My Adorable Daughter Can't Be A Villainess - Chapter 31 - Changes

Eric was sitting in his office, a blank parchment resting before him.

He was working. A job to create an assessment paper that would test the intelligence of students aiming to become part of Obsidian Spire Academy.

Although he had regained all of Eric’s memories, there were still things he could not do as fluently as the original Eric.

That was why, for reference, he decided to go through the last ten years of entrance exam papers and the drafts of the man responsible for setting them until this year.

As he searched and studied, Eric frowned slightly.

The questions were far too focused on textbook knowledge, things one could answer simply by reading and memorizing everything found in the books a young teenager usually encountered during school.

However, according to Eric, assessing someone based only on that was wrong.

Why? Because not everyone aiming for Obsidian had the privilege of attending school during the early stages of their life.

Charlotte was one such example. Even though her mother was an academic genius, Chloe still could not educate her as well as trained school teachers could.

And the questions Eric was looking at were not something Charlotte could answer. He knew that for a fact.

‘Is this some sort of tactic to keep commoners and children with weak backing away from the Academy?’ Eric thought grimly.

There was little room for doubt, since Murray was no amateur and had followed the same pattern throughout his life.

‘Now that I think about it…’ There had been a long debate in the past about whether to let the main character, who missed the passing marks by only a small margin, attend the academy or not.

The original Eric had opposed that decision. He believed those with low IQ were unworthy of wearing the uniform of Obsidian Academy. Having prepared the question paper himself, he felt that if a student failed to clear such an easy obstacle, it would steal an opportunity from someone who truly deserved a place in the Academy.

In the end, however, the headmaster gave permission after witnessing an incident where the protagonist saved a young girl from a group of thugs.

Good old lucky coincidence.

So it did not matter how difficult Eric made the paper the following year. The protagonist would somehow end up joining Obsidian anyway.

‘Should I try convincing Charlotte to apply to another academy?’ It was Eric’s wish for the protagonist to stay away from his daughter.

Unfortunately, they had already interacted once, and that alone was a bad sign.

Charlotte tended to lose herself in love and in rage. And those emotions were tied to the same person.

That was why, even if it’s Eric, he would not go out of his way to trouble the protagonist, he could at least… no, what was he thinking?

‘Charlotte has always dreamt of joining the Obsidian Spire.’ Eric knew she would agree if he asked her to change her preference, but Charlotte would surely be deeply saddened at losing the chance to attend the same academy her mother once belonged to.

‘Well, I will think about it when the time comes.’ Right now, his focus was on what he should do about the question paper.

Should he follow the same path as the original Eric by copying Murray’s approach? Or should he prepare a paper that could be answered by anyone who truly wished to become a pillar of humanity, someone who wanted to explore the world and use their powers for the benefit of others?

Eric had his answer.

He folded Murray’s notes and picked up the quill.

…

Chloe was sitting on a chair, waiting.

Yesterday, she had a strange conversation with Eric.

She had gone to apologize to him, yet even then, she could not be completely honest. Had her past feelings and his betrayal left such a deep mark on her?

Still, Chloe somehow managed to convey what she felt, and in return, Eric told her something she could hardly believe.

He wanted her back in his life.

Chloe did not know how to react to that. Even now, she was unsure.

She could not believe that after everything they had been through, Eric was talking about reuniting.

Chloe felt neither angry nor happy. Instead, there was a tangled, heavy feeling in her chest.

What was really going through his head?

Was he not recently engaged to someone else? Chloe knew the engagement had been broken off, and that Eric had remained single since then, but why her?

Was she not just a fleeting romance to him? Someone he shared a single night with? Someone beneath his notice?

Then why?

‘Is it because of Charlotte?’ the woman muttered silently.

Just then, the door opened and Charlotte stepped into the room.

Chloe raised her brows and asked, “Are you planning to skip classes today too?” Charlotte had been avoiding her ever since the argument she had with Eric.

This time, however, the younger girl grinned and walked over. “Of course not. I was so excited that I even skipped dessert.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, sure.” As she spoke, she wiped a smear of pudding from the corner of Charlotte’s lips.

Charlotte giggled and hopped onto Chloe’s lap, earning a warning. “Careful. You still haven’t fully recovered.”

Leaning against her mother, Charlotte said, “You know, Mom… I just saw Uncle Eric smiling while walking in the garden. He looked happy.”

Chloe huffed. “Why were you spying on him?”

Charlotte giggled again, her sweet voice melting Chloe’s heart. “I love watching him. I learn things just by seeing him do small stuff. Like today, I learned he keeps his handkerchief in his left back pocket. Not right.”

Chloe smirked. “I taught him that. He used to keep it in his chest pocket for efficiency.”

Charlotte gasped and turned to her mother. “Really?”

Chloe nodded. “He was far less refined during his academy days. I taught him many things he thought were useless because they did not help his research.”

Charlotte looked both surprised and impressed. “You two were really close, huh?”

Chloe remained silent.

Before she could guide Charlotte away from the topic, the younger silver-haired girl asked, “Then… what exactly happened that made you two grow so distant, Mom?”

It was not the first time Charlotte had asked that, and like always, she did not expect an answer. But this time—

“You will know the reason soon, Charlotte. Just wait a few days.”

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