I Became The Stepmother Of An Irrevocable Dark Family

Did he just suggest we touch her together?

I laughed at his abrupt remark and lightly touched Rere’s cheek.

“Next time, let’s do it when we’re alone.”

A strange feeling came over me as I watched Luca speak with such determination.

“The Luca that I know is always careful, though…”

“Do you prefer that version of me?”

“I prefer both of you. Because you both are my beloved Ian.”

“You know what, Leona? My heart pounded so hard to the point it’s hard to breathe whenever you said that. Seeing the reflection of myself in your eyes seriously drives me crazy.”

His pupils and voice quivered like that of a man madly in love.

“You see, Leona. There are so many things I want to do for you.”

“For me?”

“I want to give you a proper wedding ceremony, and a room that is fancier than that of anyone else in the world. I was irritated many times because of that idiot Duke. I’d always tried to talk him out of behaving childishly, but he wouldn’t listen no matter what I said. I’ve always had the urge to beat up my past self. In fact, I had that thought more than a hundred times.” Ian rambled with a bitter smile on his face.

“To be honest, I despised the Duke. I’ve always thought that even if he were the only man left in the world, I wouldn’t want to be associated with him.”

“That’s understandable.”

“But how can the Duke and Luca be so very different? You both are essentially the same people.”

“People change. Especially in front of someone they love.”

Ian sat next to the bed where Rere slept.

“Come to think of it, I couldn’t understand why Ian cared so much about Rere at first…but now I kind of understand.”

“He really ticked me off. He wouldn’t even pay attention to the child. He wasn’t going to make an effort to get closer to her. The child would grow up in a flash, and her wound would be deeper than anyone else’s, so I was very frustrated when he did nothing at all. And because I wasn’t involved directly, Rere and the Duke’s relationship deteriorated even further. If Leona wasn’t here…their relationship would surely…”

Luca’s eyes were filled with Rere as he slurred the end of his words. He earnestly stared at Rere, yet his gaze looked sad.

‘Yeah, if nothing changed…’

The relationship between the Duke and Rere would have been just as bad as it was in the novel. Even if the novel’s content changed, the outcome would remain disastrous if the family was in shambles.

“It’s a relief.”

“It’s all thanks to Leona.”

“It’s not all thanks to one person, and no one is at fault here. Because we’ve all changed, the future has changed. Rere, on the other hand… There is a chance she will get better.”

“Did you find a way?”

“I had some suspicion after listening to the old butler, but it became even more certain now. Rere collapsed again after crying for her daddy who was still lying in bed. She rapidly had a high fever.”

“In other words…” Ian stroked his chin with a serious expression.

“I believe it is a physiological illness. She’ll become ill whenever she experiences a sudden change in emotion.”

“Is there such an illness?”

“That’s what I’m looking into right now. But I’m actually terrified. I didn’t want to go to the temple without you and look for it on my own..”

“How about going with Rere next time? Rere has always been excited to go out.”

“That’s because the Duke never allowed it.”

He lightly bit at his lower lip before letting out a deep sigh.

“He must have thought it was the right thing to do. If it wasn’t for Leona, I might have done the same.”

The mood heated again as we locked eyes. But Rere intervened again and again whenever there was a slight change of atmosphere to the point where I thought she had been listening all along.

“Uuung…”

I tried to ignore her because I thought she was talking in her sleep again, but Rere gradually opened her eyes.

“Umm…”

“Did you wake up, Rere?”

“Yeah, Rere is sleepy. By the way, Big Bunny. How about Daddy?”

Rere languidly opened her eyes and was busy asking about her father right after she felt me stroking her head.

“Rere.”

“Hm?”

“Daddy is awake.”

Rere reacted weakly at first then opened her eyes wide.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Ian rose from his seat and approached Rere.

“It’s Daddy, Rere.”

“Uh, uh…it’s true…Daddy!”

Her weak voice quickly disappeared and she jumped into his arms.

“Stupid. Stupid Daddy. Do you know how worried Rere was?”

Despite her best efforts, tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Rere.”

“You should be sorry! Do you know how worried I was? What if… what if something goes wrong with Daddy…then I…I…”

I quickly approached Rere and stroked her cheek. But I couldn’t bring myself to dissuade her from being angry out of fear that she’d get sick again. Even though her cheeks were flushed from the fever, Rere smiled.

The child was smiling and crying as if she was happy just to have her daddy regain consciousness.

