“What about our baby?”
Claudel looked pale and pale. There was no trace of the weight she had gained while carrying the baby and suffering from morning sickness due to the increased intake.
In addition, the body of a woman who should have been full-term was revealing her slender waist.
‘It’s not time for the baby to be born yet.’
It was difficult to pinpoint exactly when she became pregnant. It was only assumed that she had become fertile again around the time Princess Irena visited the estate.
Considering the time of her morning sickness and other factors, the baby was likely to be born around the end of June or early July.
Claudel’s appearance was eerie. She was extremely thin and listless. She seemed to have no will to do anything, as if she had been diagnosed with Herzol and had come to Rowen for the first time.
“Our baby?”
Anger appeared for the first time on the face of the woman who had seemed so indifferent until then.
“Are you qualified to say that?”
Qualification? Then does that mean he doesn’t deserve it?
Kaian found her expression of rejection strange and awkward at first. However, he was speechless, unable to think of a proper answer.
It wasn’t that he agreed with her words, but it was hard to refute her.
While Kaian hesitated, Claudel’s eyes turned red.
“He died.”
The woman took a deep breath and bit her lower lip, gripping the hem of her skirt with her hands and shaking.
“Dead...?”
“Ugh.”
Claudel’s face distorted in pain and shed tears.
However, her emotions gradually dulled, and her face became more and more expressionless.
Tears flowed down the woman’s cheeks, her emotions gone.
“It was good, right?”
“What was it good?”
“You... said that kid was terrible.”
Kaian didn’t know what to do as he faced Claudel.
He thought he knew her well. He thought he had gotten quite close to her and had come to know her well.
So after he found out that Claudel truly loved him, he treated her lightly, like a small pine cone that would roll around on his palm as he wished.
He could do whatever he wanted with her.
However, even when he heard Hannah say that she was worried because he didn’t want a child, he couldn’t believe it. There was no way Claudel would harm the child.
And as much as he knew her, Claudel didn’t know Kaian either.
He always thought that even if she had overheard what he said, she wouldn’t have taken it at face value.
The woman he suddenly encountered in the palace was someone Kaian didn’t know.
As if the woman who had loved him had changed into something else, her resentment and anger toward him overflowed from her body like an aura.
“There’s a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“That’s what I said.”
“So I heard it, right?”
Claudel didn’t seem to have any intention of talking to him.
“So it’s all true.”
She looked at him with resentful eyes.
“A child with dirty Vermont blood flowing through him...Ugh.”
The woman who had been chewing over what she had said swallowed her tears, unable to continue her story.
“Ha.”
Kaian let out a deep sigh.
His body, which had been running day and night, thinking about seeing her, reached its limit and cried out.
No matter how much insomnia he had, he felt like he would fall asleep right away if he lay down.
However, seeing Claudel, who seemed to have her heart tightly shut, made his consciousness sharpen with shock.
“Let’s go back.”
Claudel’s eyes widened at his words.
“You can have the child again.”
“You’re really... horrible.”
Claudel’s teeth chattered.
“Let’s get a divorce.”
Her face wrinkled involuntarily.
Claudel, who wiped her tears with the back of her hand, staggered as she got up from the sofa.
Knock.
Kaian quickly tried to support her, but she slapped his hand away with the back of her hand.
It was quite painful.
His heart hurt more than his numb hand.
The woman who had stubbornly dug a deep rift between them felt scary.
“I don’t want to see you again.”
While he was frozen, Claudel went into the bedroom connected to the drawing room, slammed the door, and disappeared.
“Ha.”
Kaian staggered to the sofa and plopped down on the spot where Claudel had been sitting a moment ago.
He raised his hand and felt around his heart.
There was no wound, so it was obvious that there would be no blood flowing out, but the pain continued as if he had been pierced by something sharp.
Even though he knew that wasn’t the case, he felt the illusion of hot blood gushing out of an invisible wound.
Click.
The door opened and closed, and the axe he trusted appeared, hitting Kaian on the back of his head instead of his foot.
“Valquiterre.”
Kaian charged at him like a wild buffalo, grabbing him by the collar.
“You stole her? Tell me!”
Whether it was the King or others, he couldn’t see anything.
“How am I supposed to take this situation?”
“Calm down.”
