even three people can sit, you know?”

Theo reluctantly sat next to Isabel.

The stump was so small that they could barely perch on it.

Isabel continued speaking.

“I was angry at first, but thinking about it calmly, you must have shown considerable courage too.”

“…”

“So what are you going to do? You said it earlier. That you’re a being who has no choice but to follow orders given to you anyway. That you’ll have to kill me.”

Theo remained silent for a long time before opening his mouth.

“Or buy time.”

“Buy time?”

“…If I just had time, I might be able to find a way to end Father with my own hands.”

Isabel made a “hmm” sound and pressed her forehead with one hand.

“So in the meantime, Mom and I have to just tremble in anxiety? Worrying about when we might be killed by Crookiatus?”

“…I told you. You’re relatively safe if you stay within Abner Castle.”

“That’s just what you think, Theo. And neither Mom nor I are the type to like being confined only to the castle.”

“Your life depends on it.”

“I know that too.”

Theo hesitated.

Isabel was staring directly at Theo with eyes that had firmly resolved her will.

“And you keep talking as if it’s not the case, but this is also a matter where your life is at stake.”

Theo couldn’t give any answer.

“You say if you’re just given time you can deal with your father? What happens to you after you do that?”

Isabel had witnessed everything that had happened between Theo and Crookiatus.

She knew who Crookiatus was, and despite having lost power, she knew how strong an opponent he still was.

“You say you want me. But if you end your father and end yourself too. What would be left for you then.”

“Now isn’t the time to worry about such things…”

“Theo. Just run away with me.”

Then Isabel grabbed Theo’s hand.

The warmth touching his cold hand was hot like fire.

“You said it yourself. That you’re already finished. I am too. Now that I know everything, I can’t let this cycle continue.”

“What kind of talk is that?”

“Think about it. This is a game that becomes more advantageous to Crookiatus the longer we drag it out.”

A resolute look appeared in Isabel’s eyes.

“If I don’t have children, the remaining Michaeliann are just Mom and me. But we’re human after all, and we’ll die in a few decades.”

Theo finally realized what Isabel was trying to say.

As Isabel said, when that time came, no one would be able to stop Crookiatus.

The beings who could check Crookiatus would completely disappear and he would only grow stronger.

“I’m not interested in grand causes or absolute good. If there’s a purpose to stop Crookiatus, it would be revenge for the cruel massacre of my clan. But…”

Isabel looked at Theo.

“I don’t want to give up the future I’ve dreamed of because of Crookiatus either.”

“Future?”

“Magic studies, and since I was young I wanted to build my own family. That family would include children too.”

“…Isabel. Are you seriously saying this right now? Children?”

“You said it yourself. The more Michaeliann Clan members there are, the weaker Crookiatus’s power becomes.”

Theo bit his lips tightly.

But Isabel had a calm face.

“I have an idea. I’m concerned about Mom, but it’s not like there’s absolutely no way.”

“…”

“We just need to buy time to weaken Crookiatus while protecting all of us at the same time, right?”

Isabel, who had been pondering something, met eyes with Theo.

“Of course it won’t be easy. There might even be sacrifices needed. But I’m prepared for that much. And… you.”

“…”

“Don’t you need to be free from that monster someday too?”

Theo stared blankly at Isabel as if he had been struck.

When he lowered his gaze, he could see the white hands still holding onto him tightly.

The voice that followed somehow felt distant.

“Theo, trust me. Let’s run away together for now.”

It was an absurd story.

He hadn’t confessed everything to Isabel to reach this kind of conclusion.

But, but.

“Let’s be happy. We can do that, the two of us together.”

In that moment, Isabel’s voice felt more irresistible than Crookiatus’s.

Once again.

The scene changed from the garden to a vast field.

Theo appeared pushing through the reed forest, carrying loads of baggage on his shoulders and arms.

His shortened red hair swayed in the wind, and Isabel standing beside him kept looking back behind them.

Theo quietly asked Isabel.

“Does it weigh on your mind?”

“…Mom will think I left because of her.”

Isabel’s expression was complicated.

“We argued for a long time about whether I should continue studying dark magic. She’ll think I left home because I was tired of the conflict.”

She slowly let out a sorrowful sigh.

“You were right, Theo. This isn’t an easy thing to do.”

“…”

“I think I’ll miss my family… more than I expected.”

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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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