At first glance, she thought it was her son.
However, the moment she saw the twisted look in his eyes, she knew it was the fake one.
"You!"
At Bianca's voice full of anger, he smiled and continued talking.
“I was worried you would be too comfortable, but it looks like you had a hard time, so I'm really relieved.”
Bianca replied with a bitter smile.
“Yes, you should feel at ease now.
Now you can act as the head of the family without my control.
But...”
Bianca tightly grabbed the family seal hanging around her neck and shouted.
“You understand that once my real son returns, you will be done, right?”
"My mom."
“Who said you could call me that?
You're not my son...”
“Even in this case, you still deny me.”
Bianca looked at the fake son with a shocked expression.
“What do you mean by that?
Speak clearly!”
Eric smiled sarcastically as he responded.
"Don't you already know?
Eric Lennon Brant was born with twins."
At that moment, Bianca's expression turned as if she had been hit hard on the head.
'What nonsense is this fake man talking?
I only have one son...'
At that moment, she became dizzy, and her vision blurred.
When she closed her eyes tightly, her young husband's face appeared in her mind.
In his hands, he held a small newborn baby.
Her own son, the one she never held.
Bianca unconsciously extended her hand with eyes wide open.
'Yes, at that time...'
She had tried to stop her husband, but her body, immediately after giving birth, was too weak.
Moreover, there was another son beside her, crying and looking for his mother.
In the Empire, there was an old saying.
Twins were thought to bring bad luck, so one had to be given up.
If they grow up together, one will steal the other's luck.
There was also a superstition that having twins meant that something was wrong with the mother's behavior.
Therefore, regardless of their status, families with twins were often faced with scandal.
So when her husband came back and told her that he had sent the child to a nobleman in another country, she was disgusted, but internally she understood.
Yes, the child will live happily elsewhere.
This is the way for our family to be happy.
Bianca tried to justify and suppress her feelings of guilt towards the child.
But soon after, her husband brought devastating news.
The child died on his way to another country.
Her heart was broken in pain, but she still had another child.
So instead of blaming herself or her husband, she chose to bury all the facts.
Forgetting the existence of the missing child and her husband's cold behavior.
She poured all the love she had for the lost child into Eric alone.
But now, the child she thought was dead stood before her.
With a cold, resentful light in his blue eyes.
'You really are...'
Bianca looked at her false son with trembling eyes—no, the son she thought was her illegitimate stepchild.
'How foolish I was to believe my husband's words...!'
When she first saw him, the intruder's son was smaller and looked two or three years younger than Eric.
Furthermore, although he looked like Eric, he looked different, perhaps because of the environment he grew up in.
He even had the same southern accent as Sasha.
So she was firmly convinced that this lowly child was the son of the maid who was hovering around her husband, and she could not help but despise him.
Even as she watched him grow up and become more like Eric, she couldn't see him as her son.
Instead, she felt like he was a lookalike trying to steal her son's place, which made her uneasy.
'How stupid I was...'
She failed to recognize her own son, even when he was right in front of her.
As if that wasn't bad enough, she hated and mistreated him.
Her own son, the one she never held.
Bianca clutched her chest and collapsed to the floor.
“Huh, huh…!”
With the shock of the unexpected revelation overwhelming her, Bianca lay on the floor, breathing heavily.
“You must be shocked that you have forgotten until now.
You wished that the son you had already abandoned would die, but he is still alive.”
“No, I…”
'No, I wanted you to live, even if it was somewhere else.'
I wanted you to be happy.
However, she couldn't bring herself to say those words.
Only questions came out of her mouth.
“You were supposed to be in another country...”
He, who was watching her, sneered.
“Another country, yes.
It was another world.
Ever since I was able to understand, I learned how to kill people, and it was a place where I had to kill others to survive.”
She knew that the fake had been raised in a group of killers.
But the thought of her 'son' growing up in such a sinister place tore her heart apart.
“Well, you always said.
No matter how hard I try, I, the fake son, will never be your son.
