Run Away From Me - Chapter 28

28. A relationship that isn't even funny

“Ah, huh, ugh!”

A red tongue greedily swept over her slender neck. A large hand groped her waist. When his fingers pressed hard against a part of her side, Daphne flinched and trembled.

His thumb stroked the protruding iliac bone, then his hand slid down between her legs. Daphne looked at the one who was taking away her reason with a face full of pleasure and pain.

The Crown Prince's blond hair fell like golden threads on his pure white bedsheets. Long fingers invaded Daphne.

Almond-shaped green eyes studied Daphne mockingly. If there was a part of her that flinched or made a different sound, Asherad would dig into that place doggedly.

So she had to indulge in pleasure again.

“Even though you hate me so much.”

“...”

“Huh? Daphne, you said you hated me so much. Why are you doing this now?”

Daphne looked up at Asherad with tearful eyes. He brought his face closer to hers and licked away the tears that were flowing down his face.

After the Emperor was bedridden, Daphne was summoned to the Crown Prince's palace. Asherad did not hesitate to embrace Daphne with his warm body.

Is it because she was trying to run away?

So is this to mock her for being like this?

“But I love you.”

Asherad was again taunting Daphne by talking about love. Daphne looked up at him with a blank expression.

There was a time when she wanted to touch this person's hand.

This person shines so brightly. There were times when she couldn't stand it when this person called her quietly.

“Ah, uh!”

Daphne's hand was clasped in his, and his was dug inside. He rubbed her cheek as if he loved her so much, and Daphne thought she couldn't understand why he was doing this.

If you love me, why now?

Why did you tell me this only when I was about to run away?

It wasn't even funny.

“Ahh, ahhhh!”

Daphne couldn't hold back and let out a sound at Asherad's waist rub. Even as her mind became clouded by the expression of pleasure, Daphne thought.

Really, it was a relationship that wasn't even funny.

***

“Shameless!”

Olga gritted her teeth and shouted. Daphne brushed the words away. It didn't really matter what she heard.

If you were a close associate of the Crown Prince, you would know that the Crown Prince was having an ongoing relationship with a woman, and that woman was Daphne.

“This damn thing. It’s so vicious!”

If she had been a noble lady, it would have been acceptable. However, the Crown Prince, who was about to ascend to the throne, was now having sex with a maid, and the daughter of that sinister witch. That alone was enough to make Olga turn away.

“Take off your clothes!”

Daphne frowned. No matter how much she had given up on herself, she was not used to such humiliation.

“Why, do you think you’re anything like His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Olga saw the disgust on Daphne's face and squealed with all her might. Olga had an incredible sense of power.

However, it was not a gut feeling, but a wise decision based on the examples she had seen while living in the palace.

In Olga's judgment, this dirty maid had no power whatsoever because Asherad had left her alone.

“But you’re still in that dirty room.”

“...”

“On the topic of a doll to satisfy His Highness’s desires. How dare you!”

Daphne stared blankly at Olga. Yes, that was right. That was the conclusion that Daphne had reached as well.

It's not like Asherad had to do everything as a 'reconciliation', but Asherad didn't seem to have any intention of making things better, even though he knew where Daphne was living.

That was the difference between Fabian and Asherad, who risked their lives to escape.

“So what do you want to check?”

“...”

“I have his child?”

It's been two months already. It's probably been a while since she'd had a baby, if she had. Daphne said in a tired voice.

“I had my period last month, but I’m not sure about this month.”

“...”

“And even if there were, what kind of child would that be to a doll that relieves desires?”

Daphne has no future. She can't become an Empress, and at best, she's a concubine. If that's the case, then she'll end up like her mother...

Even if she had a child, he would be controlled and eliminated by a legitimate heir like Asherad.

What about the child?

Daphne snickered. She didn't want to have a child like herself. Olga, who saw that, looked at Daphne and asked. This made things easier.

“Really? Then would you eat this?”

“...”

“It’s a drug that causes infertility.”

