I Think My Daughter Has Regressed (7 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 10
“No.”
Ariel bit her lip at Damian’s unexpectedly firm refusal.
“…Bruno often goes on trips with Derek and even goes hunting with him.”
“So?”
“You haven’t even traveled with our Lucy—not even shared a single meal together until yesterday.”
Damian, his eyes completely fixed on his book, offered no reply to Ariel’s latter remark.
Ariel, who had stubbornly remained standing, considered speaking once more—but seeing Damian’s intense focus, she gave up.
…I boldly promised Lucy, but what am I supposed to do now?
Ariel stepped into the corridor, her shoulders slumped in disappointment.
*
In the end, Ariel, unable to tell Lucy anything, simply received Bruno’s family at the ducal residence.
Bruno and Damian quickly disappeared toward the garden’s rear, leaving only the ladies with the children.
Over tea and pastries, Jessica and Ariel exchanged brief, light conversation about recent happenings.
Just then—
Crash! A loud noise followed by the sound of multiple hurried footsteps echoed through the hall.
The commotion outside was even palpable inside the playroom, and both Ariel and Jessica immediately turned their gazes toward the door.
Just as Ariel was about to gesture for silence, a maid approached and whispered into their ears:
“Master Bruno has fallen from his horse.”
Upon hearing this, Ariel’s eyes widened, and she shot up from her seat.
“Duchess.”
Jessica also stood abruptly, then cast a quick glance toward the children playing in the center of the playroom.
“If both the Duchess and I leave at once, I worry the children might get frightened too. Since it’s my husband Bruno, I’ll go check on him—but may I ask you, Duchess, to stay with the children?”
Seeing a hint of tears welling in Jessica’s eyes, Ariel quickly nodded.
This wasn’t the first time Bruno had suffered a fall from a horse.
He’d only recently injured his leg in a similar incident—how could it happen again so soon?
Jessica must be deeply shocked. Derek would undoubtedly feel the same upon hearing the news.
“Don’t worry about the children—go quickly.”
Ariel nodded again promptly and called a maid,
immediately ordering her to guide Jessica directly to Bruno.
Anxiously watching Jessica disappear through the door, Ariel quickly checked on the children.
Fortunately, they were still absorbed in their own play, paying no attention to the noise outside.
Lucy and Derek, focused on their glass marbles, stared intently at each other’s.
After a few minutes, the commotion outside seemed to settle down, while the children remained engrossed in their marbles.
Just as Ariel gestured to a maid to quietly inquire about the situation outside—
Clink!
A sharp shattering sound rang out as a glass marble broke into pieces.
Judging by the fragments scattered right in front of Lucy’s feet, it appeared to be her marble that had shattered.
Ariel quickly moved to Lucy and examined her hands.
“Lucy, are you all right?”
“Ah… yes…”
Gently soothing the startled, frozen Lucy with a kind smile, Ariel then promptly checked Derek’s hands as well.
Fortunately, Derek didn’t seem hurt either.
“Derek, are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m fine. But…”
Derek’s furrowed brow turned toward Lucy.
“You just broke a glass marble because of your carelessness.”
His voice came out as sharp as the shattering sound itself.
Ariel looked up in surprise at Derek’s reprimanding tone.
“Derek, you must be really worried about Lucy.”
Given how hurt Lucy had left him last time they met, it was understandable Derek couldn’t manage kind words.
To guide the child gently toward better expression, Ariel softened his phrasing.
“Worried? No. I’m worried about the marble—not Lucy. I wish she’d stop clumsily breaking marbles like that.”
Derek spoke haughtily, lifting his chin.
Though it was understandable he wasn’t worried about Lucy, his next statement struck Ariel as odd.
It wasn’t even his marble—why would he care about Lucy’s?
“Why worry about a marble? Do you really like glass marbles that much, Derek?”
“It’s mine.”
“Oh! I see. I thought it was Lucy’s, but it’s actually yours. I’ll give you another one as a gift. I’m sorry.”
“But… it’s mine…”
Lucy tilted her head and grasped Ariel’s hand.
Meeting the child’s eyes, Ariel asked again what she meant, and Lucy pointed toward the table.
“Derek hyung hasn’t even taken his marble out yet. It’s still in the pouch on the table over there.”
“Ugh. Seriously…”
Derek frowned deeply at Lucy, as if wondering how she could not know such an obvious thing.
“Yours is mine too.”
“Why is mine yours, Derek hyung?”
Sighing at Lucy’s question, Derek took a step closer to her.
