This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 7

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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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Chapter 7

“Found it!”

Baron exclaimed excitedly, holding a fist-sized conch shell in his hand.

“Oh. You’re good at finding them.”

When I gave him a thumbs up, Baron grinned widely. His bright face overflowed with charm, making me smile along with him.

“Not bad, little one.”

“Ugh! I told you I’m not little.”

Baron pouted with a dissatisfied expression. Maybe because he was young, he looked cute no matter what face he made.

This morning I grilled the leftover conch shells from yesterday to feed Baron breakfast, and as soon as I confirmed the tide was going out, we came to the sea. Baron had followed along saying he wanted to help with the foraging.

Since it was daytime and we could see well, it would be fine. Also, he said he’d be bored staying home alone.

‘Alright, let’s go together. But you have to stay right next to me. If it gets hard, tell me immediately!’

During the day it’s not very dangerous as long as the tide is right, so I brought him along after giving him strict instructions, and surprisingly he was quite skilled.

Those small hands were still hands, after all.

Thanks to that, even just catching conch shells made the bucket heavy quickly. I estimated it was about 8 kilograms.

“Let’s go back now.”

“Huh? Already?”

Baron looked toward the horizon.

“It seems like there’s still time before the tide comes in?”

“It’s already too heavy and difficult. It’s also problematic to use up all my energy from morning.”

Since there were many things to do today, I had to conserve my stamina in advance.

When I picked up the bucket and stood up, Baron extended his hand.

“Give it here. I’ll carry it.”

“What are you talking about? It’ll be even heavier for a child to carry.”

“No, I’m strong.”

When I shook my head at his ridiculous words, Baron insisted with force in his voice.

“Really. I’m much stronger than Nuna.”

“That’s a lie.”

“You’ll know right away if you just give me the bucket.”

“What’s this tiny kid saying.”

How could a seven-year-old carry this?

It seemed like typical childish bravado, making me chuckle.

‘But… wouldn’t it be cute to see Baron struggling to lift the bucket?’

I looked down at Baron while pondering for a moment. Baron was waving his outstretched hand as if asking for the bucket quickly.

‘Right, this isn’t to tease a child. I’m just trying to make Baron realize reality.’

If it’s heavy for me, how could Baron possibly carry it? Since he won’t be able to lift it anyway, I just need to be careful he doesn’t get hurt trying to pick it up.

“Then just try lifting it once, carefully?”

“If I can lift it well, I can keep carrying it, right?”

Instead of answering “as if that would happen,” I gave him another warning.

“Be careful not to get hurt.”

I set the bucket down on the ground and pushed the handle toward Baron.

But something unexpected happened.

Baron casually lifted the bucket with ease. And with one hand at that!

“This much is, well, light.”

He’s lifting that?

Even seeing it with my own eyes, it was hard to believe.

I was watching carefully thinking he might hurt himself, when Baron took a few steps and furrowed his brow.

I thought “I knew it” and quickly extended my hand.

“See, it’s hard to carry, right? Now give it here.”

“No, it’s just uncomfortable to walk like this because I’m short.”

Then like a waiter, he supported the bottom of the bucket with just his right hand.

“It’s fine if I carry it like this.”

“Huh?”

No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t the strength of a seven-year-old child, leaving my mouth agape.

“Baron, why are you so strong?”

Baron looked at my wide-eyed expression and grinned.

“The Elditt Marquis Family has been a knight family for generations. Father was also strong from a young age.”

Watching the child’s back as he walked steadily, I was reminded once again that this was the Loban World.

“Oh! Come to think of it!”

At the same time, I became fully alert.

I saw hints from the original story in Baron.

First, he had no parents. He was said to be the sole survivor of a noble family that was wiped out.

Moreover, if he had extraordinary appearance and intelligence from childhood, and was even strong on top of that.

‘Could he be… the budding sword master who dreams of revenge?’

Thanks to my experience as a longtime reader of romance fantasy novels, I could instantly imagine the narrative that awaited Baron.

‘His title was definitely stripped and his property confiscated.’

That meant the Royal Court’s blade had reached the Elditt Marquis Family, whether from the male lead’s side or the regent’s side.

Baron, who lost his parents and was abandoned by his nanny, would be kidnapped and even sold as a slave, leading him to harbor hatred toward the Royal Court, but he would hide his emotions and grow up ruthlessly.

‘Since his natural strength is extraordinary, after he’s fully grown he’ll escape slavery to become a mercenary, or hide his original identity to become some noble’s knight and rise through the ranks.’