Daphne looked at the vial Olga held out. The amount of medicine in the blue bottle was enormous.

“Let’s make sure we don’t get tired of each other.”

However, Olga was secretly afraid that the girl would run away and tell Asherad.

But before Olga could come to her senses, Daphne snatched the bottle, poured it, and drank it. The medicine tasted bitter. Her fever rose.

“Is it okay?”

Olga was taken aback by Daphne's actions. Was infertility that desperate? Infertility was tantamount to giving up on life as a woman. That was how it was for Olga as she got older.

“The poisonous one.”

First of all, she's not the kind of woman who'd do something through the back door. As long as she doesn't have children, she's nothing more or less than a woman who can be reached by the Crown Prince.

Anyway, what kind of power can a doll that is the Crown Prince's attachment, who can't even produce children, have? Daphne's future is over.

Olga laughed bitterly.

***

Daphne's ordeal was not over. The next day, she had previously been assigned to all the work by the Emperor's order, but now she was assigned to the laundry room by the chief maid's order. Now, instead of cleaning, she had to do the laundry for the palace members.

“Can’t you do it quickly?”

It seemed that Daphne was very much hated by the head maid. Perhaps she had decided to side with Kalista, as the head maid regarded Daphne as a thorn in her side.

Laundry piled up every day. The sheets used by the royal family had to be changed every day, and the wet laundry was heavy. There were the royal clothes, the training uniforms of the knights training there, and the dirty rags used by the maids to wipe away the filth—everything had to be washed.

Daphne had to do the laundry diligently as they told her. It wasn't easy, as she gave up on living a better life.

Daphne gasped for breath and looked up at the sun in the sky. The sun would set and rise again, and Daphne would let out a painful sigh and continue living.

Now she doesn't even know what she should live for.

Daphne thought with a blank expression.

And yet she mechanically washed the disheveled tablecloth. It smelled like food had splattered and rotted. It was as if someone had spilled milk.

Daphne washed the huge tablecloth all by herself.

Daphne, who had finished her laundry, looked at her reflection in the water. She looked exactly like a woman who was worn out by work. Her empty eyes were not particularly pretty, but rather shabby.

That was the appearance of the woman in distress.

Was it because her work was hard and she was miserable, or was it because she was in a never-ending hell? If she had left the palace and done this, would she have made this expression?

That wasn't the correct answer.

Her head was dizzy and hazy. Ever since she took the fertility pills yesterday, she's had a fever and a constant stomachache.

Well, she took a drug that made her infertile, so there's no way the drug wasn't toxic. There must have been some serious damage to her body somewhere.

Daphne put her hand to her forehead. Her body fell down with a thud.

I wish I could just stop breathing...

Daphne truly hoped so.

***

Daphne lay sick for days on end in the stuffy sheets. It had been a long time since she had been sick like this. Daphne lay sick, clutching her stomach and staring blankly at the ceiling.

It has been several years since she has stayed here. The small bedroom where the little girl stayed was too small for her.

A storage room for cleaning supplies and trash. Daphne, who first came to the palace, cried when she realized that it was her bedroom.

The only good thing was that a maid had brought the bed where she had died from illness and made herself a place to sleep. She tried to decorate her room like the other maids', but it was rough and dirty, and her room still smelled.

Daphne hated this room. It was like a coffin. If she lay there, she would die. Daphne could hardly get up. Sometimes Sarah came to give her food.

“Daphne, are you okay?”

Daphne felt a little comforted by Sarah's kind words. But that was all, Sarah was being kind, not affectionate.

Why does Asherad come to mind at this moment?

Daphne couldn't understand. But the man was like that. He didn't care whether she was sick or not.

After their hot physical relationship, he didn't even care what happened to her. Asherad shook up Daphne's life, but Daphne didn't give him a single jolt in his life.

Daphne knew it well, too.

Daphne continued to cry and clutch her stomach. It hurt. It hurt so much she couldn't bear it. The loneliness hurt more than the pain of her stomach churning.

Daphne fell asleep, tears streaming down her face.

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