The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 232

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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!”

As I burst open the door, Father and Shasha, who were inside the Lord’s Office, simultaneously turned their heads.

I strode toward Father with one hand firmly grasping Tian’s hand.

“Did you really do that, Father?”

Father showed a momentarily flustered expression, then soon looked at mine and Tian’s tightly clasped hands and twitched his eyebrows.

Father’s eyes slowly moved to Tian.

I would have liked to hide Tian, but it was impossible.

Tian was a head and a half taller than me.

“Did you really do that, Father, when we got engaged? Tell Tian you’d kill him if he held my hand or kissed me.”

But Father didn’t answer.

He just looked at Tian with sharp eyes and smiled coldly.

“Our daughter, who told you such things?”

“Who said it doesn’t matter. What matters is that Father used hierarchical intimidation and verbal violence!”

“But I’m lower in hierarchy, aren’t I? Your fiancé is the Crown Prince.”

I gasped and shut my mouth.

Come to think of it, Father was right.

“It, it may not be hierarchical intimidation, but still… family, based on family relationship hierarchy…”

“By the way.”

At that moment, Father interrupted my words as if finding it interesting.

Then he looked at Tian and smiled wickedly.

Annellia, the fact that you came here holding Crown Prince’s hand means that incident has finally surfaced, doesn’t it?”

I felt Tian’s hand tremble slightly.

But I boldly met Father’s eyes.

“So Father and Mother knew about it too? That’s why you were acting so suspiciously.”

“Of course we knew. You seemed to want to hide it, so we pretended not to know until now…”

“But?”

“Now the situation is different.”

Father took a step closer.

“I warned you so many times. Since it’s just an engagement, not a formal marriage, and a contract marriage at that, I told you to be careful with your conduct.”

Tian was looking down at the ground diagonally as if troubled.

“I already find our Annellia too precious to bear, yet you dare to kiss her? A kiss that even her real mother Isabel can barely get?”

Sensing something strange, I tilted my head.

“Wait, why are you suddenly bringing up me avoiding Mother’s kisses…”

“I can’t approve. Especially if you’re talking about breaking off the engagement.”

Just as I frowned at Father’s words.

“It was indeed my fault for not being able to resist and kissing her two months ago.”

Tian suddenly stepped in front of me and looked directly at Father.

Then he bowed deeply.

“I apologize for that, Father-in-law.”

Father showed a startled expression.

Tian raised his head and continued speaking as if nothing happened.

“I fully understand your feelings as a parent cherishing Annellia. But Annellia will also come of age next week.”

Tian looked back at me and added seriously.

“That means she’s reached the age to start her own family.”

Father’s eyes widened.

Father held his breath briefly and answered.

“Even if she comes of age, she’s only eighteen years old. What family of her own…”

“That’s just the Abner Family’s custom. Young ladies and lords from other families sometimes make lifetime vows at fifteen. The Imperial Court does too.”

“So what are you trying to say?”

“Please approve our marriage. I love Annellia. Annellia also said she feels I’m a man. I have no intention of breaking the engagement.”

Father looked at me with widened eyes.

“Da, daughter… Is it true? Did you really say the Crown Prince feels like a man to you?”

I frowned deeply and remained silent for a moment.

Then I nodded.

“Yes. I did.”

“Why? No, suddenly? No, that’s not right. How did it happen?”

“Because of Tian. I thought he was just a friend, a little kid who only cried from when we first met, but looking again, he’s tall, handsome, and his body seems masculine too.”

Father’s hands dropped.

Father stepped back from us with shocked eyes.

“Then, then you really…”

But at that moment, I turned around.

And asked Tian.

“But that’s one thing. Why are you bringing up marriage?”

Both Father and Tian widened their eyes.

“Huh?”

“Why are you suddenly bringing up marriage? I said you feel like a man to me, but I never said I’d marry you.”

Tian’s face went blank.

Soon he slowly answered.

“Usually… saying someone feels like a man means you have feelings. You also said you get nervous around me.”

“Yes. I like you.”

“But you don’t want to marry me?”

“Right. Marriage is a separate matter.”

