Winter asked Violet as he headed toward the kitchen.
"Are not you hungry? I am dying."
"I'm hungry. But it wakes people up, so just..."
"Let's keep it simple."
Winter was accustomed to rummaging through ingredients in the kitchen. Then he laid out the remaining ingredients and rolled up his sleeves.
"It may be a difficult concept for a Princess to understand, but they are what we call leftover food."
Violet narrowed her eyebrows slightly at Winter's mischievous words. Then Winter stretched the corners of his mouth and asked.
"Have you ever eaten leftover food?"
"It wasn't there in the royal castle. Because it was stipulated by law. The whole royal family shouldn't get food poisoning."
"After you get married?"
"It seems like you pay me too much for living expenses."
Winter seemed to find Violet's excuse funny and laughed happily. Then he took out some vegetables and cut them up, he said.
"It would be nice to see a couple sick with food poisoning together."
"It looks fresh. And you're good at cutting knives?"
"I worked at a restaurant until I was twelve."
After cleaning the vegetables neatly, Winter put them in a heavy-looking pan and began to stir-fry them. Violet couldn't take her eyes off him, as it was fascinating to see him pouring in the sauce and adjusting the seasoning at random.
Meanwhile, her gaze inadvertently caught his thick forearms as he lightly moved the heavy pan.
He put the stir-fried food in a large bowl and grated the cheese until the vegetables were no longer visible.
When he handed her a fork, Violet picked up the vegetables with melted cheese and put them in her mouth. It was an unfamiliar taste, but she liked it more than she expected.
"It is delicious."
Above all, her husband, who cooks, was very lovely in Violet's eyes, making her think that it would have been good if she had known about it sooner.
Winter, relieved that his wife was satisfied, said as he ate leisurely.
"In a restaurant, if something is out of place, you get scolded. There is sugar where salt used to be, so if you sprinkle it incorrectly, it will ruin the food."
"I guess so."
"So I had a hard time when I first came to Blooming Street. The location of things keeps changing, but I can't move them back because it's not my job to organize them. I feel anxious like a paranoid person, but I can't say anything because I feel like if I show that, I'll go back to being that kid who used to eat at a restaurant."
Violet was glad to hear the story that was inside Winter, but her heart ached. She muttered as if she was talking to herself.
"I wish I could give you the things you want. Neither fame nor money."
"I'm not asking you to pity me."
"It's not pity. I think you could have lived like this a little sooner if I had done that."
Although Violet was happy at this moment, she felt such regret.
All she could give was her heart, and she didn't have the things that Winter Blooming really wanted.
Winter shrugged without saying anything and continued eating.
***
Winter's work at Cantus Monastery was going well and he was busy for a while.
He kept visiting the monastery. Luckily, he found out that the monastery had accepted the technical agreement based on the information he had gained while touring the monastery brewery. It wasn't a bad deal on their part either.
He expected himself to be excited when this project came to fruition, but even If it worked out well, he was less impressed than expected. Rather, he wanted it to end quickly and go home. His wife wasn't the type to talk carelessly, but these days, he liked her words even more. She had a nice voice, and it was fun to notice her facial expressions changing at minute intervals every time she spoke.
Winter was putting on and taking off his vest, thinking about what she would wear when he went home three days later.
Hayel entered with a tense expression.
"CEO. A telegram came back from Alika, where the Kanik clan lives."
"What happened?"
Looking at Hayel's expression, it seemed that there was no way for a mixed-race person like him to have children. Winter, who didn't have much expectations anyway, didn't think it was a big deal and unbuttoned his vest.
Hayel said carefully.
"There is no mixed race. The Alika area is a closed area where anyone other than the Kanik clan cannot reside, and even mixed-race people cannot move there."
"Shit. It doesn't work out that well."
Winter nervously took off his vest and threw it on the ground. Although Hayel knew that his anger was at its limit, he thought it would be better to say it all at once, so he closed his eyes tightly.
"And what we learned together. The CEO's biological mother... She's in Alika."
"...What?"
"Got it? If you eat that, mom will come pick you up right away. I'll be right back."
"Huh! Go quickly and come back."
So Winter waved his hand and sent his mother away. Even though she never came back, he tried to understand his mother by now.
How difficult was it to raise him alone? So he guessed she did it to survive.
So he thought that if he had money, everything would be solved. Seeing that she didn't come to see him even though he had made a name for himself with such wealth, Winter thought she was either dead or didn't have the shame to appear in front of him.
Still, he found her. At the very least. He wanted to repay her for giving birth to him, and is also wanted to make up for the hardships she had in taking care of him until he was five years old. But it wasn't a matter of making a living.
As a mixed-race person, he couldn't enter the place where his clan was, so his mother abandoned him. Just for her own comfort.
Winter burst out laughing.
"There is something else to believe in. I trusted the woman who abandoned her child."
"CEO..."
"I'm done. I'm basically the type of person who can't fit in either here or there. It's not like I didn't know."
Winter ran his hand over his face and continued speaking.
"Give away everything I bought for my mother, and cancel these plans."
"Yes? Ah. Yes, I understand."
There were a series of schedules that would have been a disaster if canceled, but Hayel knew that if he tried to stop Winter, the situation would only get worse. Hayel asked, quickly picking up the vest from the floor and putting it in a trash can.
