Riley didn’t come out of her room for several days. She just stared out of the window like she was waiting for something.
She held her breath in her room, the only space in the Duke’s residence where she could be alone, and lived as if she didn’t exist. Ren’s barrier was guarding her.
Knock, knock.
As usual, Theo knocked on the door today.
“Ma’am, are you really going to keep doing this?”
Just hearing Theo’s voice made her heart pound. Her whole body trembled and her anger was rising again.
Riley spit out the words as if she was chewing.
“……leave me alone.”
-Ha.
At her words, Theo sighed and stood in the doorway, glaring at the door that wouldn’t open.
“You can’t keep this up.”
He, too, had been waiting for a child, But the sadness that he thought would only last for two days became longer, and he reached the end of his patience.
“-You’re going to stay in your room forever, and I’m sorry for your loss.”
“……what?”
Riley’s eyes were bloodshot and red, and her body looked like bone joints popped out because she couldn’t eat well.
She could feel the mana in her body twisting and shifting unsteadily. Blue light seeped into her green eyes, showing off a mysterious color.
“Riley, calm down.”
Ren whispered in her ear, covering her eyes with his hand.
“Your body isn’t fine, your mana is disturbed.”
Ren quickly tried to calm Riley down. She was already in a dangerous state due to her poor health due to unstable mana.
He hadn’t told her, but she probably wouldn’t be able to have children again for a while. Only if she signed a contract, otherwise her mana would continue to be unstable.
‘I want to kill you right now, right in front of my eyes.’
Riley almost wanted to twist his neck at any moment.
But she couldn’t, because if he died so easily, the child in her womb would be such a waste.
When there was no sound in the room, she heard Theo sigh.
“-…… I understand how you feel. But I’m just saying, letting go of the past is good for everyone, and……. Let’s talk about this when you come out.”
Strangely, Theo couldn’t try to open the door and go in. This was because Theo’s hand, which tried to grab the doorknob, hesitated every time.
‘Yes, maybe she will come out tomorrow.
There was something Riley should have known: the doctor had been called immediately after she fell down the stairs. The doctor had told her she’d had a miscarriage and that she was not well enough to have children in the future.
He told her that her veins were blocked for some unknown reason and that it would be nearly impossible. This was because they didn’t know about Riley’s mana.
‘I can’t help it. I still have Anna…….’
Once again, Theo was unable to enter the room where Riley was. He turned and stared behind him, but an unknown energy kept pushing him back.
* * *
Riley spent the day in a daze, eating only the food the maids brought her, and even that was barely enough to keep her mouth dry.
“Quick, I want to get out of here.”
The tears stopped flowing. As if they had dried up, she no longer felt any sadness.
Her eyes were empty, and she seemed to have no hope for life.
“It’s not too late.”
Ren tapped the table out of habit. He didn’t look pleased. His frustrated eyes turned to Riley, who had a blank stare.
“Just say it.”
“Just tell me, it’s that simple.”
“…… Ren.”
“Kill him. Just say the word.”
Ren stood up nervously and dried off. He’d been able to protect Riley with her powers, but he hadn’t been able to save her child.
He was tired of seeing Riley hurt by this ridiculous situation.
If he knew who was watching him, including me, Theo wouldn’t have dared to do anything to her.
“How about we kill everyone in the Duke’s manor?”
So far, he had managed to stabilise her mana with his own strength, but it was no longer enough. He thought it would be easier for her if she could just get rid of everyone in the Duke’s Residence and live here.
“You shouldn’t …… be able to die so easily.”
She shook her head. She wanted them to be dragged down by despair as much as she was. They needed to know what it felt like to have everything fall apart, to feel the pain of losing something so precious.
In a few days, the newspapers would arrive with the Duke’s scandalous affair. The divorce petition would be answered as soon as the imperial court reviewed it.
“What did I ask for?”
“Here.”
Ren handed over the envelope. Taking the envelope, Riley pulled out the contents and looked them over. The duke’s fortune was listed on it, detailed information was also written down.
“I’ve done everything you told me to do. I’ll ask you again, are you sure you don’t want me to kill him?”
Riley nodded. Ren flinched, crossed his arms, and screwed up his face.
“He’s not even worthy of being treated like a human being, so do you think it’s okay not to kill him?”
“Ren.”
“Ah-okay, now shut up.”