I raised my fingers one by one to the two men who had frozen like statues.

“First, I’m not mentally prepared for marriage yet. Second, I’m too busy to get married. Third, me getting married and starting a family would be a national, no, continental loss. The time I’d invest in family would mean I couldn’t contribute to magical development.”

“Wow.”

Suddenly, clanking sounds echoed through the silent office.

When I turned my head, Shasha was clapping using devices on both hands, having been watching from who knows when.

“Truly perfect analysis. That’s right, if the Academy Director gets married, that would be a continental loss.”

I cleared my throat and said to Tian, who was still frozen.

“And you’re the Crown Prince. When you become Emperor, you’ll have mountains of work to handle, so you need to find a Crown Princess who can properly support you.”

“…Support?”

“Usually Empresses help process state affairs assigned by the Emperor or take care of the people’s welfare. Those may seem trivial, but they actually require considerable time and effort. I can’t do that. I’m too busy taking care of my own things.”

“…”

“Oh, and what about heirs? Children don’t just appear out of nowhere. You know how much the Dowager Empress suffered after childbirth, right?”

I shook my head firmly as if it was absolutely impossible.

“I definitely can’t do it. I can’t have children. I’m not confident about raising them either. But you can’t not have heirs when you become Emperor.”

Tian now looked like his soul had completely left his body.

I grasped Tian’s hand tightly.

“Tian. Must the end for people who like each other always be marriage? I think it’s also courageous to meet beautifully and support each other’s paths in the future.”

Tian didn’t answer.

From his expression, he seemed to have become completely unable to communicate.

I had no choice but to let go of Tian’s hand.

“Well, Euriko and the Mark twins are waiting for me, so I’ll go. You should come to my research room later too, not too late, okay?”

Then I ran toward the research room, looking back at Tian several times.

The place where Annellia had left.

“…Ahem.”

Theo, who had quietly approached, patted Tian’s forearm.

Shasha, who was watching this scene, crossed her arms and muttered.

“As expected of the Academy Director. To think I’d live to see Crown Prince get rejected by his fiancée.”

“You stay quiet.”

Shasha closed her mouth.

Theo soon muttered lowly with a complicated expression.

“…Hang in there. I didn’t know Annellia would be that stubborn either.”

Then he hesitated before adding.

“I’m against it, but actually Isabel was in favor of you two getting married. Her Excellency, no, my mother-in-law wasn’t negative about it either. It was just problematic because the Dowager Empress opposed it.”

“…Yes.”

At that moment, Theo raised his head.

“Hm?”

“I was rejected every time I confessed. Ever since we were very young.”

Theo’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Even though I spoke indirectly, I told her I liked her dozens of times. I was always rejected each time, so that day I said I loved her. Directly, raw and unfiltered, hoping she might take it seriously at least once.”

“….”

Theo cleared his throat with a cough.

“But even that day, she subtly brushed it off again. When I looked into her eyes and said I loved her, she just casually dismissed it… I impulsively kissed her.”

“….”

“But today, Annellia said she sees me as a man. She said she feels fluttered by me, so I thought I could finally see the end….”

Tian’s expression darkened.

His under-eyes, which had been clear despite staying up for three nights, had become haggard in such a short time.

“…She’s saying let’s just date and break up before marriage, right? I heard correctly, didn’t I?”

Theo unconsciously gave Tian an awkward embrace.

And began patting his back.

“…Well, what. At least you get to date….”

Then he stopped and faced Tian.

“Ah, just in case, let me say this – no overly passionate romance. What I meant was very wholesome and proper dating. Taking walks and looking at flowers together in spring, sitting by the fireplace and reading books together in winter.”

It was the moment when Tian, at a loss for words, closed his mouth.

“Ah, Father! Father-!!”

“Honey!”

Suddenly, loud voices were heard from outside the door where Annellia had left.

The door burst open, and soon Euriko, Annellia, and Isabel appeared with disheveled hair.

“Bell? Annellia?”

“H, honey….”

Isabel, who was being supported by the two for some reason, sobbed.

Then she uttered one sentence.

“Wh, wh, what should we do? We’re having our second child.”

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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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