I Had the Enemy's Baby (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 4
“How is your health?”
When Clodel didn’t answer, he pressed her again.
“Aren’t you asking whether I’m ready to die?”
She spoke with a doll-like, indifferent expression.
“I’m getting there.”
Duke Vermonde’s brow furrowed, apparently dissatisfied with her reply.
“Answer properly.”
“It means I’m steadily getting worse.”
Clodel ignored the uncomfortable lump in her throat, as if something foreign were stuck there.
“As Your Grace wishes.”
Only then did her answer seem to satisfy him, and he leaned back against the sofa with a pleased expression.
“I see. Exactly. Heaven itself wouldn’t rest easy until it tore the Temnes bastards limb from limb—surely it won’t allow House Vermonde to suffer such disgrace at their hands.”
Duke Vermonde’s eyes gleamed toward Clodel with the wild shine of a madman.
“So this is how you repay the kindness of taking in an orphan with nowhere to go. Don’t worry about what comes after. When you die, it will be hailed as a holy martyrdom under the glory of Vermonde, celebrated far and wide once your vengeance against Temnes is complete.”
Duke Vermonde rambled on with feverish passion, as if mad, without waiting for any response from Clodel.
“You look even thinner.”
“It’s hard to swallow anything these days.”
“At least you’ve properly consummated the marriage, haven’t you?”
Duke Vermonde openly uttered such embarrassing words to his niece.
“Yes.”
“Hmph. It’s fortunate that brute changes women every night. If he had refined tastes, he’d never have spent a night with someone as scrawny and unremarkable as you.”
Enduring humiliation was Clodel’s burden alone.
The coldness of Rowen Castle and Kai An’s insults were nothing new to her.
From birth, she bore the shame of having a commoner mother—and after her mother’s death, mocking remarks about the father who followed soon after.
Even so, these words weren’t much different from what she’d heard tirelessly for ten years since becoming her uncle’s adopted daughter—words she couldn’t escape, given her fiery red hair and golden eyes inherited from the Vermonde bloodline, which she could never renounce.
Whether stabbed by Temnes or by Vermonde, sharp words pierced her heart like daggers all the same.
She was good at enduring pain.
There was no one left in this world to pity Clodel’s sorrow or lament her suffering.
“Still, it’s fortunate we held the wedding before your illness worsened further. Sending you to that greenhorn Duke lets me strike him right where it hurts.”
He interlaced and released his fingers, smiling grimly, evidently exhilarated just by the thought.
“The moment you die, I’ll hold Duke Temnes accountable for your death—for causing a precious Vermonde bloodline to perish. King Oberon will unquestionably side with me. He already is.”
“What if the King breaks the promise he made to Your Grace?”
“You don’t know King Oberon.”
Duke Vermonde dismissed her words with a snort of amusement.
“He is a truly great monarch—fundamentally unlike that ignorant, sword-swinging upstart Temnes. He’s remarkably seasoned and mature, hardly believable as someone of the same age.”
He lifted his chin proudly.
“You should be grateful until your dying day that His Majesty King Oberon took personal interest, enabling this plan.”
This was the same tale Clodel had heard so often during the marriage arrangements that it went in one ear and out the other.
“Do you understand?”
“…Yes, Your Grace.”
Her great-uncle and adoptive father, Duke Vermonde, thankfully did not resemble her late father.
Clodel deeply cherished her inherited red hair and golden eyes, which matched her father’s exactly—they came as a matched set, in her mind.
Had Duke Vermonde resembled her father even slightly in appearance or character—aside from that hair color—she would have been utterly heartbroken.
Thankfully, aside from the family’s symbolic coloring, he resembled her father no more than the dirt under his fingernails.
Had her deceased father’s own face spoken these words to her, Clodel knew she would have found it far harder to endure.
“He’ll be here soon—the Duke.”
Duke Vermonde rose from the sofa and walked toward the mirror, humming a cheerful tune.
“The late Duke must be laughing in his grave at the thought of that fool paying a price for a bride like you, unaware he’s digging his own grave.”
Unable to share in his mirth, Clodel remained silent.
[This is the timeline separator]
Kai An strode down the corridor with long, forceful steps.
Just the thought of facing Duke Vermonde—that mangy old fox—filled him with disgust.
“Should I just take care of that old man myself?”
He could feel his subordinates flinch behind him, having caught every word of his muttered remark.
His irritation eased slightly as he imagined stuffing Duke Vermonde—the man who’d usurped his father-in-law’s rightful place in Clodel’s pre-dug grave—right into that very spot.
Walking with a lighter mood, he was suddenly blocked by a woman who leapt forward and spread her arms wide.
“Your Highness Kai An!”
She was a beauty with long black hair and blue eyes—but her youthful face, fresh from her coming-of-age ceremony, was set with a stubborn, petulant determination.
“Antyone. What’s the meaning of this sudden display?”
She was a distant cousin of Kai An’s, from a cadet branch of the family. Her mother, born a Temnes, carried the surname Berang—but Antyone Berang proudly declared that half her blood was Temnes.
Since early childhood, Antyone had openly boasted that she would marry Kai An when she grew up.
Yet Kai An had never particularly acknowledged her or spent private time with her.