“I’m sorry. I promise to not get sick again. I’m not going to let Rere down. So, my daughter, don’t cry. Daddy’s heart hurts if Rere continues to cry.”

“Uh, I! So I shouldn’t cry because it’ll hurt Daddy’s heart?”

“No, you can cry more. I’m just worried our Rere will get sick.”

“I’m not sick. Rere is healthy. So don’t get sick, Daddy.”

After crying for a long time, the child touched the Duke’s head.

“Daddy is warm.”

“Rere is hot.”

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“I-I’m not hot. I’m not sick. I’ll be fine if I get some rest. But I won’t sleep. I’m worried if Daddy will disappear or get sick.”

“Then what should I do so Rere won’t worry?”

As soon as he asked, Rere dragged the Duke’s arm toward the bed.

“Let’s sleep together. I won’t have to worry if the three of us sleep while holding hands!”

Rere led the Duke to the right side of the bed. He had to lie there even though he had only just woken up. However, Rere did not stop there.

“Come this way, Big Bunny.”

“Are you asking me to lie down, too?”

“Yeah, because Big Bunny is weak.”

“Alright.”

“Our Big Bunny listens very well today. How pretty.”

“Is Mom pretty?”

The child scoffed at my phrasing and pouted.

“You like to be praised so much that every time I did that, you’d smile like a fool. You’re not pretty, Big Bunny. So don’t get a wrong idea and just lie down here.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

It felt like we were back to how we used to be. I listened to Rere as we lay in bed and gazed at Ian. He smiled at me as if he were the happiest man in the world.

“What’s going on? You two are weird.”

“Huh?”

“Big Bunny never smiled at my daddy! But I just saw you smile at my daddy! What happened while Rere was sleeping?”

So people weren’t lying when they said that children notice the changes in their parents right away.

“Huh? What do you mean..?”

“You’re very suspicious, though…?”

Rere narrowed her eyes as she switched looking alternately at the two of us while lying on the bed then clapped her hands.

“Ah! I know!”

“W-What?”

Did she know that we kissed while she was sleeping? Or maybe she woke up at that time? Rere always snored when she slept, and I didn’t recall that she made that sound earlier.

While my head was filled with all sorts of thoughts, the child plopped herself on the bed.

“You must have hated Daddy so much, Big Bunny.”

“Huh…?”

“You smiled at him, or should I say, you smirked? That’s exactly what you did!”

“Ah…that’s….”

“Don’t worry! Rere doesn’t want Big Bunny and Daddy to get along. Big Bunny should marry a very cool guy. Daddy is so not attractive, after all.”

Meanwhile, Rere lay down in the middle and put our hands on her belly.

“I know everything.”

“Rere.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you still think Daddy isn’t attractive now?”

“…How would you be different now? Are you saying that you’ve become more attractive because you just woke up? But you’re exactly the same, though?”

“…I-Is that so?”

“Yeah. So don’t even dream of being together with Big Bunny. I’ll smack your butt if you ever do that.”

Ian frowned as if he was treated unfairly and smiled despondently, but Rere was determined.

“But Daddy did something really admirable, Rere.”

“What’s that?”

“He planned a family trip.”

“Really?!”

“He suggested a family trip because we’d never done one before. Do you still think Daddy is unattractive?”

Rere quickly moved her hand to cover her mouth.

“Umm, well, you’re not admirable just for that one act!”

“He also planned to hold a wedding ceremony for me.”

“What? Oh my god. Did you really do something admirable?”

“Yes. He said he’d make a big room for me.”

“…No, that’s really bad.”

“…Huh?”

“Gosh. He’s giving you room because Big Bunny is so innocent. He only has an evil intention of separating Rere and Big Bunny. That should be a minus point!”

Although she said that, Rere was smiling brighter than ever.

“But I’m happy that Daddy has changed a little.”

“From now on, I will do my absolute best for you, Rere. That includes you, Leona… I’ll devote my entire life to you both.”

“Look. Daddy is weird. But I like the weird Daddy, too.”

“Mom also likes your weird daddy.”

“No, you can’t! Mom belongs to Rere. Daddy will hurt you again because he’s a fool. So please don’t like my daddy, okay?”

Instead of answering, I kissed Rere on the cheek.

“I’ll do as Rere says.”

Ian scowled at me, but I only smiled back at him. Because we had truly become a family.