episode_0427

“My son also grew up so well, even though he’s a bastard, he must not be completely incompetent. I should have recognized how well he grew up.”

Even though he’s a bastard, isn’t he still his own flesh and blood?

He may not have been raised with as much love as his own son, but being his own flesh and blood, he must have the basic ability to not fall behind others.

It’s the continuation of the deep-rooted bloodline of a prestigious family.

“Just that alone is a benefit overflowing with blessings. Tsk tsk!”

It’s better this way.

It’s not a bad idea to meet and do business with that child.

By using his wife as an excuse, he wouldn’t have to interact with them frequently, right?

By now, the child must have grown up enough to be a suitable business partner.

“My wife has been holding onto the finances tightly, making it difficult to spend money on gifts for a lover, but now I can use it more comfortably in the future.”

Securing money itself is not a problem, but explaining to his wife where that money was spent was difficult.

Even though she clearly knew where the money was going, his wife would deliberately inquire and demand explanations to upset her own mood.

As he grew older, it was uncomfortable that young and pretty women didn’t easily follow him, and even if he wanted to assert himself a bit, he couldn’t due to his wife’s persistent inquiries.

“If it were in the past, I would have just ignored my wife’s inquiries…”

The problem was that his wife’s side of the family was doing too well.

Even after marriage, his wife continued to maintain relationships with her family, paying attention to them.

He didn’t like why she paid so much attention to her family when she was young, but later on, he saw the benefits of it.

Thanks to maintaining those relationships, he was able to borrow the prestige of her family.

“If we had paid as much attention to our family affairs as we did to her family, our family wouldn’t be in this state.”

It was a bit frustrating, but there was no need to worry too much.

Didn’t he raise his son with love very well?

He received a lot of praise from acquaintances for raising his son so well.

Although he couldn’t further develop the family, if his son were to inherit the family, the situation would change.

“It’s not a bad thing to have a Therianthrope Awakening user who can be freely used in the family. I should tell my son to support the child well when he joins the military.”

In return, he just had to pretend to know a little and fulfill his role as a father.

In fact, this was a risky choice for himself as well.

But for the sake of his son, he could bear this level of risk.

If caught, he would receive severe nagging and scorn from his wife, but if he said it was for the safety of his son, wouldn’t it be a good excuse?

“She’s too jealous. Tsk!”

With a renewed dissatisfaction towards his wife, he licked his lips once and put the letter in his pocket.

※ ※ ※

He moved with Fran and Nekise to the location written in the letter.

Arriving neither late nor early at the agreed time, we could confirm that no one had arrived yet.

Nobles were known to be lazy, but he didn’t expect them to be lazy even in situations like this.

Nekise had a lot of hesitation in deciding to meet Fran’s biological father again.

She couldn’t leave Fran alone, but she was also afraid to meet him herself.

It wasn’t that her feelings were incomprehensible.

It wasn’t easy for a victim to muster the courage to meet the perpetrator who had plunged their life into despair.

Nevertheless, whether it was maternal love that overcame the fear, Nekise eventually decided to follow Fran.

“Phew, can I do well?”

“You can do it. You look so beautiful today that I’m worried…”

“I spent hours getting ready, so I can’t not look beautiful.”

To avoid showing a pathetic appearance in front of her biological father, Fran and Nekise dressed up beautifully.

When Erin Tina asked for a favor, she had remembered the location of the shop she used to visit, and took the two of them there on the same route. The sight of them together was so stunning that anyone passing by couldn’t help but stare.

“They look so alike that it’s simple to catch people’s attention.”

Judging by the way the two of them moved together, one could guess that they were popular as an idol group in their past lives.

With two beautiful individuals emitting different charms, it was hard to imagine a man who wouldn’t go crazy being around them.

“Please have a seat here.”

She led the two to a suitable spot and had them sit down.

Although the unexpected arrival of the stepfather was irritating, having a moment for the two to relax was not a bad thing.

“What would you like to drink?”

“Just some water, please.”

“Me too.”

“Of course.”

It seemed that they were too nervous to drink anything else.

After placing the water in front of the two, I sat at the adjacent table.

And soon after, someone entered the shop.

He was tall, handsome, and seemed to be of noble descent.

