Obviously, It's My Child - Chapter 200
The sympathy she felt might stem from rescuing him from the sea, and the hostility from being the wife of an heir to the throne, but the other emotions were incomprehensible.
And yet, why was she being so kind to him?
Even if his heart was weak and he couldn’t throw himself back into the sea, she could have simply left it to the maid and not shown her face.
Instead of preparing food for him, seating him at the table with the child, and comfortably conversing.
Thinking about it that way made him feel uncomfortable again, as if something inside him was being prodded.
“Uncle, is it not tasty?”
Elliott looked apologetic, worried that what he had given might happen to be unappetizing.
“But that’s the sweetest one!”
“See? Mom said the bread is the best, right?”
As Claire said this, she placed two forks in Elliott’s hands.
Elliott, excited, ran back to Linus, beaming with joy as he offered the fork again.
Linus received it without hesitation while keeping his gaze fixed on Claire. He then said,
“Are you intentionally raising the child to be careless?”
“What?”
“Smiling at anyone and handing out food to everyone. From what I saw earlier, he seems to cry easily too.”
Linus blurted out,
“Or maybe it’s not that you taught him this; it’s just how Arren people are?”
The reason he felt that this child resembled Jared more than Erich, despite their similar appearances, was probably due to this.
He was annoyed at himself for being so bothered by it. Annoyed at his inability to refuse the child easily.
Claire opened her mouth in response but then closed it again. She set down the fork and brushed back her bangs.
‘So, are you going to throw me back into the sea?’
The thought of how Rommel people might teach their children not to speak without thinking surged to his throat.
Since earlier, she had been torn between feeling pity that insisted, ‘No matter what the Empress did, we can’t hold her responsible!’ and the consciousness that proclaimed, ‘For the progress of history, the guillotine is necessary!’ but in this moment, all her emotions rallied together, raising the guillotine’s hand.
‘He’s a sick child. You have to endure.’
Claire suppressed her desire to lash out with reason.
Was she really going to fight with a twenty-year-old? Moreover, this was a child who had recently jumped into the sea with the intent to die.
She took a few deep breaths, exhaling softly. Then, trying to smooth out her furrowed brow, she spoke calmly.
“It’s not being careless; it’s being honest with emotions. At this age, it’s most important for children to eat well, play well, and sleep well.”
“It’s surprising that Erich just let it happen.”
“Erich wouldn’t say that being carefree is bad for a child. He doesn’t even consider that it might be a problem due to Arren blood.”
“……”
“Being careless and despising is different. And how we educate our child is up to us.”
Linus felt a twinge of annoyance at that response, but it wasn’t because this woman was talking back to him.
The term ‘our child’ grated on him. The way she casually grouped herself and Erich together as guardians for the child felt jarring.
He remembered Erich, holding a toy sword, saying that such things weren’t a big deal.
This unsettling and uncomfortable feeling undoubtedly began with that mismatched behavior.
But at this moment, he firmly realized that he hated Erich.
He had been expected to be similar to him and had likely grown up with nearly the same education. They had both lost the same things.
Yet here Linus was, a hollow shell consumed by thoughts of death, while Erich had gained this woman and child, becoming even more complete.
How could that be possible? Was it because he didn’t have a mother?
Or was it because he was born legitimate, and thus had the right to such things, while Linus did not?
Linus laughed, a deep warmth rising from his core for the first time in a long while.
He wanted them both.
If Erich could have them, what reason did he have to be denied?
In a whirlwind of mixed hatred and desire, his emotions spun in one direction.
Linus suddenly realized that this was what he had longed for.
He understood where the thirst and heat that had tormented him for so long originated.
He twisted his lips into a smile.
“Uncle?”
The child, unaware of his inner turmoil, tilted his head and called out to him.
Linus raised his fork and smiled for the first time at Elliott.
Creating a facade was not particularly difficult. It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to do it. Rather, he simply hadn’t bothered before. In front of Elliott, it came even more easily.
“What’s delicious?”
Elliott’s face lit up.
“This!”
He willingly accepted the piece of pumpkin cheese that Elliott offered and put it in his mouth.
Claire watched the scene with a slight discomfort.
Linus might have simply given up on the conversation. Yet, she felt an uneasy sensation, as if something about it didn’t quite fit.
It was then that the butler knocked on the living room door.
“Madam, we have a guest.”
“Who is it? No one should be visiting.”
“Lady Augusta from Marquisate Ludendorff has arrived.”
Claire set down her fork.
.
.
.
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31: Augusta
Claire stood up first from the living room. Linus looked up at her.
“Do you want to meet her?”
“…….”
“If so, that’s fine. You can rest a bit longer.”
Claire didn’t say that there was time to think. Ultimately, Linus would have to leave.
‘After all, if she has come this far, she must have some information about Linus.’
It was unlikely that anything significant had happened in Ludendorff.
Augusta was not in a position to concern herself with matters of her own family, and even if something had occurred, there would be no sudden reason for her to look for Claire.
Therefore, the matter could only be related to Linus.
Even if the information about his presence here had not leaked, the situation itself could have become a point of interest.
Claire followed almost the exact thought process as Augusta.
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