The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 40

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

When I woke up, my entire body was drenched in sweat.

I reflexively gasped for breath, then froze when I noticed something.

Someone was lying face down in an uncomfortable position on the right side of the bed.

My eyes widened as I recognized that silhouette.

‘Ann?’

Ann’s face that I had briefly seen before losing consciousness wasn’t a dream.

For some reason, Ann who raised me was here.

I squeezed my tear-filled eyes shut and opened them again.

The corners of my eyes stung.

That wasn’t the only place that hurt.

My arms, legs, chest and stomach, head and neck.

There wasn’t a single part of my body that didn’t ache.

What had happened to me came back vividly to my memory.

Longton’s assassin Brooke had come to my bedroom.

I had tried to escape but failed, and at the moment I thought I would surely die, I saw…

‘That light.’

Hundreds of millions of light fragments that had enveloped my body in that instant.

‘What was that?’

I narrowed my eyes and recalled last night’s memories.

When Brooke attacked me, my mind went dizzy and everything went white before my eyes.

It was the moment I thought it was truly the end.

Then, an indescribably bright light gathered around my body.

What happened after that was even stranger.

‘It felt like time was flowing backwards only around me.’

More precisely, it felt like my body was being sucked somewhere and moving to the past.

When I desperately pulled myself together, the light disappeared without a trace as if it had never existed.

Thanks to Brooke being distracted by that afterimage, I was able to open the door and get outside.

After that…

I tried moving the fingers on my right hand.

My index and middle fingers moved, but when I tried to move my ring finger, it sent sharp pain up to my arm.

“…What do I do.”

I whimpered quietly so as not to wake Ann.

This time I tried moving my legs.

It hurt so much that I bit my lip hard.

‘Biting my lip makes my forehead hurt too!’

In the midst of my misery, another memory flashed through my mind.

Was it after I rolled down the central staircase?

I was sprawled on the floor, and for some reason there were many people around me.

My vision was blurry so I couldn’t make out their faces, but I knew it was the middle of the night and I had woken everyone up.

As the pain made it difficult to think maturely, only one thing made me suddenly afraid.

‘For a moment I thought I was at the Longton Family.’

I think I said something like sorry for causing a commotion.

I blinked with a serious expression.

But still.

‘They treated me.’

Medicine was incredibly expensive right now since medical drugs weren’t well developed yet.

They probably couldn’t obtain proper treatment drugs due to shortages, and likely used enormous amounts of hemostatic agents.

Of course, the cost of calling a doctor would have been quite expensive too.

Suddenly worried, I turned my eyes toward the window.

‘Where is Sharon Abner?’

The curtains were drawn thick so I couldn’t tell properly, but judging by the light seeping in, it seemed to be morning now.

‘What should I say?’

Shouldn’t I properly apologize first for causing a commotion?

Sharon Abner had even thrown me a birthday party and provided me a place to stay.

Yet less than a day after the party ended, such a terrible incident had occurred within the estate…

I was blinking with mixed feelings when.

“Annellia?”

Ann’s incredulous voice reached me.

Unable to lift my neck, I only lowered my gaze and saw a pair of eyes filled with worry.

“Are you conscious? Are you okay? Huh?!”

I looked at my teacher’s face, which had turned almost completely pale, and moved my lips slightly.

“Tea, teacher…”

But looking again, I saw that Ann also had bandages wrapped tightly around her shoulders, arms, and both hands.

“Are you hurt, teacher?”

Ann approached me with her lips pressed together.

“Who are you worrying about right now? You, you almost got into serious trouble!”

She was trying to act like she was fine, but her voice was trembling.

I searched for words to respond, then asked carefully.

“How much?”

I thought I needed to check what my current condition was like.

Then Ann let out a deep sigh.

“Enough that you’ll have to lie still for at least two months.”

My eyes widened automatically.

“Two whole months?”

“Annellia.”

Ann’s eyes went wide.

