Shioana shook her head as she watched him take her sincerity lightly.
'Just because someone has experienced sadness doesn't mean they all change like you.'
With a heart full of sorrow and anguish, she felt like she could barely breathe.
And above all, what troubled Shioana the most was the sad premonition that no one in the world would be able to bring Etienne back.
"Siona. You haven't forgotten that we are married before God, have you?"
His fingers mercilessly dug into the tender flesh on the inside of Shioana's ankle.
"Aren't you ashamed to even speak of God?"
Shioana shouted while holding back her pain.
"Shioana, I don't believe in God. So there's no reason to be ashamed."
Shioana glared at Etienne as he spouted blasphemous words.
"If you can't stand seeing me leave on my own accord, just kick me out and remarry. Even if I'm a fake, this isn't going too far, is it?"
As she indirectly hinted at a divorce, madness began to flicker in Etienne's eyes again.
"Not at all! I have absolutely no intention of letting you go yet."
For a moment, Shioana felt like she was facing a massive wall.
"What are you going to do if I don't do it?"
"You have to stay here until I get tired of seeing you, until I allow you to leave."
The gleaming red eyes made Shioana anxious.
His eyes, which she once thought were as beautiful as jewels, were now undoubtedly those of a hell bird.
'Maybe it's good.'
The sincerity she wanted to convey did not reach Etienne in the slightest.
"Etienne, how did you end up ruined like this?"
"That's hard to deny."
Etienne smiled as he gently lifted Shioana's chemise. With a rough touch, he slowly stroked Shioana's thigh, which was covered in small goosebumps.
"Don't you realize who ruined me?"
Etienne shouted fiercely at Shioana.
If the first thing that caused his world to collapse was the death of his family, it was Shioana who broke his heart.
"So, Shioana, you'll have to take responsibility for me now that I'm broken."
Etienne's deep voice tightly bound Shioana's entire body.
"If we do this, we'll end up even more ruined."
"Shioana, I do not lie like you do. Even if I am broken and shattered into dust, even if that place is a hell where hot lava boils, I will be with you."
Etienne's lips, consumed by misguided desire, touched her shoulder, then traced up her neckline. With each rough sucking of his hot lips against her tender flesh, it felt as if red letters were being engraved.
“It hurts.”
"Shioana. You have eyes that look at me as if I'm possessed, yet you're saying you don't like me?"
Etienne ran his thumb over the distinct bite mark left on Shioana's neck. As he pressed firmly on the stinging wound, the pain seemed to spread throughout her entire body.
As Shioana shook her head with her eyes closed, he gently kissed her chin.
"Does that mean the child no longer needs treatment?"
At his words, Shioana stopped struggling.
“Etienne...”
As Shioana opened her eyes and stared at him, Etienne kissed her lips to hide his confused feelings.
He whispered, finally pulling his lips away long after swallowing all her resistance.
"This is all your fault."
Originally, romance did not exist in Etienne's world. After all, even his father, who cherished his deceased mother like his own life, eventually chose to remarry.
'He said it was for Edwin, but...'
Actually, it happened because his father took a liking to Katrina.
'I thought I would never love anyone in my life.'
It was Shioana who made him, who was already indifferent to love due to his cynical personality, flounder in the fever of first love, and because she cast him aside like a worn-out shoe.
"How about it? You probably didn't expect a moment like this to come."
He meant the act of being helplessly pinned down by a discarded dog and groaning.
Unlike his cold demeanor, his tattered heart was in agony because of the tearful Shioana. The fact that he still craved her even at a moment when he should have felt relieved must be entirely due to his broken heart.
"So, you're going to have to take responsibility."
Etienne, gripping Shioana's waist tightly, slowly settled on top of her.
His warm breath scattered over Shioana's white skin, and he slowly reached inside her.
"... Shioana."
At Etienne's voice filled with despair, her eyes closed, and he clung to Shioana tenaciously, as if he were drowning.
Soon, intense heat seeped into the two people's bodies.
***
Although she was called Duchess Bernhard, Shioana could not go anywhere in the mansion. This was because she had neither work to do nor anyone to associate with.