“Calm down? Are you kidding me?”
Kaian was extremely annoyed by Valquiterre’s excessive calmness.
He felt the urge to punch him and beat him so hard that he turned into a blood clot. Even so, it seemed like his anger wouldn’t subside.
“You must have known what I was doing in Rowen. Was it fun? You did this to my wife?”
“I was threatened.”
“...What?”
Kaian opened his mouth in disbelief, and the strength finally left his grip on Valquiterre's collar.
Valquiterre went to the sofa and sat down.
“She was pregnant. You said you didn’t want the child.”
“That’s...”
“She asked me to help her. I told her you couldn’t do that.”
“You should have told me!”
Valquiterre snorted at Kaian’s words.
“The orchard manager of the castle, right? You said you could take her with you, and you'd kick her out after the wedding period ended?”
“I didn’t know him very well. It was the second day of the wedding reception.”
In addition, the body of a woman who should have been full-term was revealing her slender waist.
‘It’s not time for the baby to be born yet.’
It was difficult to pinpoint exactly when she became pregnant. It was only assumed that she had become fertile again around the time Princess Irena visited the estate.
Considering the time of her morning sickness and other factors, the baby was likely to be born around the end of June or early July.
Claudel’s appearance was eerie. She was extremely thin and listless. She seemed to have no will to do anything, as if she had been diagnosed with Herzol and had come to Rowen for the first time.
“Our baby?”
Anger appeared for the first time on the face of the woman who had seemed so indifferent until then.
“Are you qualified to say that?”
Qualification? Then does that mean he doesn’t deserve it?
Kaian found her expression of rejection strange and awkward at first. However, he was speechless, unable to think of a proper answer.
It wasn’t that he agreed with her words, but it was hard to refute her.
While Kaian hesitated, Claudel’s eyes turned red.
“He died.”
The woman took a deep breath and bit her lower lip, gripping the hem of her skirt with her hands and shaking.
“Dead...?”
“Ugh.”
Claudel’s face distorted in pain and shed tears.
However, her emotions gradually dulled, and her face became more and more expressionless.
Tears flowed down the woman’s cheeks, her emotions gone.
“It was good, right?”
“What was it good?”
“You... said that kid was terrible.”
Kaian didn’t know what to do as he faced Claudel.
He thought he knew her well. He thought he had gotten quite close to her and had come to know her well.
So after he found out that Claudel truly loved him, he treated her lightly, like a small pine cone that would roll around on his palm as he wished.
He could do whatever he wanted with her.
However, even when he heard Hannah say that she was worried because he didn’t want a child, he couldn’t believe it. There was no way Claudel would harm the child.
And as much as he knew her, Claudel didn’t know Kaian either.
He always thought that even if she had overheard what he said, she wouldn’t have taken it at face value.
The woman he suddenly encountered in the palace was someone Kaian didn’t know.
As if the woman who had loved him had changed into something else, her resentment and anger toward him overflowed from her body like an aura.
“There’s a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“That’s what I said.”
“So I heard it, right?”
Claudel didn’t seem to have any intention of talking to him.
“So it’s all true.”
She looked at him with resentful eyes.
“A child with dirty Vermont blood flowing through him...Ugh.”
The woman who had been chewing over what she had said swallowed her tears, unable to continue her story.
“Ha.”
Kaian let out a deep sigh.
His body, which had been running day and night, thinking about seeing her, reached its limit and cried out.
No matter how much insomnia he had, he felt like he would fall asleep right away if he lay down.
However, seeing Claudel, who seemed to have her heart tightly shut, made his consciousness sharpen with shock.
“Let’s go back.”
Claudel’s eyes widened at his words.
“You can have the child again.”
“You’re really... horrible.”
Claudel’s teeth chattered.
“Let’s get a divorce.”
Her face wrinkled involuntarily.
Claudel, who wiped her tears with the back of her hand, staggered as she got up from the sofa.
Knock.
Kaian quickly tried to support her, but she slapped his hand away with the back of her hand.
It was quite painful.
His heart hurt more than his numb hand.
The woman who had stubbornly dug a deep rift between them felt scary.
“I don’t want to see you again.”
While he was frozen, Claudel went into the bedroom connected to the drawing room, slammed the door, and disappeared.
