CHAPTER 43
If only he could kill that bastard, he could forgive everything.
Even Hue, who helped Lincia escape.
Even Seton, who followed him.
Even Lincia herself, who carried another man’s child.
If he could kill that man, then he could become the child’s father, just as Lincia wanted.
After searching every corner of the house, Harvich stepped outside.
At some point, Seton had returned to the carriage and was smoking a cigarette.
“Cough—! Y-Your Grace!”
The moment Harvich saw him, he twisted Seton’s wrist. The lit cigarette fell to the ground.
There wasn’t another man around besides him. How dare he smoke with a pregnant woman nearby. Rage surged up. Harvich struck him hard.
Thud!
Seton stumbled backward, crashing into the carriage.
Hearing the commotion outside, someone inside turned on a light. Harvich glanced toward Lincia’s room and muttered lowly,
“…Ah, right. The soundproofing here was garbage.”
With a bitter chuckle, he released Seton’s hand. After all, this wasn’t a scene fit for a pregnant woman to see.
Seton, clutching his injured wrist, sat on the ground and avoided Harvich’s gaze. Through the window, Lincia’s eyes widened in shock.
“What are you doing?”
“Isn’t he the child’s father?”
A ripple spread through her violet eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
“Hue told me. You ran away with the child’s father.”
“…”
“…That’s not true. This is my first time meeting this man.”
Harvich sighed quietly.
“Lies. That man’s had indecent thoughts about you for quite some time.
A baron like him might be beneath you, but at least he’s not a commoner.”
He pressed his boot down on Seton’s hand.
“Ugh!”
A groan escaped him as bones cracked.
“If you allow me to kill him, I’ll do as you wish.”
The delicate woman looked visibly shaken, but the words pouring from Harvich’s mouth were beyond his control now.
“I’ll gladly join your lie and become the father of your child.”
***
Harvich never once believed Lincia’s words.
“He has nothing to do with me.”
“This is my first time seeing him. Truly. He was just… a guard Sir Hue assigned to protect me.”
“Please, don’t kill an innocent man.”
He ignored her desperate cries from the window and refused to let her come outside.
Lincia couldn’t take her eyes off them, afraid that if she did, Harvich would drag Seton away and kill him.
But it was Hue who finally calmed Harvich down when he appeared later.
“It was a lie,” Hue said simply.
“With the hope that Your Grace wouldn’t search for the Duchess, I lied. Please release my lieutenant. Punish me instead.”
At those words, Harvich let go of Seton’s hand.
Lincia felt relief wash over her, followed immediately by humiliation. Even then, Harvich didn’t believe a word she said about the child’s father.
Maybe he’d come to apologize, she thought for a moment. She’d hoped and been disappointed too many times before, yet still clung to that foolish hope.
But the man who came for her showed only anger.
Lincia wasn’t foolish enough to obediently return with a man furious at her.
She couldn’t understand him.
She’d left because she knew her disappearance would help him most, yet she had stayed before—because she loved him. She’d only now done what she should have long ago.
Just as he had to protect his duchy, she had to protect herself.
Then why—
Why come after her now?
“You were fine without me all this time.”
“Do you not love me anymore?
Or has the child’s father become dear to you?”
“Did you grow attached to him?
Or did Julius order you to conceive and you ran because I found out?
Because you thought you couldn’t deceive me anymore?”
He picked at her wounds with cruel words.
The one thing she desperately wanted—
“To pretend to believe me, even if it’s a lie.”
He trampled that wish underfoot with heartless words.
He wouldn’t even pretend to trust her.
At that moment, Lincia wanted to let everything go—
All understanding, all trust, all remaining affection for him.
She was sick of Harvich.
If only, just maybe, he had acted that way because he loved her…
Ah, such a foolish, empty dream made her laugh bitterly.
No man in this world would treat the woman he loved so coldly.
Even Julius, whom she loathed, never looked at her so indifferently.
“Anna.”
Lincia called for her.
She’d heard every word of Harvich and Hue’s conversation. The soundproofing in this house was terrible. Yet Anna showed no sign of it.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Sleep with me. I…”
She needed someone’s warmth.
An emotion without a name washed over her like a wave.
…Fear?
Sadness?
Pain?
She didn’t know.
She no longer understood her own heart.
“Alright.”
Anna took her hand and lay beside her.
Facing Lincia, Anna met her gaze.
“I won’t go anywhere. I like you no matter who you are.”
She hugged Lincia tightly, gently rubbing her back. The warmth she shared brought Lincia a fragile sense of peace.
“I don’t want to go back. If only I could just stay here with you…”
Lincia murmured softly, then suddenly remembered the house’s awful soundproofing.
“Please, please don’t come in.”
Hearing heavy footsteps draw near, she sat up. Anna’s face tensed as the sound approached.
Harvich appeared, carrying a chair—one that looked like it belonged in a dining room. He sat down without a word.
“…What are you doing?”
“Go to sleep.”
“I said I wouldn’t run away.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“…”
“You can sleep with your maid if you want.”
Even if the house wasn’t properly soundproofed, you couldn’t hear a conversation unless you listened for it.
Which meant he had been consciously eavesdropping on her from another room.
“…Creepy.”
“Accept it. You brought this on yourself.”
“Anna.”
Stopping Anna from glaring at Harvich, Lincia gripped her hand tightly. Anna quietly lay back down beside her.
