The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 217

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

Three days ago.

“I report Karin Hunt as a traitor.”

Alexandra’s crossed arms and eyes turned coldly downward.

She silently stared at the man prostrated flat before her.

“Karin Hunt communicated with someone of unknown identity and attempted to assassinate His Majesty the Emperor! Please impose severe punishment!”

Blood trickled down from the forehead of the man who was banging his head on the floor.

Finally, the Dowager Empress, who had been keeping her mouth tightly shut, spoke.

“…Etian. Weren’t you the one who supported the Empress more than anyone else?”

Etian Hunt.

The head of the Hunt family and a figure who greatly contributed to placing Karin on the throne as Empress.

As the representative of the Empress faction nobles, a man who had been opposing the Dowager Empress all along.

“Yes, it’s true that I wished for Karin Empress’s offspring to become Emperor.”

Etian spoke in a pained voice.

“I am human too, so how could I not! I believed that if Prince Adrian, who has Hunt blood, became Emperor, our family’s honor would be greatly elevated. However…”

“However?”

“The Empress, no, that thing Karin was trying to assassinate even the current His Majesty the Emperor, so as a loyal subject I couldn’t just stand by and watch…”

Hot tears streamed down from Etian’s eyes.

He wrinkled his brow severely and banged his forehead on the floor several more times.

“She was a child with great ambition since childhood, so as her uncle I wanted to support her. But if she harbors treason in her heart, shouldn’t it be corrected…”

The Dowager Empress watched Etian silently.

Then she spoke as if tossing the words out.

“The council of ministers is in four days. With your testimony, following Adrian, Karin too will be unable to avoid deposition.”

Etian’s body stiffened with a start.

But he soon answered quietly.

“That would be so. Really, how did things come to this…”

“You know the Hunt family can’t avoid punishment either, right? If you saw what happened to Longton Territory 7 years ago, you naturally know.”

“Ahem, I… actually.”

Then Etian cleared his throat as if he had been waiting.

“In the Imperial Law that His Majesty enacted, there’s a clause that those who report crimes of relatives or superiors shall have the fact of reporting kept secret and be exempted from collective responsibility.”

The Dowager Empress’s eyebrows twitched.

“Karin has been coming and going from Hunt Estate for several years. Actually, it was because we had frequent disputes over inheritance rights…”

“So?”

“A few months ago, tired of the prolonged arguments, we finished discussing removing Karin’s name from the Hunt family register.”

An incredulous smile appeared on the Dowager Empress’s lips.

“So, the Empress is no longer a person of the Hunt family?”

Etian nodded as if troubled.

“The situation is a bit absurd, but officially that’s correct.”

At the same time, the Hunt family’s administrator who had been standing back quickly came forward with documents.

The Dowager Empress’s brow furrowed as she read through the documents.

The Hunt family genealogy.

A red line was clearly drawn over the name Karin Hunt written at the bottom.

“Didn’t I tell you that Karin attacked His Majesty the Emperor with dark magic! That child is still only making plans to ruin the Empire with dark magic!”

“…”

“If she realizes her crimes have been discovered, she might suddenly disappear. Magic being what it is…”

“So what are you trying to say?”

Etian closed his mouth.

He cleared his throat and continued speaking.

“I will help you catch her in the act. The scene where Karin activates black magic.”

“S-Sir. Are you really alright with this?”

“Then what else should we do?”

Walking through the corridor of the Dowager Empress’s Palace, Etian answered sharply.

“It’s an altar that no one but that woman could use anyway. A sacred relic left by the first Hunt? Sacred relic my ass, what kind of sacred relic is a stone that’s just been taking up space in the basement for decades!”

The adjutant looked down anxiously.

“You probably think I’m being excessive. But you need to know when to cut ties to move forward.”

Etian rubbed his temples as if troubled.

“Karin has already crossed a river she can’t return from. When the emergency meeting is convened, do you think Adrian will be able to avoid deposition? With our Empress faction already completely pushed back by the Dowager Empress faction, who would protect Adrian?”

“But this way, we’re completely turning our backs on Lady Karin…”

“It’s true that we rose to the ranks of great nobility thanks to Karin. So what?”