“Ha.”
Kaian staggered to the sofa and plopped down on the spot where Claudel had been sitting a moment ago.
He raised his hand and felt around his heart.
There was no wound, so it was obvious that there would be no blood flowing out, but the pain continued as if he had been pierced by something sharp.
Even though he knew that wasn’t the case, he felt the illusion of hot blood gushing out of an invisible wound.
Click.
The door opened and closed, and the axe he trusted appeared, hitting Kaian on the back of his head instead of his foot.
“Valquiterre.”
Kaian charged at him like a wild buffalo, grabbing him by the collar.
“You stole her? Tell me!”
Whether it was the King or others, he couldn’t see anything.
“How am I supposed to take this situation?”
“Calm down.”
“Calm down? Are you kidding me?”
Kaian was extremely annoyed by Valquiterre’s excessive calmness.
He felt the urge to punch him and beat him so hard that he turned into a blood clot. Even so, it seemed like his anger wouldn’t subside.
“You must have known what I was doing in Rowen. Was it fun? You did this to my wife?”
“I was threatened.”
“...What?”
Kaian opened his mouth in disbelief, and the strength finally left his grip on Valquiterre's collar.
Valquiterre went to the sofa and sat down.
“She was pregnant. You said you didn’t want the child.”
“That’s...”
“She asked me to help her. I told her you couldn’t do that.”
“You should have told me!”
Valquiterre snorted at Kaian’s words.
“The orchard manager of the castle, right? You said you could take her with you, and you'd kick her out after the wedding period ended?”
“I didn’t know him very well. It was the second day of the wedding reception.”
“But it was after the official wedding ceremony.”
Valquiterre said coldly.
“It was a royal wedding, and you went about it like that.”
“...”
Kaian tried to gather his uneasy mind.
He was unfamiliar with the situation where things didn’t go his way. He had never set foot in such a place. Whether it was a fight, a bet, or a war, whenever Kaian took action, he would never go near it unless he had meticulously planned it out so that he would definitely win.
But now, he felt like a marble on a spinning table, caught up in it.
“She said she wanted to know if you would recognize the child as your successor if she had a child.”
“Is that why you were testing me?”
“What’s with that tone? It’s as if you weren’t telling me your true feelings, but rather lying to me.”
Kaian felt lost and on the defensive.
Furthermore, it was even more difficult because the one questioning him was Valquiterre.
“It’s because you harassed your wife.”
He couldn’t ask him that question in this situation.
In the telegram he had received before he came, Valquiterre had told him that he would be revoked their marriage.
No matter how close Kaian and Valquiterre had grown up as brothers, they were both the highest leaders of the kingdom.
If Valquiterre had made up his mind and brought up the King’s command, Kaian had no choice but to follow.
The moment he rebelled and disobeyed, it would be considered treason.
‘But I can’t be dragged along like this.’
Kaian finally gathered his thoughts.
“I have no intention of making excuses. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t sincere either.”
Valquiterre furrowed his eyebrows as if his answer was insufficient.
“This is a matter between a married couple. It’s something that Claudel and I have to resolve.”
Kaian had come to the conclusion that he had to somehow get out of this situation.
“I’ll take Claudel back with me right now.”
“I can’t allow that.”
The sanity he had managed to gather with great difficulty flew away as soon as he heard the words ‘can’t be allowed.’
“What the hell are you talking about! Claudel is my wife.”
The husband had the right to decide his wife’s whereabouts.
“Who are you to ask permission for someone else’s wife?”
All the accumulated resentment that Valquiterre had been taking an interest in Claudel burst out at once.
“You must have read the telegram. I said that I would revoke the royal order to marry you and Claudel.”
“We are already a couple.”
“But she doesn’t want it.”
Valquiterre made a troubled expression.
However, Kaian felt that he was deceiving him.
“When I left Rowen, I asked you to protect the baby. Isn’t the baby she has your successor? So I had no choice but to help her out of moral obligation.”
“Stop talking like that. How could you fool me?”
“I comforted her by saying that your thoughts might change when the baby is born. Is that all you can say to me?”
“This is unbelievable.”
“I was trying to help you."
Valquiterre said coldly to Kaian.
“If you don’t divorce her, she's ready to jump off the Hanging Gardens. What can I do?”
