“My child…” Tears and runny nose had poured out from every hole in the past few days, but they had finally dried up. Her dry eyes lingered on her belly for a moment. Even in this desolate situation, the child continued to grow incessantly. The bulging belly revealed the presence of the child as the days went by.

“Can I endure this?” They say prenatal education is the most important thing for pregnant women. However, there were no desserts or fruits to eat whenever she wanted, no vibrant orchestras to soothe her mind, and no beautiful flower gardens to open her eyes here.

It was truly a sad thing not to be able to provide anything for her precious child.
She had no sense of how long she had been lying on the bed. Only when the bustling sounds from outside reached her ears did she finally open her eyes. Through the window, a familiar face appeared.

“Carl?”

It was Carlis Arhen, her husband.

“Carl!”

Helena quickly jumped up from her seat and ran towards him. Perhaps wanting to feel his warmth, she reached out her hands through the thick wall that separated them.

The guard would be standing in front of the door, warning not to do anything foolish. But as soon as he left when the visit was possible, only the two of them were left.

“Carl, how have you been?”

Helena laughed as if she didn’t know the extreme situation.

“Are you feeling unwell? Your complexion doesn’t look good…”

However, she quickly became worried, looking at the man in front of her with a sad expression.

But the man who rushed here as soon as the visit was allowed remained silent throughout.

He spoke only much later.

“Why did you do that?”

In a dry and emotionless voice.

“W-what? I mean…”

“I told you to kill her. It would have been simple! I gave the order, why didn’t you listen and create this mess!”

It was a conversation about how if he had killed Jane, there wouldn’t have been a trial.

“But… but… the child was watching. How could I kill someone in front of the child? I was too scared of the consequences… afraid of the punishment.”

“Is it different now? In the end, you’re in prison, and later, you’ll be separated from the child.”
“But still! Someday, I’ll be released. It’s said that if you repent and reflect on your sins before God, you’ll be released quickly. At that time, we can reclaim the child. Don’t you think so?”

“Where will you reclaim the child?”

“W-where? Obviously, I’ll return to the dukedom…”

A pointed remark in a cold tone silenced Helena. Hesitantly answering, she was met with a cold snicker.

“Take your child back from the dukedom.”

“Weren’t you planning not to raise the child? It’s your child too. Our child. Why…”

The other person had an attitude as if Helena was making an unreasonable demand.

“Taking in the child of a murderer mother as a successor is absurd. It’s unacceptable.”

“Then what about our child? We can’t raise the child in prison!”

“I guess you’ll have to send them to an orphanage. I’ll make sure it’s a good place, reluctantly.”

Helena was shocked by the man’s words.

The idea of sending the child to an orphanage right after birth stabbed her heart with a dagger.

She thought that if the child grew up in the dukedom, they would have a rich and happy life, filling the void left by the mother’s absence with love.

Even Helena’s sole hope was being trampled upon.

“…Are you really planning to raise the child without parents now? Carl, are you insane? It’s our child! Our child! With our love…!”

“The insane one is you, Helena!”
Unable to bear Helena’s plea, Calis shouted out.

“Because of you, I divorced with Cloe. Due to your misdeeds, the reputation of the House of Argent plummeted! But now, you want me to take care of the child of a sinner? Just how far do you intend to push me?”

Gradually, Helena fell silent. Even the remaining vitality faded away, and she turned into the face of a woman facing imminent death.

“…So, for your happiness, I’ll abandon the child.”

“Good! Let me live too. Even if I’m the only one left in the dukedom, I’ll find a way to survive. That way, when you’re released, there’ll be a place for you to return.”

He casually uttered words that weren’t from the heart. A man who would abandon even the only child for the sake of the House’s reputation seemed to accept Helena again.

Chimi had no strength left to be saddened by the betrayal. Helena no longer struggled.

“Cal…”

“…?”

“You don’t love me.”

In response, she delivered the verdict of the question she had asked every time.

Calis neither denied nor affirmed.

Looking at Helena for a long time with a tired expression, he silently left when notified that the visiting time was over.

Without a farewell.

As if he would never come again.

Helena pondered over the footsteps of the husband she had loved. A draft seeped in through the sparsely perforated ventilation holes. It was as cold as the absence of warmth.

“I’ve been abandoned. Both me and the child. Everything…”
It felt like denying life.

He spoke as if he had given up his life for Helena alone, but Helena felt the same way. She, too, had lived sacrificing everything for the man.

“Now, what can I do?”

For the safety of the child, her once untouched bottom was now pressed against the hard ground.

It was a moment when her whole body became cold in the chill, and her lips were turning blue.

In her blurry consciousness, noise began to penetrate.

“…I told you!”

From outside the silent surroundings, a sudden commotion arose. It seemed to be the noise of guards standing watch and struggling.

After the sternly stretched guard suddenly fell with a thud, a subsequent sound followed.