The Villainess in the Childcare Story Doesn’t Hide Her Personality - Chapter 83

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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‘I need to write this report properly… but it’s not easy.’
I set down my quill and pressed my forehead repeatedly.
Preparing Estella’s adoption documents was proving to be a far more complicated matter than I’d anticipated.
While it’s true that something is better than nothing, arranging Estella’s adoption into the Duke’s Mansion when her biological father was still very much alive was no simple task.
I hadn’t mentioned it to Marquis Dever, but I was deliberately postponing bringing Article 493, Section 5—long since obsolete—into the light of day.
‘It’s best used as a threat, just as it is now.’
If it actually became formalized, I could already foresee the mountain of opposition it would face.
Even if I won on legal grounds, this hollow shell of a Child Protection Bureau would be torn to shreds.
At least Gary Collins was fortunate enough to be a talentless mage who trembled at the mere mention of the Mage Tower.
The moment Fabian sent even a light threatening letter, he surrendered his parental rights without hesitation.
I’d searched through old documents to find precedents, but cases where that article had been applied over the past few centuries were few and far between.
Even those weren’t properly recorded, so they proved useless.
‘For now, I’ll process it as a parental rights waiver followed by adoption… but I want to ensure Gary Collins can never claim Estella’s parental rights again.’
Under Imperial law, a parent who voluntarily surrenders parental rights can recover them at any time with the child’s consent.
While there was virtually no chance Estella would voluntarily seek to restore those rights, what if Gary Collins came and coerced her? There was a possibility the child might consent without realizing it.
That’s why I wanted to prepare for every contingency for the child’s sake.
‘So I need to write this report as thoroughly as possible.’
To make Gary Collins’s parental rights waiver permanent.
Fortunately, there were several similar cases on record.
There were quite a few instances of parents who had callously abandoned their children due to financial hardship, only to later come seeking them out after they’d been adopted into other families, attempting to claim parental rights belatedly.
‘I just need to prove that Gary Collins had no genuine interest in Estella’s happiness.’
An anonymous report, my own testimony, and Estella’s own statement.
These three things should be sufficient to establish a permanent waiver of parental rights without major complications.
‘If they say it’s insufficient, I’ll have to track down whoever made the anonymous report.’
Perhaps someone who cared enough about Estella to file an anonymous report would be willing to testify again for the child’s happiness.
The problem was that I had no idea who it was, so I’d have to go out and search for them myself.
‘For now, let me do what I can.’
As I busied myself writing the report, quitting time arrived before I knew it.
I was about to head home early and rest as the Beiretz Family Physician had instructed, when—
A messenger bearing the insignia of the House of Cardicha burst through the door. My heart sank at the sight of his urgent expression.
‘What’s happened to Princess Melissa?’
Fortunately, when I opened the letter from Princess Melissa that the messenger handed me, it wasn’t anything that serious.
‘Oh dear.’
I swallowed dryly. I hadn’t been able to reply to her letters for several days because I’d been so busy.
‘But sending three letters a day is excessive, Princess Melissa…!’
In other words, it had only been about a week since I’d failed to respond to her.
When I read them, they were all saying similar things with little substantial content, so there wasn’t much to write back about.
I’d hesitated to send something perfunctory for fear of hurting the child’s feelings, but I never expected the Grand Duke himself to take action so quickly.
My initial shock gave way to understanding—I could certainly sympathize with Princess Melissa’s feelings.
How frustrating it must be for her.
In modern times, we would communicate daily through calls and texts, but letters were exchanged at most once or twice a day. And I couldn’t use communication magic every single time.
Even those letters had fallen to the wayside, buried under my hectic schedule.
‘We parted ways so dramatically at the banquet—of course she wants to keep seeing me. If it weren’t for all these complications, we would have met long ago.’
“Please convey my sincere apologies. I’ll write a reply right away and send it to you.”
“Instead of a reply, I was ordered to bring you directly.”
“….”
“This is an invitation.”
Upon opening it, I found an elegantly written invitation to an evening dinner at the House of Cardicha.
The date and time were set for seven o’clock this very evening.
Even if I rushed there immediately, it would be cutting it dangerously close.
‘I don’t have the right to refuse, do I?’
As if such a thing were possible.
Before I knew it, I was stepping into the Grand Duke’s resplendent townhouse.
I had expected the butler from last time to greet me.
‘That person… surely not.’
Silver hair gleamed like moonlight, not a strand out of place. The tall man stood with impeccable posture, approaching me slowly as I descended from the carriage.
His appearance remained so inhumanly perfect that I half-expected a marble statue to come walking toward me.
As the distance closed, the cool metallic scent peculiar to silver work drifted faintly through the air—accompanied by an atmosphere so heavy it seemed to press down like a ton of weight.
‘…The Grand Duke himself came to greet me? What is the meaning of this?’
The chill running down my spine wasn’t from the honor of his welcome, as it usually would be.
I let out a hollow laugh. ‘How overwhelming…’
The Grand Duke, who had been regarding me intently, finally spoke.
“My younger sister has been wanting to see you very much.”
His words carried a certain weight to them.
“If not today, I feared you might suddenly depart somewhere else again. I know it’s presumptuous, but I hastily invited you to dinner this evening.”
…How did he know I was planning another business trip for Estella’s sake?
And even if I weren’t leaving the Capital, I’m always a busy person.
I swallowed the words about how your household had stolen time from this busy person, and instead painted on my aristocratic smile.
‘You should be grateful I’m not wearing my aristocratic expression of displeasure.’
“I came without hesitation, feeling apologetic toward the young lady. Where is she?”
“Sister!”
From nowhere, Princess Melissa suddenly appeared and threw her arms around me.
Her face was covered entirely in tears and snot, which was more than enough to explain why Achilles Cardicha had gone to such lengths to invite me urgently.
‘Oh no.’
I swallowed hard.
It seemed… Princess Melissa had developed separation anxiety from me.
‘I thought she had grown so much after returning from Athos.’
But it occurred to me that the Athos incident might have actually made things harder for her.
At Athos, there were many people who genuinely adored Princess Melissa, but here… there weren’t.
“I’m sorry.”
I pulled Princess Melissa into my arms and whispered softly to the child’s ear.
“I’ve been swamped with work, so I’m late in writing back to you.”
“You, you don’t have to write back to me.”
Princess Melissa’s voice sounded anything but reassured.
“I was being difficult… and you must be tired, sister. I’m sorry.”

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