A Contract Marriage with My Child’s Father Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Would it be a problem if she’s my daughter?

The words nearly slipped out at the look in Kain’s eyes—but I managed to swallow them.

“…Yes. Is there an issue?”

Come to think of it, in my rush to seal the contract, I had never properly explained my relationship with Melody.

Kain must have assumed the saint candidate was my younger sister.

Well… I’m not that old.

It was a common misunderstanding. Melody and I looked so alike that people naturally assumed we were related—but often as sisters rather than mother and daughter.

It had never caused trouble before. I would simply correct them.

But why…?

The words wouldn’t come easily.

Though his face remained expressionless, Kain’s crimson eyes were anything but calm. The dignified composure from earlier now seemed faintly shaken—like someone who had just been struck unexpectedly.

It must be my imagination.

This was the cold Duke of the Duchy of Ashellen, a man feared across the empire. Not the doting daughter-fool he would later become in the original story.

I steadied myself.

“Melody is my daughter. I’m raising her alone.”

“Alone?”

“Yes.”

“And the husband?”

“…I’m unmarried.”

“Unmarried?”

His gaze grew even more complex.

“Mommy?”

Sensing the tension, Melody tugged at my clothes.

“It’s nothing. Grown-up talk.”

“Uu.”

She nodded obediently, but my thoughts were racing.

Here it comes.

The inevitable question:

What kind of man leaves a woman to raise a child alone?

I hate this part.

Even after a year of living as a single mother, I still wasn’t used to it.

I could say I had been abandoned.

Or widowed.

But I wasn’t good at lying.

And somehow… I felt guilty turning Melody’s unknown biological father into a villain.

For a fleeting moment, I wondered if I should tell Kain the truth.

But I quickly shook my head.

That Melody wasn’t my biological child was a secret between the two of us.

I would never break that promise.

My Past

I had once been the adopted daughter of Marquis Deboreux.

And like many adopted daughters in novels, my “family” despised me.

They locked me away.

Starved me.

Beat me.

Eventually, they tried to sell me as the fifth concubine to an elderly rural lord.

The day I was informed of that marriage—

I met Melody.

She was crying in the rain.

Pink-haired.

Bruised.

Covered in signs of abuse.

Seeing her felt like seeing my younger self.

I treated her immediately.

The problem was the law. Adopted daughters had very little protection.

If her biological parents appeared and claimed her, I would have been powerless.

Then I’ll just become her real mother.

At the time, I believed her biological parents were the abusers.

Since Melody and I looked strikingly alike, it wasn’t difficult to convince others.

No one questioned us.

Not even the House Deboreux.

There were questions about when I had given birth—but I had been kept out of sight for over a year.

The timeline conveniently blurred.

My arranged marriage was canceled.

I was expelled from the family.

All thanks to this little cutie.

I looked down at Melody.

All I had wanted was to become her family.

Instead, my entire life had changed.

Back to the Present

So what do I say?

I pressed my lips together and forced the most sorrowful expression I could manage.

It wasn’t entirely acting.

It really is sad.

Just imagining facing this question repeatedly within the ducal estate was exhausting.

Right on cue, Kain began—

“Then the child’s father—”

I quickly covered Melody’s ears and looked up at him with watery eyes.

“Well…”

“Yes?”

“…Never mind.”

What?

He didn’t ask.

He didn’t press further.

That had never happened before.

My tears disappeared instantly.

“It’s late. A servant will show you to your room.”

“Thank you!”

Kain gave a curt nod and turned away.

His steps seemed… unusually quick.

Almost as if he were suppressing something.

Anger?

* * *

That Night — The Duke’s Office

“I’ve completed the investigation into Miss Viola.”

Conrad’s report finally made Kain set down his pen.

“Report.”

“She does not appear to be a spy. However… she has lived quite a tragic life.”

“What do you mean?”

“She was originally adopted into the Deboreux marquisate. The late Marquis Deboreux reportedly took in a street orphan.”

Kain recognized the name.

The late marquis had once been a respected knight—former escort to a deceased imperial princess.

“After his death, the remaining family revealed their true nature. She suffered prolonged abuse.”

Kain’s fist tightened unconsciously.

“Her self-taught knowledge of pharmacology appears to stem from that period. The household maids, unable to watch any longer, secretly provided her with herbs.”

The family had denied her access to physicians.

She had learned everything alone.

Eventually, she became skilled enough to treat even the maids themselves.

“How was she expelled?”

“The family intended to sell her as a concubine. At that point, she revealed she had secretly given birth. That led to her immediate expulsion.”

Kain let out a humorless laugh.

“And the child’s father? Where was he?”

Conrad hesitated.

“He vanished. Completely.”

Crack.

The fountain pen in Kain’s hand snapped cleanly in two.