"It feels like time has stopped."
She muttered as she stared idly out the window.
Now, the only hope left for Shioana was to reunite with the healthy Harriet and Martha.
“I have to do something”
The complicated feelings were clearly visible in Shioana's blue eyes as she held the embroidery frame.
"It was something I absolutely hated..."
As she sewed to make a living, her skills had improved considerably compared to the past. She averted her gaze from the faint traces remaining on her fingertips and looked down at the fabric.
A nostalgic landscape was captured on the embroidery frame draped with white cloth. The vast fields and wildflowers blooming here and there swayed mercilessly in the rough wind.
Just then, the sound of tree branches clinking together came from outside the window. She turned her head to look outside, and she felt as though she were in Regbell.
"...Ah."
They were in that place where the cold wind brushed against their cheeks all year round, and where there were desolate fields stretching endlessly.
'...Etienne!'
Sunlight shattered onto her face as she wandered across the field in search of a rabbit hole. Etienne gave Shioana a faint smile.
'Are you smiling?'
A wistful look filled Shioana's eyes as she stroked his gaunt cheek.
'But this isn't real.'
So, desperately, Shioana tried to disappear far, far away with her back to the Regbell fields.
However, her body wouldn't budge, and standing there, she had to confront the lingering traces of the past head-on. Memories had made her happy, but they had also made her feel utterly pathetic.
'This is all your fault!"
Startled by Etienne's voice filled with cold anger, she opened her eyes.
"...?"
She couldn't understand why she was in such an unfamiliar place when she had clearly been in the Regbell fields just moments ago. Her sense of reality returned very slowly, and Shioana's face quickly darkened.
"This isn't Regbell."
She was simply bewildered by the fact that she had confused dreams and reality.
"...Ah. I'm tired."
Shioana's face looked grim as she put down the needles.
Shr felt nauseous all day. A mild fever persisted, and drowsiness would strike from time to time.
'Did I catch a cold?'
If not, is it because I worry a lot?
It's hard waiting to see when this ridiculous marriage will end.
'I want to live with Harriet and Martha soon.'
As Shioana let out a deep sigh, Sophia, who was brewing tea, seemed to have something to say. Sophia was an employee who had served Shioana since she first arrived here.
"Madam, did you happen to have your period this month?"
"...What?"
Shioana looked surprised at the unexpected question. Then Sophia hesitated and said that her mother felt that sleepy when she was pregnant with her younger sibling.
"It’s not strange, considering how well you two get along."
Sophia looked proud of having discovered something new. Shioana hurriedly denied it.
“It’s not like that.”
Sophia stuck out her tongue slightly at Shioana's words, then soon smiled brightly.
"Madam, there is no need to be upset. You and the master are young and healthy, so a baby will be here soon."
Shioana smiled awkwardly at the kind comfort.
Actually, she wasn't disappointed at all. It was something she hadn't even thought about, and it didn't suit her or Etienne anyway.
'A baby? That's ridiculous.'
A short while later, when she was alone, Shioana gently wrapped her arms around her lower abdomen.
'No. That can't be true.'
Even when she felt around with her hands, she wasn't full at all. However, she couldn't understand why she felt so anxious. It weighed on her mind that she had lied to Sophia earlier.
'Actually, I didn't have my period this month.'
Fear and anxiety simultaneously made her stagger.
'Since nothing is certain yet...'
She remembered the story Martha, who loved to tell all sorts of stories, had told her back then.
'Miss. You see, Jane's belly is starting to swell. That's why I told her to get a pregnancy test. Is that right?'
Shioana, who had gone out for a walk in the garden, waited for the moment when the guards were away. So she was able to stop by the warehouse and take some wheat and barley.
"I'm tired, so I should go inside and rest."
Shioana returned to the bedroom and hurriedly went into the bathroom. Her heart was still pounding so violently that she couldn't dare do anything.
She managed to calm herself down and checked to see if she was pregnant.
A few minutes later, Shioana walked to the bed, her face completely devoid of color.
"...Ha."
The results showed that she was pregnant.
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