“With looks like that, no wonder he’s popular with women of all ages.”

The slightly chubby man seemed to have immediately noticed Negi and Fran.

Armed with crossed arms, he observed how the man would react.

“Goodness, how have you not changed at all?”

The viscount looked surprised as he directed his gaze towards Negi.

“It seems your daughter looks just like you.”

“…It’s been a while.”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

The viscount’s expression as he looked at Negi was quite affectionate.

“Just as I expected.”

Initially indifferent, the viscount now wore a tender expression as if wondering when he had shown such an attitude.

“That guy is quite the actor.”

But his acting was so professional that anyone lacking in perceptiveness would easily fall for it.

Being the head of a noble family and a handsome man, he was quite the catch for commoner women.

“I didn’t expect you to reach out first. When I heard that the two of you had reunited, I was surprised at how much time had passed. And…”

The viscount turned to Fran.

“It’s our first meeting, daughter.”

“Hello.”

“You’ve grown up so well. Your father never showed his face or gave you any attention… Can I give you a hug even without seeing you once?”

“No, thank you.”

Fran’s nonchalant rejection made the viscount pause in his approach.

“Please, have a seat.”

“R-right. Let’s do that.”

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, the viscount forced an awkward smile and took his seat.

The two sat opposite him.

“We should order something. What do you like?”

“We didn’t come here to eat. We’d like to have a conversation.”

“Ah, our daughter seems to have a lot to say. Since we have time, we planned to take it slow, but…”

The viscount didn’t change his gentle tone as he spoke.

“What do you want to talk to your father about?”

“I want to know why you imprisoned my mother.”

“….”

The viscount seemed at a loss for words at Fran’s firm demand, freezing in a bewildered expression.

As he remained silent, waiting for him to gather his thoughts, the viscount finally spoke.

“Can you tell me why you think I sent your mother to prison in the first place?”

“So you’re going to deny that? I’ve already confirmed it through an investigation.”

That was the evidence they had carefully secured when investigating the stepfather. It wasn’t easy to question the people who were present at the scene when Negi’s mother was sent to prison, as it had been a long time.

Fortunately, I was able to contact someone who had moved to a different area and was able to get information from that person for money.

“Luckily, the employee who was able to reach out to me had previously worked for Viscount Hutton.”

The employee had mentioned that they had kept evidence, thinking it might come in handy someday, and were willing to sell it.

When Viscount Hutton took out the evidence received from the employee, he initially didn’t recognize it as evidence, but later his expression crumpled as he realized what it was.

“I never knew something like this existed….”

“My mother was sent to prison, and I was forcibly sent to an orphanage.”

Now, what should I say?

“At that time, there was no other choice. It was the only way to protect both of you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Watching the conversation quietly, Negi suddenly interjected and asked.

“You know I got married, right.”

“You never mentioned it to me.”

Oh dear.

“…It’s common sense that a nobleman would have a fiancée. Even if I didn’t say it, it was a logical issue. I thought you would naturally know.”

“Was there any way for me to know when I was young?”

“My wife was after you. She kept releasing people to find you. If you had been honest with me and consulted with me, I could have protected you properly. But you didn’t.”

Viscount Hutton skillfully shifted the blame to the other party’s mistake.

“If you had told her, we wouldn’t have been able to have a child. I’m not a fool.”

“If she had found out, we would both have died.”

“If you really cared, you wouldn’t have irresponsibly sent the child to an orphanage and ignored them.”

In response to Negi’s resentful words, Viscount Hutton offered a skillful defense.

“I had no choice but to keep the child’s existence a secret from my wife. If I had gone to a suspicious place, she would have definitely found out.”

“…I can’t believe it.”

“You can say that because you’ve never met that person. How strong-willed that woman is. She thinks you died giving birth to the child. If you knew how hard I tried to make her believe that, you wouldn’t be able to say such hurtful things.”

Despite Viscount Hutton’s sincere plea, the expressions of the two individuals did not soften.

Realizing that his plea was not being accepted, Viscount Hutton became anxious and actively adorned his expression, speaking.

“If that woman finds out that both of you are still alive, she will try to kill you. That’s why I initially thought it might be better for us not to meet.”

Viscount Hutton was displaying his profound parental love by flaunting his feathers like a peacock.