I Had the Enemy's Baby (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
“Then tonight. Don’t sleep—just wait for me.”
“……What?”
“I suppose I can finally do what I’ve been holding back.”
Clodel’s eyes widened in shock.
“Wait a moment! Th-that’s—”
“You’ve suddenly gotten busy, haven’t you? I’ll need to finish my work before dinner.”
Before she could say anything further, Kai An set down his spoon, stood up from his seat, and wiped his hands with a napkin.
“I’ll ask the butler whether you’ve properly emptied your bowl. Make sure you eat everything—don’t leave anything behind.”
Kai An strode swiftly out of the room with long, decisive steps.
As he walked toward his study, he absentmindedly felt his lips twitching and brushed the corner of his mouth with his hand.
“They say even heaven is moved by utter sincerity.”
He’d devoted himself wholeheartedly to his benefactor, and now he had a premonition that something good was finally about to happen.
“Why did he suddenly act like that in the middle of a meal?”
Kai An hurried toward his study, eager to wrap up his work quickly, and the butler, watching his retreating back, tilted his head in confusion.
Clodel was at a complete loss.
“Oh… what should I do?”
She never expected Kai An would come to see her like this—every single day.
Her body, weakened by illness and unable to eat properly, certainly couldn’t recover quickly from such a severe injury—but she couldn’t refuse when Kai An glared fiercely and practically force-fed her, so she’d swallowed it all against her will. Her starved body had gratefully accepted even that small amount.
Over the past few days, she’d clearly felt a difference in her strength.
Yet each time she swallowed, her chest ached painfully, so she didn’t truly want to force herself to eat—and seeing Kai An visit so often made her uneasy as well.
‘He’s my benefactor.’
‘You saved me.’
She hadn’t rescued him because she wanted him to treat her specially.
After all, she’d be dead soon anyway.
In that instant, it simply felt better for her to get hurt than to see him injured.
That was all.
But sometimes, seeing that cold and composed man restrain his outbursts for her sake—or soften his sharp gaze after glaring—made her thoughts drift meaninglessly.
What if…
If Kai An had treated her this way from the very first day she arrived at Rowen Castle, would she have possibly fallen for him?
The very fact that such thoughts crossed her mind meant she simply wanted him to stop forcing himself to visit her out of gratitude or obligation.
And yet, when he’d briefly lift her—since she still couldn’t move her legs properly—and carry her to another spot, or when his large hand held hers, she’d momentarily lean against his broad chest, comforted by the warmth radiating from his body.
‘It must be because of my illness.’
That’s why I feel so cold.
Because every cough felt like icy thorns piercing her chest, making her unbearably sensitive—even the slightest trace of warmth brought tears to her eyes and softened her heart.
Kai An had fed nourishment to a body starved to the point of gasping over a morsel the size of a fingernail, and left a tiny ember of warmth in a heart lonely and starved for affection.
However, long before arriving in Rowen, she’d heard endless tales of Kai An’s fearsome reputation in Valmont—so she hadn’t forgotten that this man was the same one who’d consistently ignored or humiliated her before.
Kai An was formidable and intimidating.
As far as she knew, he was only five years older than her.
But could there really be such a vast difference between twenty and twenty-five?
Unlike her, who knew so little, he’d inherited the title and position of head of house at just eighteen—and ruled over such a vast territory and countless vassals.
The overwhelming aura he radiated made people instinctively cower, shoulders hunching and heads bowing of their own accord.
Was being raised as the heir from birth truly so different from everyone else?
Clodel was curious—but her remaining time was far too short to ever find out.
If things continued like this and he grew cold toward her again, it would hurt terribly.
Even if she didn’t particularly love him,
she was enduring it as best as she could—but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t get hurt.
One small comfort was that her life was nearly over, so it was very likely she’d simply pass away peacefully like this.
After all, Kai An, who kept calling her his benefactor and caring for her, probably wouldn’t cruelly salt her wounds by calling her “Vermonde.”
Clodel kept tidying up her belongings, though she had nothing significant to leave behind.
Everything she owned—though not much—she left to Hanna.
Hanna.
“Now that I think of it… where did Hanna go?”
Her train of thought, which had been wandering through various reflections about Kai An, finally returned to reality.
‘I suppose I can finally do what I’ve been holding back.’
Just what had he been holding back?
“I feel like I’ve already said and done everything I wanted to.”
Her consent or opinion hadn’t been necessary at all.
Anyway, she wanted to tell Hanna quickly—but despite the passing time, Hanna still hadn’t returned.
[This is the timeline separator]Hanna was rushing hurriedly near the castle gates.
She felt sweat breaking out on her forehead—and right now, her combativeness had also surged.
Soon, she spotted the person she’d been searching for.
“Hey! Don’t you dare move!”
Hanna shouted, and Antyone turned around.
“Hey? Did you just call me ‘hey’?”
As a lady of House Temnes ruling over Rowen territory, Antyone was unused to such brazen disrespect—and Hanna’s attitude displeased her greatly.
“Yes. I did call you ‘hey.’”
Hanna, having tossed aside all formalities, advanced with a steely glare.
“You only deserve respect if you’ve earned it. Hand it over.”
“Hand what over?”
Antyone flinched as Hanna abruptly thrust out her hand.
“The ring you stole.”
“What?”
Hanna was clever and keen-eyed.