“Do you know what condition you’re in right now? You lost so much blood, you almost got into serious trouble!”

“…”

“We need to stop the bleeding immediately, and get medicine to heal your wounds. That person who’s your magic teacher went to the Imperial Palace Pharmaceutical Academy. To get materials.”

As expected, they must have used lots of hemostatic agents.

And even that wasn’t enough, so Owen went to the Academy of Pharmacy.

‘If he went to get medicine to treat my wounds, then it must be that?’

I rolled my eyes around.

“But there’s no need for that…?”

Ann stared at me with wide eyes.

“What are you talking about?”

I couldn’t bring myself to answer readily and kept my mouth shut.

‘Well, because there are already plenty of treatment drugs at Abner Manor…’

As I mentioned before, when I was five years old like now, pharmacy wasn’t a very developed field.

There weren’t many types of medicines to treat people, and naturally their effects were minimal too.

Owen’s struggle to find medicine to treat Awin was actually in this context.

‘But now it’s different.’

Since I, who retained memories of my previous life, had regressed like this.

Healing pharmacy, which had been stagnant in my previous life, began to develop when I entered my teens.

That’s when I started creating various medicines in earnest.

“Behind Abner Manor, there’s a greenhouse.”

My ribs hurt every time I spoke, so I gasped for breath intermittently.

“Everything we need is there.”

Ann just stared at me without any response.

“Please tell the Duke, teacher. That Annellia can make medicine and get better quickly, so he doesn’t need to spend money.”

“Lia.”

“A-actually, yesterday, the Duke threw a birthday party for Lia. Lia got lots of presents too, and we cut a really big cake.”

“….”

“He must have already spent so much money on Lia….”

‘Do you know how terrible it is for me to feed and shelter someone who nearly killed my daughter?’

Duke Longton’s voice echoed in my ears.

It seemed like I had nightmares from my past life the entire time I was unconscious.

“I promised the Duke. If he just lets me stay here, I don’t need much food, and Lia’s room doesn’t need to be big, so I’ll really be well-behaved.”

‘Even a closet is too good for you. The very fact that you breathe in this estate is disgusting!’

“But the Duke told Aunt Marenese to make lots of bread because Lia likes it.”

“….”

“He also gave me a big, warm room. He let me receive more than ten birthday presents and the cake was really big too…. He’s a good person.”

My voice trembled slightly.

“So Lia has to make the medicine. If Lia has to leave here….”

The words I couldn’t bring myself to say lingered in my throat.

‘I have nowhere to go.’

An awkward silence settled between us.

“Lia.”

Then, Teacher Ann called my name quietly.

“Do you know what children your age usually do in situations like this?”

The teacher’s expression was very calm.

“It varies by child, but usually they cry. A lot.”

“….”

“Not enduring the pain like you do. Not saying such strange things.”

Teacher Ann pulled her chair closer to sit nearer to me.

Then she stared intently at my face.

“Lia, you don’t realize how strange you are right now.”

I was at a loss for words and stared at Teacher Ann.

Though we hadn’t spent a long time together, Teacher Ann was still Teacher Ann.

My guardian who had been with me from infancy until I could understand the world to some extent.

Was that why?

“Let me ask you one thing.”

Teacher Ann gently took my hand and made a stern expression.

“Did something happen to you?”

Her eyes swayed gently.

“I’m not just talking about what happened after you came to this estate. What I want to ask is….”

“….”

“Who exactly are you?”

It took a very long time to explain everything.

There was pain every time I spoke, so my words were interrupted for long periods.

But until I finished telling the entire story, Teacher Ann silently listened to my words.

The bandages wrapped around the teacher’s hands became soaked with blood again.

“Like that….”

Even though I told her not to, the teacher had clenched her fists tightly as if she couldn’t bear it while listening to my story.

“My child, our Lia who wouldn’t hurt even if I put her in my eyes.”

I had confessed to Teacher Ann about my regression.

“…So that’s how you died.”

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