After the Wicked Wife Leaves

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Translated by: Sienna

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺

As the matriarch suddenly entered his office, Erich asked her business right away.

 

“What is it?”

 

The matriarch clenched her teeth and opened her eyes wide.

 

“Is it true?”

“What…….”

“Cornelia. Is it true that she has your child?”

 

At that, Erich’s eyes widened, and he let out a bitter laugh.

 

‘Well, it’s rather fortunate. At least she thinks it’s my child.’

 

If the matriarch had known about Cornelia’s infidelity, she would have tried to get rid of her by any means necessary.

It was clear that she would consider it betrayal to her own son, ‘Erich’.

 

‘But since she thinks it’s my child, the arrows… will come to me now.’

 

Finally, he spoke up.

 

“Yes, that’s right. It’s my child.”

 

The matriarch frowned.

She hoped it wasn’t true that Cornelia was lying, but the response from the fake son was a simple affirmation.
             

‘How dare you, you little bastard…….’

 

Soon, she gritted her teeth and raised her voice.

 

“Have you forgotten what I told you? I told you clearly not to sleep with her.”

“…….”

 

Seeing the fake son keeping his mouth shut, the matriarch felt both disgust and betrayal.

It was no wonder, as she knew the reason why the fake son had been cruel to Cornelia.

 

“She was in love with your brother. And you know what his father, the Emperor, did to my son!”

 

Listening to the matriarch’s words, he clenched his fist tightly, engulfed in guilt.

 

‘Yes, that’s right.’

 

Erich, his real brother, went missing in the battle the emperor had ordered him to participate in.

And that battlefield was obviously a deadly place for anyone who saw it.

 

‘That’s why I tried to stay away from her.’

 

The daughter of the enemy who had sent his brother to his death.

That’s why he tried to push her away.

But… he couldn’t bring himself to push her away in the end.

 

<Please don’t refuse me. I want to have your child.>

 

At first, he thought it was a dream.

Being proud, she always fell asleep first after being refused at night, and she had never tried to seduce him because of her strong self-esteem.

And another reason for his misconception was that he sometimes dreamed of her after drinking alcohol.

So he kissed her red lips, dismissing the moment as a dream—the only moment he’s allowed.

But what he felt was not a numb illusion but a soft and sweet sensation.

In that moment, he came to his senses. No, this has to stop.

It’s not him she loves; it’s his brother, Erich.

She will be devastated if she discovers he’s not Erich.

However, he couldn’t easily stop himself.

The red lips he tasted once were so sweet and intoxicating, like the forbidden fruit that only a few humans had tasted.

That’s why he had to take responsibility.

Although he knew the child was not his own, it was clear that he had dared to dream of a future with her and harbored a desire for her.

 

‘I have to protect her from that woman.’

 

Given the matriarch’s disposition, she would disapprove even if it were his own child. But what if the child doesn’t inherit the title of Duke?

Uncomfortable as it may be, he couldn’t reject the child and her.

As long as he was alive, that was his vow.

But if the child belonged to another man, it would be a different story.

 

‘Surely, they’ll try to spread this fact in society and drive her away.’

 

So he looked the matriarch straight in the eye and firmly said,

 

“It was a one-night mistake. But I intend to take responsibility for it.”

“Responsibility?”

 

At her question, a sinister suspicion arose in the matriarch’s mind.

 

‘Could it be that this bastard intends to make his bloodline the successor to the duchy?’

 

Sure enough, her anxiety turned into reality.

 

“We must acknowledge the child as a child of Blant.”

 

Upon hearing her fake son’s words, the matriarch erupted in anger.

 

“You despicable creature! That child cannot be recognized as a member of the ducal bloodline!”

 

Erich’s eyes grew cold as he listened.

 

‘Yes, I expected you to come out like that.’

 

However, as always, he could not simply obey the matriarch’s words.

 

‘I swore to her. I promised her that I would take responsibility for her child in exchange for not divorcing her.’

 

Perhaps he will never be able to have children with her again.

So he made up his mind to think of the child as his own.

 

‘After all, it’s my fault that she’s lonely.’

 

Soon, he turned to his mother and smiled.

 

“Mother, you have no choice but to recognize that child as Erich Lennon Blant’s child.”

“What?”

“Have you forgotten? If it’s revealed that I’m just a stand-in, you’ll be in quite a predicament, won’t you?”

 

The matriarch gritted her teeth.

It was certain that if the fact that he was the stand-in became known, she would be in serious trouble.

 

‘This scoundrel, he knows everything acts like this! How dare he deceive me and even threaten me!’

 

The matriarch glared at the fake son in anger.

His face looked exactly like his real son’s, but instead of feeling the resemblance, she felt an indescribable disgust.

 

‘That thing is trying to steal my son’s life!’

 

Legend has it that a creature known as a doppelganger appears with the exact same face as someone else.

