Chapter 95
I quietly observed his face.
He didn’t look particularly angry.
Just extremely dry.
His eyes were desolate, and his voice seemed so parched that I wondered if he might cough up sand.
“You wanted me to stay with you, but I thought you had something to say.”
I did, but the words wouldn’t come out.
Still, he waited quite patiently.
Finally, after a long silence, I spoke.
“I was worried you might think I tried to seduce you on purpose… to get pregnant… that night, I just wanted to reconcile.”
My words came out tangled and incoherent.
I felt like biting my tongue.
“I don’t think that.”
He cut me off as he listened.
“Even if you did, so what?
You’re my wife, and having my child is only natural.”
“…”
“From others’ perspective, at least. And the night we spent together is entirely normal to them.”
“That, that night…”
His casual words made my face flush with heat.
“Everyone knows now. We tried to act like it never happened.”
Saying that, he stared intently at my stomach.
“But it couldn’t be undone.”
“…Do you hate it?”
“What are you saying?”
“Nothing is certain yet, but still. If I have the baby, do you hate it?”
His expression twisted in a strange way at my question.
“Of course, we need an heir, but that’s beside the point… I want to know your thoughts. Do you like that I’m carrying your child or not?”
I wanted to hear his answer.
What he truly felt.
And I wondered why I was so eager to know.
He looked at me for a long time before he spoke.
“What about you? Do you like it?”
“I asked first.”
“You’re the one who might be pregnant. Your feelings are the most important, aren’t they?”
“I, I…”
Do I like it or not?
Come to think of it, I couldn’t even grasp my own feelings.
Pregnancy wasn’t something I had planned or even dreamed of.
A child who resembles him, or one who looks like me.
I had heard that babies usually take after one parent more than the other.
A child like Amoide.
A baby with bright golden hair, fair and adorable.
What if they looked at me with the same eyes as Amoide’s?
The child would likely grow up a bit stubborn and unable to speak sweetly.
It was a brief imagination, but a smile unknowingly spread across my face.
“I don’t… know. It’s not certain that I’m pregnant yet, but if it’s my baby, I think it would be… nice. I mean, they’d look like their father.”
I continued with a broad smile.
“If they inherited your blood, they would be the most beautiful and lovable, wouldn’t they? Though their personality might not be cute.”
I spoke in a deliberately bright voice, but his expression only grew more unreadable.
“…”
“And you? Answer me.”
I stared intently at his mouth.
Only the ticking of the clock in the room sounded unusually loud.
Just as the silence seemed too long to bear, he finally spoke.
“…How could I like it?”
His answer felt like a blow to the head.
“What?”
“Would you like it if you were in my place?”
“…”
“Let’s end this conversation.”
He pushed his chair back and stood up.
“Wait.”
I grabbed him again.
“You hate it?”
My voice involuntarily trembled with tears.
“Why?”
“Why are you okay with this?”
“Because, of course…”
Before I could answer, Amoide spoke first.
“You’ll have to raise the child without me.”
“…”
“Do you know what that means? When that child is born, they might not even see their father’s face.”
“Amoide.”
“I don’t know how much time I’ll be able to spend with the child.”
“Why, why are you saying that? You’re here right now…”
“I might look fine.”
He gave a faint smile.
“But I told you, I’m going to die anyway. It’s an inevitable event. It might be delayed or prolonged a little, but…”
He continued in a subdued voice.
“You can tell from how my mother is hurrying things along, can’t you? That I don’t have much time left.”
Camilla’s voice echoed in my ears.
Srrk.
My hand, which had been clutching his clothes, loosened and fell onto the bed.
“You should rest now. You’ve been through a lot today.”
With that, Amoide walked towards the door.
Thunk, the sound of the door closing echoed long.
* * *
My mind was in turmoil.
Even after leaving Selene’s room, Amoide couldn’t move away from the door for a long time.
What kind of expression would she have on her face beyond this door?
Would she be crying, or cursing her heartless husband while throwing a pillow?
If it were one of the two, the latter would be better.
It would be better for her to hate and ignore a husband who couldn’t stay by her side for long.
Not planting even a shred of hope was the best way to care for her.
Only after a long time did Amoide turn away from the door.
The place he headed to was Camilla’s quarters.
There were no servants or maids in front of her room.
It had always been this way when Camilla was alone with Raymond.
It was nothing new.
Camilla’s dependence on that physician was growing more and more intense.
He heard voices coming from inside.
He quietly pushed the door slightly open and listened to the conversation inside.
