The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 72

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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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They must have seen the gold coins Sharon Abner had given to Wendel.

The guards immediately blocked their path, but the merchants showed no fear at all.

“The young lady’s cheeks look so gaunt. You must have some roasted pork right away!”

Sample foods with delicious aromas were thrust between the guards.

Among them were several luxury items like candy and chocolate that children would love.

“Do you want to try those too?”

Sharon Abner asked casually again.

I was momentarily flustered but soon nodded slightly.

“The roasted pork and sugar bread, just a little…”

“Two of each.”

Sharon Abner immediately took out coins and offered them to the merchants.

The merchants grinned from ear to ear and hurriedly handed over the food.

Two pork skewers and two sugar breads.

As I was about to take them, Sharon Abner suddenly shook her head.

Then she untied the cravat she was wearing over her uniform.

She easily tore the cloth into two strips and wrapped them around the wooden skewer handles to make grips.

“It’s hot. Be careful.”

I received the skewers with an excited face.

Thanks to the cloth wrapped around the handle parts, the dripping oil wasn’t hot at all.

“Here. Eat the bread too.”

Holding a crispy croissant glazed with sugar water in my other hand, I smiled happily.

That’s when it happened.

“Your Grace.”

Wendel’s voice came from outside the window.

He had returned holding strawberry juice in one hand and blueberry juice in the other.

However, his expression was somewhat serious.

“What’s the matter?”

“There was a reason for the traffic jam. There was apparently a small accident up ahead.”

Sharon Abner raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Everyone, please turn to the right!”

Just then, several sturdy knights came toward us from up ahead, shouting loudly.

One of them came to our carriage and spoke through the guards.

“We apologize, but the road is blocked. We’re moving carriages to the right side road, so please move along.”

All of our expressions became serious.

Because the uniform the knight wore had Longton’s crest embroidered on it.

I swallowed the saliva that had gathered in my mouth with a bitter taste.

I had expected to encounter Longton when coming to the Imperial Capital, but this was sooner than expected.

“Wendel. Turn.”

Sharon Abner commanded in a slightly lowered voice.

It was a tone that similarly suggested her mood had soured.

I nodded inwardly.

‘Abner and Longton are originally sworn enemies.’

This situation couldn’t be comfortable for her.

Suddenly, I became curious about how Sharon Abner would react if she knew that the assassin who had tried to harm me before came from Longton.

Meanwhile, the carriage slowly changed direction.

As the wheels began to roll, the small accident scene that had occurred up ahead soon came into view.

A Longton family carriage was stopped in the middle of the road, having lost one wheel.

As I was examining that sight, I froze.

Because I saw a child standing beside the carriage with the knights.

Pink hair and sparkling green eyes.

The line falling from forehead to nose, and the plump lips positioned below it were chillingly familiar.

Suddenly, that child turned their head.

Meeting their eyes, I briefly stopped breathing.

As expected.

That child was Hiana.

Once we escaped to the side road, the congestion was definitely less.

“Of all things, the first noble we encounter is from Longton.”

Sharon Abner looked displeased.

“What is this, right after arriving at the Imperial Capital…”

She suddenly looked at me.

“Why, doesn’t it taste as good as you thought?”

Come to think of it, unlike Sharon Abner who had already finished all of her food, I was still holding a skewer that was about half remaining.

I quickly shook my head and took a big bite of the remaining skewer.

“No, it’s delicious!”

But the thoughts filling my head showed no sign of disappearing.

That moment when my gaze met Hiana’s.

I clearly saw her green eyes widen greatly.

She seemed to stiffen her face slightly, then soon opened her small lips.

That’s when the carriage turned the corner of the side road.

Naturally, Hiana’s figure disappeared too, but I couldn’t easily take my eyes off the window.

‘That lip movement. Surely…’

It definitely seemed like she said “sister.”

Even knowing that couldn’t be possible, my brow furrowed.

I could hear Wendel in the carriage speaking to Sharon Abner.