They would eventually kill that someone and take their place, claiming to be the real one.

And to the matriarch, that fake son felt like a doppelganger of her own son.

 

‘But my son hasn’t returned yet… I can’t get rid of him.’

 

As much as he was a repulsive presence, he was the stand-in for her son, the support she could rely on to enjoy her old age.

That’s why the matriarch couldn’t eliminate the fake yet.

To vent her anger, she struck him to hurt him, but even that was useless because he was a sword master.

Ultimately, her hands were the only ones left in pain.

 

‘Damn it.’

 

It was when she glared at Erich with such angry eyes.

 

“However, I will not make that child the successor.”

“What?”

 

After hearing the unexpected statement, the fake son responded.

 

“It would be more appropriate for the successor to be my brother’s child. So, you don’t need to worry about that child.”

 

‘That means… is he telling me not to interfere with his child?’

 

The fake son, who never revealed his inner thoughts, had always felt eerie, like a monster.

But now, the matriarch had caught a glimpse of his vulnerability.

Finally, she opened her mouth.

 

“I’ll turn a blind eye this time, but I’ll never acknowledge that child as my grandchild.”

 

With that, she walked out of the room.

 

‘I always felt like he wasn’t human because he didn’t react no matter how hard I hit him…’

 

But now she realizes that she can still strike the fake son without feeling pain.

As she walked down the hallway alone, one corner of her mouth lifted.

 

‘Judging by how he reacted, it appears that the child is important to him.’

 

In the past, she might have left the child alone. Since the fake son always kept his word, she might have let it go.

But seeing the fake son not obeying her words, the matriarch had no intention of leaving the child alone.

 

‘He said he’s not interested in making the child the successor, but who knows when he might change his mind.’

 

Returning to her quarters, she called for her trusted servant, the head maid.

 

“Did you call for me?”

“Cornelia, it seems she’s pregnant. I was thinking of giving her a gift.”

 

Upon hearing the word “gift,” the head maid doubted her own ears.

 

“Madam, scolding her for hiding such a significant fact until now seems insufficient, but you’re giving her a gift?”

 

At that point, the matriarch chuckled and retorted.

 

“Why? Do I look like a fool to you?”

 

The matriarch’s voice was gentle, but her gaze was sharp.

The headmaid ducked her head quickly.

 

“N-No, not at all. It’s just that I couldn’t understand it with my limited perspective.”

“Aren’t you curious about the gift I intend to give that woman?”

“Y-yes, I am curious.”

 

With that response, the matriarch smiled brightly and continued.

 

“It’s a secret. But one thing’s for sure: It’ll be a pleasant surprise. Perhaps shocking enough to make one lose their child.”

 

Suddenly, the matriarch’s blue eyes were filled with venom.

But lost in her anger, she failed to notice the fact that someone was eavesdropping on her conversation from outside the door.

 

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

 

Meanwhile, back in the jeweler’s shop, Rone sighed heavily.

 

‘So, after all, it has come to this.’

 

Despite the Duchess’s constant praise for her excellent jewelry, she felt like she was receiving more disdain from her mother-in-law, the matriarch.

 

‘No, before judging the favorability of the gift… how could a mother-in-law react like that to the news that her daughter-in-law is pregnant?’

 

In noble families without children yet, revealing a pregnancy would usually be greeted with delight, even if the daughter-in-law was previously disliked.

But instead of a smile, the matriarch’s expression was one of horror, which definitely wasn’t normal.

 

‘Besides, from our conversations, she seemed usually foul-mouthed, and she often wielded a verbal dagger towards the Duchess.’

 

When she first heard that there was a bad relationship between Duchess Blant and the matriarch, she just thought it was a cold one.

 

‘But I can’t believe they treated the Duchess, who was once a princess, like this!’

 

Rone’s emotions were mixed as she witnessed a scene that would cause a social uproar.

 

‘At any rate, now that I’ve returned, I have to work again.’

 

With that thought, she entered the guest room.

And in that usually bustling place, there was only one person sitting elegantly.

 

“Oh, Rone. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Duchess Lienheim?”

 

She was the second-in-command of the Emperor’s faction and one of the empire’s three mistresses. She was also a distant cousin of the Emperor.

 

ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

TL/N: Hii. Just want to clarify something. In case you read too many novels with extramarital relationships (＞ｙ＜). (Also to those whose first language isn’t English.) When they say mistress, they don’t mean you know the home-wreckers but mistress as in a woman who owns or controls something, such as a mistress of a house or property. (or like the female counterpart of Master(?))

Also when referring to Erich’s mother, I usually used Matriarch when it should be Grand Madam or Lady. But I will still use matriarch (or not? what do you guys think?) and sometimes Grand Madam too, depending on the sentence.

Also this is the korean word:  대부인 – In some Korean dictionaries I used, it means ‘esteemed mother,’ and in others, it means ‘godfather/mother.’