Chapter 4: She’s Pregnant With My Child
If her mother found out, there was no way the baby would survive.
A chill ran down Elise’s spine.
The Marchioness twisted her lips into a cold, beautiful smile.
“You disgrace. You must’ve behaved like a common whore to end up like this.”
She didn’t even try to listen to Elise’s desperate cries.
“I will not let you tarnish my name or the name of House Fitzroy.”
“No, no! Please! M-Mother, please, listen to me!”
“Was one not enough for you?”
Elise flinched.
Her mother’s smile grew crueler.
“The heir of Cruseus and the young Duke of Iberk. I should’ve known you’d snatch up any man who showed interest.”
She lifted her chin.
“Keeping two men close like that… I should’ve seen this coming. And now you’re pregnant with a child whose father you don’t even know?”
“T-That’s not true! The baby’s father is—!”
“Who is it, then?”
Elise couldn’t answer.
Because she remembered Huerion’s cold face—how he said, with no emotion, that there was no way she was pregnant with his child.
The Marchioness gave her most beautiful smile at that moment.
“You really should never have been born.”
Thump. Elise’s heart dropped.
“The biggest regret of my life is giving birth to you. Don’t you know that?”
I never wanted you.
No matter how many times she heard it, it never stopped hurting.
“I can’t overlook this any longer!”
“Mother… Mother, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!”
To the Marchioness, Elise had always been a burden.
When Elise was a child, her mother would whisper a thousand times over that she should never have been born.
Sometimes, she would smile while wrapping her fingers around Elise’s neck and say:
“Why won’t you just die?”
Elise was powerless because she had grown up under this kind of mother.
Her desire to survive had always outweighed her desire to be loved.
“Because of you, I can’t love His Majesty. You’re the reason I’m insulted! You! You!”
Tears dropped.
“My pathetic daughter. My vulgar, disgraceful daughter.”
Even as Elise glared at her mother through her tears, the Marchioness smiled gently.
“I told you to live quietly. This is your fault for not listening.”
“….”
“I’ve tolerated enough. It’s time I cut this wretched bond.”
The Marchioness stepped back slowly.
“Lock her up.”
She didn’t even look at Elise as she spoke.
“I even arranged a decent match for you out of kindness. But I suppose that’s pointless now. No man would take in a woman already carrying a child.”
Elise turned her hollow eyes toward her mother.
“You mean… those men whose previous wives were killed or went missing?”
The Marchioness’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re the one who rejected those offers, my dear daughter.”
Then, turning to the waiting maid, she ordered,
“Go to the court and schedule the earliest session. Tell them, in the name of His Majesty, I am requesting a permanent disownment of my immoral daughter.”
“Yes, madam.”
The Marchioness looked back at Elise.
She looked relieved, like someone who had finally pulled out a painful tooth. There was no sadness in her eyes—only satisfaction.
“From today on, you are no longer my daughter.”
Elise laughed quietly through her tears.
She lifted her head, her face full of sorrow.
“…Was I ever really your daughter?”
Her teeth chattered. These were the words she had always wanted to say but never could.
“When was I ever your daughter?!”
She held her belly with one freed hand and screamed. Her voice was torn, raw, desperate.
The Marchioness simply smiled.
“You do share my blood, don’t you?”
Then Elise’s face turned pale.
She saw the approaching maid holding a small bottle.
“Even if I abandon you, I can’t let you give birth to a child with my blood. If it brings disgrace to me or the House of Fitzroy, I won’t allow it.”
Elise recognized that medicine.
The doctor who had confirmed her pregnancy had told her it was dangerous for pregnant women—something like cold medicine, but far more harmful.
“Mother! Please, mother, please!”
Elise shook her head desperately.
But she was too weak. There was nothing she could do.
“Mother!”
***
When Elise regained consciousness, the trial was already over.
She stared blankly at the room she had been locked in.
It looked like a prison—only a small window high up on the wall.
Tears filled her eyes.
Then—
“Elise!”
She quickly lifted her head.
“C-Clemence!”
Clemence’s face appeared through the iron bars.
“Damn it! I’m sorry I’m late! I’ll get you out of there!”
He pounded on the bars with all his strength.
“What about Huerion?”
“He’s with me!”
Elise’s face brightened.
Relief washed over her like warm water. Thank goodness.
Huerion didn’t abandon her.
That alone was enough to make her cry.
The hallway outside grew noisy.
“Elise, step back!”
BAM! The door burst open.
Standing there were Clemence and—
“Elise!”
Huerion. The one she missed so much.
He pulled her into a tight embrace.
“…I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.”
He whispered as if choking back tears, touching her to make sure she was okay, mumbling like the wind.
But there was no time for emotional reunions.
Guards were already rushing in.
Since this was a matter within the Fitzroy estate, the two men couldn’t bring their own troops. If they did, it would be seen as a private war—an act of treason.
