"Cannes."
As Aaron called its name firmly, the dog that had been biting Amelia's ankle fell away. However, blood continued to spurt out through the hole in her skin. The pain was still there.
“How much more do I have to teach you before you feel like you have to listen to my warnings?”
Aaron lowered himself and met Amelia's gaze. Amelia gritted her teeth and tried to clear her blurred vision.
“When I die.”
And she resisted fiercely until the very end. As if no matter how much she was physically threatened, she could not be mentally broken.
“Yeah. I guess that’s why I’m stretching like this, because I know I can’t kill you yet.”
Aaron chuckled softly. His eyes were not smiling at all, unlike his gently curved lips, which were odd.
“Then what if I told you that I would kill your children if you did something stupid?”
Huh. Amelia held her breath. Her trembling eyes still captured him, who was only smiling with his mouth. Aaron slowly raised the corners of his eyes as if he had found himself in Amelia’s eyes. It was a gentle and soft smile, unlike his true nature, like a spring breeze.
“What if your child dies like this, too?”
“...”
“What if he dies without even being able to flap his wings and have his delicate neck torn off?”
Aaron's hand gripped her injured ankle tightly. Amelia screamed at the pain that felt like her flesh was being dug into. His hand was gripping Aaron's shoulder as if it were tearing at it. Even though his nails were digging into her skin through the fabric, Aaron still had a smile on his face.
“Do you want that?”
“Oh, no.”
Amelia shook her head and cried.
“Remember.”
“...”
“Your sister is dead, and you have a reason to live.”
Amelia nodded several times. She couldn't really hear what he was saying, but she knew she had to. To escape the terrible pain she was in, and for the safety of her child.
Only then did Aaron release the hand that was holding Amelia's ankle. Even that was painful, and Amelia arched her back and gasped.
Her body collapsed. As soon as her forehead touched Aaron's shoulder, everything before her eyes began to turn white.
The sound of the grass being crunched was pleasant. It was quite enjoyable to take a leisurely night walk before going to bed, moving at his own pace.
“...”
It was like that until his unconscious steps reached the west palace. Ivan stopped walking when he found Ian's room, where the lights were still on.
“Why is the light still on?”
It was nighttime, and even the palace servants were beginning to go to sleep. The little child would not be awake yet. So Ivan guessed that someone must have blown out the candle.
“It looks like Mrs. Howard was quite tired.”
Ivan had not visited the West Palace since that one visit to see the child. He had no idea how Ian was doing.
“Your Majesty, the Emperor.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
Ivan entered the western palace, passing the guards who were greeting him.
"Your Majesty?"
Ivan thought something was odd. The lights were still on in the hallways. Sure enough, Mrs. Howard was walking down the hallway, holding the child in her arms.
“Mrs. Howard? What are you doing in the hallway?”
“Because Ian just can’t fall asleep.”
Mrs. Howard answered with an embarrassed look on her face, trying to comfort Ian. Only the sound of “ugh, ugh” came out of Ian’s mouth.
“I don’t think he’s crying.”
“He cried so much that his throat got hoarse and he couldn’t make a sound.”
Mrs. Howard sighed deeply. She said that she had never had a baby cry so hard, for days on end, that his throat became hoarse.
“The wet nurse is also completely exhausted. She came out so that she could at least get some shut-eye while I soothed him.”
Ivan quietly approached Mrs. Howard looked down at his son, who was holding back tears. He seemed to be crying, even though he was not making a sound.
“Did I cry like this when I was little?”
“Your Majesty was sensitive, too. Just not to this extent.”
Even if it was a long time ago, there was no way she wouldn't remember Ivan, whom she had treated like her own child. Mrs. Howard said that although Ivan was a bit cranky, he was never this unstable.
“Why on earth can’t he sleep?”
“I guess it’s because the surroundings have suddenly changed. There’s no mother, no one he used to be with, and no things he used to have, so he feels unstable.”
Mrs. Howard told him what she thought, and she carefully wiped Ian's eyes with a handkerchief. She said she was worried that his eyes would get sore. Or that he would cry so much that he would pass out.
