The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 287

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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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Side Story. Kanaelle and Adrian ⑴

On a bright summer day.

The wedding of Kanaelle, the second daughter of Duke Victor’s house, was held.

“My daughter, sob! Our second daughter is finally getting married at last…!”

Duke Victor, who had become more famous as an actor than a lord, shed tears.

“She’s really getting married, how wonderful~”

Kanaelle’s older sister Morgan downed champagne.

“So pretty-! The bride is really, really pretty-!!”

Gabriella, the youngest of the duke’s family, also jumped around excitedly.

“Are you really okay?”

“…”

At a place far from the dais.

Only silence flowed over a table where two men sat facing each other.

“Adrian, are you really okay?”

Only then did the person sitting across from Tian raise his head.

Hair that sparkled golden in the sunlight.

Eyes as blue and clear as the deep sea.

A tall, well-grown stature and sharp, well-balanced facial features exuding masculinity.

Adrian moved his lips and brought his hand toward his neck.

He unbuttoned several buttons of the shirt that had been uncomfortably constricting his chest before answering.

“How could I be okay?”

Adrian’s voice was somehow hoarse.

“…It was bound to end up like this anyway.”

The deposed prince who, though the son of a traitor, inherited the Hunt Duchy through the Dowager Empress’s mercy.

Adrian had grown into a proper man.

He was outwardly a perfect man.

A duke beloved by his subjects, and a loyal retainer of the Empire who perfectly assisted the Emperor.

With his brilliant appearance and calm disposition, he captivated attention wherever he went.

Even Tian, the Emperor of the Empire, had heard about his worth in today’s marriage market.

The only problem was.

“You said you’d try talking to her last time, but it didn’t go well, I see.”

“It didn’t work. She wouldn’t even meet with me.”

Adrian’s eyes sank even deeper.

In his blue pupils was a faint moisture that only Tian could discern.

Adrian, looking at Kanaelle laughing in the distance, emptied the glass of strong liquor in his hand.

“Then and now, I’m still treated like a child.”

“…Adrian.”

“It’s not wrong. I was by her side for twenty years and still lost her so easily. And to a man she’d only known for two months at that.”

Tian looked at Adrian, who immediately downed his second glass, with a troubled expression.

“Stop drinking. That’s not even mild liquor.”

“I’m sorry, brother. I think I should leave early today.”

Adrian’s voice was utterly exhausted.

Tian sighed and turned his head.

Sure enough, Kanaelle and her husband, having finished their marriage vows, were coming down toward the guest seating.

Tian asked Adrian, who was getting up.

“You’re really going to leave without even greeting her or seeing her face?”

Adrian stared at Kanaelle for a moment, then gave a hollow laugh.

“Isn’t just coming here enough for that person?”

“…Adrian.”

“I’ll be going.”

Adrian bowed deeply at the waist.

Then he left his seat without hesitation.

It was while watching Adrian’s retreating figure in a daze.

“Your Majesty! I greet the Sun of the Empire!”

Kanaelle, who had approached, gave a bright greeting.

She smiled cheerfully, then looked at the empty seat in front of Tian with wide eyes.

“Did you come with Her Majesty the Empress?”

“Annellia couldn’t come. She’s busy with work.”

“Then this seat is…?”

“Adrian came and left.”

Kanaelle hesitated.

Tian didn’t miss the subtle change in her expression.

When he put down his utensils, Kanaelle rambled to change the subject.

“I, I see. Really, if he came, he should have at least greeted me before leaving…”

Kanaelle’s eyes turned toward the exit Adrian had taken.

Kanaelle soon looked at Tian with an awkward expression.

“Your Majesty, will you also attend the reception later?”

Tian smiled and shook his head.

“No. I have to leave right away. Instead, how about I arrange a separate occasion at the Imperial Palace soon? Annellia will join then too.”

“That would be wonderful. I’ll be counting the days waiting for your invitation.”

“Good. Congratulations on your marriage.”

Kanaelle, who had bowed, moved away again.

Tian calmly lifted his teacup to rinse his mouth.

Then a guard approached and asked.

“Shall we go to the Imperial Palace?”

Tian shook his head and rose from his seat.

“No. Let’s go to the research institute where the Empress is.”

“To the research institute? Why suddenly to the research institute…?”

“There’s urgent business.”

The guard nodded.

Tian left the banquet hall with dignified steps and boarded his carriage.

It was to quickly inform Annellia of everything he had witnessed here.

“R-really?!”

“Yes. Really really.”

Annellia covered her gaping mouth with both hands in shock.

Not satisfied with that, she confirmed again.

“Is it really over? Really for certain?”

“Yes. It really seems over. Definitely, without any room for hope.”

Annellia slowly drooped her eyebrows.

“What should we do…?”

“…”

“What should we do about our poor Adrian…?”

Tian nodded as well.

Adrian had been saying he would marry Kanaelle since he was seven years old.

Of course, no one around him, including Kanaelle, took those words seriously.

They thought Adrian’s words were just what children of that age typically say.

But when Adrian entered his late teens, the situation took a different turn.

“Do you remember Adrian when Kanaelle got her first boyfriend?”

Tian nodded his head.

“I remember. He wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t drink water, and just locked himself in his room. He even skipped his own coming-of-age ceremony.”

It was from that moment that I thought Adrian’s feelings might be deeper than expected.

“Exactly. I was just laughing at how ridiculous he was being, but you were so serious. You said you were worried about Adrian.”

Tian looked at Annellia.

“I could understand how he felt, so I did that. I loved you the same way when I was eighteen. It felt like I, the world, no, the entire universe revolved around you. Being young doesn’t make the weight of one’s heart any lighter, Annellia.”

“Uh, uhm… that’s right…”

A smile spread across Tian’s lips at her embarrassed, flustered expression.

He moved closer to Annellia, who was sitting at the end of the sofa, and kissed her forehead with a loud smack.

“Of course, I love you even more now than I did then.”

Annellia, who had been grinning broadly, made a sad face again.

“But the more I think about it, the more my heart aches. I was wondering if maybe the situation might turn around at the wedding.”

“The situation turning around at the wedding?”

“Why else would there be the saying ‘it’s not over until it’s over’? There was a comedy I saw once where the bride escaped from the wedding venue.”

“From the wedding venue?”

“That’s right! When it becomes a truly inescapable situation, the protagonist suddenly realizes. The person I truly loved was someone else. It has to be that man!”

“Wait a minute. Are you saying you thought Kanaelle might grab Adrian’s hand and escape from the wedding venue?”

“Yes. Why?”

Tian let out a deflated laugh.

“Adrian might do that, but why would Kanaelle grab Adrian’s hand and leave the venue? She wouldn’t be interested in Adrian.”

Annellia opened her mouth.

“Wasn’t that the reason Adrian was having such a hard time in the first place? Loving alone a woman who wouldn’t even glance his way…”

“Wow, men really have no intuition. Amazing! Are you all born that way?”

It was at that moment that Annellia interrupted Tian’s words.

She immediately added with a face that seemed to say ‘how could you not know?’

“Why would Sister Kanaelle not have feelings for Adrian?”</Human: You are an ELITE PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATOR for Korean web novels (COMMERCIAL QUALITY).

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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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