Episode 8.
‘S-Suddenly?’
Of course, I did ask Marcus to become my stepfather, but this was far too sudden of a development.
‘I haven’t even explained it to Mom yet!’
As expected, Mom widened her eyes in surprise and looked back and forth between me and Marcus.
On the other hand, Uncle Pascal seemed displeased by Marcus’s sudden appearance, and his face twisted as he grabbed Mom’s arm even tighter.
Noticing that, Marcus frowned and then grabbed Uncle Pascal’s wrist as if he were going to crush it. It really looked like he would literally ‘crush’ it.
Uncle Pascal let out a groan and released Mom’s arm. Marcus placed Mom behind him and spoke to Uncle in a low voice.
“What kind of behavior is this toward a lady? Do you not even have basic manners?”
“Manners, my foot…….”
Uncle Pascal ground his teeth as he rubbed his wrist, which had turned red in an instant. His anger was directed not at Marcus, but at Mom standing behind him.
“Rayna, what on earth is this? Huh?”
Uncle Pascal’s sword gleamed sharply.
That was right. He was still holding his sword.
“Are you planning to request a duel?”
“If you want……!”
“Stop!”
Mom stopped the two men.
“Pascal, you should stop bothering me and Vivi and go back. If you keep this up, I will call the guards. And you…….”
Mom looked at Marcus with a confused expression.
‘No! If Mom asks who Marcus is, we won’t be able to deceive Uncle Pascal!’
I hugged Marcus’s neck and shouted.
“D-Dad!”
“Kh.”
Marcus, who had been shooting a terrifying glare at Uncle Pascal, swallowed a laugh.
‘I didn’t want to do this either!’
I squeezed my eyes shut and shouted again.
“Did you come to look around the city with Vivi?”
“Yes, Vivi.”
Marcus answered in a voice mixed with laughter.
“You said you wanted a doll. Dad came to buy you a doll.”
At that moment, Mom, who had been observing the situation, cautiously approached and linked her arm with Marcus’s arm. For a moment, I felt Marcus’s body flinch.
“A doll, that sounds nice. I’ll come along too, right?”
Mom smiled gently at Marcus. Marcus, who had been playing along with me with a mischievous face, could not say anything and only moved his lips.
Perhaps it was my imagination, but his neck seemed to have grown warm.
As Marcus continued to remain silent, Mom shook his arm and urged him for an answer.
“Yes?”
“O-Of course…….”
Marcus made a ridiculous voice as if his throat were being strangled.
“The three of us should go together. You, I mean, yes. You said you wanted a necklace?”
“That’s right. Will you buy it for me?”
“Of course…….”
“Oh my, how delightful.”
Mom curved her eyes beautifully as she smiled, then confidently spoke to Uncle Pascal.
“I should have introduced him sooner. This is the man I’ve decided to marry…….”
“Marcus Elden.”
“Yes, Mr. Marcus.”
Uncle Pascal clicked his tongue.
“What a sight, Rayna. If your late uncle saw this, he would rise from his grave. Earlier you said you would date that bastard, and now you say you will marry this bastard?”
“This is in front of Vivi. Mind your language.”
“That’s right. As an adult, you should set an example for a child.”
Marcus intervened.
“This is not a place for the likes of you to interfere!”
“Not a place to interfere? I told you, I’m Vivi’s stepfather.”
Marcus shrugged.
“And to explain further, that man was just a decoy.”
“Hah, a decoy?”
“Yes. I didn’t know what you might do, so I requested the guild to observe the situation. If you were to send an assassin after an innocent citizen like me, what do you think would happen? Given the situation, I had to step in eventually.”
Uncle Pascal spat out a curse.
“So you’re not from the guild?”
“I told you. I’m an innocent citizen.”
Marcus smirked. It almost looked like a sneer.
“My, you look like you could kill someone just with your eyes. How frightening for an innocent citizen.”
“Stop spouting nonsense.”
“I told you just seconds ago. Use proper and polite language in front of a child.”
“I’ll rip out your tongue…….”
It was the first time I had seen Uncle Pascal make such a vicious and ugly expression.
I thought I already knew his true nature, but it seemed there were still things I didn’t know.
I swallowed my fear and hugged Marcus’s neck even tighter. As if he were the only lifeline that could protect me and Mom.
