CHAPTER 153………………………………………
Aaron’s expression was stiff as he entered the count’s residence.
He had heard the news that Adele had awakened the day before yesterday, but confirming it with his own eyes felt entirely different.
What kind of face was he even supposed to show her?
The moment he stood nervously in front of the study door, her voice came from inside.
“Please, come in.”
“My lady— no… Sister-in-law.”
At this point, pretending otherwise felt more awkward, so Aaron entered the study with an embarrassed look.
His eyes instinctively went to her complexion first, but Adele, seated calmly at the table, looked just as composed as she had the last day he saw her.
“…Please, have a seat. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you again.”
Her gentle voice calling to him made Aaron abandon his hesitant posture and step forward.
He exchanged a perfunctory glance with Kaiden, who was already seated, but to be honest, they weren’t close enough to warrant more than that.
Adele, too, didn’t force them to greet one another, instead simply stroking the egg beside her.
“It doesn’t feel unfamiliar like this. Well, I suppose everyone who was there that day is gathered here now.”
“…Sister-in-law.”
Realizing what she meant, Aaron showed his discomfort. Indeed, aside from his brother and Chloe, everyone who had been in the Glass Garden that day was present.
As Aaron glanced at the egg Adele was caressing, their eyes met, and he swallowed dryly without meaning to.
“How… how are you feeling?”
“Thanks to you, I feel much better than before.”
“Th-that’s… a relief.”
For no real reason, Aaron forced a smile and watched her reaction. He didn’t know why he was acting like this, but Adele definitely shared similarities with his brother.
Even sitting across from her in silence had a way of making past mistakes resurface on their own.
“Aaron, you already know what I’m about to say, don’t you?”
In that sense, she really was like his brother.
Remembering Killian’s final request before leaving, Aaron steeled himself. At the very least, he needed to fulfill his role properly to be able to face his brother again.
“It’s fortunate that you regained consciousness so quickly, Sister-in-law.”
“Yes. I even wondered if I woke up a bit too soon.”
“…Pardon?”
“Oh, nothing. Just a joke.”
Adele rolled her finger lightly over the egg and glanced sideways at him.
“I was so surprised too. When I opened my eyes, the commander had already left, and Balrog had returned to the mountains.”
“…Haha. My brother had urgent business to attend to.”
“Urgent enough to leave me collapsed behind?”
“Th-that was because there were unavoidable circumstances…”
“Or was it because he had some reason to feel reassured even so?”
Adele was smiling, but her gaze was sharp.
If he let his guard down even a little, he’d be swept up by her words, so Aaron forced himself to stay centered.
“There must have been a reason. That’s why he left me here and said he’d return as quickly as possible, so please trust him and wait.”
“You want me to wait for the man who left me when I needed him most?”
“Th-that’s…”
“Honestly, you ignore my feelings right to the very end.”
“Sister-in-law!”
At her unhesitatingly cold remark, Aaron couldn’t hide his discomfort.
She clearly knew who his brother truly was now!
Even if she was usually someone who didn’t dwell on such things, he couldn’t let her misunderstand his brother like this.
“That’s not the case. The gentleman here knows that as well.”
“You mean Kaiden?”
When Adele raised an eyebrow and looked at him, Kaiden’s cheek twitched.
Only after noticing Aaron’s gaze did he nod reluctantly.
“Well… he really did have business.”
“Well, that’s something new. I never thought I’d see the day you’d take his side.”
“It’s not about taking sides. My brother couldn’t have been at ease either. And thankfully, you brought the Saintess of Salvation from Mount Fidelio at just the right time, so please don’t worry…”
Aaron rambled on, piling excuse upon excuse.
At last, perhaps because of his calm, prince-like tone, Adele listened silently. Still, her hand never once left the egg.
“So… what you’re saying is that I collapsed like that, and thanks to Kaiden immediately bringing the Saintess from Mount Fidelio, I was able to recover so quickly.”
“Yes. Thankfully, you weren’t seriously injured.”
“And what was the commander doing during all that time?”
“…Pardon? I mean, my brother was—”
“Of course, he must have left feeling reassured. He must have believed I would wake up.”
She rolled her finger over the egg again, as if she truly understood.
Aaron straightened his shoulders, refusing to be overwhelmed by the strange gravity that seemed to cling to Adele ever since her recovery.
Wearing the solemn, trustworthy smile he usually showed in the imperial palace, he met her gaze.
“Exactly. Otherwise, there’s no way my brother would have left. And fortunately, you were blessed with good luck—”
“Of course. That must be it.”
