Selected as the New Stepmother (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 4
Find out discreetly where this child lives. Also find out if there’s another reason they’re coming here.
Anna gave a barely perceptible nod and stepped outside. When the child asked what they’d been talking about, she acted as if it were nothing special. But once suspicion took root, it refused to easily fade.
[This is the timeline separator]In suffocating silence, the child was swiftly assembling a puzzle picture that made even looking at it give me a headache.
Then, perhaps stuck on a piece, they froze like a statue, holding one fragment.
‘Don’t make eye contact.’
I was anxious they might ask me for help.
“Um…”
No. Don’t call out.
“Are you good at puzzles?”
I shut my eyes tightly, then opened them.
“Not particularly.”
“But you’re surely better than me, since I’m just a child?”
“That’s… probably.”
The child smiled contentedly and approached. Clearly a child, yet why did they appear to me like some terrifying predator?
“These two pieces look too similar—I’m confused. Which one goes here?”
I took the puzzle piece the child offered and was startled. They were practically identical; either one could fit without issue.
“Can you see it?”
It was a puzzle made from an image of a vast forest viewed from above. I truly couldn’t tell what made any difference—it was exactly as it seemed.
“Oh! Maybe if you see the original, you’ll know!”
The child returned to their seat and brought over the puzzle box. Seeing the printed image on the back made me even more stunned.
“As a wise adult, I should give you advice.”
I flipped over the dizzying original image.
“Set that piece aside for now and match the others first.”
“Why?”
“Put the other pieces together first. When only two remain, try placing them together—you’ll find the answer.”
“Oh…”
The child’s face lit up with understanding. Then, as if another question arose, they tilted their head.
“What if there are too many pieces you have to set aside for that reason?”
I involuntarily sniffed. I wondered how I could escape this puzzle hell.
“Kid, when that happens, you see—”
Ah, forget it. There’s no rule saying all adults must ruin a child’s purity or build their self-esteem.
“Just give up. Then it’ll be easier.”
Their expression visibly stiffened. I flinched for a moment, but it went unnoticed.
“But…”
The child looked at me as if compelled to agree, then spoke.
“If I finish this, Papa will be happy. So I must complete it.”
Ha. What do you expect me to do?
[This is the timeline separator]Anna returned from the guild after inquiring about the child’s identity, and upon entering the consultation room—where she’d expected silence—found loud conversation swirling. She hurried inside.
Passing through the waiting area and grasping the door handle to the consultation room, vivid dialogue slipped through the slightly ajar door.
“This piece goes here.”
“No, look—there’s a subtle difference in the pattern here.”
“Oh! You’re right!”
Anna peered through the crack and saw two people seated on the sofa, heads nearly touching, utterly absorbed in solving the puzzle.
“Now, the final piece.”
The child inserted the last puzzle piece with gleaming eyes. Instantly, the vast green forest beautifully adorned the square puzzle board.
“Thank you so much, Auntie.”
The child rose from the sofa and bowed deeply. Knowing Anna disliked being called “Auntie” by the young lady she served, I thought I should correct her.
But then I saw Schmidt gently patting the child’s head with a kind smile.
Somehow, they seemed so warm and affectionate—I felt I’d be intruding if I intervened.
Anna quietly closed the door and returned to her reception desk, sitting down softly without a sound.
[This is the timeline separator]One hour spent solving the puzzle together.
Thirty more minutes passed as we shared the cake Anna had bought on her way back from the guild.
I’d said three hours would do, but since the child arrived, time seemed enchanted—slowing as if frozen. The clock hands showed no sign of moving.
‘We’re only halfway through!’
What should I even do to pass the time with a child?
‘Maybe a book.’
I thought giving them a book might easily kill an hour. But the books in the consultation room weren’t suitable for a child.
《About the Wind, That Love Full of Wounds》
《The Price of My Child. Dowry》
‘…These are a bit much.’
I quickly averted my gaze from the bookshelf. Once again, I realized—this place was no space for a child to spend time.
“Auntie, I have a question.”
The kid sat on the sofa, legs swinging, looking serious.
Somehow, it was a trivial, adorable sight.
“What is it?”
I was busy with tasks I’d put off while solving the puzzle, so I answered while my hands worked diligently.