Perhaps sensing my trembling body, the smile vanished from Marcus’s face in an instant.
“Leave while I’m still speaking nicely. There are many eyes watching, so think carefully with that foolish head of yours about who will suffer if this escalates further.”
As if Uncle Pascal had finally regained his senses, he looked around. The people in the inn were watching this way with great interest.
Uncle Pascal clenched his teeth and sheathed his sword back into his cane.
“I’ll contact you again. But you’d better seriously consider my proposal. Don’t think of playing games.”
“I’m not playing games, Pascal. I’m more serious than ever. You should accept my answer and stop bothering me and Vivi.”
After looking at Mom’s calm face for a moment, Uncle Pascal glared at me, who was quietly held in Marcus’s arms. It was a look as if he were threatening me.
‘No, he really is threatening me.’
He was nothing but a villain. Instead of being scared, I glared right back at Uncle Pascal.
Soon after, when Uncle Pascal had completely left the inn.
“M-Mom!”
As if the tension had been released, Mom’s body collapsed.
“…!”
Marcus quickly wrapped his arm around Mom’s waist.
“Ah, thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
Marcus held Mom’s arm and headed toward the table. Mom, who sat weakly on the chair, caught her breath while drinking the water that Mr. Christopher had brought.
The man named James had gone to the clinic with the support of the inn staff.
“Did you say your name was Marcus?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
Marcus’s tone, which had been informal when pretending to be a lover, had changed into polite speech toward Mom.
Mom pressed her temple and slightly frowned.
“There are many things I want to ask, but this doesn’t seem like the place. Let’s go up to the room first. Vivi, come to Mom.”
“I’ll carry Vivi upstairs.”
“No, I will take Vivi.”
Caught between the two, I looked around nervously and struggled.
“I can walk!”
Taking advantage of the moment Marcus loosened his arm, I jumped down to the floor. I waved my arms back and forth as I headed toward the room, with Mom and Marcus following behind me.
“So, I’d like to ask what exactly is going on first.”
As soon as we entered the room, Mom asked.
“What do you mean by Vivi’s stepfather?”
Marcus looked at me with a puzzled expression. Mom’s gaze naturally turned to me as well.
I avoided their eyes and pretended not to notice.
“Didn’t Vivi tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“Well…….”
In the end, I had no choice but to speak.
“I asked Mr. Marcus to become my stepfather!”
Mom’s eyes widened.
“A stepfather?”
At this moment, I realized that I had to face it head-on.
‘Until now, I pretended to be a clueless eight-year-old who didn’t know the adults’ circumstances…….’
But with things having come to this, I could no longer pretend not to know.
“I know what Mom and Mr. Christopher are doing.”
“You know…… what?”
Mom’s voice trembled slightly. I sat on the sofa and swung my legs back and forth to ease the tension.
“If Mom doesn’t get married, we’ll be kicked out of the estate. Because Uncle Dietrich is gone.”
“Kicked out? Who on earth told you that……!”
Mom shot a glance at Marcus. Marcus raised both hands as if to show his innocence.
With a sigh, Mom quickly approached and hugged me.
“That won’t happen, Vivi. That estate is our home left by your grandfather. Why would we be kicked out?”
“Mom, I’m not a child.”
Mom flinched.
I wanted to remain a child to her forever, but I also had to say what needed to be said.
“If you don’t get married within a month and a half, you won’t be able to inherit Grandfather’s property, and Uncle Pascal will inherit the title and the estate. That’s why you’re looking for someone to marry temporarily. And that’s also why you came to the capital. To request a suitable person from the information guild.”
“….”
“And that man named James earlier, wasn’t he someone you found through the information guild?”
“How did you…….”
Mom clearly looked flustered.
“I heard everything too. I figured it out from that.”
Until Marcus suddenly appeared like this, I had planned to naturally bring Mom and Marcus together.
But now that things had turned out like this, I could no longer deceive Mom.
‘If that’s the case, I might as well pretend to be smart.’
Anyway, ever since I remembered my past life and began interfering with the original story, it had been difficult to pretend to be an ignorant child.
Moreover, there might be times in the future when I would have to step in like this again. And if I wanted to actively intervene each time, it was better to act like I was exceptionally clever.
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