The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 64

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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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I stared blankly at Sharon Abner.

“While I was sleeping, the clan was attacked. My father… barely managed to save only me, a child, and hid me beneath the central altar.”

“…”

“That night was terribly long. Under the cold stone, in a space where I could barely curl up my body, I trembled all night.”

Sharon Abner’s eyes instantly became distant.

As if she were seeing that day long ago when her entire clan was massacred.

“Everything around me was pitch black, so I couldn’t make sense of anything. When the screaming stopped, I could only know that everyone except me had died.”

“…”

“The one who rescued and brought me here was Lloyd, the previous head of Abner and my husband.”

I opened my mouth in a daze.

Sharon Abner was a woman shrouded in mystery.

Even in my previous life, aside from being part of the Michaeliann Clan, no other information about her was known.

“I grew up here with Lloyd. At first everything was unfamiliar, but I soon became accustomed to it.”

“…”

“Lloyd was my only conversation partner and the one person who truly cared for me. He cherished Abner greatly. Though he wasn’t a very capable family head.”

I couldn’t bring myself to give any response and quietly listened to Sharon Abner’s words.

“When he became a minor duke, when he inherited the ducal title. I was always by his side. When he asked me to become his wife, I tried to leave just once but couldn’t… and eventually did as he said.”

Lloyd Abner faced much opposition when he took Sharon Abner as his wife.

Nevertheless, he protected Sharon Abner until the end.

“That Lloyd was very precious to me, and Abner was equally precious. So when Lloyd died and the family began to decline…”

“…”

“I could only think about somehow reviving the family. The problem was that I had no confidence even while doing so.”

Sharon Abner slowly gazed at me.

“The only person who gave me confidence was dead, and everyone hated me. While I was precariously holding on, I even lost my daughter…”

“…”

“I… really felt like I was an impurity in this place.”

She gave a faint self-deprecating laugh.

“When I see the branch families, memories of losing my daughter… memories of Lloyd’s death… and even older memories come flooding back.”

“…”

“Seeing everything around me fall apart like this, I would think that maybe they were right, maybe everything really was my fault.”

Only then did I realize that what I had vaguely thought was indeed true.

‘As expected, she has trauma regarding the branch families.’

Just as I was hesitantly about to offer words of comfort.

“Have you heard the news that all your friends have found adoptive families?”

Sharon Abner said something out of the blue.

Then she stared directly at me and continued with her next words.

“I want to register you as well. Here in Abner.”

After running, I found myself in the manor’s garden.

I was breathing heavily as I leaned against a tree with my hand.

‘As you said, you’ve done your part well enough here. That was more than I expected.’

Sharon Abner’s voice kept circling in my head without rest.

‘But I failed to do so. I couldn’t protect you properly, and even today I let you hear harsh words.’

She seemed to be referring to the verbal abuse Lady Larienne had directed at me.

Such things were nothing, really nothing at all.

‘I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time. Today I gained certainty. I want to register you as the child of my daughter Isabel.’

I felt nauseous and blinked my eyes.

At first, I couldn’t understand those words.

No, there was no way I could understand them.

‘It’s true that I saved Sharon.’

But how does that connect to giving me the Abner surname?

And as Isabel’s child, no less?

‘Whatever you want to do, there’s no safer path than becoming an Abner. Also, no more certain method.’

Sharon Abner promised she would spare no support for me.

She said that thanks to me, the family had become prosperous, and politically everything was going well too.

Regarding magic studies, her argument was that we could gradually increase our personnel with Owen and me at the forefront.

Even so, perhaps because of our initial promise, she never tried to ask me anything or find out about me until the end.

She was simply persistently persuasive.

‘You should register your name under my daughter Isabel. Isabel always wanted children. It’s also the best method for now. I can’t place you in a sibling position with Jayden.’

Telling me to become the adopted daughter of her own child, Isabel.

The more I mulled it over, the more unreal those words felt.

I didn’t even know what this person called Isabel looked like.

If I searched through the manor, I’d probably find a portrait or something, but I had never seen one before.

I hadn’t been interested in the first place.

I only knew that she was Sharon Abner’s daughter and had left the manor long ago and died.

Sharon Abner added one last thing to me in my confusion.

‘More than anything else. Don’t you need a family too?’

Family.

‘Like the other children who lived together at Evehill Orphanage, you need a legal shelter too. No, you need it even more because you’re you.’

From the moment I heard those words, my vision started spinning.

‘You’re special. But sometimes that specialness becomes a blade that kills oneself.’

Until now, I thought I had a fairly good grasp of Sharon Abner’s intentions.

But now I see that everything was a misconception.

Because I never even imagined that Sharon Abner would bring up the topic of registration with me.

Was that why?

I stopped listening midway and frantically rushed out of the room.

And I ran past Miel and Soya, who were waiting in front of the door, to the garden.

Because I needed space anywhere to think alone.

Miel and Soya didn’t chase after me, perhaps due to Sharon Abner’s orders.

“Registration… adoption…”

The more I mulled it over, the more my confusion intensified.

My heart was beating so hard that I staggered and crouched down under a tree.

When I curled my head between my knees, everything around me echoed.

‘Think. Think calmly, Annellia.’

Objectively speaking, would having my name registered with Abner be a bad thing?

‘No, it wouldn’t.’

Rather, it would be closer to a good thing.

I’m currently being threatened by none other than Longton.

‘If I become a member of Abner, that is, if I become a princess.’

Longton won’t be able to easily touch me in the future either.

That wasn’t all.

‘It’ll become much easier to conduct research from now on.’

And other things I need to worry about will also decrease significantly.

“But still…”

Strangely, I couldn’t give a cheerful answer saying I understood.

My head clearly knew it was a good proposal, but really strangely.

It was the moment when I was breathing heavily alone.

“…Annellia?”

Suddenly, someone’s voice echoed through the quiet garden.

I raised my head with tears welling up in my eyes.

Far away between the trees, I could vaguely see someone standing.

Soon that person slowly approached.

Before long, I realized it was Crown Prince Tian.

“Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince?”

“What’s wrong. Are you crying?”

Tian was wearing a military uniform and even riding gloves.

He said he was preparing to leave, but for some reason it seemed he had stopped by the garden just before departure.

“Why are you here…”

“That’s not what’s important right now. Why are you crying. What happened?”

As soon as I heard those words, tears flowed down my cheeks even more.

I spoke incoherently.

“Waaah, don’t ask me that. It makes me cry even more.”

Tian looked surprised.

I quickly wiped my damp cheeks with both hands.

Everything had been strange since I heard the news that Mica and the other kids were being adopted.

“It’s just… I keep… even though I’m not really sad, I keep… sniff.”

Trying to talk while crying made strange sounds come out.

I suddenly covered my mouth and held back my sobs.

Tian’s face was instantly filled with worry.

He crouched down in front of me and carefully looked at my face.

“Nobody hit you or bullied you, right?”

I quickly nodded my head.

Tian immediately rummaged through his jacket and pulled something out.

It was clearly expensive, high-quality candy that seemed imported from another country.

“Put this in your mouth first, then tell me.”

Then, without giving me a chance to refuse, he unwrapped it and pushed it into my mouth.

Sweet flavor slowly spread between my salty tears.

I said while sobbing.

“Your Highness, hic. Why do you always have food with you?”

“Me?”

“Hic, yes. When we first met too, you shared dried meat with me.”

“Ah… yeah. I did.”

Tian scratched his head sheepishly.

Then he plopped down next to me as I rolled the candy around in my mouth.

“When you’re upset about something, being hungry on top of that makes it even sadder.”

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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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