I Became The Stepmother Of An Irrevocable Dark Family - Chapter 114
Translator and Editor: Maru and Tea
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Chapter 114
Rere had been behind me at the time and popped her head out as soon as she heard the Crown Prince shouting sharply.
“Ahem, ahem!”
After clearing her throat a few times, Rere stepped in front of me as though she wanted all eyes on her.
“It’s been a while, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“A-Are you greeting me, Princess?” A smile spread over the Crown Prince’s face.
I wanted to laugh at their adorable gestures, but I was stopped by thoughts of how this novel will end. Therefore, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see the Crown Prince in a good light.
“Yes. Welcome Your Highness.”
Rere seemed to remember our earlier conversation since she was being kind to the Crown Prince despite the fact that it went against her personality.
The Crown Prince straightened up, feeling that he had been warmly welcomed.
“Right. The Princess’ unpleasant reactions whenever you saw me made me very upset. How could you ignore me, the one and only descendant of the royal family?”
“You’re right~”
“I was prepared to ask that my father punish you severely if you refuse to listen until the end.”
The Crown Prince’s absurd speech eventually caused Rere to burst into laughter even as she had been holding her anger.
“Are you a papa’s boy or what?”
“…What did you say?”
“Seriously? Geez. I wanted to keep pretending for a little longer, but I can’t stand it anymore.”
“What do you mean by that, Princess? I can’t believe you call me a papa boy.”
“People who cry to their father like Your Highness are known as papa’s boys.”
“Huh…? Is that an insult to me?”
It might have been just a child’s fight, but the two got into a pretty serious argument.
“What is an insult? Rere doesn’t know such a difficult word. I’m simply stating the truth, though?”
“I didn’t know the Princess was that kind of person.”
“I’ve always been this kind of person. But if Your Highness is alright with my personality…I may consider meeting you. But, well…”
Rere gave the Crown Prince a quick glance up and down before clicking her tongue in disgust.
“But you came today because you were worried about me, right?”
“W-What if that’s the case?”
“Well, I’ll give you a high point for that and meet you only once.”
“Ha?”
“Never mind that.”
The Crown Prince had his eyes glued on Rere and suddenly became stiff.
“I feel like the Princess is very sick. I refuse to believe you would say such a weird thing.”
“I’ve always been like this.”
The Crown Prince was busy checking on Rere whether he truly refused to believe it.
“This won’t do. I’ll have to talk to the Princess later. Anyway, it seems the Duke is about to go out?”
“Yes, I am, Your Highness.”
Ian squeezed in between the two as if trying to separate them.
“What a coincidence. My father told me to bring you to the palace.”
“…So suddenly?”
Even I, who had been nonchalant, opened my eyes as wide as Ian’s.
“Yes.”
Ian tried to clarify the Crown Prince’s shocking remark, but the Crown Prince only nodded. At his absurd comment, I decided to step up.
“Your Highness, didn’t you clearly state that you came here out of concern for the Princess? I suppose you’ve heard about the Princess’ sickness somewhere. Was it from the rumor, after all?”
The way he had worded it was strange. Rere’s illness was supposed to be top-secret. People would swarm like bugs if they learned of her illness.
But the Crown Prince knew about Rere’s illness from the very beginning and came here.
‘How do you know?’
Come to think of it, the Duke had behaved oddly the last time. I recalled him acting like he was possessed. He insisted on meeting the Emperor, and making Rere the Crown Princess.
I initially thought it was after he visited the Emperor, but a lot of things didn’t make sense as I thought about it more.
‘Was something used to cloud his mind? One thing for sure, someone informed the Emperor about our family affairs…’
I was even more convinced when I saw the Crown Prince getting flustered by my question.
“That’s because…there are a lot of rumors about the ducal family.”
“You came here knowing that Rere was sick, right?”
“Why do you keep asking?”
“I’m just curious.”
Then, perhaps realizing something wasn’t quite right, Ian stepped in between Rere and the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince. I appreciate you coming here and being concerned about Rere’s health. However, we are headed out on a family outing.”
“…Where are you going?”
“Is knowing where we’re headed important? What matters is that we are going out as a family. I regret I am unable to visit the Imperial Palace because of this.”
“…Even though it’s my father’s order? Even if His Majesty the Emperor requested your presence?”
The Crown Prince’s face was distorted.
“Yes.”
If it was the Duke of the past, he’d act like a dog with its tail down in front of the Emperor, but that wasn’t the case anymore. Luca was a man who valued his family more than anyone else.
“…You’ll regret it.”
