I Have A New Family

“…Perfume? You know I hate that stuff.” His reaction was unusually sharp. His attitude was edgy.

 

When Hilane met Revan’s eyes, he swallowed and then looked away first.

 

“Hilane. I told you I’m tired.”

 

Revan frowned, rubbing his head. That annoyed expression again. He always made her swallow her words like this.

 

The unfamiliar scent of perfume lingered in her mind, but Hilane tried to think positively.

 

‘Well, perfume can come from anywhere.’

 

And besides, Revan was not someone who would betray their trust as a couple.

 

Gathering her complicated feelings, Hilane took a step back.

 

“Alright. Go ahead and wash up.”

 

Revan, who was indifferently climbing the stairs past Hilane, paused and turned back.

 

“By the way, Hilane.”

 

“…?”

 

After a brief hesitation, he spoke.

 

“Aria has come to the capital, and she’ll be staying in the guest room for a while. She has nowhere else to stay since she’s practically estranged from her family.”

 

Hilane’s fingertips tingled with a sudden tremor.

 

Aria Rezen.

 

The second daughter of the Count of Rezen and Revan’s former fiancée.

 

For a moment, Hilane wondered if she had misheard.

 

“The Countess of Rezen is your former fiancée.”

 

“……”

 

Hilane took a deep breath before speaking again.

 

“You’re going to take in someone you almost married?”

 

“She’s in a tough spot right now. I’ll explain later.”

 

Revan started to climb the stairs again, but Hilane’s question stopped him in his tracks.

 

“What situation exactly?”

 

“Hilane, why are you being so difficult today? This isn’t like you.”

 

“What? You’re saying I’m being difficult…?”

 

“Sigh.”

 

Revan let out a long sigh and wore that tired expression again.

 

“Tell me. What’s the situation?”

 

But this time, Hilane wasn’t backing down.

 

“Hilane.”

 

Revan looked into Hilane’s eyes for a long time before speaking softly.

 

“It’s not what you think.”

 

His evasive behavior hurt Hilane.

 

‘Wait, so did he meet the Countess of Rezen today? What situation could he possibly not explain?’

 

Hilane’s mind was filled with various speculations.

 

A wave of foreboding crashed over her.

 

“Revan. Can’t you just think from my perspective for a moment?”

 

Hilane tried to approach the conversation as rationally as possible, but Revan remained steadfast.

 

“Don’t you feel sorry for Aria?”

 

“Why should I feel sorry for the Countess of Rezen?”

 

Hilane couldn’t understand him.

 

Revan, looking around, took Hilane’s hand and led her into a room.

 

After locking the door, Revan finally responded.

 

“I told you, her parents have disowned her.”

 

“……”

 

“They stopped treating her like a daughter after our engagement was broken off.”

 

Guilt was evident in Revan’s eyes.

 

“Aria was my childhood friend.”

 

“…The engagement with the Countess of Rezen was broken off because her father broke the agreement, wasn’t it?”

 

It was Aria’s father, Count Rezen, who broke the longstanding agreement with the House of Rata.

 

“Aria didn’t know anything. She’s just a pitiable girl. If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll have her stay in the annex so you won’t have to see her.”

 

The unusual complaint, the suspicious behavior without proper explanations.

 

And now, this unilateral decision.

 

“I understand that the Countess of Rezen is in a difficult situation because your engagement was broken off.”

 

“……”

 

“I just don’t understand why she has to stay here, why you have to be by her side.”

 

Despite her frustration, Hilane spoke calmly, trying to persuade Revan.

 

“…Why not have her stay at the villa? It’s near the south, so it’s warm.”

 

However, Revan didn’t accept Hilane’s suggestion.

 

“……”

 

He remained silent, frowning.

 

Hilane found his behavior frustrating.

 

There was no need to get upset over Aria Rezen.

 

More importantly, she needed to discuss what had happened with Chevelyn.

 

“Let’s talk about the Countess of Rezen later. I need to talk to you about Chevelyn…”

 

“…Chevelyn, Chevelyn, Chevelyn!”

 

As soon as Hilane mentioned Chevelyn’s name, Revan shouted angrily, tearing off his cravat.

 

“Revan…? What are you doing?”

 

It was the first time she had seen him so emotional.

 

“Do you have nothing else to talk about besides Chevelyn?”

 

He looked genuinely fed up. Hilane found this side of Revan unfamiliar.

 

“Are you tired of hearing about your daughter?”

 

“…Is she really my daughter?”

 

With a cold expression, he murmured softly.

 

“What did you say…?”

 

“…I spoke out of turn. It’s nothing.”

 

Whether said in anger or not, Revan tried to gloss over his words.

