113. You are not alone
“What? You haven’t even been near her house?”
"...yes."
William's face began to distort ferociously.
“Are you saying that you couldn’t spy on that one woman?”
“I have no face.”
“They say Harel’s workers have lost their toxic taste... The rumors are true. I’m really disappointed.”
Tsk tsk, the errand boy lowered his head in front of William, who was clicking his tongue. But when he raised his face again, his eyes were filled with a mean expression rather than self-reproach.
“Instead, I’d like to tell you that this guy figured out something very interesting.”
“Anything fun?” asked William, who was lighting a cigarette.
“Yes, I met some very strange people in the forest.”
William nodded as if to continue, and Harel's messenger continued speaking in earnest.
“I was pretending to be a pastor. People are very forgiving of lost pastors, especially women. I was going to approach the widow and ask her permission to stay in her house for a few days. But as soon as I entered the bushes, those guys showed up.”
“Those guys?”
“Yes, at first I thought they were just farmers. They looked like ordinary workers. But then they started looking me up and down and then suddenly came up to me and started asking me questions about my name and where I was going.”
William put down the cigarette in his hand and sat up straight. Realizing that the man who had been indifferent was showing curiosity, the messenger quickly continued speaking.
“Of course, I admit that I may seem suspicious. Anyone would be wary of strangers in a forest with few people around. But these guys went too far.”
“What do you mean, it’s too much?”
“Why are you suddenly pointing a gun at me?”
"Gun?"
“Yes, even though I showed them the cross and the Bible, it didn’t help. They told me that they were workers from a nearby farm and that there were robbers in the forest, so they told me to get out.”
"Hmm..."
William stuck out his lips and stroked his chin with his hand. He was a cautious and careful person. The man in front of him was nothing more than a criminal rolling around on the floor, and William was not the type of person to be easily deceived by the words of such a person.
“It is suspicious, just as you say. But on the other hand, it is not particularly suspicious. Maybe it is just a story you made up to make up an excuse for failing your mission.”
Harel's messenger seemed momentarily flustered before the sharp gaze. But he soon ignored it and continued speaking.
“You say it’s a made-up story? That’s ridiculous. The congressman told me to approach very carefully and secretly, so I haven’t been able to go near the woman’s house, but there’s definitely something more worth investigating. If you continue to leave this job to me, I’ll make sure to do it perfectly next time.”
"...hmm..."
“I swear.”
“...Yes, then get out for now.”
William sent the messenger out, lit a cigarette, and leaned back in his rocking chair.
Emilia Bern.
He didn't follow the woman around, expecting something grand.
He just had a feeling that Bianca might be interested because she suddenly showed an unusually excited expression when she said she wanted to meet a woman. The story he just heard wasn't decisive enough to make a decision. However, as the messenger said, there was plenty of room for further investigation.
“What should I do?”
He took a deep drag on his cigarette and started to reorganize his thoughts. He felt that he was wasting too much time on useless things, as his chair rocked back and forth for a while. Whatever the truth, there was only one solution.
“Yeah, you don’t have to overthink it. If you think that girl is a little suspicious...”
The green eyes that were moving up and down in the air slowly began to take on a cold glow.
After a few long, drawn-out barks echoed through the dry forest, Emilia finally arrived in front of the house.
In a few days, the zelkova forest had completely changed into winter. As she looked at the piles of fallen leaves on both sides of the dirt road, she thought, 'Mitch must have had a hard time.' Then the front door opened, and Kalia appeared.
"Emilia..."
Kalia walked quickly towards her daughter.
"Mother..."
The two stopped at a distance that was just an arm's length away.
Worry, concern, self-reproach, regret...
Two eyes filled with complex emotions looked up and down at her daughter before stopping at her lower abdomen.
Over the past few days, she's found Emilia to be more resilient and accepting of the sudden and drastic change.
But when she actually stood in front of her mother, she felt embarrassed and ashamed. My trembling hands unconsciously covered her stomach.
“Excuse me... Mother... I...”
At the sight of her daughter like that, Kalia quickly curled the corners of her mouth. She, too, had made up her mind firmly. She doesn’t know about anything else, but she absolutely must not instill shame and guilt in the child she is pregnant with.
“It’s okay, Emilia, you don’t have to say anything.”
Her wrinkled hand grabbed the small, trembling hand.
“My poor daughter, how much heartache must she have gone through...?”
The emotions welling up in her eyes formed like dewdrops.
"Mother..."
“No, don’t say anything. The child is a gift from God. Just think about that.”
Emilia felt her eyes redden as well and held her mother's hand. The mother and daughter's hands were trembling, but they were giving each other warmth.
Just then, the front door opened and Charlotte peeked her head out.
“...Sister...”
"Charlotte!"
As Emilia shouted, Charlotte pinpointed where her sister was and dove into her arms.
