"...Is that what comes out of your mouth?"
I felt like I was suffocating.
*I'm such a fool that I turn a blind eye and pretend not to know what happened with Madame Marcel.*
Everyone in the castle was whispering behind their backs. Vermont and Temnes. Even though I was told it was natural because it was a loveless forced marriage, I couldn't keep my mouth shut after hearing such things from him.
There was no such thing as a wife's rights over her husband. The treatment could have worsened if I'd made matters worse by asking Kaian about Madame Marcel's business.
When it becomes clear that his wife has noticed or knows about his mistress's affairs, rather than feeling sorry and ending the affair, he becomes shameless and continues the relationship openly, dismissing it as "something even the Lady of the house knows about." There were many such cases.
*I put up with it because of the baby.*
I was scared of what Kaian would say, but now I was even more scared that after the baby was born, the parents' relationship would become very public.
*I thought I just had to endure it.*
On the outside, I could act as if I'd seen nothing, as if I'd heard nothing, as if I were someone who enjoyed the abundance Kaian gave me.
However, when Kaian suddenly spoke as if Valquiterre and I might cause some inappropriate misunderstanding in others' eyes, I couldn't bear it at all.
Nevertheless, very passively—I didn't scream, nor could I curse in my displeasure. All I could say was something like "I can't believe you'd say such a thing to me in such a rude way."
"It means you have to be careful with your actions."
Kaian put even more force into his words.
"His Majesty the King is still unmarried. Aren't the kingdom's eyes focused on His Majesty's marriage?"
"Yes, I understand."
I suppressed the feeling of not wanting to accept it.
"I won't take a single step out of my room until His Majesty returns to the capital. Is that acceptable?"
"Claudel."
"You really don't trust me."
The words I'd heard from him in the royal castle rang vividly in my ears again.
*"I am not your enemy. I'm also... I'm Temnes."*
*"But you're Vermont."*
I had a clear memory of my maiden name being called again from the mouth of the man who'd coldly pushed me away.
*"I can't trust you, Claudel."*
Even after hearing those words, I'd waved my hand endlessly in the empty air. Then, who knows, maybe I'd grasp even a handful of straws. Sometimes, the urgent and anxious mind of a woman with no one to lean on can make her gesture a thousand, ten thousand times in vain. In my desperation, I'd continued doing such futile things.
In the end, I was the one who got hurt after asking Kaian, "Don't you trust me?"
"That's not what I meant, right?"
He spoke in a commanding tone as if he had no intention of persuading me.
"You're overly sensitive. Let's stop this conversation here."
I didn't answer but pursed my lips. This was because I was so upset I couldn't control myself and my pride was hurt.
Kaian, who was staring at me, pressed further.
"Anyway, while serving His Majesty, mistakes or unpleasant incidents should never happen."
"All right."
I didn't want to answer, but I forced myself to, and then Kaian left the bedroom.
I sat down on the bed and let out a long sigh.
---
After closing the door, Kaian realized it was a mistake.
*I left my jacket behind.*
He'd forgotten the formal jacket suitable for the dinner that had covered Claudel's body at the lakeside earlier.
"Ha."
He was in such a bad mood he had trouble going back for it.
While the dinner had been in full swing, Claudel had quietly left her place. He'd thought it was because the doctor had repeatedly told him that women carrying children tended to become unwell.
But after a while, Valquiterre had also left the banquet hall, and when neither of them returned after some time, he'd suddenly had a bad feeling.
The reason he'd headed to the shore of the lake in search of them was because of Kaian's sharp instincts.
When he'd seen the two of them standing close to each other and talking, he'd felt like his head was spinning. Objectively, they were a pair that looked very well-matched. However, it was absurd that one of the two was his wife who was carrying his child.
*"...returning to the capital?"*
*"You mean me?"*
Finally, when he'd seen Claudel's smiling face looking at Valquiterre, his discomfort had exploded as if a fuse had been completely lit.
The woman who'd entered her stable period had gained weight and become more relaxed. She was so pretty she could lift and lower a person's heart just by gently lifting the corner of her lips.
This person, who usually stood out as if she had a soft glow due to her skin being much paler than that of ordinary southern women, had looked like a fairy on a night outing, with her red hair and white skin clearly visible in the dim light coming from the castle, even though she'd been standing in a dark place.
And Valquiterre seeing her.