“That girl from just now. She’s the Longton family’s only daughter.”

“The one who was lost as a baby and recently found?”

“Yes. It seems she returned to the estate exactly two months ago.”

I glanced at Wendel while eating my skewer.

‘Two months?’

That can’t be right.

The day Hiana should have returned is the last day of July.

Not September, which was two months ago.

“It seems Philomena Longton found and brought her back.”

Hearing the story that followed, I reflexively stopped even chewing.

Philomena Longton.

Lambert Longton’s sister, and someone who remained with the Longton family unmarried despite being close to fifty.

‘This time too, my aunt, no, Philomena brought Hiana back?’

I felt that something was strange.

‘In my previous life, Philomena found Hiana seven years later, right? At this time, Hiana was supposed to come to the house herself and get kicked out.’

So I thought Hiana had come directly to the Longton Estate on the last day of July to meet her family.

But something was different.

Both the way Hiana returned and the timing.

‘Especially that it was Philomena who brought that child back this time too.’

Lady Philomena, who had been my aunt in my previous life, was a woman who made my cheeks sting just thinking about her.

‘How unpleasant.’

‘Did you throw away all your pride and self-respect just because you wanted to hear yourself called a princess?’

‘Stop groveling. Even that sight makes me furious.’

She was one of the people who had openly shown hostility toward me from the very beginning.

Unlike Duke Longton and the princes, she consistently despised me even before Hiana returned.

She would slap my cheek without hesitation or spout vicious curses.

‘Even setting that aside.’

What was most unbearable was that there was no reason behind her behavior.

‘Why do you hate me so much?’

‘Do I need a reason to hate something like you? You’re just disgusting. Just looking at you makes me feel like I’ve been thrown into a sewer.’

Lady Philomena’s every action literally had no reason.

She had no idea how miserable and difficult that made a person feel.

“She personally witnessed the child begging on the streets, brought her back, and even arranged for a paternity test.”

“With Lambert Longton.”

“Yes. Once it was confirmed she was his niece, there are rumors that she’s showering her with tremendous affection. She’s even personally looking into finding a godmother for the child.”

“That’s unusual behavior for Philomena. Wasn’t she originally a woman who had no interest in family affairs?”

I almost found myself nodding without realizing it.

As Sharon Abner said, Philomena during this period rarely interfered in Longton Family matters.

It wasn’t that she got along well with other family members either; she just particularly hated me more.

Rather, she found her family uncomfortable and kept her distance from them.

‘But. Such a person brought Hiana back and is now doting on her terribly.’

I blinked as I swallowed the last skewer.

‘Did something go wrong because of me?’

Is that why the timing and method of Hiana’s return changed?

But even so, would Philomena be able to find Hiana this time too?

Something that should have happened 7 years later, happening this quickly…

Even finding Hiana who was working as a slave on the Eastern Continent.

Questions led to more questions in an endless chain.

I clenched and unclenched my fist for no reason.

Right, it could all be coincidence.

A chance error that occurred when I chose Abner instead of Longton.

But…

‘…Sister?’

Then what about that lip movement.

I must have seen it wrong, but if, if Hiana really called me that…

At that moment, the carriage came to a stop.

Before we knew it, we had arrived at the Imperial Palace.

The 26th Emperor of the Taranta Empire, Edward Lacteus, looked down from his lofty throne and muttered indifferently.

“Boring. Next.”

The nobleman prostrated flat below the throne flushed red.

He set down the gift box he had prepared on the floor and quickly retreated.

The next nobleman in line stepped forward.

“I, I greet the sun of the Empire. What I have brought is a rare treasure from the Northern Continent Polar Region…”

“Is there anything more useless to me than jewels? Next.”

This nobleman was dismissed before he could even finish his greeting.

But the Emperor’s red eyes only showed clear signs of annoyance.

His expression suggested that even the 5 seconds allocated to each person was precious and he was bored to death.

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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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