“What?”
“She held onto the railing and looked down.”
Kaian felt his world crumbling.
He felt a deep sense of frustration when he met Claudel’s eyes the moment she threw herself into the lake.
“Was I such a terrible man?”
The things he had tried to comfort himself by saying that he wasn’t like that were shattered in an instant.
“So what can I do? I tried to save her.”
“Yeah. That’s why I came, so that’s okay.”
Kaian spoke slowly, suppressing his emotions that were about to explode.
“This takes time. I’ll have a good talk with her. Get the carriage ready as quickly as possible so we can leave immediately.”
“You can’t take her.”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Kaian shouted at Valquiterre.
“You’ve been so generous with your efforts to help me. What are you talking about?”
At that moment, the bedroom door opened and the Duke of Vermont appeared.
“I object.”
Valquiterre said coldly.
“It was a royal wedding, and you went about it like that.”
“...”
Kaian tried to gather his uneasy mind.
He was unfamiliar with the situation where things didn’t go his way. He had never set foot in such a place. Whether it was a fight, a bet, or a war, whenever Kaian took action, he would never go near it unless he had meticulously planned it out so that he would definitely win.
But now, he felt like a marble on a spinning table, caught up in it.
“She said she wanted to know if you would recognize the child as your successor if she had a child.”
“Is that why you were testing me?”
“What’s with that tone? It’s as if you weren’t telling me your true feelings, but rather lying to me.”
Kaian felt lost and on the defensive.
Furthermore, it was even more difficult because the one questioning him was Valquiterre.
“It’s because you harassed your wife.”
He couldn’t ask him that question in this situation.
In the telegram he had received before he came, Valquiterre had told him that he would be revoked their marriage.
No matter how close Kaian and Valquiterre had grown up as brothers, they were both the highest leaders of the kingdom.
If Valquiterre had made up his mind and brought up the King’s command, Kaian had no choice but to follow.
The moment he rebelled and disobeyed, it would be considered treason.
‘But I can’t be dragged along like this.’
Kaian finally gathered his thoughts.
“I have no intention of making excuses. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t sincere either.”
Valquiterre furrowed his eyebrows as if his answer was insufficient.
“This is a matter between a married couple. It’s something that Claudel and I have to resolve.”
Kaian had come to the conclusion that he had to somehow get out of this situation.
“I’ll take Claudel back with me right now.”
“I can’t allow that.”
The sanity he had managed to gather with great difficulty flew away as soon as he heard the words ‘can’t be allowed.’
“What the hell are you talking about! Claudel is my wife.”
The husband had the right to decide his wife’s whereabouts.
“Who are you to ask permission for someone else’s wife?”
All the accumulated resentment that Valquiterre had been taking an interest in Claudel burst out at once.
“You must have read the telegram. I said that I would revoke the royal order to marry you and Claudel.”
“We are already a couple.”
“But she doesn’t want it.”
Valquiterre made a troubled expression.
However, Kaian felt that he was deceiving him.
“When I left Rowen, I asked you to protect the baby. Isn’t the baby she has your successor? So I had no choice but to help her out of moral obligation.”
“Stop talking like that. How could you fool me?”
“I comforted her by saying that your thoughts might change when the baby is born. Is that all you can say to me?”
“This is unbelievable.”
“I was trying to help you."
Valquiterre said coldly to Kaian.
“If you don’t divorce her, she's ready to jump off the Hanging Gardens. What can I do?”
“What?”
“She held onto the railing and looked down.”
Kaian felt his world crumbling.
He felt a deep sense of frustration when he met Claudel’s eyes the moment she threw herself into the lake.
“Was I such a terrible man?”
The things he had tried to comfort himself by saying that he wasn’t like that were shattered in an instant.
“So what can I do? I tried to save her.”
“Yeah. That’s why I came, so that’s okay.”
Kaian spoke slowly, suppressing his emotions that were about to explode.
“This takes time. I’ll have a good talk with her. Get the carriage ready as quickly as possible so we can leave immediately.”
“You can’t take her.”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Kaian shouted at Valquiterre.
“You’ve been so generous with your efforts to help me. What are you talking about?”
At that moment, the bedroom door opened and the Duke of Vermont appeared.
“I object.”
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