The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 58

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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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“What is she saying right now? Family rules study? Family rules, study? Aha, ahahaha!”

Lady Larienne slammed her palm on the desk and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

“Didn’t you say she was brilliant? That she was a genius showing tremendous talent in magical studies!”

Then she looked around at the other branch family members as if seeking agreement.

“But what kind of foolish behavior is this? At five years old, she’s not that young anymore, yet she doesn’t even know how important this occasion is!”

Lady Larienne finished speaking mockingly and hardened her expression.

Then she suddenly shouted fiercely.

“This is all a disaster caused by bringing in a child with no proper background as a ward! How could an uneducated commoner understand noble customs?”

The branch family members caught onto Lady Larienne’s intention and began nodding one by one.

Kainton was among them.

“You speak truly, my lady. This is not a place that some ignorant fool should be allowed to defile.”

“Exactly! What kind of disgrace is this? A child in this sacred place!”

A bitter smile spread across Larienne’s face.

She spoke softly.

“I’m disappointed, Lord. You called her a prodigy, but our Clara would be ten, twenty times more brilliant than that child with no proper background.”

Sharon Abner glared at Larienne with a stern expression.

However, Larienne didn’t even blink.

She simply spoke again with more force in her voice.

“This is exactly why the Council of Elders’ permission is required when designating a ward. You refused to bring our Clara into the main castle even unto death.”

“….”

“This child not only slept in the sacred council chamber as if it were her own room, but now disparages our meeting as family rules study? Shouldn’t even a child face discipline for this?”

Sharon Abner was angry.

She acknowledged that the child had made a mistake.

Moreover, weren’t these people who would blow up even small mistakes into enormous flaws and tear them apart?

Sharon Abner clenched her fists, thinking of the knights she had stationed nearby.

‘I gave such earnest instructions not to let her come anywhere near this area.’

They had failed to properly watch over one small child, leading to hearing such harsh words.

Of course, the reason she thought this way was because she didn’t know the background.

The fact that Annellia had coordinated with Owen beforehand to shake off Miel and Soya, and had snuck into the meeting hall about an hour ago.

It had been such a meticulous infiltration operation that there was practically nothing the knights could have done.

“Child. Try answering me.”

Then Lady Larienne glared at Lia with a voice dripping with coldness.

“I’m telling you to smile like you did earlier. I suppose this place looks like the orphanage study room to you?”

Sharon Abner observed Annellia.

She could see the child’s clear profile as she faced Larienne.

It was a somewhat surprised, dazed expression.

“We’re not doing family rules study. We were deliberating on how to handle your situation!”

Lady Larienne tapped the thick book on the desk with her index finger.

“There’s a very serious problem with the Lord bringing you into this house. You’re a child who should be cast out. Do you understand?”

“….”

“This is a council meeting, and we’re questioning your qualifications here. Moreover, that astronomical amount spent due to your carelessness!”

The treatment costs incurred when Annellia was attacked and injured.

Sharon Abner held her forehead.

Even after enduring countless council meetings, she had never been this shaken.

It was fine when she was being attacked—it happened all the time anyway.

But not the child.

That child was completely innocent, wasn’t she?

Unable to bear it any longer, she half-rose from her seat.

“The child….”

“I see! This wasn’t family rules study!”

Suddenly a bright voice interrupted her words.

Sharon Abner stared at Annellia in bewilderment.

“Lia didn’t know it was a council meeting! I thought you were studying family rules! Everyone was getting them wrong!”

Lady Larienne closed her mouth.

“…Getting what wrong?”

The child smiled brightly.

“The family rules!”

Then she pointed at Chairman Herman.

“That grandpa was getting all the family rules wrong?”

The assembly fell silent.

Gradually, murmuring began to spread.

Lady Larienne glared at Lia with a hardened expression.

Sharon Abner also fixed her gaze on Lia in a daze.

Lia spoke with a still beaming expression.

“Article 46, Section 5 regarding the rights of the Council of Elders! Major family matters must go through discussion with the Council of Elders!”

“….”

“However, this does not apply when the Council of Elders is unable to function properly.”

Silence descended.

The child looked at Larienne and shyly added.

“What it means to not function properly is getting all the family rules wrong like now.”

“You, you…!”

Lady Larienne’s face turned bright red.

The other branch family members were also too shocked to continue speaking.

Marquis Kainton, who had been staring at Lia with an absurd expression, suddenly shouted.

“Where does a young child think she is!”

“Article 3, Section 4! When discussing major matters in a meeting hall that includes the Lord, one must not raise their voice and must speak while maintaining dignity and proper procedure!”

“This, this…!”

“And, is there really a serious problem with me becoming the Abner family’s ward…?”

The child asked, echoing Larienne’s words.

Chairman Herman, who had been frozen, finally moved hesitantly.

Then he spoke in a stiffly hardened voice.

“Fa, Family Rule Article 23, Section 9. Major family matters include ‘ward designation.’ This major matter should in principle go through discussion with the Council of Elders….”

“Wrong, wrong! Grandpa got it wrong again?”

Herman closed his mouth.

“Grandpa, you didn’t study the family rules hard, did you?”

Annellia pointed to the thick law book placed in front of him.

“Every single word and sentence in this is extremely important! You left out one word before ‘ward designation’ that’s included in Article 23, Section 9?”

Herman frantically opened the law book.

And as he pointed with his finger and reread Article 23, Section 9, he stiffened.

“Article 23, Section 9… ‘Family’ ward designation.”

“Mm-hmm, I was right after all!”

The child spun around and looked at Sharon Abner.

“Your Grace, when you first came to get me, you said ‘I’m on my way back from putting my name on your guardianship papers,’ right?”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Sharon Abner.

“…Yes.”

“Then I’m Your Grace’s ward, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’m not Abner’s ward, am I? Because there’s Family Rule Article 2, Section 1: ‘The Lord’s actions may be separated from the family’s actions according to their intent’!”

Sharon Abner’s pupils dilated greatly.

She nodded with trembling lips.

“…Yes.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

At that moment, a scream-like outcry echoed through the meeting hall.

Lady Larienne stood up from her seat with a bright red face.

“How dare you lie like this? Do you think this is a place where you can just babble whatever you want?!”

Then she shouted at Chairman Herman.

“Chairman! What are you doing? Verify this immediately!”

The lady’s thoughts were clear.

‘There’s no way a mere child like that could know the family laws so precisely!’

So this must surely be her spouting off whatever she heard somewhere.

‘She’s an orphan, raised without proper guidance, so she still doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation!’

However, Chairman Herman’s response was astounding.

“…There are no errors. Not even a single word.”

“Such, such a thing cannot be possible!”

“Yes it is, it exists!”

The young girl giggled again.

“Annellia memorized it all! From Article 1, Section 1 to Article 149, Section 3!”

“….”

“I was grateful that the Duke brought me, a lowly commoner orphan without parents, and gave me lots of delicious food.”

“….”

“I wanted to become a wonderful adult who could help the Abner Family later, so I studied hard and memorized it all! But actually….”

The young girl made a dejected expression.

“This place is kind of strange…. Why is everyone being mean to the Duke? Even though they get the family laws all wrong….”

“….”

“Shouting and getting angry…. It says right in Article 1, Section 1 that the head of house has the strongest, strongest power in the family….”

The young girl looked at Sharon Abner with sad eyes.

“The Duke really is too kind, so kind that she overlooks all the vassals who don’t even study the family laws properly. No punishments, no torture….”

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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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