Ren sighed, holding up her hands. Ren thought to himself.
“I’ll have to clean up some of the trash around here.”
If they’re still alive, I’ll kill them with my own hands without Riley’s knowledge.
In fact, Ren had done one thing that Riley hadn’t asked him to do.
“Tsk, tsk, I don’t want to, but I’m sure I’ll get in more trouble if I say it later.”
‘If he couldn’t do it himself, he wanted to kill him at least with someone else’s help.’
‘Maybe someone will be more angry about this situation than me.’
Ren thought briefly, then smiled in satisfaction.
“Raylee, are you sure you didn’t want me to do anything?”
“What do you mean, all of a sudden?”
“Nothing. Let’s get this straight.”
“Riley, by the way, are you……. No.”
Ren closed her mouth to bring up Carver. He’d come running to her as soon as he heard she’d miscarriage.
“Don’t forget that you have someone who only cares about you and would do anything for you.”
“Did…… Carver come to visit you?”
Riley turned to stare at Ren. Her gaze lingered on Ren’s hand until their eyes locked.
“What’s that, anyway?”
“Oh, this……. I thought I’d slip it to you in case you got it.”
Ren gently handed the box to Riley. She opened it to reveal a pair of adorable, hand-knitted shoes.
“I couldn’t throw them away.”
Riley took the shoes out with trembling hands. Her heart sank again when she saw Carver’s name on it, along with a note saying congratulations.
“Ugh……”
It was really him, behind everything she’d thought Carver might never forgive her. The Carver she’d hated and pushed away, but who’d been watching her all along.
Still, Riley couldn’t reach out.
She didn’t want to go back to the place she’d run away from.
“Don’t cry.”
Ren wrapped an arm around her shoulders and stroked her back.
”Should I have just thrown it away?”.
Ren closed his eyes tightly, regretting what he had just done. Still, he couldn’t ignore Carver’s efforts. He’d handed her a pill to suppress her mana again today.
If she finds out about this, she’ll probably beat him up.
Ren swallowed a bitter laugh as he muttered to himself.
* * *
Someone entered Riley’s room, Ren lifted his head from guarding Riley and glared at the intruder.
“How’s ……?”
Carver moved to Riley’s side and examined her. Her face looked tired as if she hadn’t slept well. He lifted his hand and gently placed it on her forehead, and black mana crackled.
Then Riley fell asleep, looking much more relaxed.
“Well, I guess that helps in times like this.”
“… … “I guess I’ll have to kill him.”
Ren shook his head and crossed his arms. He glanced at the sleeping Riley with an unappealing expression.
“She doesn’t want it. How about handling it instead?”
“I heard that a letter will be sent to the mansion soon.”
“A little later than I thought.”
Carver sat down next to Riley and ran a hand through her sweaty hair. He could hear her ragged breathing. He glanced at the door, which was firmly closed.
“Oh, that. The kid who can’t even behave like a human being.”
“No way, trying to pull some nonsense on Riley-“
“Something like that. But not just one person, though.”
Including Theo, Anna, and the maids under his orders did not leave Riley alone. Eventually, Ren used magic. Any attempt to open the door would send them back out again.
‘Riley…….’
Upon hearing that she had aborted her child, he rushed to the ducal residence in shock. The sight of her sobbing caused Carver to lose her cool, and he appeared as if he were about to punch Theo in the face.
“Your Highness, no. Please.”
“『…… let go.
Even as his flesh was being torn from his body, Harlan refused to let go of Carver, and though the result was a week’s worth of medical treatments, he still thought he didn’t do anything wrong.
“Keep an eye on him, I have no one else to trust but you.”
“Not that you need to worry, I’ll take care of him like I always have.”
Ren acknowledged Carver’s words and rose from his seat. The tip of his chin twitched as he opened the window.
“So you go back and do what you have to do.”
“I’ll come back when I’m done with ……, so take care of her.”
“We might not be here then.”
Ren said grimly.
Carver made a face at Ren’s words. But he couldn’t stay here forever. He could sense the knights waiting for him in the distance.
“I’ll call them.”
With a steady step, he left the ducal residence. Ren sighed, staring at the window.
“I’ll never tell her, because the only way she can be happy is to be forgotten by everyone.”
Ren locked the window and walked over to Riley. Sitting beside her.
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