Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Dad Only Needs Sien
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After meeting Sien, Matthias headed back to his estate. Riding toward the estate, he thought that raising a child seemed like quite a demanding task.
He spoke to the man who was silently keeping pace at his side.
“You said you’ve raised children before.”
“Ah, yes.”
“By your standards, is our Sien a bit mature?”
The adjutant had served at Matthias’s side and weathered many ordeals, but he was still slightly taken aback. Especially by the inexplicable deep affection Matthias showed toward Sien.
Pondering how to respond, the adjutant cautiously broached the subject.
“Well…… she seems like a normal child. And very lovable.”
“What?”
Matthias’s expression turned icy.
That was when the adjutant looked up at him with a flustered face.
“Our daughter is special. The most in the world.”
“……Pardon?”
The adjutant, meeting Matthias’s gaze, tilted his head in confusion.
“She’s as warm as sunlight, and nowhere near ordinary.”
With a cold expression, he spouted words like a doting father, then promptly leaped down from his horse.
He had spotted the princess’s carriage arriving in front of the western Mirmod estate where he resided.
“Follow at your leisure.”
With those words, he strode into the estate.
He was also curious about the princess’s business—the one that had interrupted his precious time with his daughter.
And so, in a private meeting with the princess.
The princess had been sitting guard in the drawing room until the steam rising from her tea had fully dissipated. The moment she saw Matthias, she flashed a beautiful eye smile.
It was the kind of smile that would melt any man, but Matthias remained as unyielding as stone.
“What business does Princess Serina have in Mirmod?”
“Oh…… straight to the point like this?”
Even as Matthias dove right into the matter upon taking his seat, the princess didn’t show a hint of surprise.
She had likely come prepared, knowing Matthias Mirmod’s temperament to some degree.
Setting down her cooled teacup, she declared neatly.
“I intend to propose marriage.”
“To whom.”
“To you. I’m requesting a union between us.”
Not a flicker of curiosity or interest crossed Matthias’s face.
He fixed her with a piercing gaze, as if dissecting her.
“That’s sudden.”
“I’ll formally propose it to your house soon. Officially.”
“That would be quite advantageous for me—gaining the Emperor’s wing, after all. But.”
The princess smiled with an expression that said she knew as much.
The empire’s sole princess, reputed to be loved by the Emperor outwardly.
Even her image as the flower of high society…… In every way, her reputation was impeccable.
But Matthias opened his mouth again with a look of boredom.
“The most beautiful and noble woman in the empire proposing to me doesn’t add up profit-wise.”
“Profit-wise?”
“I have a child. My past is as dark as they come. I doubt I could cherish you as you deserve…… And due to the enmity between the imperial family and Mirmod, marriage would mean quite a bit of heartache.”
“…….”
“Requesting this marriage first makes it obvious to anyone that you have some hidden agenda.”
By now, Matthias Mirmod knew all too well.
That tempting bait might hide a trap.
And he had a daughter to protect, no less.
This concerned the mother of his daughter, after all, so it warranted further investigation.
“You’ll need to convince me why you want to marry. How about it?”
Even the possibility that this princess might try to slip a noose around his neck.
There was no need for her to say anything more.
“His Highness the Crown Prince desires a union between the imperial family and Mirmod.”
Undeterred by Matthias’s piercing gaze, the princess continued gracefully.
“Besides, the marriage partners I could choose are you, Lord Matthias, or else old men a decade my senior, or princes from beyond the empire. I don’t want that.”
Matthias silently regarded the princess. Her eyes, meeting his, were remarkably pure and composed.
They stirred no particular emotion in him, but objectively, she was the most beautiful woman in the empire.
She could easily marry anyone else who proposed, if not Matthias Mirmod.
“If this proposal is meant to put a leash on a beast like me.”
“Oh, that’s rude to say to a lady.”
Brushing off her words lightly, Matthias continued.
“Looks like something interesting is about to happen.”
The princess smiled quietly, bowing her head slightly before lifting it again.
“Then, I shall formally request the marriage from your house.”
Axel Mirmod wouldn’t be emerging from the demon realm for a while.
Now, Matthias’s enemy would be the imperial family.
“Go ahead and try.”
He stared at the princess with a cold expression.
In that case, he would gradually uncover the imperial family’s intentions as well.
***
Even as I sent Dad off and reviewed resumes, I couldn’t focus at all.
‘What the hell is the princess scheming!’
My child’s body already made my concentration waver often, and now with this nagging worry, it was twice as hard to focus.
Because of that, I didn’t select any standout talents today, but after conducting their interviews with utmost sincerity, I decided to head home.
