Chapter 2: Betrayal (1)
Cecilia Fanning. In imperial society, she was famous for a life defined by melodrama.
First, she had lost both her parents, the Count and Countess Fanning, before she even turned five. Left an orphan with no immediate kin, Cecilia was entrusted to her father’s friend, Viscount Osborne, in accordance with her father’s will.
Just as the public’s pity for her began to wane, she shocked the world once more upon reaching adulthood by marrying Evan March, a commoner. People could not fathom her choice, but Cecilia remained indifferent to their whispers. In Evan, a fellow orphan, she felt a profound sense of kinship. Even Rosina Osborne, the friend she had grown up with like a sister, had been a fervent supporter of their union. To Cecilia, Evan’s lack of a title had never been an obstacle.
Then, two years ago, everything changed.
“Pardon? Evan is… the long-lost son of Duke Hayes?” “Indeed. The cufflinks Evan possesses are the proof. My son, Gilbert, gave them to the boy’s mother.”
Summoned abruptly to the Hayes estate, it was revealed that Evan was the sole son of the late Duke Gilbert Hayes. The ducal house disclosed that Evan’s mother had been a maid of the estate and presented a birth certificate bearing her signature. Furthermore, the keepsakes Evan had cherished from his mother were confirmed to be Gilbert’s personal effects.
The Dowager Duchess, Elise, immediately entered Evan into the family registry. Following Gilbert Hayes’s passing, Evan became a Duke overnight. Naturally, Cecilia ascended to the position of Duchess.
From a Count’s daughter to an orphan, from the wife of a commoner businessman to a Duchess—people assumed she would finally know nothing but happiness. But that was a complete illusion.
“Evan, look at the time. Let’s head to the bedroom together—” “Cecilia, please. I told you not to disturb me.”
Since becoming a Duchess, Cecilia had spent her days in agonizing loneliness, withered by her husband’s coldness. Evan, who had always been busy with his business, became even more temperamental after inheriting the dukedom. Their time as a couple had all but vanished. Cecilia had gathered her courage to visit his study, but Evan made no effort to hide his usual look of annoyance.
“B-but you heard what the doctor said. Today is an important day…”
Normally, she would have shrunk away under his gaze, but today was different. It had been five years since their marriage, yet there was still no sign of an heir. Cecilia was growing desperate. Moreover, Evan’s grandmother, Elise, harassed her at every turn, blatantly demanding a child.
“I tell you every time. If things continue like this, what will you do if that devious Reiner Hayes snatches the dukedom?”
Elise loathed Reiner, her husband’s illegitimate son. Her anxiety over him seizing the title was directed entirely at Cecilia.
“It is a grave failing for a wife to be unable to properly support her husband.” “I… I am sorry…”
Every time she endured Elise’s rebukes, Cecilia felt as though she were suffocating. It was for this reason she had sought out a renowned physician, and today was the specific day he had advised them to conceive. But Evan’s reaction was frigid.
“The doctor said what? Why should I care?”
His detached tone wounded her. Suppressing her hurt, she spoke softly once more. “What do you mean, why? The Dowager Duchess is waiting for a child, and…” “Ha, that again? Aren’t you tired of it?”
Evan sighed, pointedly tapping the mountain of paperwork on his desk. Cecilia flinched. “If you have eyes, look. I have a mountain of work to do.” “Is… is it really that much?” “Ugh, even if I told you, what would you know? I know well enough that you didn’t learn a thing while freeloading at Rosie’s house.”
Cecilia lowered her head at his sneer. She had been so determined to bring him to their bedroom tonight, but standing before him, she felt herself shrinking until she was nothing.
“If you understand, then go look after Rosina. Are you really so selfish that you’d ignore a friend struggling to raise a child alone just to satisfy your own greed for a baby?” “It’s not like that…”
Cecilia’s face flushed with shame. As he said, Rosina was raising a child on her own. Rosina had been engaged to the eldest son of a prestigious noble family related to the Emperor, but her life had crumbled when he was revealed to be a con artist using a fake identity. Since the pregnancy was already far along, Rosina had been forced to endure childbirth and motherhood without a husband.
