Even as Elise was bent over retching, she couldn’t believe Lucas’s attitude of bursting out in anger in this situation. Instead of asking if she was alright, he was just getting angry. Even pushing her shoulder.
“I asked what you’re doing! Did you dare to retch while looking at my face?”
“N-no…!”
As soon as the nausea finally subsided, Elise cried out.
“No, Your Highness. How could I… No.”
“What do you mean no!”
“It’s true, Your Highness. I just… just… am pregnant…”
Yes, pregnant.
Why hadn’t she thought of this before?
The impulsively blurted out words shed light on the path that had been shrouded in darkness. She had finally found a way out.
Elise looked at Lucas with tears in her eyes. Lucas, who had been flushed red with anger up to his face, was now staring at Elise in bewilderment.
“What… did you just say?”
When Elise didn’t offer any further explanation, Lucas, unable to wait any longer, asked first. Elise covered her mouth with one hand and shook her head.
“No, it’s nothing. It’s nothing, Your Highness.”
“What do you mean nothing! I heard it clearly. You just said you’re pregnant. Are you pregnant? Was that morning sickness just now?”
“…”
“Whose child is it?”
“Your Highness!”
Elise cried out sharply.
“Your Highness, Your Highness, that’s really too much. How could you ask such a question? You know I only have you… Urgh. Ugh…”
As Elise, who had been crying out desperately, started retching again, Lucas, now much more lenient, came closer and wrapped his arm around Elise’s shoulders.
“I’m sorry, Elin. I went too far. I know you only have me…”
Good. Lucas had started using her pet name again.
Elise shed tears drop by drop.
“Really… really too much… I… I was trying to leave quietly so as not to burden Your Highness… I was going to raise a child resembling Your Highness, enduring my longing for you… But for you to doubt me. It’s too much, Your Highness.”
“I’m sorry, Elin. Don’t cry. It pains my heart when you cry. You know that.”
“Your Highness, please don’t be kind to me. It makes it harder to leave…”
“Leave? Where are you going? You’re carrying a child of the Pelur royal family. You must stay in the palace.”
“But if I do that, Your Highness will have to deal with the rumors spread among the people. I don’t want that. Let me take it. Let me bear it, Your Highness.”
“Don’t say that, Elin. Don’t think such unpleasant thoughts when you’re not feeling well. I can’t let the mother of my son be in such a situation.”
Elise felt relieved.
She had been worried about what to do if Lucas were to cast out even a woman pregnant with his child, but Lucas cared for his own bloodline more than Elise had expected. Then she could breathe easier for now.
‘I’ll figure out how to deal with the pregnancy issue somehow. I could say I lost the child midway… For now, I need to use this to secure my position.’
Lucas had told her to stay in the palace, but Elise needed to think of a way to clean up afterwards. For that, she needed to be out of Lucas’s sight for a while.
“Your Highness, please keep the news of my pregnancy to yourself for now.”
“Why? Father and Mother would be happy to know.”
Would they really?
Elise inwardly mocked Lucas’s short-sightedness as she said,
“I’m worried that something terrible might happen. The Crown Princess might hate me…”
Lucas’s face suddenly crumpled.
“That woman is not the Crown Princess yet, Elin.”
“That’s why, Your Highness. That’s why I’m more scared. What if she misunderstands me and secretly takes action, fearing she might lose her position? So please, Your Highness, keep this a secret.”
While Lucas could be easily deceived, it was questionable whether she could fool the King and Queen as well, so she needed time to prepare to deceive them too. Fortunately, Lucas seemed to think Elise’s request was reasonable and nodded.
“Alright, Elin. Then for now, go back to Kingteren. I’ll try to arrange things so you don’t have to take responsibility for everything.”
+++
Of course, Elise had no intention of just waiting for Lucas to take care of things. She now knew for certain that she could be abandoned by Lucas at any time.
When Elise arrived in Kingteren, there was a welcome guest at the lord’s mansion. Elise smiled brightly as she saw his toad-like face.
“Retin!”
Yes, there was this man.
With no news from him for a long time and various incidents piling up, she had forgotten about this powerful black magician. If she had remembered earlier, she would have sought his advice before meeting the king.
“Have you been well, Lady Elise?”