She had sneaked into his bedroom a few times, but aside from being gently sent home due to their kinship, nothing more came of it.
Even that incident Antyone had bragged about among the castle’s maidens as proof Kai An treated her specially—but he’d let it pass.
After her boasting began, the midnight intrusions that disturbed his sleep had decreased.
Seeing Antyone glare at him resentfully, Kai An raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean, ‘what’s the meaning’? What exactly do you think you’re doing, Your Highness?”
“Speak plainly.”
At Kai An’s icy tone, Antyone’s eyes reddened with frustration.
“How… how can you go and marry another woman while leaving me…? Hic.”
Watching her break into tears from emotional distress, Kai An spoke coldly.
“What on earth are you daring to say right now?”
“Your Highness, there’s no woman who loves you more than I do. I’ve loved only you since I first learned to walk—you can’t do this to me.”
“You keep mistaking kindness for weakness.”
At Kai An’s irritated glare, Antyone paled. It was a look no young lady, filled only with the tender pangs of unrequited love, could bear.
“If you have complaints about my marriage, go raise them directly with King Oberon yourself.”
He ignored her and stepped past. After a few strides, he briefly turned back.
“Don’t ever show your face before me again. My leniency toward you as a Temnes ends here.”
Once Kai An and his guards vanished, Antyone slumped to the floor, all her energy drained.
Immediately, a group of girls her age—who had been hiding behind a pillar watching her scene—rushed over.
“You did great, Antyone! Now His Highness Kai An will surely remember you clearly.”
“We could never dare do that. You’re truly amazing, Antyone.”
Flattered by their praise, Antyone swiftly wiped her damp eyes with the back of her hand.
Unlike moments ago—when she’d pleaded with Kai An in helpless emotion—she now crossed her arms with haughty composure.
“It’s absolutely infuriating. That vulgar Vermonde crawling into His Highness’s bedroom—unthinkable!”
Strictly speaking, it was Kai An who had entered the Vermonde-born wife’s bedroom—but none of the eavesdropping maidservants bothered to correct the tale.
“If only Antyone became Duchess…”
“Exactly! She promised she’d hold frequent balls in the castle for our sake.”
“She even said she’d invite lots of handsome knights from the order!”
The corridor filled with sighs and complaints from these freshly minted young ladies.
Yet none were more filled with sighs and resentment than Antyone herself.
Yesterday’s celebration had been a gathering for Temnes relatives.
From dawn until sunset, Antyone had cried nonstop, preventing anyone from House Berang from attending Rowen Castle’s banquet.
Spoiled since childhood for her exceptional beauty, her stubbornness was formidable—even though today’s event was for nobles, she had insisted relentlessly until they finally let her attend.
Glancing furtively at Kai An seated at the head table, bitterness rose in Antyone’s throat.
‘Ah… my Lord Kai An. Could it be you truly spent the night with her, bewitched by that Ice Lands witch’s scheme?’
Kai An had never so much as touched her hand—yet within her one-sided feelings, she believed he passionately adored her but stayed cold only because of others watching.
“Lady Antyone.”
Just then, a maid timidly called out to her.
“Did you bring what I asked for?”
“Yes. Here it is.”
From beneath her apron, the maid produced a small box, no bigger than a fist.
“You got rid of all the flowers too, right?”
“Of course. I threw them all into the kitchen incinerator.”
The Rowen Castle maid gazed admiringly at Antyone, whose dark hair marked her as a Temnes.
“How dare that red-haired Vermonde cling to our Lord! It’s utterly unacceptable. If anything concerning that woman comes up again, please call on me, Lady Antyone.”
“Thank you. I’ll surely remember you when I become Duchess.”
“Thank you kindly.”
Antyone took a blue diamond ring shimmering with azure light from the box and slipped it onto her finger.
“Let’s head back for today.”
Behind her, Temnes loyalists marched away down the corridor, chattering proudly.
[This is the timeline separator]Duke Vermonde, who had been cursing Temnes the entire time, now wore a magnanimous smile as if nothing had happened.
“I won’t forget the great kindness Duke Temnes has shown me.”
“Now House Temnes and House Vermonde are as good as one family, aren’t we?”
“Indeed. Duke Kai An Temnes will be the first Temnes lord to earn renown through benevolent rule in our Valmont lands.”
“The honor is mine.”
Despite their cordial words, their eyes held murderous intent, as if ready to tear each other apart at any moment.
Between them, Clodel stood silently—like a mere ornament.
Thirty wagons laden with grain lined up and departed northward.
Clodel would stake even her own hair on the certainty that Vermonde’s lands would spread praise not of Temnes’s aid, but of the grandeur of Duke Vermonde himself.
“That item held quite a bit of meaning to me. Didn’t you like the gift?”
Kai An’s question came abruptly and out of nowhere.
“Or was it that you didn’t like me?”
When the male lead is punished by carrying the female lead’s child and having periods like a woman
“I’ve given birth to two children for you, yet you still think about him.
Was I nothing but his substitute to you from beginning to end?”
Synopsis:
Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends, transmigrates to a female-dominated country.
Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to date them than in modern times?
Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!
Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!
Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.
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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.