“……Engagement?”

The sudden engagement to another woman was unexpected.

“Do you perhaps love the daughter of Earl Winst?”

Jade had an incredulous smile on his lips.

“It’s because of the mining business we’re doing this time. Earl Winst demanded an engagement with his daughter in exchange for investment.”

‘So it’s not out of love.’

Suddenly, I wondered what Jade thought about babies.

‘Would he be happy if a baby came along?’

“How would you feel if I were to have a baby?”

“A baby? So suddenly?”

“Just wondering how you’d feel if a baby came along later…”

I watched Jade’s reaction.

“……Whose?”

Jade immediately furrowed his brow. His expression turned grim, making me nervous.

“J-Just… Answer first.”

“I can’t stand the sight. You know I hate children.”

My heart sank at Jade’s firm answer.

At the same time, I felt wronged and angry.

‘Even if you don’t want it, even if you hate children… you should take responsibility if you made one.’

The fact that I’d have to worry alone after we both made a mistake and had a baby.

“I don’t know about others, but Larien. You know. After my parents passed away, why I had such a hard time.”

But with this reason, I couldn’t ask him to take responsibility.

“I don’t want to make another child like me. Is there any guarantee I won’t die like my father?”

Jade’s parents passed away at a young age in a carriage accident.

Jade and Ayla. The two siblings had no one to rely on.

The collateral relatives didn’t even give Jade time to properly mourn his parents’ death before driving him out.

Jade had to endure alone the anxiety of not knowing when he might be separated from his only blood relative, his younger sister.

Among the things Jade said in his childhood, there was one thing I couldn’t forget.

That if he hadn’t been so young, he could have protected Ayla without his uncle’s help.

That he hated the feeling of powerlessness from being unable to do anything because he was young.

“Larien. Why are you suddenly asking this? Don’t tell me, you want to get married?”

“……We’ve been too close until now. Shouldn’t we start keeping some distance?”

In the end, I lied.

I was afraid Jade would hate it if I revealed that I was carrying his child.

No. I didn’t want to trouble Jade.

At first, it’s true that I tried to get close to him out of necessity because I didn’t want to die.

But as we spent more time together, Jade naturally became a part of my daily life and a precious person.

‘If it weren’t for Jade, I might have been as unhappy as Larien.’

At some point, Jade had become a true friend to me.

“Jade. You’ll be busy with engagement preparations, so don’t come for a while.”

“……What?”

“We should have kept an appropriate distance.”

If we had, this wouldn’t have happened.

“Larien. Don’t lie, did I do something wrong? Why are you acting like this?”

Jade ran his hand through his bangs, visibly frustrated.

“……Jade. Go home. That’s enough.”

Seeing him like that made me so annoyed I wanted to turn into a sparrow and peck at his head.

‘No. What’s the use in venting? I’m the one who decided not to tell. This is a natural reaction.’

After a brief deliberation, I stopped thinking and left the reception room.

Jade followed right behind, grabbing my wrist and pulling me into his arms.

“Larien. Let’s talk for a moment.”

“Let go.”

“You’re acting strange. If something’s wrong, you need to tell me.”

I tried to break free from Jade, hitting his chest with my other hand.

“You, you idiot fool.”

“Larien. You’re feeling better now, right? It hurts here.”

It was annoying that he pretended to be hurt when he wasn’t. His intention to gloss over things this way was transparent.

“Mary!”

“Yes! My lady! Mary is here!”

I called for Mary, who was waiting nearby. Mary came running.

“Mary. Marquis Rowe is leaving, so see him off. I’m tired and need to rest.”

“……Did you just call me Marquis Rowe?”

Addressing him by his title instead of his name seemed to have irritated him.

‘……Ah.’

Only after saying it did I belatedly realize.

That what Jade hated most was drawing lines.

But I didn’t want to waste emotions.

“Larien. Why are you doing this to me.”

It was difficult to keep looking at the hurt Jade.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t come barging in like this from now on. It’s unpleasant.”

I left those words to prevent him from following and hurried up to my room.

“……Mmm.”

Tick tock. I opened my eyes to the sound of the second hand.

‘When did I fall asleep?’

My whole body was stiff from sleeping all curled up.

“Mary……?”

“Are you awake, my lady?”

Through my blurry vision, I could faintly see Mary moving carefully.

“They say a pregnant woman should always keep her body warm.”

Mary carefully covered me with a blanket.

“……Thank you. Mary.”

