It would have been a big deal if Rebecca's location had been discovered.
Although Cedric understood that fact rationally, he was tormented by the thirst caused by the imprint.
Adrian, who was watching him with confusion, soon spoke as if making a declaration.
'As the head of Monter, I would like to help His Highness the Grand Duke Twins.'
However, until then, Cedric was full of hostility toward Adrian.
‘Hasn’t you been coveting my woman all along? How can I trust you like that?'
In response to Cedric's question, Adrian shook his head with a faint smile.
'...It's been a long time since I gave up my vain greed. So please give us a chance to show our family's loyalty to the Grand Duke's family.'
'...'
'Please, Your Highness the Grand Duke.'
He didn't want to trust Adrian easily, but Cedric gradually began to feel his sincerity.
Cedric eventually contacted Adrian and began to search for his solution.
Just waiting for the day when he will meet Rebecca again.
For a while after Rebecca left, all that remained of Cedric was his resentment towards her and his hatred towards Adrian.
Those feelings drove Cedric, who lost his senses due to imprinting, even more crazy.
But while he worked with Adrian to find a solution, Cedric fortunately regained his senses.
Then, naturally, his resentment towards Rebecca gradually decreased, and at some point, he even began to feel guilty about her.
'Her Highness ultimately refused my help.'
Maybe she was worried about him even the moment she left.
He only felt pitiful for her, for doubting her and resenting her for his own self-indulgence.
'Maybe the reason Rebecca left without saying a word to me was because I couldn't give her confidence.'
When I even thought about that, my mind became a little clearer.
Now, she is probably the one who wants to come back to him more than anyone else.
For her own sake, he had to find a way to sever the connection between Rebecca's body and her original evil spirit as soon as possible.
That thought was all he had to endure, but there was nothing he could do about the thirst that had intensified due to Rebecca's absence.
From then on, Cedric used that thirst as motivation to focus solely on finding a solution.
And that was the day when a clue finally began to appear.
“Hey, Your Highness.”
As usual, recently, Cedric was in the study reading a report prepared by his aide.
When he raised his head at the sound of a familiar voice, he saw Vincent leaning against the open door.
Vincent's eyes soon scanned the interior of the study.
The interior had already lost its shine, the stove was covered in white dust as if it had been used by many users, and there were numerous broken ornaments and liquor bottles on the floor.
Cedric is quietly watching himself in the ruins.
Vincent walked slowly, smiling mischievously.
“Are you really scared of imprints, right?"
Cedric's eyes, who had been quietly watching him approaching with a joke, became harsh again.
“Just tell me what you want. I don’t have time to deal with your nonsense.”
“It looks like a lot of time, but what? You haven’t even shown up on Lillian’s heart seal.”
“...”
“It’s my freedom to do anything because of the engraving, but you still have to do the job properly, Your Highness?”
Cedric was staring at Vincent, and soon a small smile escaped his lips.
“I’m not interested in that. Besides, what do you believe in for me to keep doing that? Now I can lay it at Rebecca’s feet as long as she promises to return to me in exchange for Lillian’s heart.”
“...Hey, do I look like a scarecrow? Am I going to stay still while you do that?”
“I won’t stay still. So I have no choice but to kill you.”
Cedric spoke without even a moment of hesitation.
Vincent gauged how serious Cedric's condition had become due to those words.
Of course, before coming here, Vincent had expected it when he heard from Cedric's aide that he was preparing for a war against the Monter family...
Cedric's condition seemed to be more serious than he thought.
'Did the mania of powerful figures in history usually proceed this quickly? I thought he could hold out a little longer.'
No matter how much the imprinted companion disappeared, it was not common for someone to fall into madness so quickly.
At this rate, he couldn't last until Rebecca's death.
Before that, the demon world and the human world will be devastated due to Cedric going crazy due to her absence.
Vincent, who thought for a moment while rubbing his eyebrows, let out a small sigh.
Meanwhile, he had no idea that Cedric would already know where Rebecca lived.
'Cedric, what was the reason you couldn't find your companion even though you poured all your magic into it?'
Vincent was finally going to tell him the reason himself.
“Cedric.”
His gaze, which had been muttering lowly, turned to Cedric again.
“Yes, your great companion, he is now in my castle.”
***
I had to head to a place where Cedric couldn't find me.
Only then will I be able to completely hide from Lobelia, who is imbued with the spirit of that mad dog.
That was the only way to protect the unborn child.
However, there were few places where one could avoid Cedric's gaze.
If it disappeared, he would use all his abilities to find my energy somehow.
The help of someone as strong as Cedric was desperately needed.
Adrian, who was by my side at the time, said he would personally hide me in the Monter family castle.
Of course, it is not enough to surpass Cedric, but I also acknowledge that he also possesses considerable abilities.