The moment the child's small, soft body touched her chest, Emilia felt her heart swell.
“Sister...”
Next came Mitch. His reaction was quite different from Charlotte's. He was busy scratching the back of his neck and looking somewhere else as if he couldn't bear to meet his sister's eyes.
"...that..."
Mitch's lips, which had been trembling, could not open any further and only let out a long sigh.
Emilia understood her younger brother well enough.
His older sister suddenly became pregnant with a nobleman's child.
Even if Emilia had been crazy, she would have reacted the same way.
“Mitch Bern, I know what you’re thinking, but I’m not unhappy at all. And I wish my whole family would welcome me like this.”
“Yes, dear,”
Kalia nodded and took her words.
“No matter what happens to your sister, no matter what decision she makes, you must always be on her side. Because we are one family.”
“That’s right, I’m definitely on your side.”
Charlotte's arms tightened as she hugged her sister.
He quietly looked at the three mothers and daughters and let out another long sigh. Then he slowly approached them.
“Sister, are you really... Yes? Really?”
“Yeah. It would be a lot better if you didn’t look at me like that.”
A snicker escaped Mitch's lips. The child wrapped his arms around the three of them as if he had been waiting for it. The four of them hugged each other like bare trees stretching out their bare branches to each other. Emilia barely swallowed the tears welling up behind her smile.
The heart-wrenching atmosphere was suddenly shattered by a sound from behind. Beppy had sneezed. The family members who had been staring blankly burst into laughter without anyone saying anything first.
“It’s cold. Let’s go inside.”
“Yes, let’s go home and talk.”
“Sir, you too are coming in.”
They held hands affectionately and walked into the house where smoke was rising.
That evening, the whole family sat around the table, enjoyed a meal, and chatted for the first time in a while. The conversation was all about the child.
“I’m dying to know if it’s a boy or a girl.”
“Does the baby have ears now? Surely he’s listening to our conversation?”
“But how do you eat when you’re in the stomach? And how do you breathe?”
If Emilia had not gone to the Riccardi Palace, she would not have been able to answer a single word of Charlotte's barrage of questions. But there she met doctors, read books, and was taught by Her Majesty the Queen, who had borne her three children.
Emilia calmly explained to Charlotte what she knew.
Kalia, who had been watching the two of them for a while, opened her mouth when she realized that Emilia looked noticeably tired.
“Don’t worry, Charlotte. The baby is perfectly protected in her mother’s womb. The one we should really worry about and care for is you. You two, from now on, make sure Emilia doesn’t overwork herself and don’t worry her. Do you understand?”
"Yes."
The younger brothers nodded like docile lambs.
After the meal, Mitch, who had been staring at his sister's stomach, suddenly tilted his head.
“Oh, so I’m now an ‘uncle’?”
Before Emilia could respond, Charlotte interrupted.
“If Mitch is my uncle, then what am I? Am I becoming my aunt?”
“Yes. My uncle and aunt.”
“Oh my god, an aunt! I’m an aunt!”
As Charlotte shouted in an excited voice, Kalia opened her mouth.
“Then I will become a grandmother.”
“I am an uncle, Charlotte is an aunt, Mom is a grandmother, so what makes you an uncle?”
The eyes of the three people turned to Beppy at the same time. Beppy blinked slowly and opened his mouth.
“Beppy is a servant. A good servant.”
Laughter erupted from the family members' mouths once again.
Leaving the friendly atmosphere behind, Emilia approached the window. Her trembling hands covered her lower abdomen.
My child.
It was different at the palace. Thanks to the family who kept the baby in their mouths all day, Emilia felt the fact that she was pregnant even more deeply.
As she looked up at the moon floating in the dark sky, it filled her eyes.
Baby.
Emilia called the child for the first time.
I think I've become really weird.
Moist eyes looked up at the night sky.
Why do I miss you so much? It hasn't even been a day since we broke up.
Emilia put strength into the hand she was holding against her stomach. Even though it shouldn't be, her stomach felt like it was throbbing and pulsing with power.
Do you miss your father too?
As if the voice she was muttering to Hardius was transmitted through the moonlight, he, too, was staring out the window, thinking of his woman.
Finally, he caught his mother's confidants and all the dirty people at the bottom.
Things that had been planned for a long time were nearing their final stages and were rushing toward their end.
His heart was pounding with impatience.
He remembered her face looking at him from the carriage just before they parted ways. The strange emotions that had been boiling in his chest for the past few days also came back to him.
That's strange, Emilia.
Hardius opened the window and looked up at the purple sky.
Is it because you're not here? Like a capricious child, everything feels insignificant and childish.
Hoping for love... What’s so important about those things?
His self-deprecating breath scattered whitely in the air.
You are still alive, still beautiful, still near. That is enough.
The pale moon was shining unusually brightly, gently enveloping the cool man's body.