I hugged Mary with tears in my eyes. The steady beating of Mary’s heart was comforting to hear.

“It’s alright, my lady. I support your choice. I’ll be by your side for life.”

Mary gently patted me, saying everything would be fine.

“But you know, my lady. I thought I was going to die earlier.”

“Thought you were going to die?”

“After you left, Marquis Rowe’s expression……”

“What was Jade’s expression like?”

“Like this.”

Mary scrunched up her face, imitating Jade.

It was fierce.

“Mary. I’m hungry.”

Grumble. My stomach made a sudden noise.

Maybe because I only had a few spoonfuls of soup in the morning and didn’t eat the cake. I felt hungry.

“Ah. Just a moment. I’ll go to the kitchen and bring something.”

“Yawn. I’m going to sleep more. I’m sleepy.”

After sending Mary off, I was about to lie down again with a small yawn.

“Kyaah!”

Mary’s scream, tinged with fear, was heard.

Startled, I ran out of the bedroom. Mary had fallen on the floor.

“Mary, are you alright?”

“Hey.”

As I was checking on Mary, whose wrist was scraped, an annoyed voice pierced my ear.

“It’s been 3 years, but you haven’t changed at all, sister.”

“……”

“Seems like you’ve been doing well?”

Uriel Belaste.

The Viscount Belaste and Larien’s half-brother.

Uriel enjoyed tormenting Larien, his half-sister.

“You didn’t even come to my graduation ceremony, I thought you were dead. I’m home after a long time, you know? Why don’t you at least pretend to be happy to see me?”

Dark green eyes that saw me as a plaything to relieve boredom.

“Anyway. Father wants you to come down. To the dining room.”

“The dining room, why?”

“Why else? To eat, of course. What else would we do in the dining room?”

I helped Mary up and headed to the dining room.

‘I understand he wants to have a meal with his favorite child, making time in his busy schedule. But why call me too?’

I couldn’t fathom Duke Belaste’s intentions at all.

“By the way, are you sick? Your face looks even uglier.”

Uriel followed behind, grating on my nerves.

‘It’s so noisy I could die.’

I ignored him, pretending not to hear, and hurried my steps to the dining room.

The dining room door opened, and Duke Belaste was seated in the center.

“I greet you, Your Grace.”

“……”

Duke Belaste’s gaze, which had been on me, quickly moved elsewhere.

Used to his dismissal, I straightened my slightly bent back.

“Uriel. You’ve grown taller since I last saw you. Ah, I heard you’re set to graduate at the top of your class this time.”

“……I was lucky.”

I wasn’t hurt by Duke Belaste looking at Uriel.

His cold treatment was familiar.

“S-Sit down, Larien.”

I wanted to go back upstairs, but the Duchess Belaste’s gaze was sharp.

As I sat down, a middle-aged woman who looked very much like Uriel.

I could feel Duchess Belaste subtly staring.

“Duchess. Do you have something to say?”

“……I don’t see the diamond necklace you always wore.”

“I took it off for a while.”

I lied, unable to say I had given it to the doctor as hush money.

“I-I see.”

Duchess Belaste quickly turned her head, as if embarrassed to have asked.

‘To others, it might look like I can’t accept my stepmother.’

It wasn’t that I disliked her simply for being a stepmother.

Anasha Belaste.

She was the second daughter of the Glan baronial family and an acquaintance of Larien’s mother.

They were even each other’s only friends.

‘Right after Larien’s mother died from postpartum illness, she seduced Duke Belaste.’

Thanks to that, she quickly secured the position of second wife by bearing Duke Belaste’s child.

‘How could she target her friend’s husband right after her death?’

And she tried to drive out Larien, who was just a newborn baby.

‘Larien didn’t know any of this and sincerely followed this woman.’

To me, who knew everything, her act of pretending to be kind was useless.

“Larien. Are you not feeling well?”

It was pathetic how she tried to act like a loving mother only after giving birth to Uriel.

“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

I forced myself to pull up the corners of my mouth.

The more I tried, the more it trembled slightly.

‘How annoying.’

It was difficult to smoothly handle the emotions that suddenly arose after learning I was pregnant.

Is this how everyone feels when they’re expecting?

‘What if I get morning sickness again?’

I placed a hand on my belly, hiding my anxious feelings.

Clank.

Duke Belaste’s cutlery clashed, making a loud noise.

He furrowed his brow and put down his knife.

“Larien Belaste. Participate in the Crown Princess selection this spring.”