Etian’s eyes gleamed sharply.

“It’s something that should have been done 7 years ago.”

“…”

“When that thing I thought was useful started to slowly break down. When signs of that began to show, I should have cut ties immediately.”

Looking anxious, Etian repeatedly brushed his forehead.

“It’s fortunate that the Dowager Empress made such an absurd law. She’s an old woman who values appearances above all, so would she really punish us by breaking the law she made herself?”

Dowager Empress Alexandra Minerva was a woman who usually kept and followed the Imperial Laws she had established.

“Besides, officially Karin is not a person of our Hunt family. So even if they want to find fault, they won’t be able to.”

“Then what about Prince Adrian…”

“We abandon him too.”

Etian glanced back at his adjutant and quickened his pace.

“He’s someone without hope anyway. Since the Dowager Empress and Crown Prince can’t fail to deal with one child who isn’t even fully grown, he’ll likely be executed along with Karin.”

“…”

“So forget everything that happened today. Pretend it never happened. From now on, no one but you and I know about this matter.”

The adjutant closed his mouth.

“It’s regrettable.”

Etian barely managed to squeeze out a sad voice as he spoke.

In the darkness, I could feel Karin’s eyes reaching me.

“I had no choice either. How could I help it when they barged in knowing somehow and forced me to use communication magic saying the altar had responded!”

However, there was no response from inside the iron bars.

“Tomorrow, when you’re transferred to the Imperial Capital, I’ll do my best to help. Though I don’t know what happened…”

“The altar responding was real.”

At that moment Karin muttered.

Etian closed his mouth and frowned for a moment.

“What?”

“That light that spread along the patterns at the last moment. The altar responding was real.”

Etian’s expression became strange.

The altar responded?

That altar that had given no response for 7 years?

That couldn’t be.

If that were true, wouldn’t reporting Karin have been pointless?

Etian unconsciously leaned slightly toward the iron bars.

“What do you mean by that? Tell me in detail.”

“…Though briefly, I was able to charge the scales.”

Soon the sound of someone struggling to get up could be heard from inside the iron bars.

Under the dim moonlight, Karin’s silhouette flickered.

“There was still something I could do with the scales.”

Bewilderment gradually began to appear on Etian’s face.

“Then, you’re saying… if it weren’t for the Dowager Empress, if you had just a little more time, you could have used magic like before again?”

“Of course I could have.”

Karin’s voice echoed inside the iron cage.

“Cloud the Emperor’s mind again, and this time truly kill the Crown Prince and Dowager Empress.”

Etian’s eyes began to waver.

“If the throne becomes vacant, your grand dream might have been fulfilled.”

Finally, Karin stood in front of the iron cage.

The moonlight emerged from behind the clouds, clearly revealing Karin’s sunken eyes.

Etian urgently opened his mouth.

“Then, then give it to me.”

He grasped the iron cage with both hands.

“Give me the scale. Tonight, I’ll go to the ritual altar and try again. Realistically, getting you out of here is impossible! You know that too!”

Karin stared intently at Etian without answering.

Etian’s voice became increasingly urgent.

“Karin, come to your senses. If the altar responded, now is the right time! Just draw blood from your palm and sprinkle it on the altar, right? I’ll do it. The Dowager Empress is conveniently staying here too, so I can kill her and immediately advance to the Imperial Capital!”

But Karin gave no answer.

Etian saw the black scale held in her hand.

Etian extended one hand toward Karin.

“This is the future we both desperately longed for!”

At those words, Karin finally took a step forward.

Etian’s face brightened.

“Good thinking. You truly don’t disappoint me! Yes, quickly, quickly come here!”

But instead of handing over the scale, Karin approached and firmly grasped Etian’s hand with her other hand.

He frowned briefly at the cold sensation.

“I told you to give me the scale, you… Kugh.”

Red blood burst forth from Etian’s mouth.

Lowering his gaze slightly, he saw something black and sharp embedded in the right side of his neck.

“You, you…!”

Etian fell to his knees on the floor, his eyes wide with shock.

Karin, who had driven the scale she was holding into Etian’s neck, looked down at him with an expressionless face.

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