“Because you can’t become the heir. That leaves only me in House Genova—and soon, everything here will belong to me.”
The child spoke with absolute confidence.
There was no way he came up with that idea himself—it was clearly Jessica’s doing.
Ariel knelt down to meet the child’s eyes and offered a gentle smile.
“Derek, have you said things like this anywhere else?”
“No. I haven’t.”
“I see. Well, this is what your aunt thinks—you shouldn’t carelessly say such things outside.”
“Why not?”
The child asked with innocent curiosity.
“Because even if Derek becomes the heir someday, that marble will always belong to Lucy.”
She wasn’t sure how best to correct him, but she felt it necessary to clarify Lucy’s ownership clearly.
Looking displeased, Derek pointed to the necklace around Ariel’s neck.
“Then, even if I become the heir someday, will that always belong to you, Aunt?”
Ariel, who had been absentmindedly touching her necklace, flinched.
Today’s necklace was an heirloom left by the previous Duchess—not Ariel’s personal possession.
Of course, as Duchess, she received ample personal allowance for maintaining dignity—but this piece wasn’t hers alone…
“No. If you become the heir, this will eventually belong to your wife.”
Keeping such personal matters to herself, Ariel smiled lightly instead.
“My wife? Not my mother?”
When Derek asked in surprise, Ariel nodded.
“Yes. Naturally, if you become the heir, it will belong to your wife.”
Derek’s eyes began to sparkle.
“Since my wife is my private property, doesn’t that mean her belongings are mine too?”
“…One could say so, yes.”
“Aunt… could you please not tell my mother about what we talked about today?”
Seeing the child’s transparent desire, Ariel lifted the corners of her lips into a long, knowing smile.
Her eyes weren’t smiling at all—but she pressed a finger playfully to her lips, signaling “shh.”
The child, instantly charmed by this new side of Ariel, quickly copied her gesture, placing his own finger to his lips.
Their shared wink sealed a secret pact—undeniably the behavior of a child.
“Then shall we make Lucy part of our secret promise too?”
At Ariel’s words, Lucy nodded as well.
Even if Jessica eventually found out, she wouldn’t be able to reproach Ariel for anything.
Swallowing her inner thoughts, Ariel straightened her knees and stood.
…I only thought them short-sighted and oblivious.
I never imagined they’d conspire like this under the guise of family.
At that very step forward, a dark thought flickered through Ariel’s mind.
Normally, falling from a horse during hunting results in serious injury…
Yet somehow, Bruno always suffered only minor wounds—and each time, Damian had immediately gone off to war.
Clenching her jaw, Ariel put on a bright smile.
“Madam Jessica is taking quite long. Lucy and Derek, play together. Derek, Aunt will be back shortly to check on things.”
“Yes!”
Derek beamed and waved cheerfully at Ariel.
Already, sharing just this one secret seemed to forge a small bond between them.
Even the way Derek reached for Lucy’s hand grew noticeably gentler.
“I’ll stay and play with Derek hyung! Mom, go ahead!”
“Alright. Now let’s play with my marble.”
Ariel gave the children one last glance, signaled a maid with her eyes, and stepped out of the room.
With a soft thud, the door closed behind her. For the first time, a cold, chilling aura radiated from Ariel’s face.
“Where are Damian and Bruno?”
“T-they’re together in His Grace’s study.”
“And Jessica?”
“Madam Jessica is with them in the study as well.”
“Didn’t I clearly summon the doctor to the reception room? Bruno’s leg seemed badly injured.”
“It seems his leg didn’t swell or show serious injury—he was only told by the doctor not to walk for a while.”
“Then why are all three of them in the study?”
At Ariel’s question, the maid lowered her head further and further.
Unaccustomed to this icy demeanor from Ariel, the maid’s voice trembled increasingly.
Though she’d done nothing wrong, she felt as if she’d committed a grave offense.
“They said they had something to discuss regarding the leg injury—but I don’t know exactly what it is.”
Ariel nodded calmly and began walking.
Frost trailed from every step she took toward the study.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
_____
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I see that Lucy is guiding her tutor to discover the truth and realize that he is being manipulated.
Poor Ariel, I know her daughter Lucy would have ways to resolve that situation peacefully, but she went to extremes 😅 Poor mother, I imagine the next episode will show the anguish she’s carrying in that situation, especially since Lucy is under Ariel’s care.
What a fascinating novel! The title suggests that Lucy might be a regressor, but from my point of view, she behaves like a gifted child. How curious!