I Think My Daughter Has Regressed (7 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 12
“……Ariel.”
“Damian, can you hear it?”
Bruno’s footsteps passing through the corridor. A very faint but steady rhythm.
……It didn’t sound at all like the footsteps of an injured person.
Ariel, who had briefly lowered her gaze while focusing on the sounds outside, lifted her head.
Sunlight from the window flared behind Damian.
Though Damian’s blue eyes were obscured by the backlight, Ariel’s figure was fully exposed to the sunlight.
Her expression was surely clearly visible to Damian.
“I don’t hear anything. I don’t understand what you mean.”
Damian slowly picked up the glass sitting on the table.
Ariel watched him from the side as he briefly bent his waist and reached out his arm.
For just a moment, Ariel had the fleeting thought that Damian knew everything about Bruno’s heart—
and yet was choosing to let it be.
Ariel’s eyes wavered.
She parted her lips toward Damian as he took a sip of whiskey from the glass. Her eyelashes trembled faintly.
Moisture gathered in Ariel’s eyes as she gazed out at the lush greenery of a bright summer day.
Though she knew she shouldn’t voice it, Ariel couldn’t let go of that tiny sliver of hope—
that everything she was thinking was merely an overreaction.
“……Damian.”
Ariel called out to him.
……Please tell me it isn’t so.
“Did you know all along?”
A heavy silence settled over Damian’s study as Ariel’s trembling voice faded.
Soon, in the room where only the ticking of the clock could be heard, Ariel kept her eyes fixed solely on Damian.
The golden hair she’d passed on to Lucy. Eyes as blue as the ocean.
Her husband Damian—whose strong, sharp features still held the beauty of a handsome man, and whom people called a gift bestowed by the gods upon the Empire.
He was stoic and valued rules and discipline—but that was precisely the virtue and character befitting the Duke of Genova.
What lay within his eyes was……
“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’ve been talking about since just now, my lady.”
Ah……
A tear dropped from Ariel’s eyes as her mouth opened slightly.
She blinked slowly, but could no longer maintain a composed expression.
Her face crumpled like a crumpled sheet of paper—her features collapsing grotesquely, mingling laughter, sorrow, and anger all at once.
He knew everything……
Damian had known it all…… yet still acted that way.
“……Travel sounds rather enjoyable, doesn’t it?”
Without even waiting for Damian’s reply, Ariel rose from her seat.
*
“Lucy.”
Bruno called out to Lucy.
Lucy, who had been playing with glass marbles with Derek, looked up at Bruno with an innocent expression.
“Uncle Bruno!”
When still, her face was an exact copy of her older brother’s—but when she smiled broadly, her mother’s features became unmistakable.
If I sell her off once she’s grown…… perhaps that wouldn’t be such a bad deal after all.
“Come here, Your Highness.”
At Bruno’s call, Lucy shook her head firmly.
“I’m in the middle of a game with Derek right now—it’s my turn, so I can’t.”
“Oh? Derek’s really good at playing marbles. Must be tough for you, Lucy.”
“Not at all.”
Lucy grinned mischievously as she rolled her marble.
The glass marble rolled smoothly, knocking Derek’s marble completely off the table.
“Lucy’s pretty…… good at this too.”
“Yes.”
Lucy beamed proudly.
……Fine. Let’s see how long you can keep smiling like that, as if she’s truly yours.
“Darling.”
Jessica called out to Bruno.
“Derek, while I have a word with your mother, play nicely with Lucy. You must take good care of your little sister.”
“Of course, Father.”
Derek nodded confidently.
Yes, my son. My son who will take this entire mansion—who will inherit the House of Genova!
After gently ruffling Derek’s hair once, Bruno left the room.
“……Darling. How did it go?”
Jessica looked at Bruno with anxious eyes.
Green eyes and deep brown hair—a face that was dazzling yet couldn’t quite rid itself of an inexplicable sense of cheapness.
Jessica was precisely the woman Bruno had deliberately chosen for her resemblance to Ariel.
After all, no woman from a family equal in status to the Marquis Borgese—Ariel’s own house—would willingly marry Bruno.
If that was the case, at least her face……
Even after sacrificing her family’s status for her looks, she still wasn’t satisfactory.
Her speech occasionally betrayed hints of vulgarity, and no matter how lavishly she dressed, her whole presence still gave off an oddly cheap impression.
Ariel’s eyes had always seemed to shimmer with a radiant light—but in Jessica’s green eyes, no such brilliance could be found.
“Haah……”
Bruno let out a sigh, tightly closed his eyes, then opened them again.
Right—since she’d borne Derek, Jessica had already fulfilled her purpose. After all, she’d given him a son.
