The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 34

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

Tian glared fiercely.

“I never asked you, young master.”

“Since you’re His Highness the Crown Prince, I thought it would be proper etiquette to introduce myself directly.”

Awin smiled brightly.

Crackle.

Fierce sparks flew between the two.

I watched the two kids with a bewildered expression.

James had already fled long ago.

Of course, the other young ladies and gentlemen were still there, watching us with curious eyes.

“How are you close with Annellia, young master?”

Then Tian crossed his arms.

It seemed like he was trying to imitate someone dignified.

“Annellia has only been at Abner Manor for three months now.”

“….”

“Three months is rather short to become ‘very’ close, isn’t it?”

Then Awin countered with his characteristic bright smile.

“No, three months is enough. As you know, Annellia and I are the only children at Abner Manor.”

“….”

“We eat together every day, take walks, study. Sometimes I even sing lullabies to Annellia before she sleeps, so now we’ve become inseparable.”

I frowned slightly and looked at Awin.

“Huh? That’s only because Awin kept begging me to let him sing lullabies!”

Awin just smiled again without answering, and Tian asked incredulously.

“Is that… really true?”

“What?”

“Did you really eat breakfast and take walks together every day?”

I frowned.

“Well….”

Awin immediately interjected.

“We did that almost every day. Tell him the truth, Annellia.”

I nodded hesitantly.

“We did do that.”

“We also read books together and played with toys together, right?”

“That’s because there was no one else to play with, like you said….”

That was also my way of creating a smokescreen.

I was worried it might look too unchildlike if I just stayed holed up in the research room with Owen.

“Last time you said I was your favorite in the manor. Right?”

But at Awin’s last words, I had to open my eyes wide.

“Huh?! That was because I lost at rock-paper-scissors!”

“Even if you said it because you lost rock-paper-scissors, you still said it with your own mouth.”

In the end, I reluctantly nodded again.

‘…Right. I did say it.’

I couldn’t say I didn’t do something I actually did.

That’s when it happened.

“What meaning is there in words said by force? Besides, after going that far, all you heard was that you’re her favorite in the manor?”

Tian tilted his head sideways and laughed as if he found it absurd.

Awin’s eyebrow twitched very slightly.

“Annellia has even hugged me before.”

Silence fell among the three of us.

Even the others watching from afar looked at us with wide eyes.

“…Annellia, what does he mean?”

This time Awin asked slowly.

He had a smiling face, but his eyes were calmly blazing.

Tian wore something like a triumphant smile.

“Didn’t you hear? Annellia hugged me. On the day we first met.”

I looked at Tian with bewildered eyes.

‘I did? When?’

Tian took a step toward me.

Then he lifted his chin slightly toward Awin as if to show off.

“We also held hands. Annellia even wiped my face with her own handkerchief.”

Suddenly I remembered the day I first met Tian.

Tian had been in a difficult situation that day.

I witnessed him being mistreated by a butler, and I stepped in front of him.

After that, to calm the trembling Tian….

“She also gently fixed my hair and called me a really strong child.”

My mouth fell open.

“She held both my hands tightly for quite a while. About an hour or two? Oh, she also whispered to me. She was incredibly worried about me.”

When I turned my head, Awin was smiling with his fists clenched tight.

Tian drove the final nail toward such an Awin.

“Of course, I want you to know that unlike you, young master, I never forced her. Annellia did it on her own, first.”

“….”

“So while I might be her favorite in the manor, I think who she likes most in the Empire—no, the continent—might be different.”

Ha, ha, ha!

Tian, having finished speaking, laughed like a hero who had defeated a demon lord.

‘Playing with seven and eight-year-olds is really exhausting after all….’

I shook my head with a tired expression.

Meanwhile.

At the top of Abner’s Old Tower, from where everything could be seen.

The sun was slowly setting beyond the ridge.

“As expected. Excluding the guards the Dowager Empress brought, security is lax.”

A cold voice echoed from beneath the tower’s shadow.

A man in a black cloak with his hood pulled deep muttered something into a communication magic device.

“Moreover, there’s an unexpected gain.”

[A gain?]

The wind blew, slightly inflating the man’s cloak sleeve.

Through it, a strange tattoo on the inside of his wrist was visible.

“Wendel Lucian isn’t at the manor.”

Wendel Lucian.

The person called Abner’s greatest asset, who always stayed by Sharon’s side protecting her like an iron wall.

But for some reason, he wasn’t at the manor.

A strange smile of victory spread across the man’s lips.

“It’s a rare opportunity. No change in the operation. It might be easier than we expected.”

[Then midnight it is.]

The man nodded.

“Yes, tonight at midnight.”

The man’s eyes glinted in the shadow of the tower where clouds were beginning to gather.

“I’ll contact you as soon as it’s done. Preferably, we’ll handle the corpse on our end too.”

His wickedly gleaming eyes aimed at the target with perfect accuracy.

Toward Annellia, who had mixed in among the children her age, wearing a bright smile.

At the same time, in another location.

“Waaaah! It’s that mister from back then!”

“Tom! Don’t call him mister, you should say Sir Knight!”

Wendel’s troubled gaze slowly moved downward.

Small children were running around frantically at knee level.

“What brings you here, Sir Knight…?”

When he looked up, he saw Ann Clark staring at him with wide, round eyes.

Her hair was neatly pinned up, and her large eyes shone with innocent brightness.

‘…Lady Annellia’s abuser.’

Trying to reconcile Ann’s kind-looking face with the information in his head, Wendel hesitated.

“Mrs. Clark.”

When he finally called out, Ann’s eyes widened.

“Y-yes.”

Ann suppressed her desire to ask about Annellia’s news and wiped her wet hands on her apron.

Wendel tried to stride toward her but stopped short because of the children swarming around his feet.

“Children, you mustn’t block the knight’s way. Come inside quickly.”

At that, a few well-behaved children went into the orphanage first.

The other children soon hesitated and stepped back from around Wendel.

A confused look crossed the knight’s expression once again.

Ann tilted her head.

‘What’s this about?’

Why had this young knight come here?

Was he here to tell her news about Annellia?

But if that were the case, he wouldn’t have come so suddenly like this.

“I’m sorry, but you’ll need to come with me.”

After a moment, Ann’s mouth slowly closed at the words that followed.

Perhaps sensing the unusual atmosphere, the children also grew quiet.

How long did the silence continue?

Ann carefully replied.

“Then what about the children…?”

[We are currently traveling divided among six carriages.]

Sharon Abner nodded at the words coming through the communication stone.

[There are twenty-four children in total. We’ve divided them among five carriages, and Ann Clark is in the same carriage as me.]

The estimated travel time from Evehill to Abner Manor was about 6 hours.

“You’ll arrive around midnight then.”

[Yes.]

“Was there any particular resistance?”

The other side of the communication stone went quiet for a moment.

Soon Wendel’s voice came through.

[There wasn’t. They’re traveling obediently.]

“I see.”

Sharon Abner’s gaze turned toward the window.

Annellia was chattering away while sharing cake with young ladies and gentlemen her age.

Prince Dennis and the Crown Prince tried not to leave her side for even a moment.

“Sharon, what are you doing? Come have a drink.”

The Dowager Empress, who was holding a wine glass at a distant table, called out to her in a loud voice.

Sharon bowed her head and then spoke quickly into the communication stone.

“Come without any delays, on time.”

The party was scheduled to end within the next two hours.

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