“I think I should ask them to send me something that was used in the temple. Or someone who took care of Ian there.”
Ian nodded to Mrs. Howard's words. He felt that if he remained complacent, thinking that he would eventually get used to it, he would end up catching Mrs. Howard.
“Send someone to the temple tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Mrs. Howard let out a sigh of relief, as if it were a relief. She picked Ian up and hugged him. Ian, who had been crying so hard that he was completely exhausted, leaned completely against Mrs. Howard’s arms, breathing heavily.
The sight reminded him of Amelia's face, who had once fallen asleep in his arms. That young face, the first and last night they spent together, looked a lot like Ian. It was only natural. Without Amelia, Ian would not have been born.
“I’ll go back now. There’s no need to see me off, so when the child falls asleep, Mrs. Howard can get some sleep, too.”
Even as Ivan turned his steps, his gaze was fixed on Ian's face. Ian's face brought back Amelia's face from his memory, and then her very existence was brought to the surface.
“Yes. Take care on your way back.”
A blond boy. Amelia said that if it wasn't a girl with black hair and black eyes, it wouldn't work. But Ian survived for several months after birth. It was the result of Amelia's love and desperation to protect the child. Ian was special to Amelia.
He's sure she'll want to see it.
All the way back to the main palace, Ivan thought about Amelia and the affection she must have felt for Ian.
“Your Majesty, would you like to come into the bedroom?”
As Ivan entered the palace and walked to his office, the chief chamberlain, who was following him, asked a question as if he were curious.
“Send two more maids to the West Palace to look after the child. And light a candle on the desk so I can write a letter.”
The chamberlain quickly lit the candle on Ivan's desk and neatly placed the paper and pen. Then he sent someone to Mrs. Warner, the head maid, and ordered her to select several maids with younger siblings and send them to the west palace.
Meanwhile, Ivan began to write a letter to the temple. He was worried that Ian was still not used to living in the palace and was crying every night as if he was going to die, so he sent the things he had been using and asked that the person who usually took care of the child also come.
“Order the swift-footed one to leave immediately and deliver this letter as soon as the temple opens tomorrow.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Ivan gave Amelia a chance to climb over the wall at least once. It was entirely up to Amelia's will and effort to escape, desperately wanting to see her child.
The Duke of Russell's pensive eyes scanned the air meaninglessly. The moment he saw Ian, he instinctively knew that the boy would be useful.
But which way?
When he thought about it, the answer didn't come easily. In fact, if he thought about it, it would have been better to kill the child just for the one possibility that his black eyes could create.
In fact, the first thing he thought of was to disguise himself as Ivan's child. However, even if the child's hair resembled Ivan's, he couldn't make the child the Emperor's illegitimate child. If he put forward a woman who had spent the night with Ivan, Ivan would have been desperate to find the child's real mother. He couldn't afford to step on his tail to make a sloppy trick.
“...”
If the child were really Ivan's illegitimate child, there would be no need to worry. That was what the Duke of Russell thought at the time.
“Your Excellency, a letter has arrived.”
“Come in.”
The butler knocked on the door of the Duke of Russell's study. The Duke of Russell shook off his sinister thoughts and accepted the letter the butler brought with a composed face.
“...”
It would be okay to bring the person closest to the child into the palace. At that point, the Duke of Russell's eyes stopped fixed.
The closest person to the child was, of course, Amelia, who had carried him for ten months and had held him in her arms for nearly three months. If Amelia had entered the palace under the pretext of caring for the child until he was stable, and had been carrying Ivan's real offspring,
Wouldn't that solve all the problems?
Ivan would have no choice but to make the child the Crown Prince. He would make it so. Then he would have Ivan, Amelia, and the child all in his grasp. Then it would not be difficult for him to take the throne.
It had been a long time since he had broken free of the inertial thinking that the power of the great nobles had to be maintained by maintaining the existence of temples and Priestesses. A faint smile appeared on the Duke of Russell's lips.
