Sister, I'm the Queen This Life (330 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 474

Thanks to Sir Manfredi’s intervention, Alfonso left the room where he had laid Ariadne down.

He stood still in the corridor for a moment, calming his mind. Alfonso had given his own bedroom to Ariadne. It was an exceedingly familiar space—a place where he had slept alone since early childhood, though he barely remembered those years.

In that familiar hallway of that familiar room, Alfonso closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the wall. Thick tears fell drop by drop.

He had lost his first child—the child he failed to protect.

Though he’d pretended indifference in front of Ariadne, it had been the fruit of their love, a child who never even got to see the world.

‘I should have done better…’

If only he had followed her immediately upon hearing Ariadne had entered Palazzo Carlo—if only he hadn’t assumed so carelessly that she’d come to see him unexpectedly—if only he hadn’t sent her alone to Isabella—would things have turned out differently?

Or if only he’d settled things with his father beforehand, securing for Ariadne the official title of Crown Princess, and stripped Rubina of her authority to give Ariadne control over Palazzo Carlo, would Countess Contarini have even dared to challenge her?

Self-reproach surged over him like a river.

Of course, it wasn’t only sorrow he felt—there was also anger, unmistakably so. His rage toward Isabella, which had erupted like a tsunami, was one example.

Yet his grief over the fact that his child had departed the world without ever being born weighed heavier than his fury toward those who had harmed the unborn babe.

Though striking Isabella with his rod had felt briefly gratifying, emptiness followed soon after—and that emptiness only grew larger with time.

After all, no matter whose blood he spilled, it wouldn’t bring his dead child back to life. Only the blood on his hands would remain, leaving behind a sticky, foul stench.

Sir Manfredi silently bowed his head to the side, standing perfectly still. Though present in the same space, he made not even the faintest sound of breath.

However, Cardinal de Mare, who happened to encounter Alfonso in the hallway just as he was about to visit his daughter, was not a man accustomed to such delicate consideration.

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