Episode 2
“Wait! I’ll come to you!”
As Saimon moved, Christine knew she couldn’t avoid him anymore and shouted.
He looked like he was ready to break down the door if he had to.
Her head was spinning.
The first thought in her mind was: How did he even find this place?
Why did he come?
Her hands trembling, Christine let go of the balcony rail and walked back into the living room.
“Did he find out I’m pregnant? Did he come to threaten me?”
As she walked in circles, whispering to herself, her face grew pale.
The Duke Duran Deirrt had promised not to harm her, but Saimon might not be the same.
Saimon Deirrt was even more hardcore about the Republic than his father.
If he knew she was pregnant with his child, he might get so angry that he’d do something extreme.
He would hate the baby.
Christine’s hands shook hard.
I’ll be fine, but if he threatens the baby, I won’t stay quiet. I have to hide it.
She took a deep breath and grabbed the gun she had hidden in the drawer.
After calming herself, Christine went downstairs. The creaking front gate made everything feel more tense.
Cold wind slapped her cheek.
She saw Saimon, hands in his pockets, looking at her.
Yes, it was really Saimon Deirrt.
He looked a bit tired, dark circles under his eyes.
What happened to him?
But Christine quickly shook the worry off. He was no longer her husband.
As she walked closer, she smelled the faint, familiar scent of his cigarettes. It wasn’t strong—it was soft and light.
He hadn’t changed.
Saimon stared at her seriously, then looked down at her belly and scoffed.
“Huh.”
So… he doesn’t know I’m pregnant?
Christine stopped walking, keeping five steps between them.
Saimon frowned slightly.
“You seem to be doing well, Christine.”
“Thanks. How did you find me?”
She looked down, avoiding his eyes.
After a moment, he said, “I came to ask you something.”
He came all the way to the Republic of Rojas just to ask a question?
Christine found it unbelievable. But his eyes were serious.
“What is it?”
Frustrated by Christine avoiding his eyes, Saimon sighed.
He had searched for her for months. Finally found her. And this was how she reacted?
“Christine Elite Oredot.”
His voice grew lower and colder.
He stepped closer.
Christine finally looked at him.
“You took off the name Deirrt like it meant nothing. You made us strangers by divorcing me. Why…”
He looked between her and her belly, then asked:
“Why did you do it?”
Christine was confused. Why would he come all this way just to ask that?
Were we ever that close?
Her heart ached. She realized there were still some leftover feelings inside.
Even if it was a contract marriage… they were once husband and wife.
Trying to stay calm, Christine answered, “Because I had to.”
“You had to?”
Saimon’s eyebrows furrowed.
“I needed the divorce, so I did it.”
Saimon bit his lip.
She was cold. Building walls. Just like before the divorce. Maybe even colder now.
“…Ha.”
His sharp golden eyes trembled with emotion.
“Christine. Do you think I came all this way for a vague answer like that?”
“Then what do you want to hear?”
“Christine.”
His voice sharpened, but Christine didn’t back down.
“We’re divorced. That’s the truth. Does the reason even matter now?”
Hearing that, Saimon gritted his teeth and stepped even closer.
“Don’t say nonsense. You ran away pregnant with my child. Did you think I wouldn’t find you?”
Christine, startled by his anger and obsession, instinctively gripped the gun in her coat.
Then she said clearly:
“It’s not your baby.”
Saimon tilted his head and touched his lips.
“Oh? So you’re saying you cheated on me while we were married?”
“……Yes.”
She answered after a pause. But Saimon just laughed bitterly.
“You think I don’t know how to count dates? This child is mine.”
He sounded sure.
But when Christine looked down, a flicker of doubt passed through his mind.
Her eyes turned cold.
“You’re so arrogant, Saimon. You think you know everything about me? Are you sure you were the only man I slept with?”
What…?
Saimon’s face twisted.
Just imagining it made him sick. But Christine didn’t care how he felt.
“Why does the pregnancy even matter? Everything is over. We’re divorced. It has nothing to do with you.”
“That stupid divorce again…”
Saimon chuckled, then looked up at the sky, before staring at her again.
He looked like he was laughing, crying, and angry all at once.
He stayed silent, just staring. The air between them turned heavy.
“Divorce…”
Finally, after a while, Saimon spoke again, his voice filled with pain.
“You ran away and divorced me on your own.”
“…That’s…”
Christine tried to speak, but Saimon cut her off.
“Don’t talk, Christine.”
His thick eyebrows rose sharply.
“It took me six months to find you. Why did you plan the divorce with my father? Couldn’t you tell me at least once?”
Christine almost burst into tears.
Because I was pregnant with your child. Because I broke the rules of our contract. So I had to leave.
But she held those words in and said coldly:
“I didn’t think it was necessary.”
“…Hah.”
Saimon stared at her.
He clenched his fists inside his pockets.
“If you left after divorcing me, you should’ve gone somewhere better. Why are you living in a small, shabby place like this? Are you going to raise the baby here?”
He pointed at her apartment angrily.
Christine was shocked. The apartment was actually one of the nicer ones in the area.
“What’s wrong with this place? It’s better than being with you. It’s peaceful and I’m happy.”
“Better than me? Better than the Deirrt mansion? That place?”
Saimon looked like he didn’t understand at all. Christine was furious.
Her lips trembled.
“Yes. How do you think I felt, living as a royal in the Deirrt mansion, surrounded by Republican politicians?”
“….”
“Our divorce was always going to happen. It was a contract marriage. It just happened a little sooner.”
She looked exhausted.
“Go back, Saimon. You came for answers. You got them. I’ll raise this child quietly, where no one cares about Republic or Royalist sides. You don’t have to be involved.”
The cold wind stung their faces like blades.
“Do you really think that makes sense?”
Saimon’s voice burned with heat.
“You don’t understand anything.”
He rubbed his face, looking in pain.
“You don’t know how I feel right now.”
Christine had never seen him this shaken. It was overwhelming.
Why is he acting like this…?
Her heartbeat raced. She couldn’t take it anymore.
“I’m going. Don’t follow me.”
Her voice trembled.
“If you do, I’ll really call the police.”
Leaving him with no answer, Christine turned away and walked off coldly.
She could feel his gaze burning into her back, but she ignored it.
Watching her go, Saimon let out a deep breath and looked down.
His cold ex-wife… the woman who claimed the baby wasn’t his.
“Damn it.”
He loosened his tie. He couldn’t breathe.
All he could see was her round, pregnant belly.
What is she really thinking?
He looked up at the balcony of her apartment again.
It felt so, so far away.