"Where are you going?"
"House. I need my wife."
Hayel's anxious expression brightened slightly at his calmer-than-expected words.
It was the first time he heard something like that from Winter.
Hayel was worried that Winter would wipe out the Alika region due to his temper, but there was one person who had the power to control him.
"I'll get ready right away!"
Hayel rushed out.
***
While Winter was busy, Violet was preparing a small garden party. She was thinking of telling her husband that she was having a child at a garden party just for the two of them.
Normally, Violet should have thrown dozens of parties, but due to unfavorable circumstances, there was no opportunity. Since she had little experience, It was very difficult to prepare a party for Just two people.
Still, once she decided on the flowers, the rest became a little easier. Fortunately, the people she met at the book club helped her a lot.
The falling part was covered with a white linen tablecloth with a semicircle, and a centerpiece was placed.
Violet asked Maureen, the silk shop owner.
"Maureen, what dress would you like me to wear?"
"Green feels good."
"Ah, green. Good idea."
Violet agreed.
A little while later, after she had changed into a green dress, Maureen was making a fuss next to her.
"Oh, it suits you well. I have eyes to see, right?"
"No problem. Thank you for your help."
Doing personal business with the wife of a powerful family was naturally a good thing for merchants, and even doing business with the wife of Winter Blooming for whom budgeting was non-existent was the luck of the lucky.
But even with all that aside, Maureen really liked Violet. At first, she thought Violet was just noble, but the more she looked at her, the more she saw that there was goodness in her.
When Maureen returned after meddling for a while, Violet asked for three types of soup to choose one that suited the occasion.
While she was looking for things to put on the table that matched the color and taste, a carriage arrived.
Winter said it would take three more days to arrive. Violet couldn't hide her embarrassment as the main character of the party came while she was ready. Anyway, Winter walked over and hugged Violet.
"How do you know I'm coming?"
As Winter hugged her until she was crushed, Violet, embarrassed, motioned for the workers to move away. Winter's condition looked too bad for people to say that this was rude.
Violet asked, patting his back.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing."
After Winter calmed down, he let her go and asked.
"Why did you prepare something like this? You don't like this kind of thing."
"I need to tell you something. I don't think I can put it off any longer... I was going to talk while I finished getting ready and eating."
"What do you mean? Do it now."
At Winter's urging, Violet sighed deeply and tried to compose herself, but eventually shook her head.
"I have to tell you in three days. You don't seem to be in a good mood..."
"I'm in no condition to endure anything right now. So tell me, Is it a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Hmm. Good for me, good for you... I don't know what it will be like."
Violet took a deep breath, her shoulders shaking again, and looked at Winter. Even though she said there was nothing wrong, her eyes enveloped her like a storm.
Violet opened her mouth, not wanting to make an expression that would make her procrastinate further.
"I'm pregnant."
"..."
Winter had no answer. Violet continued calmly.
"Honestly, I was afraid to tell you at first because I thought you might not like it, but you said it. Let's have a baby when we have it. That gave me courage."
Violet spoke as if trying to calm Winter's expression which looked worse than expected, and Winter, who was staring at her intently, laughed.
"Good."
"...Really? Do you really think it went well?"
"Yes. I don't have to listen to my chỉId anymore."
Violet's nervous expression brightened slightly at Winter's words, but it did not last long.
"If you're thinking of giving birth and running away with someone else, give up."
"What do you mean?"
When Violet asked in confusion, Winter said, pointing alternately with his index finger at himself and his wife.
"There's something I haven't told you until now: we can't have children. I'm mix-clan, so I can't have children unless I'm from the same clan. But since you have a child, it can't be mine."
"It doesn't make sense. Then I..."
"It's someone else's child."
Violet's watery eyes were filled with complex emotions at Winter's sarcastic words.
"It's definitely your child."
"Do not lie."
"It's not a lie."
"It's a lie. So, we're going to add people from now on. I know that's because I'll have to follow you wherever you go. I found out because I experienced it. You shouldn't trust people who say they'll come back."
Violet was shocked and laughed out loud at his voice, which was mixed with past and present betrayal.
"You can't do that to me."
"Why not? Think about what your family did to me. No matter what I do, you have no right to refuse me. The way I feel right now, I don't want to let you even step out of my house. But they said they would treat it as surveillance."
"Winter!"
When Violet raised her voice, which he hadn't heard, Winter laughed.
"Tell me honestly? You are nothing if not my wife. In the end, you are a nobody, with no money and no status. I can do anything to you."
His sharp words left Violet speechless.
Her chest rose and fell with unbearable anger and sadness.
If she didn't have children, she might have committed suicide over and over again until she eventually died.
But on the other hand, she was a strong-willed person, so she forced herself to calm down for the sake of her child.
A moment later, Violet saw Winter, overcome with passion, with an absurdly aristocratic expression on her face.
"You are... You will regret it."
"What?"
"Because when the child is born, it will look like you. You will definitely regret telling me that and not trusting me."
She turned around and muttered.
"A pitiful and foolish person."
Violet entered the mansion, and Winter stumbled and managed to sit down in a chair.
Comments
Post a Comment