“Calm down, Lady Camilla. It’s not certain that she’s pregnant yet.”
“They said the star of the heir shines!”
Camilla’s shrill voice came through.
“This time, it’s certain, it’s certain. The child in that belly, we don’t know yet, but yes, the child. If it’s born safely…”
“…”
“Raymond, everything is ‘ready,’ isn’t it?”
“…Yes.”
Raymond looked reluctant.
“You don’t mean to… immediately after the baby is born…”
“Yes, the longer the child stays with her, the worse it is. Make sure to send them to ‘Methis’ right away. Raymond, as long as we have the physician’s opinion, there shouldn’t be any problem, right?”
“With my opinion, admitting the duchess to Methis is easy. Understood. I’ll make contact.”
“And tell Melvin to prepare the documents perfectly. They said a wife’s madness is a valid reason for divorce.”
Amoidd slowly detached himself from the door.
None of this was surprising.
His mother had been gradually going mad since the day her son collapsed.
The peak of it was when she suddenly arranged a paper marriage and pushed a strange woman into his room, telling him to have a child.
Amoide returned to his room and summoned the butler.
“Colton.”
“What would you like me to do?”
“Call Melvin tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
* * *
The next day, Melvin, the exclusive lawyer and legal representative of the House of Ifrit, visited the duchy.
“You called for me, Your Grace.”
Melvin set down his bag and waited for him to speak.
“Yes, it’s been a while.”
Amoide greeted him, leaning halfway on his desk.
“It has been a long time indeed.”
“You’ve mostly been talking to my mother all this while.”
“Since you were unwell, Lady Camilla instructed me to discuss all legal matters with her.”
“For instance, matters concerning my wife?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“What deal did you make with my mother?”
“I have no knowledge of any deal.”
Melvin spoke without changing his expression.
A soft smile spread across Amoide’s previously stern face.
“Yes, Melvin. The trust you’ve built isn’t unfounded.”
Melvin was a competent lawyer. He wasn’t loyal to just one person. However, once he took on a client, he kept his promises to them no matter what.
“You wouldn’t tell me anything about my mother and wife, would you?”
“…”
“That means you won’t tell them what I’m about to say either.”
“Of course. I’ll take my client’s secrets to my grave.”
Amoide quietly nodded.
“Do you have orders for me?”
Amoide slowly straightened up from the desk he was leaning against in response to Melvin’s words.
“I want my wife to live a safe and prosperous life even after I die.”
“…”
Melvin sensed something unusual from the young duke.
“In that regard, I want to rewrite my will.”
Amoide smiled slightly.
“A will?”
Melvin looked at him with a strange feeling of unease.
His client, the duke, was young and sickly. And he had a lot of money. So he had already drawn up a will early on, and it hadn’t been touched for five years.
So why now, all of a sudden?
“Are you adding a clause for the Duchess of Ifrit?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly…”
“If my wife goes mad, will I automatically get divorced?”
Amoide asked abruptly instead of answering. His tone didn’t expect a reply.
“…”
“What compensation will my wife receive if she has a child?”
“…”
“What will happen to my wife after I die?”
Melvin answered all the barrage of questions with silence.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know anything.”
He bowed his head deeply.
“Alright, let’s draw up the will with you knowing nothing.”
“…Pardon?”
Amoide made a small gesture with his finger without saying a word.
At that gesture, Melvin erased his briefly flustered expression.
“Understood.”
He quickly took a quill and paper from his bag and sat down.
His hands were busy dipping the quill into the ink.
“What are the additions you want to make to the will?”
“Upon my death, immediately pay my wife Selene ten million ducats in gold.”
The hand moving the quill paused briefly.
“Understood.”
The sound of the quill scratching across the paper filled the room.
“And… I bequeath the Ifrit family estate in the southern part of the empire to my wife, Selene Ifrit.”
This time, the quill snapped.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
The ink that had spread across the paper was irreparable. Melvin quickly took out new paper and dipped the pen in ink again.
“Did I hear you correctly?”
The lawyer asked again, incredulous.
Amoide simply nodded impassively.
“Yes.”
“In my legal opinion, when noble families divorce, the compensation the wives usually receive consists of jewelry, dresses, and other household items.”
“Is that so?”
“Jewelry, in particular, is popular. It’s expensive relative to its size.”
“Good, that’s a valuable opinion.”
Then he added.
“Add the Ifrit family’s jewelry to what she can own.”
“…Pardon?”
Forgetting his usual rule of not showing emotion, Melvin dumbly asked again.
“Why?”
