"What?
How dare you—what right do you have?"
Cornelia protested in disbelief.
But Eric interrupted her and uttered his words first.
“Like your husband.”
Cornelia became serious, as if speechless, and then raised her voice.
“What?
A husband?
Are you really saying that?
I’ve been dead for years...!”
"Yes, but you're alive.
So, legally, I'm your husband.
Aren't I?"
Unable to respond to this, Cornelia's face twisted in anger.
'You'll definitely hate me more.'
Just thinking about it made his heart feel like it was being torn apart.
However, he had a reason that he could never back down from.
'Because I have to protect you.'
Only an hour ago, assassins sent by the Marquis of Argens attempted to kidnap Damien.
In that case, he couldn't leave Cornelia and the baby behind.
'And besides...'
Eric's gaze turned to Marquis Philippe, who was standing behind Cornelia.
'Emperor, I'm not sure he's on your side.'
Right now, he knew that the Emperor did not kill Cornelia and hid her in this territory.
However, that was no guarantee that the Emperor wouldn't be a threat.
After all, the Emperor was still pushing for Crown Prince Franz to be crowned.
‘Even though I sent away Marquis Arjen to limit him, he might offer him a carrot again.
Currently, there is no real power around the Crown Prince.'
(Translator's note: The “carrot” metaphor refers to offering an incentive or reward.)
The Emperor had been trying to provide some support to Franz all this time.
However, Franz was so incompetent that he could not even take advantage of the opportunities his father gave him.
Not only was he unpopular, he beat up his fiancée, the daughter of a respected scientist, bringing Franz's reputation to rock bottom.
There was no way for him to have real power.
‘Perhaps the Emperor will try to bring back Marquis Arjen by using this mine that Cornelia developed as leverage.’
At that moment, Cornelia spoke again.
“How rude.
You never treated me as your wife, and now you claim to be my husband?
Did you think I would accept that?”
Eric knew he didn't deserve to be by her side.
But he couldn't bear the thought of her being in danger.
'Yes, one experience of your death is enough for me.'
The feeling of guilt for not being able to protect her tormented him.
If he had arrived a little earlier, or rather, if he had not headed north, she might still have been alive.
He replayed possible scenarios in his mind, always finding a way to blame himself for her supposed death.
But now, she was alive.
'So, even if you hate it, I will stay by your side and your child.'
By now, that was clear.
Cornelia looked at him with a look filled with hatred, as if he were a mortal enemy.
“Speak up.
If you have a mouth, use it.”
But that was a burden he had to bear.
'I know.
You must have hated me during those five years.'
Part of him wanted to kneel before her and beg for forgiveness, vowing to give her everything she wished for.
But he knew that if he did that, she would definitely ask him to leave.
That was something he could not comply with.
'Because I never want to experience losing you again.'
Eric hid his sad look and looked at Cornelia with eyes full of affection.
'Once the risks are over and it's safe, I will truly leave you.
So, even if you hate me, please bear with me a little.'
Eric smiled bitterly at Cornelia for a moment before calming himself down.
It was a cold expression he usually wore around her.
“Even if you refuse, it doesn’t matter.
As your husband, you and the child are my responsibility.”
Cornelia's anger boiled at Eric's words.
‘How dare this idiot…!’
Before her return, Eric had waited for the right moment to divorce her, although there were several opportunities.
He waited for a reason that would allow him to remove it without damaging his reputation.
'He must have planned to wait until that time came.'
She barely contained her anger as she glared at Eric.
'If he's going to bring up his duties as a husband, I have my own plans.'
She looked at him with cold eyes, and finally spoke.
“As the mistress of this land, I will cast you out of here.”
But before she could finish, Damian, who was in her arms, stepped in with his little hands.
“I'm going to scold Dad so he won't say bad things!
So please slow down!”
The little one was so insistent that Cornelia had to take drastic measures.
“Take Damian inside the palace now.”
At my words, Janet, who was next to me, came forward to take the baby.
But I firmly refused.