 

“Revan. Hold on. Did you just question if she’s your daughter? Are you saying Chevelyn isn’t your child? Have you been thinking that all this time?”

 

Doubting his daughter’s paternity was not something to brush off.

 

Naturally, Hilane couldn’t help but react sensitively.

 

Chevelyn had anxiously asked her about it before, but Hilane never had the heart to say it aloud. Revan’s doubt was bewildering, making her ears ring.

 

“…I said it was a mistake.”

 

“No. Explain exactly what you meant by what you just said.”

 

At Hilane’s insistence, Revan repeatedly rubbed his face.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

His apology followed. It always ended like this.

 

He thought an apology would fix everything.

 

He never considered that his words might hurt the other person even more.

 

It was a bad habit that hadn’t changed despite all their time together.

 

Hilane felt lonely whenever he tried to avoid the issue like this.

 

“Not just ‘I’m sorry,’ Revan. I still don’t understand you.”

 

“……”

 

“You feel distant. It’s like you’re not the same person sharing the same space with me.”

 

Hilane was tired of these repeated arguments.

 

Knock, knock.

 

In the midst of this, there was a knock on the door.

 

“I’m really sorry to interrupt, but this is urgent…”

 

“What is it?”

 

When Revan opened the door, a sweating butler appeared.

 

“Sir, the Countess of Rezen…”

 

The butler whispered something to Revan.

 

Hilane couldn’t hear, but it was clearly about the Countess of Rezen.

 

Before the butler finished speaking, Revan started adjusting his cravat.

 

“Hilane. Something urgent has come up with Aria. I need to go immediately.”

 

It seemed he was going to see the Countess of Rezen again.

 

Hilane grabbed Revan’s sleeve.

 

“…Don’t go. You need to be here right now.”

 

“We’ll talk later.”

 

Revan detached Hilane’s hand without hesitation.

 

“…Revan.”

 

Indifferently, he turned his back on Hilane.

 

For the first time.

 

“I might be late, so don’t wait up. Go to bed first.”

 

Revan glanced briefly at Hilane before leaving.

 

And the door closed like that.

 

***

 

The rain had stopped, but the sky was still dark, filled with storm clouds in patches. Hilane, feeling suffocated, went outside to walk in the garden. She couldn’t shake Revan’s muttered question about whether Chevelyn was really his child from her mind. She crouched down and buried her face in her hands.

 

“What am I supposed to do?”

 

Her insides felt like they were burning.

 

If she were to list them, starting with being left-handed, the round shape of her mouth when she smiled, the habit of curling her hands while sleeping—there were so many ways Chevelyn resembled Revan. Yet, the servants gossiped because she didn’t have brown hair.

 

Questioning whether Chevelyn was his child meant doubting Hilane’s fidelity, which was shameful and humiliating for her.

 

‘When Revan comes back and we have a proper talk, we’ll be able to untangle this mess.’

 

Just as Hilane was about to head back inside, she heard a commotion by the back door.

 

“The Princess is truly cruel. She hasn’t changed a bit.”

 

“Aria, you’re too excited.”

 

Curious, she went to see what was happening and saw Aria with Revan’s arm around her shoulders.

 

But…

 

‘She’s… pregnant.’

 

Despite being cloaked in a robe, it was obvious to anyone that Aria was heavily pregnant.

 

Her observations stopped there. Although Revan had been acting irritable today, he wasn’t someone who would engage in such dishonorable behavior.

 

She knew Revan well.

 

‘Revan certainly wouldn’t do that.’

 

However, Hilane froze at the next words that slipped from Aria’s lips.

 

“It’s bad enough that the baby is illegitimate before it’s even born…”

 

What?

 

“…Aria.”

 

‘She definitely just said illegitimate…’

 

That’s when the sense of foreboding began.

 

“Isn’t it pitiful that the baby has to suffer? How could you, as a mother, be so heartless?”

 

Meanwhile, Aria was vehemently voicing her grievances about Hilane.

 

“I haven’t told Hilane about your pregnancy. And… I know it’s tough, but calm down. It’s not good for the baby either.”

 

Revan was busy trying to soothe her.

 

At that moment, Aria, with a look of utter frustration, shouted.

 

“Calm down? I told you.”

 

“Aria.”

 

“That child isn’t your daughter!”

 

Silence.

 

A heavy silence fell over them. The one holding her breath the most was Hilane.

 

She stood there, frozen, as if she had witnessed something she wasn’t supposed to see, staring blankly at the two of them.

 

Just as she felt something in her chest shatter into pieces, Aria’s voice brought her back to reality.

 

“Revan, can’t you just get a divorce?”

 

♡♡♡

 

If you want to support the translation and the translator, please buy a coffee ♥︎