Chapter 37
A Gaze of Resentment
Robert’s eyes were fixed on her—the woman he had tried, and failed, to forget since that night six years ago.
As if she had endured considerable hardship through childbirth and childrearing, Sena carried a calmness beyond what her age alone would suggest.
The girl who had captivated him that night with her luxurious dress, intelligent conversation, and passionate actions was nowhere to be found.
The graceful, radiant beauty she once possessed had vanished. Standing there now was a woman with minimal makeup, living in a quiet corner of a provincial town, busy with daily labor and devotion to her family.
Her once-beautiful long silver-blond hair had been cut short, and it no longer shone as it once had.
She wore no makeup, and not even lipstick colored her pale lips.
And yet, those experiences seemed to have allowed the girl she once was to grow into a mature woman.
Sena had changed so much that she was almost unrecognizable.
“Why are you here…?”
Forcing out the trembling words at last, that was all Sena could manage to say.
Seeing how clearly frightened she was, Robert quietly lowered his gaze.
“It’s been a long time, Sena. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
At seeing her again and confirming that she was safe, a trace of joy seeped into Robert’s words.
But that was only his feeling. To Sena, both Alex and Robert were nothing more than uninvited guests.
Sena, who had grown somewhat fuller than she had been back then, felt strangely distant to him now, and for reasons he couldn’t explain, Robert felt a pang of loneliness.
Sena frowned suspiciously at his words, then answered in a small voice, “Don’t come in,” glaring at the two of them as if they were mortal enemies.
Though she had changed so much that she felt like a different person from the woman he once loved, Robert found himself bewildered by the unexpected excitement rising from deep within his body.
Even her anger-filled gaze, which made his heart skip a beat, stirred unfamiliar emotions in him.
At the same time, he was struck by intense regret at having driven her into such a harsh life.
“There’s something I need to discuss… about you and me.”
“What? There’s nothing left to talk about now.”
Sena spat the words out angrily, as if snapping at him.
She was terrified that he might take her child away.
Robert accepted that fear, understanding it as something any mother would naturally feel.
He was surprised at himself that his once-arrogant pride did not surface.
“I want to apologize for that night. But I have no intention of doing anything to the child. I swear it by the royal spirits. If I were to break that oath, I would be punished.”
“…You would swear to God just to apologize to me?”
“Won’t you let me atone for the sin I committed against you?”
“You didn’t commit any sin… I was the one who ran away.”
Because Robert had sworn to God regarding Dino’s safety, a small measure of relief entered Sena’s heart.
To her, their relationship had already ended.
Forming any new connection would affect her son.
Yet even if she turned them away here, it seemed the fact that Dino carried royal blood was already known and impossible to hide.
Even if she insisted it had nothing to do with her, the thought of what kind of trouble might follow left her unable to rest easy.
“I’m the one who drove you into a position where you felt you had to run away. Please let me take responsibility for that.”
“If you can forgive me for running away from you, then I don’t need an apology.”
So please go home.
Without saying it aloud, Sena conveyed those words through her gaze and her attitude.
Cutting into their exchange, Alex muttered, “This is disrespectful.”
After all, the other party was the Crown Prince of the kingdom.
To be turned away at the door like this would damage the dignity of the royal family.
“Miss Loewengrin. His Highness came all this way driven solely by his desire to see you and the child. Please understand his feelings.”
“Is barging in without so much as a greeting and brandishing royal authority what you call justice?”
“You say you want them to leave, but from here on out, there will be legal issues between the two of you. Wouldn’t it be better for the child in the end if you talked things through now and reached a mutual understanding?”
“What a despicable negotiation. Just what I’d expect from the general manager of Gazarik.”
Sena said it with biting sarcasm.
She didn’t believe that rejecting their proposal would simply make everything end here.
Robert would likely become king before long, and if the woman who became his wife learned that an illegitimate child existed here, there was no telling what measures she might take.
Each time that thought crossed her mind, Sena felt her chest tighten.
It was a terrifying possibility—one she didn’t even want to imagine.
“…If you swear you won’t meet the child.”
“He’s my son—your son and mine. Even then, you won’t let me see him?”
“Our relationship ended that night. You thought so too—that’s why you only came now. Isn’t that right, Your Highness?”
“I tried to look for you. That wasn’t a lie.”
“Robert.”
As he defended himself under her reproach, Sena spoke to him gently, as if reasoning with him.
If the new family he would someday create couldn’t monopolize his love, they would come to resent Sena and Dino.
Just like that woman who, after Sena’s father died, turned her malice toward Sena and took everything from her.
If malice were directed again, someone else would suffer.
“What is it?”
“This may not be something I should say. But if you truly meant to search for me, you could have found me by any means. You’re the Crown Prince of this kingdom. The reason you didn’t is because you didn’t love me.”
“No—wait. That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is. I don’t seek your love now, and I have no intention of being involved with the royal family. But once you know about that child, your family will eventually suffer.”
“You don’t know that. Reina isn’t that kind of woman!”
At the sudden mention of that name from Robert’s lips, Sena’s expression stiffened once more.
A new woman was already by his side, and he was trying to begin a new life with her.