When she was very young, she’d lacked both cunning and strength—but after three years, she’d grown capable enough to competently handle a full servant’s share of duties.
Theft was an extremely serious offense.
Losing a master’s belongings wasn’t a trivial matter.
It usually ended with someone sobbing as they were dragged outside the castle gates—so Hanna, having grown up among the maids within the castle since childhood, was especially sensitive about such things.
‘Until now, Lord Duke’s odd behavior made me suspicious…’
But after Clodel got injured and Kai An started visiting her multiple times a day, Hanna hadn’t deliberately spied on him—yet seeing him so often naturally led her to observe him more closely than before.
In any case, to Hanna, Kai An simply seemed inexperienced in matters of romance.
All sorts of rumors about Kai An circulated in Valmont Castle—stories embellished with imagination, concerning his immense wealth, power, and unattainably lofty status.
The real Kai An and Rowen Castle that Hanna saw appeared far more powerful and wealthy than the tales she’d heard in Valmont. Perhaps the people of Valmont, resentful of Temnes, had deliberately downplayed those aspects.
On the other hand, the rumors claiming Kai An slept with three virgins in one night didn’t seem plausible at all.
Because he couldn’t even hold a proper conversation with just one girl—Clodel.
He’d try to say something, but the moment Clodel didn’t give him the answer he wanted, he’d snap and storm off—repeating this pattern endlessly.
Previously, such incidents meant days without seeing each other—but lately, using the excuse of “my benefactor,” he visited several times a day, shamelessly acting as if he’d never shouted and stormed out just moments earlier.
Typically, men who indulged in women understood their hearts well—that’s how they managed multiple relationships.
They shared bodies but not hearts—offering the same sweet lie of “You’re the only one for me” in tiny fragments to many women.
But once Hanna realized Kai An’s clumsy way with women and poor conversational skills, Antyone’s actions became suspicious too.
And then, today, she saw it with her own eyes.
Antyone, who’d openly insulted and tried to deceive Clodel by wearing clothes that exposed her injured ankle and calf, shamelessly calling her a “cripple”—the moment Kai An appeared, she quickly covered her proudly displayed blue diamond ring with her hand.
Moreover, after accepting a bouquet of flowers, Antyone’s fingers—previously empty—no longer wore the ring.
‘She pretended to give me flowers just to steal the ring.’
Why?
For what reason?
Because Kai An cherished her so much that he’d given her his mother’s keepsake?
Hanna hadn’t told Clodel about meeting Antyone that day.
Because that was exactly what Antyone wanted.
What good would it do to burden her lady with something upsetting that couldn’t be resolved?
And it wasn’t as if she could confront Kai An either.
But simmering silently inside, Hanna finally had a hunch today when she saw Antyone flee from Kai An’s presence as if running for her life.
“Hand it over while I’m still being nice.”
“Wh-what are you even talking about?”
“My lady’s wedding-night gift.”
Antyone’s blue eyes widened, then darted around aimlessly.
“Don’t you have any pride? Stealing your sister-in-law’s wedding gift—given by her own husband?”
“You—what on earth are you saying! Do you even have proof?”
“Proof?”
Hanna grabbed Antyone’s left wrist.
“This ring is the proof. Give it here!”
“Kyaaah! Are you insane? It’s mine!”
Antyone and Hanna wrestled. As Antyone tried desperately to hide the ring behind her back to keep Hanna from taking it, she slapped Hanna across the cheek.
Slap.
Antyone hissed defiantly.
“You just wait—I won’t let this go. You, a mere maid serving House Vermonde, dare lay hands on someone of House Temnes?”
Right then—
Crack!
A sharper, fiercer slap landed squarely on Antyone’s cheek.
“Fine. Go ahead. Report me right now. Let’s see who His Lordship punishes—the thief from House Temnes who stole a jewel gifted by the master to his wife… or me, who merely slapped that thief.”
“I told you, it’s mine! Lord Kai An gave it to me—I’ve said it countless times!”
“Liar.”
“What lie have I told…?”
“Everything you said about spending the night with Lord Kai An—that was all a lie too, wasn’t it?”
“What… what…?”
Seeing Hanna’s mocking smirk, Antyone’s face twisted in fury.
“Do you even know what positions the Duke prefers?”
Truthfully, Hanna didn’t know either.
“What does that even…?”
“You should’ve seen the petal-shaped marks he obsessively left on our lady’s body—or the bruises from his strong, restraining grip.”
Even if Clodel somehow had such marks, she’d never show them to Antyone.
“And you couldn’t possibly know how desperately their voices calling each other’s names pierced through the bedroom door all through that long night—so intense I feared they might suffocate.”
Which meant nothing like that ever happened at all.
But Hanna, having received plenty of “early education” from her fellow maids back in Valmont Castle—companions who’d shared hardships with her—hurled whatever came to mind at Antyone.
“You don’t know a thing.”
“No! Lord Kai An would never do that!”
Oh, look at that—now you stare at me with shock?
Even if Kai An, as rumored, truly enjoyed playing with women, Hanna was now certain his partner certainly wasn’t Antyone.
How dare this thief call my lady a “cripple” to her face?
Hanna clenched her teeth and repeated, glaring at Antyone.
“Hand it over while I’m still being nice.”
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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Every time I see the FL, I feel like crying! Also, I laughed so hard when I learned about the emperor’s feelings for the ML; I expected their relationship to be brotherly. It’s funny how he hates him.