You said my eyes are evil from growing like a human butcher in the gutter.”
At the time, she didn't know.
She was filled with anger over her husband's infidelity and the fact that this illegitimate child looked like Eric, so she said hurtful things without realizing that they would hurt deeply.
'What did I do with that child...?'
Bianca was paralyzed with guilt and couldn't say a word.
“It seems that the Duke’s judgment and your thinking were correct.
As soon as I bonded with my brother, the only person in the family who accepted me disappeared.”
Bianca looked at her son with trembling eyes.
Yes, she always resented that her precious son had been replaced by her illegitimate stepson.
However, now that she knew that he was her own son, that resentment turned to her like a thorn.
"Yes!"
Seeing Bianca holding her head and screaming, Eric wore a distorted smile.
“Well, you succeeded in your revenge.
You killed my precious wife and child, which made me understand the grief of loss.”
Although he was smiling, it was a broken, mechanical smile, not a smile of joy.
Bianca, overwhelmed with guilt at the realization that she had destroyed the son she had failed to love, screamed in despair.
“Ahhhhh!”
Seeing her like this, he twisted his face and spoke.
“Honestly, I hate you.
So much so that I even wished the Emperor would kill you.
But...”
He clenched his fists tightly and continued.
“I won't hurt you.
For the sake of my brother, who was the only one who accepted me as family.”
Tears fell from Bianca's blue eyes as she saw her son's face through her blurry vision.
'My child.'
The son she failed to protect, the son she ignored, the poor child who was hurt and broken because of her.
At least when Cornelia was alive, there was some humanity and warmth in him.
But now, there was only hatred burning brightly in his eyes.
'Yes, it's normal for you to hate me.'
Consumed by jealousy, she failed to recognize her son, whom she had long ago abandoned and even abused and despised.
Moreover, it caused harm to the woman and child who were dear to him.
Bianca suppressed her pain and vomited her sadness.
‘I may be a worse mother than a monster to you, but still… I want to be a mother to you, even just once.’
Since the relationship with her son can never be repaired.
From the beginning until now, she was the one in the wrong; She is the one who gave up her humanity.
So, Bianca only had one choice.
She gathered all her remaining strength.
Klang!
"You!"
Throwing away the family head's seal, she spoke tremblingly.
"You came here wanting this, didn't you?
Take it!
And never appear in front of me again!"
He mocked.
Yes, he had expected that, so it didn't hurt him anymore.
'You hated me from the beginning.'
Even though she was the biological mother he had always wanted to meet, he had resigned himself to that fact at some point.
No matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to get her love.
However, what he couldn't reveal was…
It was because of his brother, who disappeared after saying that.
'I couldn't bring myself to tell the truth, for fear that you would hate me even more.
'I was afraid.'
He thought that when his brother returned one day, he would reveal the truth to his biological mother, give up everything, and leave.
But to take revenge on those who hurt Cornelia, he needed the full power of the Duke family.
So, instead of throwing the necklace to his biological mother, he picked it up.
“As you feared, I will not assume the title of Duke.”
With a sad look, he said goodbye to his biological mother.
“You will never see her again, as you wished, because I will follow her when this is all over.”
With those words, Eric disappeared.
Bianca looked in amazement at the empty cell where her son had disappeared.
“Ah, my child...no.”
Bianca reached into the void, hoping to catch her son.
But he was already gone.
"No.
Don't do this.
Go back to your mother!"
There were so many things that still needed to be said.
She had to warn him of the consequences of the actions she took while in control of the family, as well as inform him of the weaknesses of the wolves in the side branches of the family.
“Come back, my child!”
Bianca continued to scream and shed tears.
At that moment, I heard steps and someone's voice.
"You can only see him for a moment!
And you can't kill the prisoner!"
“I understand.”
Bianca's face colored as she saw the figures illuminated by the torchlight.
“Xenon!”
The one who entered with the relieved guard was actually Zenon.
“It's been a long time, ma'am.”