“I’ll need to speak to my brother once more. But what about Lucy?”
“Lucy?”
Jessica’s eyes widened in surprise.
How dense could she be? Did she really need every single thing spelled out? That woman—she could infer things just from a mere glance or gesture!
“Yes. The governess. Is she saying she won’t use one or not?”
“Oh…… that? But is it really that important?”
Jessica acted as if she genuinely couldn’t understand why it mattered so much.
Bruno simply wished Jessica would shut up and just give clear, direct answers to his questions.
Seeing Bruno’s face darken, Jessica flinched slightly and opened her mouth.
“Well, um…… I asked Lucy, and she said she doesn’t want one.”
“Why?”
“She says that if she has a governess, she won’t be able to eat what she wants, say what she wants, or even cry when she feels like it—she’d have to smile instead.”
“She’s the Duke’s daughter! Of course that’s only natural. How can you accept such a reason from a child? You should’ve subtly asked Ariel why she isn’t hiring one! Do you really think that’s her actual reason? Do you even have a brain, or not?!”
Bruno raised his voice, then quickly checked his surroundings before lowering it again.
“Find out the real reason.”
“But that really does seem like the real reason……”
“Haah……”
Bruno grabbed his hair in frustration, then clenched his fist tightly.
As if restraining himself from slamming his fist into the wall, he swung it into the air and leaned close to Jessica’s face.
“I don’t care what you think. Don’t waste your stupid brain—just find out the real reason.”
Jessica lowered her eyes and nodded.
*
“Lucy mentioned…… that the reason she doesn’t want a governess is because she’d have to smile when she wants to cry and restrain herself from eating what she desires. Could it be that the Duchess has some particular reason for not hiring one?”
The moment Ariel arrived at Lucy’s playroom, Jessica—who had been watching her carefully—asked.
Meeting Jessica’s gaze, Ariel, despite her crushed heart, wore a gentle smile on her lips.
“Unfortunately, there’s no special reason. What Lucy explained is the true reason.”
On Jessica’s previously anxious and subdued face, a flicker of mockery appeared.
Ariel, observing Jessica—whose emotions always showed plainly on her face—read her thoughts and feelings clearly.
Piecing together the context made it quite easy to discern what the other person was thinking.
Ariel had been rigorously trained in this skill from a young age.
Thus, she had never lost a silent battle of wits.
After all, it would have been absurd for someone bearing the name of the Marquis Borgese—Ariel—to ever be defeated.
She occupied a position where she couldn’t lose, even if she didn’t try to win.
From a young age, Ariel had understood the immense power granted to her by her birth family.
Undoubtedly, Lucy too would exert overwhelming influence in high society.
In other words, to raise Lucy not as an ornament but as a person…… she needed the full status of the Duke’s daughter.
“I see. By chance, I heard that Marchioness Orsini is meeting with an education consultant regarding her child. Would it be possible for me to attend as well?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t think an education consultant would be a good fit for you, Madam Jessica. Let’s meet again on another matter sometime.”
Ariel cut Jessica off decisively, then concluded with a gentle smile.
When she was young, Ariel had once visited a slum with her father.
Her father had likely intended it as a kind of shock therapy to make her desire life in the royal court—but that day, Ariel realized something else entirely.
……Everything she possessed was luxury.
The beautiful smiles, the graceful walks, the exquisite adornments—all of it.
Wearing accessories beyond one’s station or gambling wasn’t the true definition of extravagance.
Every single aspect of Ariel’s life…… was luxury.
Even the rigorous education she received under her father was itself a luxurious way of living.
Thus, her father’s teachings ended up shaping Ariel’s life in a different direction.
Precisely because she lived a life of luxury, she resolved to bear even greater responsibility for it.
Since she enjoyed such abundance, she would not complain.
Even if she practiced curtseys all day long without missing a meal, that was an utterly peaceful life.
Thus, she resolved to become a trophy herself.
Whenever she received her father’s praise, she felt she was fulfilling her duty toward the lives of those in the slums.
Only by becoming a perfect noble could Ariel, standing above their lives, give them her utmost.
But Ariel changed when she gave birth to Lucy.
For Lucy…… she would give a life filled with meaning far greater than one overflowing with mere luxury.
If given the choice between becoming someone else’s trophy or allowing Lucy to live fully as herself, Ariel would choose Lucy’s life—even if it meant a knife to her own throat.
For that to happen, Lucy…… had to be able to fully live as the Duke’s daughter.
If Derek were to become the heir…… No, surely not.
Ariel would never allow her daughter to become a trophy displayed in someone else’s cabinet, just as she once was.
Even if that thought was selfish.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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!