“……”
“That I survived such a terrible accident without even a bruise, that after meeting the Saintess of Salvation I woke up with a clear head as if I’d just had a deep sleep—it’s all just good luck. It’s almost too miraculous, but what can one do? After all, there are cases where the man you happened to marry turns out to be the crown prince of the empire.”
With a bitter smile, Adele lifted her eyes.
Her brother-in-law and his brother—people who could be infinitely close—yet today, they were not.
“Since both of you say so, I suppose I should believe it.”
“…Sister-in-law.”
“I bear some blame myself for knowing what kind of man my husband was and yet letting my heart burn and wasting time like this.”
“That’s not it—my brother—”
“Even if he’s the sort of man who can’t stand waiting even a moment and paces in front of the door when I’m late returning from the guild, and who grabs his sword the moment the sun sets, not knowing what might happen… even if that same man left calmly when I was hovering on the brink of death—if he and everyone here want me to believe that, then I have no choice.”
As her sorrowful gaze moved between the two men, they felt as though they were sitting on a bed of thorns.
Kaiden, especially, clenched his eyes shut, swallowing what sounded like a curse.
Adele nodded slightly, as if she understood him.
“But that’s only from the foolish perspective of someone who bears absolute responsibility for this matter. It should be different for this innocent child.”
“…Sister!”
“Sister-in-law!”
As both men jumped to their feet at her thunderbolt of a declaration, Adele finally lifted her hand from the large egg. That now-empty hand moved instead to her still-flat lower abdomen.
“Therefore, please tell the innocent niece or nephew inside me the truth about their father.”
She had first suspected she might be pregnant right after the banquet at the marquis’s estate.
She had been unusually tired and nauseous, and she thought it might just be because she was overly shaken by Killian’s true identity—but no matter how much time passed, her condition didn’t improve.
Thinking about it, there hadn’t been just one or two odd signs.
She had learned that Killian was the crown prince even before the bidding at the marquis’s estate had concluded, so her head had already been on the verge of exploding.
Compared to that, the matter of a child felt like something from another world.
And as they say, it’s darkest right under the lamp.
Because her father had such an intense interest in that sort of thing, she had assumed it couldn’t possibly be the case.
I mean, what was the big deal if he’d had a little too much to drink?
He’d liked her for so long—wasn’t it about time he got tired of it?
Even though he was her father, it was embarrassing and unbecoming.
“Adele, think about it again. From what I can see, this is surely—”
“Ah, stop it!”
Father! You have to look at the sky to pluck the stars! Of all people, why are you saying that when you know this better than anyone?!
Swallowing the words she couldn’t say outright, she only clutched at her chest.
After their first night together, what was bound to happen had happened—and in the midst of that, Killian left for Mount Fidelio. When things were meant to go wrong, could they really go any worse?
…No, wait. It did happen. Once!
“What do I do?!”
What do you do, indeed.
Her eyes flew open.
How could she have forgotten that?
It wasn’t something she could easily forget. On the night of the storm, just before the second bidding, she and Killian had spent a passionate night together.
After that, everything fell perfectly into place.
The nausea, the drowsiness—and when her cycle never came, her certainty only grew stronger.
My goodness, my baby.
I’m sorry.
Adele’s life, once centered solely on her family and her guild, was completely overturned.
The child that had wedged its way into the cracks of that rigid world grew day by day—but even so, she couldn’t be purely happy.
Killian was a hidden crown prince, and if he had to return to the imperial palace, whether by choice or by force, what would become of this child?
She hadn’t even finished sorting through her feelings of betrayal and disappointment yet. Without knowing his true heart, would having his child really mean he’d stay by her side?
Her chest tightened painfully. Her feelings wavered countless times a day. Sometimes, even just catching a glimpse of his shadow from afar made her want to run after him and speak—yet she was afraid to.
Still, one of the greatest advantages of being born the daughter of a wealthy family in this world was not having to agonize endlessly in indecision.
She hadn’t been born into such a perfect world just to fret and panic.
And besides, she wasn’t even the protagonist!
There was no need to write tragic scenarios alone in her head like those people did.
Whether because she was simple-minded like a supporting character or because she’d always been this way, her heart had been resolute from the start.
“My lady, there is something I must say to you—”
“If you’re still here when I return… I’ll give you my answer then.”
Even as she turned away from him, her heart pounded unbearably. But since Chloe was sure to head for Mount Fidelio, she couldn’t afford to sit idle.
More than anything, she wanted to untangle everything properly before telling him how she felt.
This was their first child.
It wasn’t something she could just casually toss out with a passing, “What will you do?”
The auction was over, and she had secured the marquis’s estate, so she could leave Chloe to Noella without getting her own hands dirty.