Comparing herself to such a friend, Cecilia felt truly selfish for wanting her own child, just as Evan had said.
“I’m sorry for bothering you. I’ll leave now…” “Fine. Just stay out of my study. Seeing your face only makes my headache worse.” “…Alright.”
Cecilia fled the study as if she were being hunted. Ignoring the sound of Evan’s grumbling behind her, she trudged toward her bedroom, her shoulders slumped.
‘Does Evan not want a child?’
It felt as though she was the only one in a hurry, and the thought was miserable. While there was pressure from those around her, more than anything, she simply wanted to hold a child who looked like Evan. If only he understood her heart. If only he had offered a single warm word, like ‘I understand how you feel,’ she wouldn’t feel this lonely.
‘…No, it’s just because he’s so busy.’
Cecilia wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, comforting herself. He still loved her. He was just tired and momentarily irritable. She repeated it like a mantra, trying to hypnotize herself.
But, unbeknownst to her, an irreversible tragedy had already stepped into her life.
A few days later, late at night.
“It can’t be…”
Cecilia stood frozen in front of Evan’s study, her hand clamped over her mouth.
“Mnh, Evan…” “Ha… do you like it? Tell me. I like you so much more than Lia.”
Evan was passionately kissing a woman sprawled across his desk. The dignified man of the day was nowhere to be seen; there was only a man drowning in carnal lust. Clothes were strewn haphazardly across the floor.
The mere fact that he was holding another woman after refusing to touch her was enough to drive her mad. But when Cecilia identified the woman in her husband’s arms, she felt as though she had been struck across the face.
“Ah, I love it… mnh, I think I might die, it’s so good.”
The friend she had grown up with like a sister. Rosina Osborne was moaning coquettishly in her husband’s embrace. She had often stayed at the dukedom with her son, Jeremy.
‘You think Evan has grown cold? Oh, Lia, surely not. Maybe you’re just being too bothersome? You do have a bit of a dense streak, you know.’ ‘Do I…?’ ‘Of course. Evan is only human; he’ll get fed up if you interfere too much. Men hate that more than anything.’
Even today, when Cecilia had poured her heart out, hadn’t Rosina answered with that nonchalant expression? But the shock did not end there.
“Shall I give you another child? How about a daughter this time?” “That would be perfect. Since Jeremy looks like me, the daughter should look like you, Rosie.”
Evan laughed contentedly, kissing the crook of Rosina’s neck. Cecilia nearly collapsed.
‘Jeremy… is Evan’s son?’
The strength left Cecilia’s legs. Though they shared no blood, she had cherished Rosina’s son, Jeremy, as if he were her own nephew. Jeremy had always followed her, beaming brightly. To think that the child who had hugged her so innocently… was her husband’s son.
“Ah…!”
As Cecilia stumbled, she fell backward with a heavy thud. Instantly, the vulgar movements of Evan and Rosina ceased. Only then did the two of them spot Cecilia sitting on the floor through the gap in the door.
“Ce-Cecilia?” “Eek!”
Evan, who had been hovering over Rosina, sprang up in shock. In his frantic scramble to pull up his trousers, he lost his balance and fell on his backside.
“Urgh!” “Evan! Are you alright?”
Even as Evan groaned on the floor, Rosina was at a loss. Wearing almost nothing, she could only crouch on the desk, shielding her body with her arms.
In the face of this grotesque and wretched sight, Cecilia could say nothing. She grabbed the doorframe, forcing her trembling legs to stand.
“H-how… how could you two…”
Cecilia squeezed the words out through a trembling voice. Her heart felt as if it were being shredded; she felt she might vomit blood at any moment.
“How could you do this to me?!”
