The Quack Lady - Chapter 37
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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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Episode 37
“What?”
“Since you’re a knight, Count, you would know well. Isn’t the most important thing for a knight their pride, and life? Whether it’s the lives of comrades or one’s own life.”
At my question, he exhaled quietly and nodded slightly.
“There’s only one. Even if it’s an animal.”
“…”
“That’s why life must be treated preciously. It’s also courtesy toward all living things.”
I had to make it clear.
No matter how small a living creature, as long as its heart is beating, it shouldn’t be treated carelessly.
“But Count, you treated such a life carelessly. And it was one of the most important lives to the Young Baron.”
The Count remained motionless, only listening to the words I spoke.
Though his expression seemed somewhat complicated…
‘If this goes well, maybe Demian’s wounds can heal a little too.’
It was then, as I was steeling my resolve.
“What would change?”
“Pardon?”
“Even if I were to offer an apology to Demian, making a hundred concessions, that puppy that’s already dead won’t come back.”
His voice was as cruel as his expression. It was true, but…
‘You’re wrong.’
I immediately shook my head.
“As you said, Count, even if you apologize, the dead Tete won’t return. However, this is possible. If you sincerely acknowledge your wrongdoing and offer an apology, the Young Baron and Tete’s hearts can be comforted.”
“Comfort?”
After finishing his words, he burst into a bitter laugh. Laughing as if incredulous, he suddenly stopped and warned me.
“Getting Demian to speak must have been pure coincidence.”
“Pardon?”
“It was my misjudgment to think your skills might be good, even briefly. Demian’s condition doesn’t seem very good either.”
His gaze slowly turned toward Demian, who was clutching my collar.
The child was terrified. His face looked like he might cry at any moment, so I had no choice but to subtly shield the child behind me.
“This may be presumptuous, but you’re being too harsh. He’s only a nine-year-old child…”
“Before that, he’s also the legitimate heir of the Bernov Family who must rule the Bernov Domain in the future.”
“He’s only nine years old, Count. You still need to teach him much more. In that process, love and affection…”
“Such things aren’t important for the Young Baron.”
At those words, I felt Demian flinch.
‘This is abuse.’
A parent boldly saying love isn’t necessary.
‘This is the worst.’
Just as I was about to speak again, my mouth suddenly stopped.
Strictly speaking, I was nothing more or less than a stranger to the child.
“He’s my child, so mind your own business!”
“Isn’t that excessive interference? Look, the child is fine.”
The reactions of parents suspected of abuse were always the same, and I couldn’t help but feel helpless in the process.
It was when I was catching my breath, wondering what to say next.
“The Countess approaches.”
Before the urgent guard’s words could finish, the door burst open.
Though slightly pale, she appeared in an elegant dress, overflowing with indescribable grace.
So much so that I doubted whether she was the same person who had been collapsed and lying down just moments ago.
“My lady?”
The Count seemed to feel the same way.
His brow was furrowed as if surprised, and the Countess strode into the office as if tracking down someone who owed her money.
And then.
Slap-!
She immediately struck the Count’s cheek.
Naturally, the Count protested immediately.
“What is this behavior! My lady!”
“Apologize for what you said to my child.”
“What I said to my child?”
He clutched one cheek as if bewildered, his eyes moving rapidly.
And then.
“That love isn’t important…”
“Why are you telling my child that love isn’t important? He’s a child I raised with love! Do you really have to speak like that as the child’s father?”
“…”
“You just said ‘my child,’ didn’t you? Yes, that’s right. He’s your child. But he’s also my child!”
Her voice, filled with indignation, filled the Count’s study.
Everyone was busy watching each other’s reactions, forgetting even to breathe.
Of course, being somewhat familiar with all these situations, I quietly covered the child’s ears.
Because hearing maximizes fear.
“Shall we not listen to anything for just a moment? I’ll definitely tell you later what conversation the two of them had. Understood?”
Naturally, a marital fight would be a great shock to the child.
I directed the child’s ears and eyes only toward me.
“I can’t stand it anymore. I’ll inform the Ducal Mansion, my family home, of everything.”
“My lady!”
He sprang up from his seat and roughly grabbed the Countess’s wrist.
The Countess grimaced, perhaps due to the rough force, and shook off the Count’s hand.
“Clint. What’s most precious to me is family. If there’s something I’d give my life for, it’s Demian and you!”
“…!”
“But how can you do this to me? That mere apology, I could do it a hundred times over. Do you know why? Because Demian is my child! Our child!”
“…”
“But you seem to think differently than I do. The domain comes before us, that damn Count title…”
The Countess bit her lower lip hard without finishing her words.
Watching her writhe in pain made me suddenly afraid.
‘Oh my, she needs to be careful of stress during pregnancy…’
Worry here, worry there.
Unable to do anything either way, just as I was at a loss, a pearl-like tear finally fell from the Countess’s eyes.
The Count also gritted his teeth and retorted.
“Family is precious to me too! I’ve done what I could. I bought all sorts of indulgences, hoping Demian would return to his former bright self!”
“…”
“But ultimately, if that damn dog doesn’t come back, nothing seems to work…!”
His expression also began to contort as if in pain.
“What exactly would change by admitting fault!”
The couple’s conversation seemed to run on endless parallel lines.
Endless parallel lines that only went straight ahead without narrowing the gap.
‘In the end, nothing will change unless the Count realizes it himself.’
The child was trembling finely with his eyes resting against my shoulder.
I stroked the child’s back a few times and whispered.
“Young Baron. The time has come. Time to set everything right.”
Then I immediately looked straight ahead and spoke.
Now it was do or die.
“You didn’t want to admit it. Because if you admitted it, everything would become your fault.”
“What?”
“So you turned away from reality. That Demian wasn’t hurt, that he was just throwing a tantrum because living as the Young Baron was difficult.”
“….”
“But that’s not true. The Young Baron has been working hard without a single complaint, and don’t you know this better than anyone, Count?”
“….”
“That’s why the Young Baron also knows well that Tete cannot return. Just as you know, Count.”
He laughed self-deprecatingly. Withdrawing his hollow laughter, he asked weakly.
“…Do you want to blame me.”
“No. I’m not saying we should blame anyone, but rather that I hope everyone can escape from this tragic situation, even now.”
The person who knows best that what’s done cannot be undone would be the victim.
That’s why when an incident occurs, ironically, what victims want most is an apology.
Through a sincere apology, they want their suffering acknowledged and their experience respected.
Because their terrible emotions shouldn’t be nothing, like scraps of paper kicked around underfoot.
“So face reality. And just once, think not as the Count, but from the Young Baron’s perspective. How the Young Baron must be feeling right now. What the Young Baron’s heart must have been like.”
As soon as I finished speaking, I spun the child around to face the Count before us.
“You can do it. I’ll help you from beside you.”
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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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