As Aaron called its name firmly, the dog that had been biting Amelia's ankle fell away. However, blood continued to spurt out through the hole in her skin. The pain was still there.
“How much more do I have to teach you before you feel like you have to listen to my warnings?”
Aaron lowered himself and met Amelia's gaze. Amelia gritted her teeth and tried to clear her blurred vision.
“When I die.”
And she resisted fiercely until the very end. As if no matter how much she was physically threatened, she could not be mentally broken.
“Yeah. I guess that’s why I’m stretching like this, because I know I can’t kill you yet.”
Aaron chuckled softly. His eyes were not smiling at all, unlike his gently curved lips, which were odd.
“Then what if I told you that I would kill your children if you did something stupid?”
Huh. Amelia held her breath. Her trembling eyes still captured him, who was only smiling with his mouth. Aaron slowly raised the corners of his eyes as if he had found himself in Amelia’s eyes. It was a gentle and soft smile, unlike his true nature, like a spring breeze.
“What if your child dies like this, too?”
“...”
“What if he dies without even being able to flap his wings and have his delicate neck torn off?”
Aaron's hand gripped her injured ankle tightly. Amelia screamed at the pain that felt like her flesh was being dug into. His hand was gripping Aaron's shoulder as if it were tearing at it. Even though his nails were digging into her skin through the fabric, Aaron still had a smile on his face.
“Do you want that?”
“Oh, no.”
Amelia shook her head and cried.
“Remember.”
“...”
“Your sister is dead, and you have a reason to live.”
Amelia nodded several times. She couldn't really hear what he was saying, but she knew she had to. To escape the terrible pain she was in, and for the safety of her child.
Only then did Aaron release the hand that was holding Amelia's ankle. Even that was painful, and Amelia arched her back and gasped.
Her body collapsed. As soon as her forehead touched Aaron's shoulder, everything before her eyes began to turn white.
***
The sound of the grass being crunched was pleasant. It was quite enjoyable to take a leisurely night walk before going to bed, moving at his own pace.
“...”
It was like that until his unconscious steps reached the west palace. Ivan stopped walking when he found Ian's room, where the lights were still on.
“Why is the light still on?”
It was nighttime, and even the palace servants were beginning to go to sleep. The little child would not be awake yet. So Ivan guessed that someone must have blown out the candle.
“It looks like Mrs. Howard was quite tired.”
Ivan had not visited the West Palace since that one visit to see the child. He had no idea how Ian was doing.
“Your Majesty, the Emperor.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
Ivan entered the western palace, passing the guards who were greeting him.
"Your Majesty?"
Ivan thought something was odd. The lights were still on in the hallways. Sure enough, Mrs. Howard was walking down the hallway, holding the child in her arms.
“Mrs. Howard? What are you doing in the hallway?”
“Because Ian just can’t fall asleep.”
Mrs. Howard answered with an embarrassed look on her face, trying to comfort Ian. Only the sound of “ugh, ugh” came out of Ian’s mouth.
“I don’t think he’s crying.”
“He cried so much that his throat got hoarse and he couldn’t make a sound.”
Mrs. Howard sighed deeply. She said that she had never had a baby cry so hard, for days on end, that his throat became hoarse.
“The wet nurse is also completely exhausted. She came out so that she could at least get some shut-eye while I soothed him.”
Ivan quietly approached Mrs. Howard looked down at his son, who was holding back tears. He seemed to be crying, even though he was not making a sound.
“Did I cry like this when I was little?”
“Your Majesty was sensitive, too. Just not to this extent.”
Even if it was a long time ago, there was no way she wouldn't remember Ivan, whom she had treated like her own child. Mrs. Howard said that although Ivan was a bit cranky, he was never this unstable.
“Why on earth can’t he sleep?”
“I guess it’s because the surroundings have suddenly changed. There’s no mother, no one he used to be with, and no things he used to have, so he feels unstable.”
Mrs. Howard told him what she thought, and she carefully wiped Ian's eyes with a handkerchief. She said she was worried that his eyes would get sore. Or that he would cry so much that he would pass out.