“I’ve already regretted a lot, Your Highness the Crown Prince. I’d appreciate it if you take your leave so that I don’t have any regrets. Also, please refrain from making a sudden visit, even if you are the Crown Prince.”
“Are you kicking me out?!”
“Not at all. Simply put, it would be a waste of this opportunity if the Crown Prince came to visit as I haven’t had much time to spend with my family.”
The Crown Prince blinked with his mouth open. He looked like he wanted to argue but was unable to get a word out.
“..Haha. Duke. You’re acting like someone else.”
“I will act like that from now on. My family is the most precious thing to me.”
Rere seemed touched by her father’s unexpected comments, which she had not heard before.
“I’ll tell my father about this.”
“Yes.”
“…”
“…”
Silence descended among us for a long time. In the end, it was the Crown Prince who couldn’t bear this silence.
“The Princess has become a little strange now, but I will definitely win her over.”
“Your Highness the Crown Prince. My daughter isn’t an object. It’s not like you can have her at your will. I hope you don’t try to push your feelings on my child, but you are free to visit whenever you are concerned about her, as you have right now.”
“…Are you lecturing me now?!”
“I’m saying the correct thing to His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“That’s enough! You’ll regret what happened today!”
In the end, the Crown Prince couldn’t put up with this anymore and was left with a bad mood.
“Shall we get in the carriage now?”
“Daddy!”
“What?”
“You were so cool!”
“Really?”
“Yeah! You were like a dad from another family!”
Rere was more excited than ever and approached Ian to take hold of his hand tightly.
“You’re so cool today, so much that Rere wants to hold your hand fast!”
“What does holding hands have to do with being cool?”
“What if your coolness runs away?! I’ll hold on to your coolness so it won’t run away!”
“Alright, Rere. Are you going to hold Daddy’s hand all day long today?”
“Yeah!”
Ian and Rere climbed into the carriage in harmony for the first time ever.
I followed those two into the carriage, and it wasn’t long after that the Crown Prince’s carriage left the duchy.
Rere had climbed into the carriage first and stuck out her head then waved at the Crown Prince’s carriage as it moved further away.
“Don’t ever come again!”
“Rere, are you seeing him off?”
“Yup, yup! I read somewhere that words are so powerful that everything you say comes true, so you have to say it diligently. Look at Daddy. Rere says he changes all the time, so he changed, didn’t he?”
Ian’s face turned white as if he was caught red-handed. Unaware of it, Rere clasped his hand as they sat side by side.
“Hehe. I hope Daddy will continue to do this in the future. I hope Daddy will side with Rere in front of the Crown Prince and the Emperor!”
“From now on, I’ll be on Rere’s side even if Rere doesn’t ask for it.”
“Yeah! Then, are you going to listen to what Rere says, Daddy?”
“Of course.”
Rere’s eyes crinkled into a smile until they weren’t visible anymore.
“Great! This is the best day of my life!”
“I will make you happy from now on.”
“Okay! So both of you must always be next to Rere, okay?”
We both nodded at the same time. Maybe Ian also felt the same way as I did. I wanted to make Rere happy for the rest of her life.
Meanwhile, the carriage slowly picked up speed.
“It’s moving…! Daddy! You’re not going to change your mind all of a sudden, are you?”
“Yes, of course. I would never do that.”
“Nice!”
Perhaps she was delighted by his answer, Rere stroked Ian’s hand slowly.
How long had it been? The carriage soon slowed. It was proof that the duchy and the temple were indeed close by, since I was enjoying the scenery outside for a short time.
“Woah! This is the temple!”
“Yes, that’s right.”
However, as the carriage entered, a very different atmosphere unfolded. Isaac couldn’t be seen anywhere, and a few new priests and knights were waiting in front of us.
I was wondering if they were asking for money, so I got out first because I didn’t want Rere to know that the temple was a place where people blinded with money gathered.
But when I exited the carriage, a priest hurriedly bowed his head.
“Are you Duchess Leona Petri?”
“What? Yes.”
“I’ve been looking forward to your arrival.”
“Me?”
“Yes. The High Priest wants to see you. He asked me to lead you to him on your next visit.”
I was taken aback by his unexpected remark and only blinked in a daze.
“…Is this coercion?”
“It’s nothing of the sort, but he told me that you can’t enter the temple unless you’re meeting him.”
“It is indeed coercion.”
“It’s not coercion. His Holiness is not that kind of person.”
“Normally, thieves and swindlers don’t say that they’re thieves or swindlers. They always claim they’re a normal person.”
The priest’s face momentarily turned stiff, but I didn’t really care and turned my gaze toward the carriage.
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