“No, Janet.
Stay here.”
Eric claimed he didn't know I was alive, but he came to my estate.
Cornelia suspected that Janet might have been the one who brought him here.
In this situation, I only trusted one person.
“Sardin, take Damian and go inside the palace.”
The child looked at me with eyes full of resentment and squirmed.
"Mom!
No!
Leave me!"
“Hurry up and take him away.”
At my command, Sardin bowed his head and headed toward the palace with Damian.
At that moment, Eric's face twisted, and his body shot towards Damian like a beam of light.
Cornelia feared for a moment that he might use her child as a hostage, and she held out her hand to stop him.
“Eric, what are you doing...?”
Bang-!
At that moment, a gunshot echoed, and Janet hugged me tightly.
Sardin stepped back and quickly hid Damian in his arms.
Eric stood behind Sardin with his fist extended.
'What was that gunshot now?'
Startled, Cornelia looked around to assess the situation.
Eric opened his fist, and something fell to the ground.
Klang-!
'Is this… a bullet casing?'
Despite its flat state, it was clearly a bullet casing.
'Are they targeting my child?'
Only then did I realize the situation and felt my legs weaken, causing me to stumble.
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
Janet grabbed me and asked, but I shook her hand off and quickly rushed over to Damian, pulling him into my arms.
'What is the purpose of targeting my child...?'
I shuddered for a moment, then suddenly remembered the killers who had attacked our carriage earlier.
'But why?
If it's for intimidation, shouldn't they be kidnapping instead of killing?'
As I was trying to sort out my jumbled thoughts, I saw Eric, his face hardened, staring at something.
Eric directed his gaze carefully to the tallest building among the many surrounding our palace.
After a moment, Eric frowned and said, “They ran away, toward a more crowded area.”
I frowned and scolded him.
“Why did you just stand there?
You could have caught them with your skills.”
“So, while I was away, someone else targeted you and the baby?”
'Is there someone else targeting Damian?'
I felt a shiver at the back of my neck, bit my lip, and Eric sighed before continuing.
“I forgot to mention that there were those who disguised themselves as soldiers and tried to kidnap the child earlier.
Their bodies are in the alley.”
to kidnap?
The unexpected news made my heart race, and I struggled to calm it down.
'Right, no need to be surprised.
'I expected this.'
Moreover, I didn't want to show any further weakness in front of this man.
So, I pretended not to be bothered and spoke.
“Do you have any idea who is behind this...?”
“It's your uncle, Marquis Arjen.
He seems to want to take over your jade mine.”
Upon hearing who was behind the kidnapping plan and their motives, I clenched my hands angrily.
'After I showed mercy and ended the matter with exile... how dare he target my child?'
As I gritted my teeth, Eric spoke again.
“However, the Marquis intended to kidnap the child, not kill him.”
For a moment, I wore a blank expression, but then I realized the meaning of his words.
'Yes, Eric is right.'
The attackers who attacked the vehicle and those behind this assassination clearly had different goals.
This means only one thing.
“So, you're saying there's another group targeting Damian?”
“Yes.
Especially, this group owns ‘it’.”
Finally, Eric's gaze turned towards Marquis Philippe.
Eric directed his gaze more carefully to the pistol hanging at his waist.
“That pistol is currently only permitted for the Royal Guards who protect His Majesty the Emperor.”
'No, I made a mistake in my judgement.'
I knew this because I was the one who originally distributed those firearms to the Royal Guard.
Concerned that the weapons might be leaked or replaced, I kept track of the quantity and even checked their performance.
‘But no weapons were leaked.
So, the replicas have different performances and slightly different mechanisms.
However… there was one thing delicate.'
The replicas had a longer range than the ones Barakil made, but their penetrating power seemed weaker.
The location where the attacker targeted Damien was beyond the reach of the Barraquel gun.
This meant that the gun he was carrying was definitely a replica, and the person who ordered the replica to be made similar to the Parakel gun must have been the mastermind behind this incident.
I was sure he was the rebel leader.