Chapter 46
“Are… are you alright?”
No! I’m not alright! Forget the Duchess’s dignity—I feel like I’m dying. Seriously!
Was I always this weak-stomached?
Leaning against the wall at the back of the workshop, I shook my head from side to side.
Exhaling deeply to calm myself, white breath puffed out from my mouth. Still, my queasy stomach didn’t seem to settle.
Caspian, who had followed me, stomped his feet nervously from a short distance away, unsure what to do.
I waved my hands quietly, signaling him to stop pestering me with “Are you okay?” again and again.
“W-wait a moment! I’ll bring the Duchess here!”
No! Don’t make this a bigger deal!
I lifted my head quickly to stop Caspian from calling Kylen, but he was already gone.
“Fast little thing,” I muttered.
In my rush, I hadn’t even grabbed my gloves or anything else. I debated whether to use the handkerchief Kylen had given me, but in the end, I wiped my mouth with bare hands and glared toward where Caspian had been.
Feeling like I shouldn’t stay here any longer, I patted my chest to calm my queasy stomach and started heading back to the workshop. That’s when Kylen came up to me, walking briskly.
“Are you alright?”
“Do I look alright? My face is pale, and you’re about to collapse. Let’s head back to the castle for today, okay?”
Caspian, flustered, answered for me as Kylen asked if I was okay.
“The Duchess usually has a pale face.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
The village chief, the people at the slaughterhouse, and even the women from the workshop followed Kylen outside.
Caspian loudly reported to Kylen how much I had been gagging and struggling against the wall.
I furrowed my brows and, for a moment, imagined shoving the Kodora’s head I had just seen into his light, careless mouth.
Just as I considered how to act on that thought, Kylen covered Caspian’s mouth.
“Let’s call it a day,” Kylen said.
I wished I could stay a little longer…
Kylen told the village chief he would visit again soon and turned toward the carriage.
“Wait a moment.”
Even if leaving, I had things to do.
I stopped Kylen and handed Reina two 100 Pelio coins.
“This… why are you giving this to me…?”
“Could you make a few more of the ornaments you showed me earlier and bring them to the castle?”
“Y-yes! Thank you! Thank you!”
I patted Reina on the shoulder as she bowed repeatedly in thanks.
Then, one elderly woman from the workshop cautiously approached me.
“Um, Duchess…”
Kylen, Caspian, the guards, and the villagers all turned to watch her.
She spoke carefully through her wrinkled lips.
“It might be a foolish old worry, but when you return to the castle, it might be good to check—just in case—why the Duchess has been gagging so much…”
“Check?” Kylen asked.
“Yes. Maybe your repeated gagging is a sign of good news…”
I blinked slowly at her words.
Good news? Money coming in? But what does gagging have to do with that? Did Winterford have a superstition that gagging meant a fortune?
While my mind raced with nonsense thoughts, the village chief suddenly smiled brightly and bowed.
“Congratulations, Duke! Duchess!”
“Congratulations!”
“Congratulations!”
The small village echoed with celebration.
There were days like that—never truly free, but still busy and chaotic. Today was one of those days.
Eliana had summoned me suddenly. When I rushed to the reception room, the child I had met in the village was crying bitterly.
The child had come to the castle because her older brothers were being scolded by their uncle—a cute but absurd situation.
At the same time, I met a young man who had just returned from the winter hunt.
Luke, the boys’ uncle, remained cautious. But considering Winterford’s previous lord, his wariness was understandable.
After a few conversations, Luke’s guard softened slightly, and he explained various details about the winter hunt.
It was fascinating.
I regretted not bringing Dylan; there was so much to learn.
While hunting occurred elsewhere, it had been only a leisure activity. Here, hunting was their livelihood.
Prey, hunting methods, even weapons—everything was new to Kylen. What caught him most was the weapons.
Luke explained that Winterford’s animals had thick hides, making it impossible to hunt the larger ones with guns from the capital.
Returning to the village, Kylen called Caspian and Dylan to talk about the hunting guns late into the night before finally heading to bed.
Kylen, used to sharing the bedroom, opened the door carefully and turned off the Torpaz lantern.
Relying only on the dim candlelight, he removed his robe and pulled back the covers.
“It’s unfair.”
“Ah! You startled me!”
Eliana, whom he thought was asleep, was staring at the ceiling.
“It’s unfair.”
“Hah. If you weren’t sleeping, you could at least make a sound?”
Annoyed, Kylen blew out the candle and slid under the covers.
Warmth quickly enveloped him as he lay down.
He turned his back to Eliana, curling into a side position, eyes closed.
Eliana muttered regardless of his silence.
“I’m pregnant…”
Kylen flinched slightly.
“I said no! Why are you disappointed by the test results if it’s not true?”
Who was disappointed?
Kylen opened his eyes and turned toward her.
Eliana, who had been staring at the ceiling, now looked at him. Though it was dark, he could somehow sense her expression.
“Why do you feel so unfair?”
“The pregnancy test. You haven’t done one, right?”
“…Why would I do that?”
Her eyes seemed to flash sharply in the darkness.
“Enough.”
Eliana turned away sharply, mumbling that someone who hadn’t taken the pregnancy test wouldn’t understand.
Kylen sighed quietly, roughly running his hand through his hair and sitting up.
The small commotion in the village had reached the castle.
Even without checking, Kylen knew the culprit.
It had to be Caspian—big but careless with his mouth.
Dylan, knowing it was a contract marriage for one year, remained neutral.
Caspian, excited to see the baby, had forgotten it was a contract marriage. Dylan reminded him, and Caspian was embarrassed.
He was punished with a month of cleaning the training ground, but the rumor had already spread.
“I told them it wasn’t me. I didn’t know Greta would call the doctor,” came a small sound from Eliana’s nose.
Kylen glanced at her stubborn back with slight frustration.
He remembered Benjamin’s worried face while delivering the medical results.
It had been a tiring day.
Kylen sighed quietly, thinking that Eliana’s stubbornness could easily be worse than his own.
“Is there anything you want?”
Eliana whipped her head around.
“Anything you need… or want, tell me—”
“I do! I do!”
She jumped up, hands clasped, eyes shining with excitement.
Caught off guard, Kylen shook his head at her enthusiastic expression.