“What? You haven’t even been near her house?”
"...yes."
William's face began to distort ferociously.
“Are you saying that you couldn’t spy on that one woman?”
“I have no face.”
“They say Harel’s workers have lost their toxic taste... The rumors are true. I’m really disappointed.”
Tsk tsk, the errand boy lowered his head in front of William, who was clicking his tongue. But when he raised his face again, his eyes were filled with a mean expression rather than self-reproach.
“Instead, I’d like to tell you that this guy figured out something very interesting.”
“Anything fun?” asked William, who was lighting a cigarette.
“Yes, I met some very strange people in the forest.”
William nodded as if to continue, and Harel's messenger continued speaking in earnest.
“I was pretending to be a pastor. People are very forgiving of lost pastors, especially women. I was going to approach the widow and ask her permission to stay in her house for a few days. But as soon as I entered the bushes, those guys showed up.”
“Those guys?”
“Yes, at first I thought they were just farmers. They looked like ordinary workers. But then they started looking me up and down and then suddenly came up to me and started asking me questions about my name and where I was going.”
William put down the cigarette in his hand and sat up straight. Realizing that the man who had been indifferent was showing curiosity, the messenger quickly continued speaking.
“Of course, I admit that I may seem suspicious. Anyone would be wary of strangers in a forest with few people around. But these guys went too far.”
“What do you mean, it’s too much?”
“Why are you suddenly pointing a gun at me?”
"Gun?"
“Yes, even though I showed them the cross and the Bible, it didn’t help. They told me that they were workers from a nearby farm and that there were robbers in the forest, so they told me to get out.”
"Hmm..."
William stuck out his lips and stroked his chin with his hand. He was a cautious and careful person. The man in front of him was nothing more than a criminal rolling around on the floor, and William was not the type of person to be easily deceived by the words of such a person.
“It is suspicious, just as you say. But on the other hand, it is not particularly suspicious. Maybe it is just a story you made up to make up an excuse for failing your mission.”
Harel's messenger seemed momentarily flustered before the sharp gaze. But he soon ignored it and continued speaking.
“You say it’s a made-up story? That’s ridiculous. The congressman told me to approach very carefully and secretly, so I haven’t been able to go near the woman’s house, but there’s definitely something more worth investigating. If you continue to leave this job to me, I’ll make sure to do it perfectly next time.”
"...hmm..."
“I swear.”
“...Yes, then get out for now.”
William sent the messenger out, lit a cigarette, and leaned back in his rocking chair.
Emilia Bern.
He didn't follow the woman around, expecting something grand.
He just had a feeling that Bianca might be interested because she suddenly showed an unusually excited expression when she said she wanted to meet a woman. The story he just heard wasn't decisive enough to make a decision. However, as the messenger said, there was plenty of room for further investigation.
“What should I do?”
He took a deep drag on his cigarette and started to reorganize his thoughts. He felt that he was wasting too much time on useless things, as his chair rocked back and forth for a while. Whatever the truth, there was only one solution.
“Yeah, you don’t have to overthink it. If you think that girl is a little suspicious...”
The green eyes that were moving up and down in the air slowly began to take on a cold glow.
***
After a few long, drawn-out barks echoed through the dry forest, Emilia finally arrived in front of the house.
In a few days, the zelkova forest had completely changed into winter. As she looked at the piles of fallen leaves on both sides of the dirt road, she thought, 'Mitch must have had a hard time.' Then the front door opened, and Kalia appeared.
"Emilia..."
Kalia walked quickly towards her daughter.
"Mother..."
The two stopped at a distance that was just an arm's length away.
Worry, concern, self-reproach, regret...
Two eyes filled with complex emotions looked up and down at her daughter before stopping at her lower abdomen.
Over the past few days, she's found Emilia to be more resilient and accepting of the sudden and drastic change.
But when she actually stood in front of her mother, she felt embarrassed and ashamed. My trembling hands unconsciously covered her stomach.
“Excuse me... Mother... I...”
At the sight of her daughter like that, Kalia quickly curled the corners of her mouth. She, too, had made up her mind firmly. She doesn’t know about anything else, but she absolutely must not instill shame and guilt in the child she is pregnant with.
“It’s okay, Emilia, you don’t have to say anything.”
Her wrinkled hand grabbed the small, trembling hand.
“My poor daughter, how much heartache must she have gone through...?”
The emotions welling up in her eyes formed like dewdrops.
"Mother..."
“No, don’t say anything. The child is a gift from God. Just think about that.”
Emilia felt her eyes redden as well and held her mother's hand. The mother and daughter's hands were trembling, but they were giving each other warmth.
Just then, the front door opened and Charlotte peeked her head out.
“...Sister...”
"Charlotte!"
As Emilia shouted, Charlotte pinpointed where her sister was and dove into her arms.