“I think I should ask them to send me something that was used in the temple. Or someone who took care of Ian there.”
Ian nodded to Mrs. Howard's words. He felt that if he remained complacent, thinking that he would eventually get used to it, he would end up catching Mrs. Howard.
“Send someone to the temple tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Mrs. Howard let out a sigh of relief, as if it were a relief. She picked Ian up and hugged him. Ian, who had been crying so hard that he was completely exhausted, leaned completely against Mrs. Howard’s arms, breathing heavily.
The sight reminded him of Amelia's face, who had once fallen asleep in his arms. That young face, the first and last night they spent together, looked a lot like Ian. It was only natural. Without Amelia, Ian would not have been born.
“I’ll go back now. There’s no need to see me off, so when the child falls asleep, Mrs. Howard can get some sleep, too.”
Even as Ivan turned his steps, his gaze was fixed on Ian's face. Ian's face brought back Amelia's face from his memory, and then her very existence was brought to the surface.
“Yes. Take care on your way back.”
A blond boy. Amelia said that if it wasn't a girl with black hair and black eyes, it wouldn't work. But Ian survived for several months after birth. It was the result of Amelia's love and desperation to protect the child. Ian was special to Amelia.
He's sure she'll want to see it.
All the way back to the main palace, Ivan thought about Amelia and the affection she must have felt for Ian.
“Your Majesty, would you like to come into the bedroom?”
As Ivan entered the palace and walked to his office, the chief chamberlain, who was following him, asked a question as if he were curious.
“Send two more maids to the West Palace to look after the child. And light a candle on the desk so I can write a letter.”
The chamberlain quickly lit the candle on Ivan's desk and neatly placed the paper and pen. Then he sent someone to Mrs. Warner, the head maid, and ordered her to select several maids with younger siblings and send them to the west palace.
Meanwhile, Ivan began to write a letter to the temple. He was worried that Ian was still not used to living in the palace and was crying every night as if he was going to die, so he sent the things he had been using and asked that the person who usually took care of the child also come.
“Order the swift-footed one to leave immediately and deliver this letter as soon as the temple opens tomorrow.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Ivan gave Amelia a chance to climb over the wall at least once. It was entirely up to Amelia's will and effort to escape, desperately wanting to see her child.
***
The Duke of Russell's pensive eyes scanned the air meaninglessly. The moment he saw Ian, he instinctively knew that the boy would be useful.
But which way?
When he thought about it, the answer didn't come easily. In fact, if he thought about it, it would have been better to kill the child just for the one possibility that his black eyes could create.
In fact, the first thing he thought of was to disguise himself as Ivan's child. However, even if the child's hair resembled Ivan's, he couldn't make the child the Emperor's illegitimate child. If he put forward a woman who had spent the night with Ivan, Ivan would have been desperate to find the child's real mother. He couldn't afford to step on his tail to make a sloppy trick.
“...”
If the child were really Ivan's illegitimate child, there would be no need to worry. That was what the Duke of Russell thought at the time.
“Your Excellency, a letter has arrived.”
“Come in.”
The butler knocked on the door of the Duke of Russell's study. The Duke of Russell shook off his sinister thoughts and accepted the letter the butler brought with a composed face.
“...”
It would be okay to bring the person closest to the child into the palace. At that point, the Duke of Russell's eyes stopped fixed.
The closest person to the child was, of course, Amelia, who had carried him for ten months and had held him in her arms for nearly three months. If Amelia had entered the palace under the pretext of caring for the child until he was stable, and had been carrying Ivan's real offspring,
Wouldn't that solve all the problems?
Ivan would have no choice but to make the child the Crown Prince. He would make it so. Then he would have Ivan, Amelia, and the child all in his grasp. Then it would not be difficult for him to take the throne.
It had been a long time since he had broken free of the inertial thinking that the power of the great nobles had to be maintained by maintaining the existence of temples and Priestesses. A faint smile appeared on the Duke of Russell's lips.
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