The Devil Who Breaks My Neck

As if to repay Herace’s wait, Ezekiel crossed the hill in no time. To greet the soon-to-arrive owner of the castle, Herace often hurried down the stairs. When she finished walking down the stairs, she heard a long noise and stopped.

A black cape flapped before her eyes. Ezekiel, who got off a black horse, handed over the reins to a servant. Herace looked full of anticipation as she waited for him to kiss her on the forehead soon after he got there.

[……ah?]

But Herace’s prediction proved to be wrong. Ezekiel, who spoke to the servant, did not approach her. No, he didn’t even look at her. Sensing that something wasn’t right, Herace looked at her husband’s group, they had just arrived but had their heads down.

The atmosphere of the knights was also different from before. Edgar, who was following right behind Ezekiel, bowed his head, and the other knights refused to make eye contact with her, only looking at the floor or in front of them.

Originally, they weren’t friendly to her. But they weren’t this heartless either…

Herace stared at her husband’s back with precarious eyes.

Ezekiel wanted the knights to move first and stood right behind them. He looked to see if there was anything, and then came a small carriage pulled by two horses. It looked quite luxurious and cozy to be a carriage. He knocked on the carriage window and opened the door.

Looking at her husband’s face from the side, Herace thought she saw a smile on his face. Soon a strange woman appeared. She couldn’t see the details because of her long blonde hair, but the silhouette made it clear that she was a great beauty. Next to her, Anna shouted sharply, “Who is that girl?!”

All of the people, who were waiting with Herace for Ezekiel, looked at the owner and then at the strange woman with a look of surprise. However, Ezekiel and the blonde woman who drew everyone’s attention, whispered to each other and laughed quietly. Ezekiel held the woman’s waist tenderly, lifted her up and carefully lowered her to the floor.

Herace’s eyes shook swiftly. By all accounts, the two were lovers. Ezekiel kissed the woman’s forehead and looked at her eyes for a long time as if she was lovely. The woman also smiled brightly at him.

“Uhhh…”

“Madam, are you alright?!”

Herace groaned unconsciously and put her hand on her belly. It didn’t show much, but Herace was pregnant now. Anna turned pale as she helped her. A few maids rushed up to her.

Only then did Ezekiel turn his eyes toward the commotion. His golden eyes shifted their gaze to Herace who was holding her belly. But there was no worry in his eyes. They were insensitive like they were looking at an inanimate object. A pair of cold Northern frosty eyes.

Herace didn’t see Ezekiel anymore. The blue eyes, which were hardened due to embarrassment, were fixed on the woman, not her husband. As if she felt the gaze, the woman looked back at Herace, flipping her blonde hair.

The woman was a beauty as expected. Her green eyes were lovely and her blonde hair looked like melted gold. But it wasn’t the pretty face of the woman that captivated Herace. The strange woman’s hand was on her belly, too.

Just like Herace’s…

The woman’s swollen belly was no doubt almost full term.

****

Chapter 1. Betrayal.

He was in front of his pregnant wife. She couldn’t believe he was bringing this woman before her. What’s more, the woman is pregnant. It was not easy to do this even in Anais, a male-centered society.

She couldn’t even breathe. Now, she understood why the knights looked at the ground and not at her. They lowered their eyes to their toes. However, for the owner of the castle, this seemed to be nothing.

Herace stared at the woman with a sense of loss and blinked as her husband approached. The hands of her husband, who was getting closer, were holding a woman who wasn’t her.

A scene that she just wanted to forget hit Herace.

Ezekiel, who stood in front of Herace now, slowly looked down at her blankly. Inside the sparkling golden eyes, like a beast, was a mixture of boredom and slight displeasure.

Herace, who couldn’t bear it, bowed her head awkwardly while hugging her swollen belly.

“Congratulations on your return.”

It was her first time seeing her husband after a long time. Ezekiel by far had never looked at her like this. The voice was trembling and wasn’t loud enough, so it was hard to hear.

This time, Ezekiel’s eyebrows furrowed.

Silence fell between the two.

But soon a taunting laugh broke the silence.

“……hahaha!”

The sound came from the blonde woman next to Ezekiel. She was giggling with her mouth covered by her other hand that Ezekiel wasn’t holding.

People’s faces hardened at this.

“This…!”

Anna, who recognized the owner of the laugh, tried to run out, frowning violently. However, she was frozen by Ezekiel’s fierce stare. Ezekiel gripped the woman’s hand a little hard and gave it a pat. It was like a gesture letting her know that it was okay.