“How could I be? Nothing goes right when Retin is not by my side. I really need Retin.”
“Hu hu hut. Hut hut hut.”
Hearing Retrochika’s laughter made her nauseous again, but then he said something surprising.
“You’re with child. Hu hu hut.”
“What… did you say?”
“Oh my, you didn’t know?”
Retrochika stared at Elise’s belly as if salivating. Elise unconsciously covered her stomach and took a step back.
“A new life is growing in there, my lady.”
“What do you mean…?”
She had pretended to be pregnant to avoid a crisis, but she didn’t know she was actually pregnant. Elise looked down at her belly in wonder, then suddenly lifted her head and asked,
“How… how far along can you tell?”
“Let’s see…”
Retrochika reached out his hand. His hand stopped before touching Elise’s belly. He rubbed his fingers in the air as if grasping something several times, then answered.
“It’s past 2 months but not yet 3 months.”
“R-really?”
Elise tried to recall if she had been in the bedroom with Lucas during that period. Fortunately, they had slept together a few times, but the problem was that there were several other possibilities that came to mind.
‘No, I have to believe, Elise. This child is Lucas’s child. It’s of royal blood.’
Elise had already fallen in love with the being inside her belly.
My child, whom I didn’t even know existed. My only hope to save me from this crisis.
Her heart swelled thinking about how much she could gain using this child.
‘Anyway, one problem is solved. I was worried about how to pretend to be pregnant, but now that I actually am, there’s no need to worry anymore.’
Then all that remained was to protect this child and have it recognized as the Crown Prince’s son. Elise moved closer to Retrochika and explained everything that had happened and about King Joseph V’s order.
“Retin, please tell me how to overcome this crisis.”
“I’ve already heard the news. The place where the king wants to send you is a region called Borheka in the northwest. It’s mountainous and rugged, but that makes it good for defense as well.”
“So?”
“I’ve already sent several people there. Lady Elise, you should strengthen the castle walls there while secretly building up your forces to aim for the position of Crown Princess. Ah, perhaps by then you might even be aiming for the position of Queen.”
If it had been a few months ago, Elise might have accepted Retrochika’s advice. But not now, when she knew Lucas’s heart could leave her.
Elise had no intention of being far from Lucas.
“I don’t like that, Retin. I want to be close to the Crown Prince.”
“But Lady Elise. Right now, you don’t have a strong background, so even a small mistake could hit you like a big wave. Like this incident. It would be better for you to build up your power in the Borheka region and become a great lord that no one can say anything against…”
“No, I don’t want to. How long would that take? 5 years? 10 years? By then, the Crown Prince will have completely forgotten about me.”
“Then you could discard such a pathetic man and take a splendid man as your husband, couldn’t you?”
Elise shook her head.
She didn’t think she could become a great lord. She was already so exhausted and struggling just to run the city of Kingteren. If she could barely handle this small city, how could she become a great lord managing several territories?
Initially, her plan was to gain strong power so that Lucas couldn’t abandon her. But actually doing it required such arduous and lonely days. It was joyful when things went well, but there were too many things to deal with, too many things to worry about, making her want to give up more than once or twice.
What Elise wanted wasn’t such an exhausting and difficult life.
‘Besides, I have a child now.’
Elise lovingly caressed her belly.
“Retin. I want to promise this child a safe position. This child is none other than of the Franche royal bloodline.”
“Hmm. Is that so? That’s a shame. This would have brought the most certain and best results.”
“But it takes too long, doesn’t it? I, I, Retin. I want to become the Crown Princess. Right now.”
Elise voiced her greed.
Yes, this is what she really wanted to say. What Elise always wanted was just one thing.
“Make me the Crown Princess, Retin.”
Retrochika stared at Elise with a strange look and then said,
“The position of Crown Princess won’t be easy either.”
“I know. But it’s better than being driven far away and starting with nothing. A great lord… When would that ever happen? I can’t do it. I can’t wait. I want my child to be recognized as the Crown Prince’s son and walk a shining path. I hope it’s not dark for even a moment.”
“I understand. If your will is that firm, there’s no helping it. Then today, I’ll give you a gift I prepared for you and leave.”
“Rather than a gift…”
“Let’s meet it first.”
Retrochika grinned.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
_____
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