Duke, Please Stop Because it Hurts

“To be honest with you, as a woman, I would like you to take care of your body first. You are still young and so is the Duke, therefore you can always have children later.”

Her hand, which was patting her stomach reflexively, suddenly paused.

“But in my heart, as a mother… I wouldn’t dare to speak up. The pain and sorrow of losing a child is just beyond any description.”

“Whatever choice I make, will you follow me?”

“Of course. I hope that you can make a choice without any regrets.”

The tip of her lips turned white when she bit them—hard.

In that short span after Raven left, she had all kinds of thoughts. Even though her body had floated in the air with joy, her head was grounded to reality while being struck on the floor dozens of times.

She also blamed herself. She resented for being born sick and weak as well.

Why was it so hard for her to have such normal happiness like others? The feeling of guilt eventually soared high.

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand Raven’s mind.

She had also known how sweet happiness tasted when she was with him. She was also overwhelmed by the thought that if she were to reduce the risk, she might have gotten happy once more with him for a long time—if only she gave up her child.

But whenever that thought transpired, her belly immediately caught her eyes.

‘You’re the reason why I’m always sleepy.’

Such a dainty stomach, which wasn’t even showing anything, was clearly revealing its own existence.

‘You were just letting me know that you’re already here.’

If she would become full one day and a child was born, that little warmth would definitely fill her entire arms.

Just imagining it had made her heart grow stiff. She couldn’t help but to feel the love for that child, who hadn’t been properly shaped yet.

It would look like her and it would look exactly like him as well. The figure would become much more apparent as it grew and she wanted to watch everything from the side. Her desperate desire that was just like another instinct had filled her heart.

“Is it too much of a desire for me to want this child to be saved and continue living with me?”

Molitia looked at the doctor with her moist eyes.

“I want to give birth. Is it greedy that I’m missing my child already?”

“No, it’s not. You’ll definitely be able to do it. And I’ll absolutely protect you from the side.”

Molitia’s cold hand was wrapped around her doctor’s. Similar to the warmth of a mother, whose warmth was just a dim memory which she couldn’t really recall, silent pearls of tears began trickling onto the blanket.

—————–

Meanwhile, Marquis Werner’s office was incredibly rattled with a loud clamor.

“What the hell are we going to do now?”

Marquis Werner lamented at the sight of his son, who was fully bound. His surroundings had long been in such a mess.

“How dare you do such a crazy stunt?”

“……”

The Marquis beat his heart at the sight of his son, who could no longer speak due to the pain of having been beaten.

He thought that his son had gone quiet all this while. He thought that he was finally growing up as of late, but the son turned out to be doing something tremendous without telling his father at all.

The Marquis felt that his mind had gotten confused. The terrible feeling when his son, Ferdinand, was brought in by the knights of the Duke. When he saw that his son got thrown upon in front of everyone, he bit his tongue and felt like dying

“Do you even realize what you did? It’s treason, treason! The whole family could be exterminated just like that!”

It was now too late to even hide things. Everyone had already been caught and his family was apprehended by the powerful Duke of Linerio himself. Marquis Werner had nothing left to say even if he were to be laughed for being wrong.

The Marquis’ face, which could no longer stand still, collapsed miserably. Everything that he had done all the while was crumbling in an instant.

His quick-tempered head then turned quickly. The fist with those prominent veins finally regained its calm.

The Marquis’ chilly eyes then fell upon Ferdinand.

Ferdinand’s shoulders flinched when those cold eyes had gazed at him without the same kind of zeal from before.

“I just can’t help it. You ought to take responsibility for all of this.”

“Father!”

Ferdinand’s desperate voice immediately rang out.

“Please, Father—please tell His Majesty of my sins…”

“There is a limit. You went too far this time. There is only so much that this father can actually cover up.”

It was a rather calm voice that was utterly different from being angry, which sounded like a storm. However, Ferdinand could still feel the chills.

His eyes were looking indifferently like when he was making a mere decision. This was how his eyes would normally appear when he chose the lesser among the other evil ones.