“Sorry… I’m sorry. But because it’s just so funny…”

The woman couldn’t stop laughing as if the situation was enjoyable. The longer she laughed, the paler Herace’s face became. Barely supporting her shuddering legs, she raised her head courageously. She looked up at Ezekiel, her eyes moistened by the cold wind, as if longing for something from him.

Ezekiel twitched his eyebrows once, as if her gaze was not worth it, and then turned to the woman. He tenderly hugged the woman’s waist and put her in his arms, as if notifying Herace.

“Greetings. She is the woman who will be with me in the future.”

‘I will miss you.’

It was a tone that was no different from the words he always used to say when he went somewhere. In a very calm tone, for a moment, Herace doubted that she had heard something wrong. But as if to prove she was right, she could hear gasps of surprise around her.

“Hello, Madam.”

The woman greeted her warmly and smiled beautifully. She was a bright woman, unsuitable for the snowy North. She glanced at Herace up and down and pushed her full belly forward. The way she caressed her stomach with two hands looked confident.

The woman’s belly, which was more than twice the size as Herace’s, caught her eyes again. She touched her stomach without realizing it, and tears flowed down her cheeks. She tried to keep it in, but she couldn’t.

“Oh, what’s the matter?”

The woman’s hand strongly held Ezekiel’s arms and blinked her eyes at him. If anyone could see her, it was as if she had been harmed. Anna’s eyes flashed violently again.

“Let’s go in.”

Ezekiel passed Herace, who staggered greatly. Almost knowing the woman, his mouth was filled with a small but obvious smile. The woman replied in a charming tone while fluttering her blonde hair.

“Okay, don’t rush, Ezekiel.”

Herace, hearing her husband’s name as the woman emphasized, couldn’t have been more upset.

Herace leaned on Anna and stared intently at her husband’s back as he climbed the steps past her. Her eyes clouded with tears. She wanted to catch and question him right away.

She wanted to lie on the floor and curse…

“Madam! Ma’am! Wake up, Ma’am! Miss!”

Anna could be heard talking next to her. Her ears buzzed and her vision blurred. Herace, who had been trying to maintain her composure, eventually gave up.

***

“Her name is Charlotte. She is a s***!*

“…”

“Do you know what she used to be? She’s a woman who sleeps with anyone. Even with the soldiers in the war!”

“The child in the womb must not be the master’s child. Three months ago, he was here. He was so sweet to you!”

“So don’t worry. It’s all in the past. I’ve heard of it before. Men sometimes go insane and do crazy things. It’s the same for the master. He has been in the war zone for a long time, he will come back to you.”

“So, Lady… No, Ma’am, don’t worry…”

“…Stop it.”

“…”

“I’m fine, so stop it, Anna.”

Anna managed to resist yelling, wanting to say she didn’t look okay at all. But it would not be heard by Herace in her current state.

Herace was completely dazed. At first glance, the blue eyes seemed to be watching the burning embers in the fireplace, but they seemed to have lost their soul.

Well, how wouldn’t this be shocking? Anna blames Ezekiel and the woman, they made Herace like this. With her lips curled, she burst in a rage.

‘I should’ve ripped your mouth when you were laughing.’

According to the secret message from Amy, the maid, Ezekiel, the owner of the castle, gave the blonde girl the annex closest to the main building and allowed her to use the room next to the duke’s study while the annex was being cleaned up.

‘It’s next to the Duke’s study! How far away are you from that room! You told my lady that you wanted her to live, but it was all lies.’

ED/N: This didn’t make any sense to us either. T_T

It was said that when a man’s wife gets pregnant, he puts his hands in different pockets… but in the midst of anger, Anna tilted her head in doubt.

Ezekiel was a devoted husband to Herace. He rescued her who almost became a slave after the fall of Devone, and he saved her who wanted to die. In addition, three months ago, before leaving the country, Ezekiel looked only at Herace.

How many women have been looking forward to having him?

It was him who broke Amy’s arm, a maid who seduced him in the bathroom just before leaving the castle, and kicked her out.

“There’s no such thing as a change of heart…”

Come to think of it, there was news that the master was injured a couple of months ago. How hard it was for her to stop Herace because she insisted on going there herself.

They then soon got a letter saying that he was feeling better, so they thought it wouldn’t be a big deal. But from then on, Ezekiel had stopped writing to Herace.