“Edith. What on earth are you saying…”

Sophia asked, forcing a smile. The question blurted out in her confusion was neither pretense nor falsehood but her true feelings.

Things were wrapping up smoothly, so what are you talking about?

Feeling guilty now, after asking how much you would be paid?

Sophia wanted to ask as she violently grabbed Edith’s shoulders and shook her. It seemed like her anger would only dissipate by pinning Edith against the wall and slapping her until she responded.

But doing that would risk losing even the chance to fix whatever Edith was going to say.

Sophia, making an effort to look calm, asked Edith,

“Edith. Is it hard to carry a child? Moreover, your husband has passed away…”

Unable to continue, Elizabeth quickly interrupted.

“Are you not in the early stages of pregnancy? You’re not even showing. It’s not the time to say you’ll give up the child due to hardship.”

“We who have no experience in pregnancy wouldn’t know, Elizabeth.”

Sophia countered, but Elizabeth didn’t lift her skeptical gaze.

What did Edith mean when she said everyone would know the truth in ten months?

“Hey, go fetch the physician.”

Elizabeth’s order was promptly followed, and Eugene, who was nearby, was brought in.

The moment she saw his face, Sophia breathed a sigh of relief. Eugene was the physician she was closest to, and she was confident he would handle even Elizabeth’s fussiness well.

‘Whether Edith is carrying my husband’s seed or not will only be known once the child is born. I have time.’

Sophia had no plans to keep Edith alive until then.

Even if Edith survived and gave birth, it would be a simple matter to expose the child as not being of Fortrion lineage and drive them out.

‘I can even frame her for trying to raise another man’s child as my husband’s heir.’

Sophia thought Edith was annoying but not smart.

Everything would come to light in about ten months, just as she had said.

But things did not go the way she had anticipated.

“Physician, check Edith’s pulse.”

Following Elizabeth’s orders, Eugene checked Edith’s pulse and frowned.

‘Did I check it wrong?’

He hid his confusion as he continued to check Edith’s pulse, but the results were the same each time.

The pulse unique to pregnant women was no longer present.

“What is this…”

Eugene looked at Sophia with a sense of defeat. The last time he checked, it was undoubtedly the pulse of a pregnant woman.

“What’s going on?”

“That is…”

Unable to answer Elizabeth’s question truthfully, Eugene hesitated. Frustrated, Elizabeth ordered another physician to check the pulse.

The results from other young physicians, who had not been touched by Sophia, were unanimous.

“Apologies, but I can’t sense any signs of pregnancy.”

“What?”

Not just Elizabeth and Isabelle, but even Sophia looked at the physician in shock.

The absence of pregnancy symptoms meant she wasn’t pregnant.

Sophia looked at Eugene in confusion, but he couldn’t say that the missing pulse was now present.

Edith looked at the confused Sophia, her eyes filled with tears.

‘She must be bewildered. Her pulse was undoubtedly that of a pregnant woman last time.’

But Edith hadn’t actually been pregnant. She had manipulated her pulse reading using the side effects of Elic Berry.

The efficacy of the Elic Berry had entirely worn off after she drank the steeped Cedric tree branch that morning.

‘I’ll feel worse for a while, but it can’t be helped.’

Edith said to Sophia, who couldn’t even consider faking a pregnancy.

“Sophia. Please. I can’t pretend to be pregnant anymore.”
Barur’s trembling voice and fear-stricken face. On top of that, the swollen area around Edith’s eyes due to Walter made her look even more pitiful.

Isagel interrogated Sophia in disbelief.

“Did you…actually intend to exploit Edith to seize the inheritance that should go to the heir?”

“….”

“You summoned the doctor who diagnosed Edith as pregnant with my lord’s child, and you also widely publicized the result.”

Isagel was the quickest among the mistresses to reach a conclusion.

‘Now I understand why Edith was trying to bring down Sophia even at the cost of giving up my share of the inheritance.’

Now that the fact of embezzlement and extramarital relations with the housekeeper was revealed, Sophia was essentially also the main culprit in the embezzlement.

Considering her greed, how interested she must have been in the inheritance after my lord was attacked.

Isagel felt deep disdain for Sophia, who treated people as tools on a human-to-human basis.

At the same time, she felt extremely sorry for Edith, who was caught in her pregnancy scheme.

‘Sophia has strong authority, so I couldn’t reveal the truth. That’s why she reached out to me and my father for help.’

Isagel started to like Edith, who was already in her good books, even more. She couldn’t help but take the side of the conscientious woman.

“Even if you were greedy for money, telling a healthy woman to pretend to be pregnant is too much.”