The next morning. Violet opened her eyes and saw Winter still asleep, probably tired from his business trip. Then she found a letter on her bedside table.
It was a letter from Peren.
Violet tilted her head and opened the letter, her mouth opening on its own.
"Sharon is pregnant. If you see Aus around here, catch him and let him go."
It was such an angry handwriting that it was hard to believe it was written by Peren. But after writing the main text, he added a greeting, perhaps because he thought it was rude.
"I don't know how you are, Violet. I always worry about you. I miss you sometimes. I'll be getting off the ship soon. I'm looking forward to stopping by the capital and having a meal with you."
Violet felt complicated.
Violet was staring blankly, not knowing what emotion to show, but Winter opened his eyes one after another. He found the letter Violet was reading and reached out his hand.
"What's the story that makes you have that expression?"
"How was it?"
"Complex."
When Violet refused to give him the letter.
Winter's hands tightened. Normally, he would have just given up, but when he persisted, Violet eventually gave in to the letter.
Winter read it, clicked his tongue, and muttered.
"That's what happened in the end."
"Sharon, this girl is really...."
"She's getting married soon. Buy a dress."
"Why are you so calm? The Princess is not even married and has a child! I should have known about this when we started sharing a room together!"
Violet's voice became louder and louder as she was greatly shocked. On the other hand, Winter responded calmly.
"It's not that uncommon these days. They're both from similar families anyway, and they're probably similar in age, so they should just get married quickly. Given the circumstances, they'll probably tell a blatant lie like they've already gone through the legal formalities."
"No matter what, that's how it is. I didn't see Sir Aus as that kind of person, so how could he be..."
"That guy was waiting for the Princess to pounce on him, and he was dying. And what's more..."
"... And what else?"
"Just by looking at it, it's obvious that the Princess would have been upset and would have been the one to have provoked it first. As for that navy, it's obvious that it's a no, no, yes, yes, yes, yes..."
Violet's two hands covered Winter's mouth. Once he started making fun of someone, there was no end to the dirty jokes. Violet, whose face instantly turned bright red, said in disbelief.
"How can you say something like that without changing your expression?"
Then Winter moved his lips, which were pressed against her hand.
"What did I say that made your face turn so red?"
Violet was shocked to hear that the Princess was pregnant before they were even married, but Winter seemed to think it was just some trivial incident.
Violet sighed and regained her composure before opening her mouth again.
"By the way, Sir Aus is really in big trouble. I don't think Peren will stay still. I've never seen Peren write so carelessly before."
"It's a good thing that Navy guy isn't in the Navy anymore."
Winter nodded as if he understood, then snatched the letter from Violet's hands and tossed it far away on the table.
"Okay, stop reading letters from strangers."
"I'm saying this because I'm worried."
"Worrying won't make a child disappear."
"I don't want it to disappear. In fact, it's something to celebrate."
Violet smiled and then looked slightly dazed again. Winter, who had been teasing her with his expression, asked slyly.
"Are you sad to hear the news about the child?"
"No."
"There's no need to pretend. Honestly, I wanted a child a lot too. How can I live while hiding and suppressing it all? You can't have everything in life, so I just try to accept it."
"..."
Violet thought for a moment at Winter's unusually mature words, then smiled.
"You're right. There's no need to pretend otherwise. Sharon, this girl really needs to get in trouble, but still... I'm jealous. I'm so curious about the baby. I'm already worried about what to give her as a pregnancy gift."
"Let's not take that as a pregnancy gift. A hiding place. We have to save the baby's father."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Tell your maid to go into any of my hotels and contact me."
"That's a really good idea."
Violet smiled. Winter thought for a moment and then opened his mouth again.
"Come to think of it, our company's cruise ship stops by the Duchy of Doss quite often. He might have already come to Rockround on one."
"I see. It looks like Peren doesn't know where Sir Aus is. He must have smuggled himself in."
"The Princess might contact us before we do."
Winter laughed. Violet accepted the premarital pregnancy thanks to Winter's calmness and spoke with a slightly expectant voice.
"Who do you think the baby will resemble? If he resembles Sharon, he will be lively and lovely. If he resembles Sir Aus, he will be calm and steady."
"You only see the good in his parents. He'll end up with a child who runs away from home or doesn't say a word."
"That's just looking at the negative aspects."
Violet finished speaking and laughed happily. But after the laughter ended, loneliness surrounded her again.
Hope was a sweet and painful thing. There was no way that she would suddenly have a child after not having one for many years after marriage just because she had slept a lot in the past few months. However, after hearing Harlin's words, even if her period was delayed by just one day, she would feel a sudden sense of anticipation.
Violet had been feeling this way for three years after her marriage. At that time, she didn't know that it was difficult for her and her husband to have children, so she would anxiously wait for news of pregnancy after they had sex, even if it was rare.