The moment the child's small, soft body touched her chest, Emilia felt her heart swell.
“Sister...”
Next came Mitch. His reaction was quite different from Charlotte's. He was busy scratching the back of his neck and looking somewhere else as if he couldn't bear to meet his sister's eyes.
"...that..."
Mitch's lips, which had been trembling, could not open any further and only let out a long sigh.
Emilia understood her younger brother well enough.
His older sister suddenly became pregnant with a nobleman's child.
Even if Emilia had been crazy, she would have reacted the same way.
“Mitch Bern, I know what you’re thinking, but I’m not unhappy at all. And I wish my whole family would welcome me like this.”
“Yes, dear,”
Kalia nodded and took her words.
“No matter what happens to your sister, no matter what decision she makes, you must always be on her side. Because we are one family.”
“That’s right, I’m definitely on your side.”
Charlotte's arms tightened as she hugged her sister.
He quietly looked at the three mothers and daughters and let out another long sigh. Then he slowly approached them.
“Sister, are you really... Yes? Really?”
“Yeah. It would be a lot better if you didn’t look at me like that.”
A snicker escaped Mitch's lips. The child wrapped his arms around the three of them as if he had been waiting for it. The four of them hugged each other like bare trees stretching out their bare branches to each other. Emilia barely swallowed the tears welling up behind her smile.
The heart-wrenching atmosphere was suddenly shattered by a sound from behind. Beppy had sneezed. The family members who had been staring blankly burst into laughter without anyone saying anything first.
“It’s cold. Let’s go inside.”
“Yes, let’s go home and talk.”
“Sir, you too are coming in.”
They held hands affectionately and walked into the house where smoke was rising.
That evening, the whole family sat around the table, enjoyed a meal, and chatted for the first time in a while. The conversation was all about the child.
“I’m dying to know if it’s a boy or a girl.”
“Does the baby have ears now? Surely he’s listening to our conversation?”
“But how do you eat when you’re in the stomach? And how do you breathe?”
If Emilia had not gone to the Riccardi Palace, she would not have been able to answer a single word of Charlotte's barrage of questions. But there she met doctors, read books, and was taught by Her Majesty the Queen, who had borne her three children.
Emilia calmly explained to Charlotte what she knew.
Kalia, who had been watching the two of them for a while, opened her mouth when she realized that Emilia looked noticeably tired.
“Don’t worry, Charlotte. The baby is perfectly protected in her mother’s womb. The one we should really worry about and care for is you. You two, from now on, make sure Emilia doesn’t overwork herself and don’t worry her. Do you understand?”
"Yes."
The younger brothers nodded like docile lambs.
After the meal, Mitch, who had been staring at his sister's stomach, suddenly tilted his head.
“Oh, so I’m now an ‘uncle’?”
Before Emilia could respond, Charlotte interrupted.
“If Mitch is my uncle, then what am I? Am I becoming my aunt?”
“Yes. My uncle and aunt.”
“Oh my god, an aunt! I’m an aunt!”
As Charlotte shouted in an excited voice, Kalia opened her mouth.
“Then I will become a grandmother.”
“I am an uncle, Charlotte is an aunt, Mom is a grandmother, so what makes you an uncle?”
The eyes of the three people turned to Beppy at the same time. Beppy blinked slowly and opened his mouth.
“Beppy is a servant. A good servant.”
Laughter erupted from the family members' mouths once again.
Leaving the friendly atmosphere behind, Emilia approached the window. Her trembling hands covered her lower abdomen.
My child.
It was different at the palace. Thanks to the family who kept the baby in their mouths all day, Emilia felt the fact that she was pregnant even more deeply.
As she looked up at the moon floating in the dark sky, it filled her eyes.
Baby.
Emilia called the child for the first time.
I think I've become really weird.
Moist eyes looked up at the night sky.
Why do I miss you so much? It hasn't even been a day since we broke up.
Emilia put strength into the hand she was holding against her stomach. Even though it shouldn't be, her stomach felt like it was throbbing and pulsing with power.
Do you miss your father too?
As if the voice she was muttering to Hardius was transmitted through the moonlight, he, too, was staring out the window, thinking of his woman.
Finally, he caught his mother's confidants and all the dirty people at the bottom.
Things that had been planned for a long time were nearing their final stages and were rushing toward their end.
His heart was pounding with impatience.
He remembered her face looking at him from the carriage just before they parted ways. The strange emotions that had been boiling in his chest for the past few days also came back to him.
That's strange, Emilia.
Hardius opened the window and looked up at the purple sky.
Is it because you're not here? Like a capricious child, everything feels insignificant and childish.
Hoping for love... What’s so important about those things?
His self-deprecating breath scattered whitely in the air.
You are still alive, still beautiful, still near. That is enough.
The pale moon was shining unusually brightly, gently enveloping the cool man's body.
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