“Don’t you wonder who I am?”
“I already know who you are.”
The child’s eyes widened in surprise. Someone dressed in fine fabric, always seeking cleanliness—could hardly be a child from a family scraping by day to day.
Judging by their slightly impolite manner and the tone they used with me…
‘A bourgeois, then.’
All circumstances pointed to it. Thinking of it, I recalled several bourgeois individuals in Artenbach with black hair.
“You know who I am?”
“Yes. I know.”
The child’s eyes widened further in shock, then settled into a serious expression. Was this reaction meant to make me feel clever for deceiving them?
“But still, you treat me like this?”
The child muttered under their breath, disbelief evident. I clicked my tongue once, then spoke seriously.
“Kid, people who treat others differently based on their family or wealth should be avoided.”
“Huh?”
“Such people smile and wag their tails when you have plenty—but when you lose everything, they’ll ignore you without even looking back.”
It grew bitter. Once, many had smiled and wagged their tails toward Viscount Dely’s household. We believed their loyalty would remain firm even if we fell.
But as the Viscount’s fortunes began to decline, all those wagging tails fled swiftly, afraid of being splashed by mud. The betrayal of those I’d trusted gave me a harsh lesson.
“Why?”
“Why? When you had money, they clung to you hoping to gain something. Now that you have none, there’s nothing left to gain—so they ignore you.”
“Hmm. I’ve never been ignored before.”
Looking at the child’s serene, sparkling eyes, I sighed. Carefully, I added, mindful not to smear black ink onto their purity.
“You haven’t lived long enough yet.”
I didn’t know what I was saying to a child. They didn’t seem to understand anyway—so I let it go.
[This is the timeline separator]Three hours passed, like ten.
The man who looked like a coachman took the kid away, and I rose from my seat immediately.
I had no energy left to work, and I was exhausted—I decided to go home early.
Upon entering the mansion, I was met with a pile of gift boxes as tall as I was, and my father, holding a letter with a grim expression.
“Is it that Johnston fellow again?”
“Yes.”
He ran the largest tavern in Artenbach and traded contraband through the underground market.
He’d used those earnings to enter the bourgeois class—and his motive for persistently proposing to me was clear.
《If you give me the title of Viscount Dely, you and your family can live in luxury for the rest of your lives on the money I earn.》
It was a letter that wounded my pride.
I wasn’t the only one feeling that outrage—my father trembled violently, struggling to suppress his fury.
“How dare that scoundrel lay hands on my precious daughter!”
My father raged, but I was tapping away at my abacus.
The gifts themselves are innocent. And receiving them doesn’t mean I must marry Johnston.
Anna noticed and began unpacking the boxes. Inside were myrrh and tobacco leaves from across the sea, along with wool.
“My lady, where should I put these?”
“Give the tobacco leaves to Father. Keep the rest safely. If sold well, they’ll cover the roof repairs.”
My father’s anger had somewhat subsided. He tossed the letter into the fireplace and said,
“Exactly! Once the hotel opens on Rueve Street No. 3, we’ll crush this kind of arrogance!”
“…A hotel?”
This was news to me. A hotel on Rueve Street?
“It’s one of those exclusive bits of information only the well-connected know. A foreign businessman bought the building at Rueve Street No. 3 and plans to tear it down and build a hotel. He’s offering partial ownership of the hotel and the underground market to investors—there was fierce competition.”
My father wore a satisfied expression.
“But surely my father here won the competition and secured the investment, right? Look—this is the deed of ownership for the hotel.”
He pulled a single sheet of paper from his robe and showed it to me. I calmly read the details written on the deed.
“Father.”
“Yes? What else do you want to know?”
“What happens if they don’t get the construction permit?”
“They purchased the building itself, so they don’t need a construction permit…”
Without realizing it, I crumpled the corner of the deed tightly in my hand, gripping it with force.
“Father.”
“Wh-what?”
“What about the hotel operating permit?”
When the male lead is punished by carrying the female lead’s child and having periods like a woman
“I’ve given birth to two children for you, yet you still think about him.
Was I nothing but his substitute to you from beginning to end?”
Synopsis:
Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends, transmigrates to a female-dominated country.
Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to date them than in modern times?
Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!
Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!
Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.
_____
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