So they had come alone.
“Go! Now!”
Clemence drew his sword.
The hallway was narrow—he could hold it on his own.
What mattered most was Elise’s safety.
He shouted again at the hesitating couple.
“Go! Hurry!”
Gritting his teeth, Huerion grabbed Elise and ran.
She couldn’t keep up with his pace, so they stopped.
“Excuse me.”
He picked her up in his arms and started running again.
“Hold on tight, Elise.”
Thankfully, Clemence and Huerion had cleared the outer path beforehand.
They escaped the mansion safely.
They ran for a long time.
Finally, they stopped in a dark alley.
It was quiet. No one was following.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Rain began to fall—cold, sleet-like rain.
“Elise.”
“Hugh… mmph!”
Before she could speak, he hugged her tightly.
His trembling hands wrapped around her.
Huerion took a deep breath. He was still out of breath.
“H-Huerion…”
“I heard everything. Come with me to House Iberk.”
Elise cried and clung to him.
“You’re accepting me? All of it?”
Huerion paused.
Unaware, Elise continued to cry in his arms.
“Elise, what do you mean?”
He gently pulled her away and wiped her tears.
His kind eyes melted her heart.
The pain and disappointment she felt moments ago vanished.
It was the gaze of the man she had loved for six years.
“You can take your time. Is there something you want to say?”
Even though he had been silent earlier, she still struggled to speak.
Huerion looked troubled.
“…I’m sorry. Let me go first.”
There was something he had to say before she did.
“First… I don’t think I can marry you.”
Thud. Elise’s heart fell. Her eyes widened.
“…Someone is pregnant.”
Huerion added quickly,
“Lady Abecherene. She says she’s carrying my child.”
“…What?”
Iris Abecherene.
The graceful woman Lydiana had introduced. Kind and gentle—Elise had thought they could be friends.
Though Huerion had occasionally mentioned her family, he never said they had a personal relationship.
Then why?
Elise was too shocked to speak. Her lips trembled.
“I-I know it sounds unbelievable. I didn’t think I’d make that kind of mistake.”
Huerion waved his hands like he was trying to defend himself.
Elise felt like her world had stopped.
She hoped it really would stop—so she wouldn’t have to hear anything else.
Her eyes slowly moved from his hand to his face.
“…But you think it might be true?”
Shhhhhh.
The sound of rain filled the silence.
Huerion said nothing.
Elise had known him for over six years. She understood his silence better than anyone.
It was a cruel answer—because his silence always meant yes.
No… no, this isn’t real. Why? Why?!
Elise pushed him away on instinct.
Her lips trembled.
“Wait.”
He grabbed her shoulders tightly.
“B-But I don’t want to lose you, Elise. You don’t want that either, right?”
Her whole body trembled.
She clutched her belly.
“…Are you asking me to become your mistress?”
Like her mother?
She couldn’t say those words, but they hung on her tongue.
Raindrops fell, cold and light at first.
Then, heavier—dark storm clouds loomed over the alley.
“N-No! Not a mistress! One day… one day, I’ll make you my wife. I’ll divorce her. Please, believe me… just wait a little longer. Until then…”
“Stop!”
Elise pushed him hard and stepped back.
…What did I just hear?
How foolish she had been.
She didn’t know how the world worked outside her small house.
Her world was so small.
But once, it had felt like enough—because he was there.
That world shattered.
Elise twisted her lips into a bitter smile.
“…You slept with another woman and now you’re saying you love me?”
Of course. Happiness was never meant for her.
“Well, great.”
Tears soaked her face.
She laughed bitterly.
“I’m pregnant too.”
Her hopes—all of them—were lies.
Love had destroyed her.
“W-What…?”
“I don’t know who the father is.”
“…What?”
“You took too long to marry me, so I spent the night with another man. I mean… my mother kept trying to marry me off to someone else. I couldn’t stay alone forever, right? I wanted a happy family too.”
“Elise!”
“Yes! It’s your child! It was always your child!”
She shouted, her face full of rage.
“You said you’d be with me! So tell me now—choose me! Please, Huerion…”
This was her final plea.
“P-Please. You said you loved me…”
She needed him to hug her and say it was okay.
She needed him to say she didn’t have to be scared anymore.
“If you choose me… I’ll do anything, Huerion. Anything. Please… Why aren’t you answering me?!”
Because he was Huerion. Because he said he loved her.
But minutes passed, and no answer came.
“…Is this your answer?”
“….”
“I see. So this is your answer.”
The soft drizzle turned into heavy rain.
Huerion tried to approach—but stopped.
Because Elise’s glare was ice cold.
“I loved you every single day for six years.”
Even though she thought it was hopeless.
The feeling that everything under her feet was collapsing wasn’t a lie.
She heard the sound of her final hope breaking.