Nestled in the arms of my maid sisters, racing home in one go. They wouldn’t let my feet touch the ground, gushing about how impressive and cool I was. When I asked if they weren’t tired, they said I was lighter than a single dumbbell and beamed with happy smiles.
‘My weight is less than a single dumbbell……’
With a wistful heart, on the way home. I happened to receive astonishing news from Leonhardt, who had come to visit our estate.
The reason the princess had come to see my dad.
There were rumors she was proposing marriage, and I asked if it was true.
Leonhardt asked innocently if I didn’t know, but…… I was in a state of mild mental shock.
‘So, the princess could become my stepmom?’
The marriage proposal meant for Axel Mirmod had come to Dad instead.
Whether this was a green light or a red flag, no one knew.
‘This…… feels more like a red flag.’
Come to think of it, I’d never heard Dad talk about a stepmom.
I’d never heard him mention Mom either.
If the Emperor himself brought up the marriage proposal, even Mirmod couldn’t unilaterally refuse.
A union with the imperial family, especially the legitimate princess, was ideal by any measure.
Especially a union with the imperial palace that had been snapping at Mirmod like it wanted to devour them.
If this happened, Mirmod might gain truly unrivaled power.
What if Dad refused unilaterally in this situation?
The council elders or the ducal retainers might rise up in unison.
But to me, Dad’s situation mattered more than such political considerations.
Come to think of it, I’d never really considered it.
To me, Dad was just my beloved country farmer dad.
‘Can Dad really live alone forever?’
Unlike me, Dad might want a wife.
I’d never thought about Dad needing a wife too, and I blinked.
“I need to go see Dad!”
***
Princess Anessa was the saint Melodia’s close friend and famed as an angel. But since I’d possessed a villainess, whether Princess Anessa was an ‘angel’ to me remained to be seen.
Moreover, for some unknown butterfly effect, she was proposing to Dad instead of Axel, unlike in the original story.
I flung open the door to Dad’s bedroom and marched straight to him in his chair, burrowing into his arms. Instead of soft fluffiness, hard muscle thudded against my face.
“What’s wrong?”
Oblivious to my urge to bonk him on the head, Dad asked sweetly in a happy voice.
“Let’s be super happy together forever and ever.”
“Hm? Did something happen?”
“Nothing much…….”
I looked up at Dad and cut straight to the chase.
“Dad. Are you getting married?”
As I walked toward Dad, I sorted through my thoughts step by step.
I wasn’t a baby anymore—I was a proper ten years old. Old enough to realize Dad might need a lover too.
‘If it’s a good person, it’s fine if she becomes my stepmom.’
With that single line, Dad seemed to realize I’d heard about the marriage proposal with the princess currently circling.
As if it were the most natural thing, Dad quietly said.
“Dunno. Not interested. Dad only needs Sien, right?”
I snapped my head up and stared at Dad.
Like the saying that adults can’t lie to children, I could spot most adults lying to my face.
But.
Dad’s eyes held not a shred of deceit toward me.
Strangely enough.
“Really?”
“Yeah. You’re Dad’s top priority. Dad only has you.”
Dad’s eyes looked so earnest. As if I were his entire world.
But that wasn’t right. Dad needed something else too—a stepmom or whatever. He needed to like something besides me. That way, even if the absolute worst happened to me, Dad could live happily.
But Dad, showing no sign of considering a future without me, whispered tenderly.
“You’re the reason Dad lives.”
Those words were sweet to hear.
But they also meant that if anything happened to me later, Dad couldn’t go on living.
I bit down hard on my wobbly baby tooth—it hurt, but I had to say it sternly.
“That’s not allowed.”
“Hm?”
“I’ll find something for Dad to love as much as me, step by step!”
It worried me that the reason for my loved one’s life was only me.
Unaware of my feelings, Dad asked cautiously.
“Then what about you, Sien? Would you like to have a mom?”
At that, I blinked. Well, did I want a mom…….
“I’ve never thought about a stepmom.”
I’d never once thought about wanting a stepmom.
I’d never really thought much about Mom from the start.
Because I’d always thought, ‘I only need Dad!’
Dad hadn’t left any voids. He’d always been there for me without a single gap.
‘……And honestly, getting a new family scares me a bit.’
The mom from my pre-reincarnation memories was terrifying. When she glared with axe-like eyes and threatened me, I had to curl up quietly.
So yeah, I only needed Dad too. If he was okay with it.
“I like it best with just Dad!”
The moment I said that, I vaguely thought accepting a stepmom was something distant for us……