Now that she thinks about it, everything is better now than it was then. Violet just wanted to accept this impatience as part of life. They still had plenty of time.
Violet sat up.
She felt her heart gradually becoming stronger from the wounds.
She pulled out a piece of stationery with an affectionate expression on her face, thinking she would send a letter to Sharon, who would have been very surprised.
***
Winter, who was at the company, stepped outside for a moment upon hearing the news of Catherine's arrival.
It seemed that she had come to him because she had not received an answer from Violet. Since the trust was tied up, she had no other choice. James, who had lost his authority as the head of the family, was being called here and there by the family members, and Dieb had lost all his fortune by jumping into the sand castles that Winter kept throwing without knowing anything.
Many other things were unforgivable, but the violence she had directly inflicted on his wife was even more unforgivable. Nevertheless, there was still a kind of love and hate in Winter's heart that had not completely disappeared. It was a feeling that he did not have for James, who had abandoned him and his biological mother and then accepted him only for money, or for Dieb, who had been harassing his wife and making her sad.
At the Tea House on the island at the mouth of the Reck River, Winter encountered Catherine. Catherine, who was already thin, seemed to be under a lot of stress and had become even thinner than before.
With tea and some nice tea food in front of her, Catherine opened her mouth.
"Please let me meet Violet. I want to apologize."
"No. Absolutely not."
"I want to get along with that kid now."
Winter said as if he was in awe.
"Didn't you hear that I said no? Why are you so stubborn? If it's not possible, you should have known and stepped back. The Princess I live with said that. She's a polite person."
"Winter!"
"You know, no matter how much I think about it, I just can't understand it."
Catherine paused as Winter slammed his arm down on the table with a thud. Violet was upright but tried to solve everything step by step. Therefore, even if there were frustrating parts, the probability of the unexpected was low, and she never went beyond the moral bounds.
Winter, on the other hand, was incomprehensible. When he was in a good mood, he would give endlessly, but when he was in a bad mood, he would take away more than he had given.
Catherine asked, her neck pressed against the tea.
"What are you talking about?"
"Have you ever thought of me as your son? I don't think so, seeing as you slapped my wife in front of me while I was lying on the ground."
"That kid stopped me from seeing you."
"So you should have looked good all the time."
After Winter responded annoyedly, he looked out the window, already bored and feeling like time was wasted. Oddly enough, Catherine realized at that moment that Winter's mind had completely left her.
He was always so arrogant, but he always glanced at her parents. At the age of twelve, it was even worse. He was so afraid that he might lose the parents he had barely managed to get, that he would often come out of his bedroom and wander around where his parents were. He hated his own gray eyes and couldn't even look them in the eye.
Even after becoming an adult, he would pretend not to care but still listen to his parents' stories, and if he needed something even in passing, she would understand it with amazing skill and immediately tell his servants to get it for her.
Perhaps it was the obsession with them that made him believe them. They knew that that unpredictable man was always looking at them with his mean gray eyes.
He wasn't originally a warm and affectionate son, but now she felt that the affection he had for her had completely cooled down.
"Winter, come back south."
Catherine spoke earnestly for the first time. Winter laughed loudly at the sound of her voice, which sounded like she was holding on to a snapping rope.
"Oh, this is it."
He leaned back in his chair with a face that said he couldn't stand the laughter and looked straight at Catherine Blooming, who had been his mother from the age of twelve until he was twenty-nine.
"Mother, I have been very mistaken until now."
"...What?"
"I used to believe that to be loved, I had to give the other person all the good things in the world."
"That's not true. Parental love..."
"Because my parents' love was always something that had to be bought with money."
Winter continued with a smiling face.
"I didn't know that everyone was looking at my money instead of me. Even if I gave them money, it wasn't because they loved me, it was because they loved my money. So if I wanted to be loved, I think I should have given and taken, traded, and so on. Look at me, not the money."
"Above, Winter..."
"When I brought you money, you didn't come to me, but after I took the money, you came to me. That's proof."
"..."
"And yet, I thought that this was enough love. If it weren't for my wife, I would have continued to think that was the threshold of love I knew."
As Catherine looked at him with her pale face, Winter snorted and continued speaking with a relaxed expression.
"By the way, if you don't handle that business, Dieb, there's going to be chaos. Your mansion will fall over. Why did you end up getting involved in the business I'm closing down?"
"What, what?"
"All the business that happens in the South is in the palm of my hand. I am the eldest son of the Blooming family."
Winter shrugged and stood up.
"If you want to break the trust, tell that kid to come to me and kneel and beg. That's something that my mother can't do for me."
"..."
"This is my shop, so eat comfortably and leave, Mother."
Winter said with a smile and left the tea house.
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