Then his end would be either mercenary captain or knight commander.

Would the setting be that Baron, having achieved merit in battles against magical beasts, eventually receives a new title and quietly waits for an opportunity for revenge?

Then I tilted my head.

‘Wait, when he’s fully grown it’ll be after the ending, right? The ages don’t match. Then is this a side story?’

There was no mercenary captain character in the original, but there was a knight commander character. I remembered that in the original’s side story, a rebellion by the Royal Knight Order commander who was a sword master was mentioned.

After the male and female leads went on a pleasant journey and the princess born between them ascended the throne, the knight commander who admired her confessed his feelings. He asked her to accept him as her consort.

But the proposal was rejected, and the knight commander started a rebellion in response.

‘When I read it, I thought he was really pathetic and foolish. Are you saying that was our Baron?’

Come to think of it, there was a description of that knight commander having long black hair. I vaguely remembered it saying his eyes were deep orange, but since he was just an extra character, my memory wasn’t accurate.

No, wait. I think it said they were clear purple?

‘Gasp!’

At that moment, the last piece fell into place.

‘That knight commander was Baron who changed his name, wasn’t it? Being rejected was just an excuse – it was actually revenge. Because parents would be extremely anguished if their child died.’

But the trap was that the knight commander didn’t know well what kind of abilities the princess possessed.

Naturally, the rebellion failed miserably, and the knight commander was dealt with by Raven, the death knight who was by the princess’s side.

It was a natural conclusion. In web novels, villains can’t beat the protagonist.

Looking at Baron’s round head from behind as he walked ahead, I felt sorry for the poor future awaiting this young child.

He was born with good talent, but his role was to spend his life sharpening the blade of revenge only to die at the hands of the protagonist’s daughter’s subordinate.

‘Oh, poor little one. If you’re that knight commander, you have a death flag planted on you.’

Then Baron looked back.

“Why are you crying?”

“Huh? Oh.”

I hastily wiped away tears with my fingertips and said with a smile.

“I was moved because our little one is so strong.”

“I told you I’m not little. Well, still…”

One corner of Baron’s mouth rose confidently.

“This much is nothing at all.”

Baron started walking again. From the way he was shrugging his shoulders as he went, he seemed to be in a good mood.

‘Kyuk! He’s so cute like that.’

Seeing him like that, I made up my mind.

I would save Baron from his death flag.

No matter how difficult it might be, I would pour all my love into raising him to be a child with a warm heart.

‘I’ll earn lots of money to feed him delicious food and dress him in nice clothes. Even if we can’t reach nobility, I’ll raise him without want and send him to the academy.’

There he’d make good friends and grow up happily, and if he’s lucky enough to get a girlfriend, his desire for revenge would naturally fade away.

‘Yes! Love is definitely the answer!’

Of course, it’s very tragic that his parents passed away, but Baron’s parents would probably prefer their only son to marry and live happily rather than die by execution while seeking revenge.

To earn lots of money to raise Baron well, I really need to do my best at diving… oh, right.

“Baron, that flash firefly thing you mentioned yesterday, can you teach me how to catch and tame it?”

“Huh?”

“I need bright light. The brighter it is, the better I can see underwater.”

Baron thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers.

“Yeah, they’re easy to catch. I’ll catch one for you this evening.”

His confident answer made me smile naturally.

* * *

After washing up briefly, we gathered the sea snails and headed to the street stall.

On the way, I didn’t forget to check the prices of daily necessities Baron and I needed at the shops we passed, as well as today’s seafood market rates.

There would be a difference between shop prices and street stall prices, but I still needed to know the average prices to avoid being ripped off.

“Hello.”

The street stall ajusshi’s eyes widened when he saw the bucket I held out along with my greeting.

“Huh? What, I was wondering, but you really caught some? You caught more than I expected. And they’re good quality too?”

The street stall ajusshi poured my sea snails into a basket, weighed them on a scale, and nodded.

“A little over 8 kilos. I’ll give you 10 copper per kilo.”

Maybe because the original work was a K-romance fantasy, Korean measurement units were naturally integrated, which was nice, but…

“Excuse me?”

How much did he just say?

“This is me being generous.”

‘Hah… Ajusshi, where did your conscience go?’

And today’s sea snail market rate is 1 silver 20 copper per kilo.

Since 1 silver equals 100 copper, he’s basically ripping me off by twelve times the price, right?

Even considering this is a street stall, this is too much!

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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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