For a moment, Kaian had been overcome with a strange sense of anxiety and had acted surprisingly irrationally. He'd made meaningless complaints, wrapped up the woman dressed in a revealing gown, and taken her to the bedroom as if dragging her.
There had been resentment and sadness in Claudel's eyes.
*"You really don't trust me."*
Kaian had immediately understood what she was saying. She was recalling his rejection in the royal castle.
*"How can I make you trust me?"*
*"I might believe it after you give birth to a successor. I hope you try."*
Sometimes she seemed to easily recall, in a few words, the heartaches she'd experienced in the past.
It had been his judgment and decision to deliberately hurt Claudel as if attacking her, and to hold Claudel in his grasp so she couldn't move. He'd been afraid she might be taken advantage of by the Duke of Vermont if he knew her heart was entirely devoted to him.
He'd been confident he'd made the best choice for Temnes. However, every time he encountered Claudel's face like that, he became confused as to whether it was really the best thing to do.
There was a moment when he hadn't known what to do because she loved him, and even when she was hurt, he was happy alone. He'd thought this kind of love could never be mutual, but had believed it would be the best love between two enemy families.
Now Kaian kept looking back at the choices he'd made, wondering if he'd made some wrong choices.
As a successor, Kaian had been taught and raised to make his own decisions from a very young age, but once he'd made a choice, there was no going back, so he never reevaluated it. As the head of the Temnes family, his words and actions were unconditionally correct.
*But I wonder if I'm doing it wrong.*
That feeling was very unfamiliar. If it weren't for Claudel's situation, he could still choose one option as decisively as before, without any room to deviate from his decision. Her situation was the only exception.
Moreover, he was very concerned about what Valquiterre was doing.
*This doesn't make any sense.*
The look in Valquiterre's eyes when he looked at Claudel triggered his sense of déjà vu. He'd definitely seen Valquiterre's expression like that before. Before he'd shamelessly begged to be given something that was Kaian's, he was always pretentiously and exaggeratedly affectionate or kind. It was like a beast that sets a trap and waits until its prey is caught.
*That's the look he makes when he's coveting something.*
There were times when the beautiful face people praised as if an angel from heaven had descended was particularly kind, and it was a meaningful smile he only showed when he wanted to find out how important something that appealed to Kaian was to him.
Valquiterre didn't covet anything unless it was something Kaian cherished. However, if he didn't take away or wasn't given the items Kaian valued, he would destroy them.
*It's already been more than ten years since Valquiterre did something like that.*
Besides, Claudel wasn't even a thing. But what was this premonition that kept making him uncomfortable?
"You haven't grown up yet."
Kaian thought this might be because the childhood trauma of having something taken away by Valquiterre still remained as part of his memory even as a full-fledged family head.
"So, when do you plan to go back?"
Kaian decided he would start by arranging Valquiterre's return schedule tomorrow.
---
On a sunny day, Valquiterre, lying on the shore of the lake, mumbled in boredom.
"Are you not coming today either?"
The third day had ended after the welcome dinner. Valquiterre couldn't even see the ends of Claudel's hair.
"Is it my fault?"
When he'd returned to the banquet hall, looking at Kaian's expression, he'd thought they'd been fighting about something.
"But if I want to meet her, there's nothing to stop me."
Valquiterre got up from the grass. He picked a few flowers that caught his eye and made a small bouquet, then got up and headed to Claudel's room.
Without getting lost, the room she was staying in was the room used by the previous Duchess, Madame Elise, so Valquiterre headed there without hesitation.
He knocked on the door of her room, and a maid with brown hair and brown eyes opened it for him, looked at him in surprise, then bowed her head politely.
"Claudel."
"Your Majesty the King."
He was about to ask her why she didn't call him Bark, but then he noticed her being mindful of her maid. In other words, she wasn't calling him "Bark" since the two of them weren't alone right now.
"Are you unwell? It's been difficult to see you for a few days."
Claudel shook her head at his words.
"No, I just stayed in my room for a long time to rest."
"You said you were resting. I still don't recall bothering you when I came to the estate."
When Valquiterre spoke jokingly, Claudel lightly laughed along, but then her face grew serious again.
"Bark, I have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
When Claudel made a serious face, he felt something hopeful.
*Is there something you'd like me to do?*
He was ready to listen to anything she said.
"Actually, I'm having a baby."
---