A Contract Marriage with My Child’s Father Chapter 34

Chapter 34

When the moon rose into the sky, he found himself heading there out of habit.

Kain wandered the garden without purpose.

Even knowing that lingering would not ease the strange hollowness in his chest, he couldn’t bring himself to return inside.

He stopped before a flower bed he normally ignored and stared at the blossoms.

Viola would have brightened at something like this.

He did not.

Yesterday, the garden had seemed… pleasant.

Why did it feel different now?

What am I doing?

Wasting time.

And instead of calming him, the silence only made his thoughts more tangled.

At last, he exhaled and turned toward the manor.

He had no reason to remain.

Just as he stepped forward—

Rustle.

Light footsteps brushed against the grass.

And carried on the wind—

A faint, bittersweet herbal scent.

No servant would dare approach at this hour.

Which meant—

“Viola?”

For a brief moment, he wondered if fatigue was playing tricks on him.

She should be asleep.

But the figure emerging beneath the moonlight was far too vivid to be imagined.

“Your Grace…!”

Lifting her skirt slightly so it wouldn’t catch, she hurried toward him.

She stopped in front of him, slightly out of breath.

Caught off guard, Kain stood still.

She dipped her brows apologetically.

“I’m sorry—I’m very late, aren’t I? Hehe…”

She scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

He stared at her.

Wasn’t she unconscious earlier?

“Are you… alright?”

She blinked, then smiled.

“My body? I’m perfectly fine! More importantly, I’m sorry if I worried you…”

So she knew she had worried him.

And yet she swallowed poison without hesitation.

Still, she was speaking clearly.

No dizziness.

No weakness.

“When I woke up, I was already in my room. Someone must’ve carried me. I feel bad… I must’ve been heavy.”

Heavy?

Absurd.

She had felt almost weightless in his arms.

Did she eat properly at all?

“Not really,” he replied flatly.

“…Wait. Don’t tell me you carried me?”

She froze and turned toward him, eyes wide.

If he confirmed it, she might faint again.

He said nothing.

She took his silence as confirmation.

Her ears turned bright red.

“Ah… so it was you. Thank you.”

She fanned her face as if embarrassed.

A woman the size of a squirrel calling herself heavy.

Unaware of his thoughts, she continued flusteredly.

“I keep showing you embarrassing sides of myself.”

Her standards baffled him.

Timid over trivial matters—

Yet recklessly fearless when it truly mattered.

“That’s irrelevant,” he said evenly. “As long as you aren’t recklessly eating poison again.”

“Th-that’s true… I’m sorry. I was desperate. And proving it myself seemed the fastest way.”

Her steps quickened unconsciously.

Kain adjusted his pace to match hers.

Before she exhausted herself, he changed the subject.

“I met your daughter. Melody.”

“Really?!”

Her face lit up instantly.

“Yes. She’s bold.”

He recalled the child.

Most children trembled or burst into tears at the sight of him.

Melody had thumped her chest and demanded to be lifted.

If she did not look exactly like Viola, he might have suspected Ashellen blood in her veins.

Perhaps those with strong divine power were different.

Or perhaps—

She simply took after her mother.

Fearless.

At his faint praise, Viola beamed.

“I’m not just saying this because I’m her mother—Melody isn’t only brave.”

“I see.”

“She’s very smart. And kind. And adorable, of course. She even made me a flower ring the other day!”

She began praising her daughter endlessly.

Her eyes shimmered in the moonlight.

It was not unpleasant to watch.

Kain listened in silence, a faint smile touching his lips.

“She has a great sense of direction too! And she’s athletic. She won first place in the village race last time. I wonder who she takes after—haha.”

The faint smile on his lips stilled.

Who she takes after.

He knew she meant nothing by it.

Yet the words lingered strangely.

His mood shifted—subtle, but undeniable.

Why?

“Your Grace? What’s wrong?”

Perhaps something showed on his face.

He did not understand it himself.

So he said nothing.

And continued walking.

The night deepened around them.

The Next Day — Afternoon

I was being scolded by Jaden.

“I heard everything! What were you thinking?!”

The moment I entered to treat him, he marched up angrily.

Apparently, he had learned about yesterday.

I didn’t expect that.

Why did I keep getting scolded by children lately?

Melody too!

I’m the adult here!

“You don’t even have Tamutar Disease! Why would you eat something that dangerous?!”

“I’m sorry. But I had to confirm it.”

Even if Celia hadn’t forced the situation, I would have tested it eventually.

It was an extremely dangerous poison.

I might have been confident in my own safety—

But how would Jaden feel if suddenly told to ingest poison?

Who would agree so easily?

I had to prove it myself first.

Still—

It clearly hurt him.

His eyes were swollen.

He must have cried last night.

I worried him badly.

He sniffed and shouted again.

“Then I should’ve eaten it instead! I’m the patient anyway!”

“The formula wasn’t complete yet. You can’t take something unstable.”

What I swallowed yesterday wasn’t the actual treatment for Tamutar Disease.

It was simply poison followed by antidote.

That was completely different from properly combining them into medicine.

When combined correctly, side effects would be minimized.

Yesterday was only to confirm the antidote’s stability.

As I stared at the floor pattern, organizing my thoughts—

Jaden suddenly hit the core of it.

“Then you can?”