Episode 107
Recognizing Agnes was not difficult at all. Agnes was a face Lillian always sought to soothe her longing, and at the same time, she resembled the girl Lillian loved more than her own life.
The only difference was that her hair color was not as dark as Swan’s, and Agnes was sobbing.
“I’ve finally found peace. How can I leave him? Why are you so cruel to me…”
Agnes muttered, staring into the void. No, she was sobbing as if she had been struck on the spine. It seemed like she was talking to the empty air because there was no one to listen to her sobs and lamentations.
Lillian had always thought of Agnes as someone similar to Swan.
— She was truly a kind person. Always lively and lovely.
— I doubt anyone here disliked her.
Finding similarities between Agnes and Swan in people’s stories was as easy as discussing how much their faces resembled each other.
Agnes was lively, positive, and lovely, like a girl Lillian knew well. Perhaps because both had such similar faces, Lillian had unconsciously assumed Agnes’s personality to be as clear and cheerful as Swan’s.
However, the Agnes she saw in person had a much sterner face than she had imagined. Her tear-streaked face was filled with anger and hatred, and the unique arrogance of someone who had lived a difficult life emanated from her blue eyes.
Perhaps due to her long life as a knight, her physique was not as slender as one might think, and the atmosphere she exuded was sharp and cold rather than lively and lovely.
“I have no intention of dying like that. No, even if I die, I can’t leave my child behind. Not for Cedric. He only has me. Without me, and without the child, he will surely fall apart.”
Agnes’s quiet muttering did not fill the room. Whether this kind of soliloquy was familiar to her or not, even in a confined space, she didn’t forget to lower her voice.
If someone else had seen it, they might have thought she was a little strange, muttering to herself even in a closed space. But Lillian knew that what Agnes was doing now was not soliloquy but ‘conversation.’
‘They said daughters of the moonlight have the ability to communicate with gods.’
Although it was a very rare ability and not well known, it seems that Agnes could not only foresee events but also communicate with the divine.
“I will save the child. Even if my life has been full of misfortune, there has never been a moment when I didn’t want to live. Surely, my child will feel the same.”
Cedric and my child. Giving life to the people I love is the last thing I can do.
In Agnes’s murmuring voice, confusion and resentment were gradually subsiding. The trembling of her wavering eyes ceased, and her breathing calmed. It was the face of someone who had made a decision.
“This time… we need to prepare.”
Prepare.
Lillian didn’t know what that meant. She was probably the one who could best understand Agnes’s “preparation” at this moment.
Was it because of that? Or because of the resemblance to Swan? Lillian reached out her hand towards Agnes unknowingly. At that moment, there was a sharp knock on the door, then it opened wide.
“Agnes? I’ve been looking for you. I have something to give… What’s wrong?”
“Cedric.”
Agnes recognized the person who entered, and joy spread across her face. She smiled so lovingly that it was hard to believe she had just made such a cold decision moments ago.
Though her face still bore traces of tears, the natural smile that blossomed like spring sunshine was unmistakably the image of the “late Duchess Maynard” that Lillian had grown weary of.
Cheerful and lovely, infinitely wise and kind.
Approaching Cedric with a bright smile, Agnes spoke.
“There’s something going on. I have something to tell you.”
“I hope it’s good news. Otherwise, those involved will be quite troubled.”
“Haha! It’s good news.”
Agnes, who burst into cheerful laughter, continued with a smiling face.
“I, I’m pregnant.”
“…What?”
However, Cedric’s expression was not as bright as Agnes had anticipated.
“Aren’t you happy? It’s our first child. I thought you would be pleased.”
“Of course… I’m happy. Don’t misunderstand. It’s just your health—”
“Don’t worry about my health. I will definitely give birth to the child, Cedric.”
“You’re not in good health. Do you really have to? The doctor said it’s risky for you to have a child. I… If I were to lose you after having the child, I don’t know if I could love that child.”
“Why do you think so negatively? Of course, I will live, and we will raise our child together.”
Saying so, Agnes hugged her worried husband tightly.
“Cedric, don’t worry. You will surely come to love the child. With or without me.”
“…I’m not sure. I don’t even know why we need a child. If succession is necessary, we can adopt from the branch line.”
“No, I want a child. I promise. Our child will make you happy.”
Agnes smiled broadly, but Cedric’s expression seemed complicated. After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked.
“If our child makes me happy, then what about you?”
“What?”
“It seemed like you were saying that you wouldn’t be happy if I had a child.”
Agnes’s expression stiffened at this unexpected remark. However, she quickly erased her expression.
“That can’t be true. I’m already happy enough.”
“…I still don’t understand. We’re already content. Do we really need a child—”
“Cedric, wasn’t there something important you wanted to discuss with me? You came looking for me.”
As Agnes smoothly redirected the conversation, Cedric’s eyes widened as if he had just remembered something. Then he approached the drawer where Lillian was and opened it.
“I had planned to give this to you in a fancy way, but you happened to be here.”
“What is it?”
“It’s our anniversary soon. I thought it would be nice to have something to commemorate it.”
Saying so, Cedric took out a small jewelry box from the drawer. It was unusual to have a jewelry box in this rarely used room, but it happened to be where Agnes was.
When he opened the jewelry box, a pendant on a metal chain was revealed. A pendant with the Maynard crest. Inside were intricately drawn portraits of two people.
As Cedric was about to put the necklace on Agnes’s neck, she was almost choked up.
“Thank you so much, Cedric. I’ll cherish it dearly. Really…”
“Are you crying again? I didn’t know you were so tearful. Don’t worry too much even if you lose it.”
Cedric, who was rather surprised by her intense reaction, tried to comfort Agnes, but she held the pendant tightly in her hand.
“No, this pendant is my lucky charm. It will protect our child.”
Cedric couldn’t understand why such a trivial anniversary gift was eliciting such a strong reaction from his wife, but he seemed unable to think of anything beyond comforting Agnes as she cried.
He pulled her close to soothe her, and at that moment, Lillian clearly saw it.
“That… ”
A faint glimmer of light at Agnes’s fingertips.
It might not be perceivable to ordinary people, but there was a distinct difference felt by Lillian, who possessed divine power.
At that moment, Agnes’s divine power seeped into the pendant.
“No, it’s not like that.”
It wasn’t just imbuing it with divine power.
Agnes had turned the pendant into a relic.