Trusting in Noella’s nature to make the right decision, Adele resolved to devote herself to prenatal care from now on.
…At least, until she heard Balrog’s story in the Glass Garden.
“S-Sister… are you really saying that man’s—no, that human’s—no, that… man’s child is—”
“It’s your niece or nephew.”
Mind your language.
Adele looked sternly at Kaiden, who was stammering in shock, and placed her hand on her stomach.
The motion was similar to how she’d stroked Balrog’s egg.
“I didn’t want to say it like this, but it can’t be helped, Your Highness.”
“Sister-in-law! H-how are you feeling physically?!”
“…You’re asking a bit early, but as you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”
If Kaiden was shocked, Aaron was utterly stunned.
With a face that looked like he might laugh or cry, he rubbed his face repeatedly before downing the rest of his tea in one gulp.
“……”
What would he be like?
Seeing the reactions of the two uncles only made her long to know his thoughts more.
Would he be shocked like Kaiden? Completely unreadable like Aaron? Or stoic, just like himself?
Adele clasped her hands tightly and bit the inside of her mouth.
Having returned from Mount Fidelio only to experience that incident in the Glass Garden—her heart was beyond words.
The reassurance she’d forced upon herself crumbled like a sandcastle.
Why does this keep happening only to me?
She’d finally steeled herself to speak honestly to Killian for the first time, and yet at that moment, everything became meaningless.
It was nothing compared to the shock of learning he was the crown prince.
She had never once doubted his feelings—but imagining that he might have stayed by her side for some other reason caused over twenty years’ worth of sorrow to spill out uncontrollably.
“…What’s wrong with me?”
She couldn’t help it. It wasn’t something she could stop just by wanting to.
Through the tears flowing despite her confusion, she realized a truth she had never wanted to face.
And also that she loved him far more than she had thought.
“Everything that happens here stays secret.”
“B-but, Young Mistress, such joyous news—”
“It’s an order. Until I speak, not a word to anyone.”
She even imposed strict secrecy on the physician who had examined her that day. In a situation like this, the child’s existence could not be a blessing.
Every time she tried to make a plan, it collapsed as if struck by an even greater trial. Now, she didn’t want to think at all.
So she buried herself in work. She visited the marquis’s estate every single day, desperately trying to clear her cluttered mind that way.
Watching the guild’s long-cherished headquarters rise floor by floor before her eyes, she hoped it might dull her thoughts of him, even a little.
Look at that. This is what I wanted so badly.
She repeated it over and over in her mind as she watched the laborers carry materials piece by piece.
Even as she tried to convince herself that it was all hers and there was no reason to be sad, the hole in her chest only grew larger.
Why hadn’t she realized sooner that a heart emptied of a person couldn’t be filled with things?
They said that gaining one thing meant losing another—that was the will of the gods.
By the time she reached that realization, she was already rolling on a cold floor in the midst of wind and rain.
That was why she needed confirmation—from the two men here—about what she had seen afterward, whether dream or reality.
“Tell me. What exactly did my child’s father go through in the imperial palace?”
“Sister-in-law.”
“You too. Tell me what happened that day—on the day I collapsed.”
“……”
Adele’s merciless voice was directed at each man in turn.
Her fierce determination to hear the truth was one thing, but the sudden existence of a new life filled both their faces with anguish.
At last, Aaron spoke cautiously.
“Please calm yourself, if only for the sake of the precious imperial grandchild—”
“If my guess is correct, you needn’t worry about either me or the child at all. What kind of power, you say?”
“…That is—”
“And whether my child becomes an imperial grandchild, a guild master, or the successor to the high priest is something no one can know.”
Cutting him off firmly, she turned her gaze to the red egg.
Thinking of Balrog made her throat tighten, but she couldn’t remain mired in sorrow forever.
“I’ll give you the first chance, Your Highness. Please tell me where my husband is and why.”
“Sister-in-law, my brother begged me earnestly before he left. Please consider my difficult position—”
“And am I not in a difficult position myself? I was deceived into marriage, yet I tried to continue it somehow—only for my husband to run away and leave me pregnant.”
“……”
“Very well, my dear. From now on, one of your two uncles will no longer exist.”
“S-Sister-in-law!”
“I’m beyond sick of deceiving and being deceived. With no father in sight, what’s one missing uncle?”
At her gentle voice, Aaron turned pale, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly. Some might say she was being too harsh on a prince—but nothing opened a suspect’s mouth like competition.
As if resigned to using her one and only chance, she lifted her chin toward the red eyes that resembled her own.
“So then, Uncle Kaiden—what will you do?”