But I couldn't listen to Adrian's request.
When I returned to Cedric in the future, I didn't want to cause him to misunderstand or do anything that would upset him.
Instead, I asked Adrian another favor.
I wanted him to take me to the family castle of Cedric's cousin, Vincent.
A powerful person with as much power as Cedric. And the person Cedric trusts the most.
The only person who met all the conditions was Vincent Norman.
With Adrian's help, I headed to the demon world and immediately came face to face with Vincent.
'You're the only one who can help me and my unborn child right now, Vincent. You must keep it a secret from Cedric that I am staying in your castle.'
After hearing all the circumstances, Vincent accepted my request.
‘Rebecca... No, not you, but the original owner of that body. As expected, she was as crazy as I heard. She would go so far as to change her body to get Cedric's imprint.'
Vincent's eyes, which were chuckling, soon became cold.
'The reason she goes to such lengths to gain recognition must be because of Lillian's heart. Who am I that I can't just sit back and watch that happen?'
He added that he would fully support me in my fight against Lobelia when the time comes.
From then on, I stayed at Norman Castle in the Demon World.
As I expected, Cedric couldn't find me, who was covered by Vincent's magic, which was as strong as his.
During the three months I was in hiding, I almost lived in the library inside the Norman castle.
I ran away here when I was two months pregnant, so there are already only five months left until I give birth.
I had to find a way to sever the connection between the original Rebecca's evil spirit and my current body as quickly as possible within that time.
'So I must get rid of that woman so that my child can return safely to his father's arms.'
I also just wanted to quickly return to the arms of my lover and my family.
As my longing for Cedric and Bianca grew deeper, my hatred for that crazy woman also deepened.
At times like that, I became more obsessively focused on finding a way to sever the connection between her soul and my body.
'If the connection is lost, so when the time comes to protect my child, you will definitely... I will kill you with my own hands.'
I gritted my teeth at that woman like that.
But finding a way to sever the connection between her soul and body wasn't as easy as I thought.
Throughout history, most people like me who were called into someone else's body ended up dying.
In the future, even if I did not die in the body I had been living in due to the whims of the body owner, my innocent soul eventually disappeared.
Naturally, there was a complete lack of data on people who had the same experience as me.
In addition, I had to search through countless books to find even a single line of information, and with the baby growing inside my stomach, my stamina was not as good as it should have been.
'But the only thing I can do now is to keep looking for a way. Tomorrow, I'll visit the Adrian family library for the first time in a while...'
I closed the book I was reading and massaged my tired shoulders.
Then, I looked down and stared at my slightly swollen belly for a moment.
“Are you tired too? Mommy feels sorry. Let’s just go and rest.”
As I got up from the chair, the librarian I had become close with while sorting out books from afar smiled and waved his hand.
“See you tomorrow, April.”
I said goodbye to her and walked out of the library.
Then, a huge and magnificent view of the Norman castle unfolded before my eyes.
It was my mistake to think that the Demon World was all dark.
That was a story limited to the Demon World Forest, the border area with the human world.
Light and laughter flowed from places where people gathered, including the huge grounds of the Norman castle, and the streets were lined with buildings built in a sophisticated style.
Of course, the style of the new building was slightly different from that of the human world, but the new building seemed to have been influenced by the human world's architectural style.
Just as the culture of the demon world is gradually seeping into the human world after the resumption of exchanges, the culture of the human world has begun to spread here as well.
As a human being, there was nothing particularly inconvenient for me to live with.
Since this is also a place where people live, I was able to get everything I needed, and on the contrary, there were many desirable and convenient items that I wanted to take with me when I returned to the human world.
As it is a place where many races live together, respect for other races seems to have already been internalized in the behavior of the people here.
'It would be good for people in the human world to learn something about that, too. On the contrary, they only try to discriminate against people from the demon world who came out of the human world...'
I shook my head and walked across the large garden.
Mina's words that the demon world was colder than the human world were true.
I picked up the thick shawl I had draped over my shoulders up to my neck and accelerated my steps.
And that was when I finally ran into the front door of Norman Mansion.
“Were you at the library today too? If you keep pushing yourself like that, it’s not good for prenatal education.”
The butler of Norman Mansion was nagging with worry, as always.
In her old age, she had a warm appearance, was skilled at work, and was a kind person at heart.
“Still, I came back early today because I was tired. Thank you for always worrying about me, Teryn.”
“Are you cold? I’ll have you prepare some hot tea right away.”
“Thank you for that too.”
I responded with a smile and was just about to climb the central stairs.
“Ah, the maid will be preparing tea right now, so I guess I can just tell her to prepare one more teacup.”
"Yes?"
When I asked again without much thought, the head butler smiled softly, as if he had changed his mind while trying to give some more clues.
“Come on up, Rebecca.”
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