Who Did You Say My Father Is? - Chapter 3

So that’s why he pricked my finger, then the baby’s, alternately?

According to the detective, with the recent increase in infant abduction cases, the Empire has started a major crackdown. If an adult is found with a child of unclear identity, they automatically become a subject of scrutiny…

It seemed he pulled out some magical potion to check if the baby and I were blood-related.

“Okay, let’s say the child is mine. But how is it possible that I, the mother, don’t know the child and have been separated for more than half a year?”

“That’s something I don’t know, madam. All I can confirm here is that this child is yours.”

The detective’s eyes narrowed. It seemed he was thinking of me as a heartless woman who secretly had a child and then tried to abandon it.

“If you wish, I can inquire who left the child at your door.”

It was like he was reluctantly agreeing to my request.

“Mumma. Mammaa.”

While having this fruitless conversation with the detective, the baby quietly nestled in my arms, cooing in response.

Ah, what is this situation? This baby is definitely new to me.

The headache that started at my temples was spreading over my entire head.

The baby seemed to be around a year old. But I’ve only been in Celeste’s body for barely half a year, so the possibility of Celeste secretly having had a child and hiding it… wasn’t entirely non-existent.

In the original story, Celeste didn’t have a child, let alone get married. But since I became Celeste, the original story might as well have been shattered, so debating the original content was pointless.

Then where did the original story go wrong?
“If you have no further requests, please leave now, madam. I won’t charge you for the consultation, and I won’t take the potion’s cost either. Now, just come to terms with it and accept the child.”

As if expelling us, the detective pushed me and the child out and closed the door. The last glimpse I caught of the detective’s eyes through the closing door seemed to accuse me of being a less-than-human being for abandoning my own child.

No, it’s not true! This child isn’t mine, and I’m not a mother! I wanted to say that, but I couldn’t.

“…It’s so unfair.”

Left standing helplessly in the street, holding the child, I was overwhelmed with feelings of frustration and emptiness.

It was unfair to die at a blooming age, to be possessed into a character doomed to die young, and now, a lifelong single to become a mother. What could be more unjust than this?

“It’s so unfair!”

“Bababbaba. Baba.”

The baby mimicked my words, babbling adorably. The warm presence squirming in my arms slightly, just slightly, eased my sense of injustice.

Yes, what fault could this little one have? If anyone’s to blame, it’s the adults.

〈I wished I had a family.〉

I recalled a wish, more like a longing, that I had often silently repeated in my previous life.

“Um, Mama. Mama.”

My child… I tried mouthing the words quietly, and a shiver ran down my spine. My child! My child!

This isn’t the family I wanted.

I wanted a family that would protect and embrace me, not a responsibility to take on!

I shouted in my mind, but it was just a soundless scream.

This tiny tot, no, more of an infant than a child, appeared out of nowhere, threatening to shatter my peaceful and beautiful life.

“What should I do now? Baby, what should I do with you?”

I asked the infant in my arms out loud, though it was more of a grumble than a question.

Then, a thought crossed my mind. If there’s a child, there must be a father somewhere, right? Unless Celeste was a Virgin Mary, she couldn’t have created a child on her own.

“…I need to find the child’s father.”

I decided I had to request the detective’s services again.

To find the father of the child.