Knock knock-
The door to Esika’s room opened with a knocking sound.
Esika, who was reading a book leaning against the bed, looked coldly at the person who entered.
“Esika.”
The one who entered wearing a neat sky-blue dress was none other than Yuri.
Yuri approached closer to the bed, looking at her as if she pitied her, alone in a cold room where sunlight didn’t enter well.
“How are you feeling? The doctor said you might have hit your head… Do you recognize who I am?”
Although that detestable smile irritated her a bit, Esika calmed herself down.
The neck of a laughable bird can be slowly twisted.
After thoroughly destroying the cage it’s trying to escape from.
“Yuri Anesis, my one and only friend.”
A smile formed on Yuri’s lips at Esika’s stiff words.
She must be thinking ‘Did she lose her memory from hitting her head?’
Esika continued speaking. Allowing such a misunderstanding… is too cliché for her liking.
“And… a petty thief who shamelessly covets her friend’s husband with a brazen face.”
Yuri’s brow furrowed slightly.
The reason she was a ‘petty thief’ rather than just a ‘thief’ was because the man she stole had little value.
“Vulgar, uneducated, and pathetic adulterer.”
Yuri’s face, which had been watching Esika continue speaking without even twitching an eyebrow, no longer held the smile from earlier.
The first to show a hint of laughter was Esika.
“Why, should I say more?”
It was natural for Yuri to be confused right now.
Because it was completely different from the reaction she had expected from Esika.
Esika would surely rush at Yuri and try to grab her hair.
If such a situation arose, she had deliberately brought a small dagger to use.
It would look quite nice to make a small scar on that pretty face with it.
Even if it was said that the insane duchess suddenly went on a rampage alone with a knife, no one in the duke’s family would try to investigate the truth.
“You ash-covered Yuri Anesis?”
However, Esika seemed uninterested in physical confrontation and instead scratched at Yuri’s insides with her words.
At that blatant expression that reminded her of her childhood when she was intimidated by the influence of the Brigitte baronial family, the corners of Yuri’s eyebrows raised.
“Esika!”
Yuri gritted her teeth.
Esika Klaus shouldn’t be in such a normal state.
Hearing that she hadn’t left her room for over ten days, she thought she might have become an invalid from the shock.
She would have been given only rotten bread by order of the Grand Duchess, so her appearance must be even worse.
But Esika’s complexion was even better than before she was injured, and her eyes shone with sharp vitality filled with malice.
As if she had become a different person.
“You!”
Yuri pointed her finger at Esika.
“It would be better if you didn’t speak to me like that. The Grand Duchess recently appointed me as head maid.”
A flash of triumph gleamed in Yuri’s red eyes.
In an ordinary family, a head maid wouldn’t dare to act against a noble lady.
However, the internal power of the Klaus ducal family lay solely with one person, Riona Klaus, the Grand Duchess and mother of Duke Klaus.
One word from the Grand Duchess determined the budget, food supplies, and the right to receive or invite guests.
Esika, who was only a duchess in name, had to be subservient and cautious even to the previous head maid.
“Of course, I still have some affection for you as a former friend, but…”
Yuri continued with a smirk.
“As head maid, I intend to follow the Grand Duchess’s favor to the best of my ability. It’s only natural to be loyal to someone who recognizes my worth, isn’t it?”
This meant that she would do her utmost to torment Esika.
“Besides, someday the Grand Duchess will become my mother-in-law.”
She added this to provoke Esika.
Yuri considered herself the victor.
It was quite amusing to see Esika, who had nothing going for her except her family background and a passable face, yet had everything she wanted, being ruined in the Klaus ducal family.
Especially the sight of her despairing over losing her husband’s heart was a reward for the years spent enduring Esika’s stupid tantrums while comforting her.
She intended to watch more actively from now on.
“Well then, rest well. It’s time for the Duke to return from hunting, so I must prepare new clothes.”
When Esika remained silent, Yuri turned around with a smirk, thinking,
‘I can make scars on her face next time.’
Duke Klaus, who already dislikes Esika, would be even more disgusted to see her disfigured face.
Now that she’s become head maid, there will be many opportunities.
“Yuri.”
Esika’s voice was heard from behind, perhaps making a final plea.
Yuri stopped and turned to look at Esika, still wearing a haughty smile.
Her blue eyes were shining brightly in the dim room.
“About my family… My brothers used to send jewels for me every month, but I’ve realized I don’t need them anymore, so I sent a letter saying I won’t accept them from now on.”
Yuri’s hand twitched at those words.
“What… What do you mean?”
“You used to always receive the jewels at the main gate of the ducal residence. I’m saying there’s no need for that anymore.”
Esika calmly watched as the corners of Yuri’s mouth trembled.
“Now that you’ve become head maid, you certainly don’t need to handle such trivial matters.”
Yuri hastily objected to Esika’s words.
“But… but, it’s help from your family, wouldn’t it be better to accept it?”
Her red eyes were shaking.
Esika had guessed the reason why Yuri suddenly became head maid.
She also knew why the Grand Duchess had been calling for her more often lately.
Every month, Esika’s family, the Brigitte baronial house, sent high-quality jewels for her.
Yuri must have been embezzling the best pieces among them…
“No, I don’t want to. I’m tired of jewels.”
“…”
“The letter should have reached the family by now.”
At Esika’s words, Yuri clutched her skirt tightly.
All the embezzled jewels must have gone to the Grand Duchess as bribes.
And the Grand Duchess does not keep anyone by her side who is not beneficial.
What she wants from Yuri is a continuous supply of top-quality jewels.
“Anyway, do your job as head maid well.”
As Esika smiled sweetly, Yuri’s eyebrows trembled.
Seeing her already pale face, Esika felt like laughing.
The reason Yuri Anesis was able to marry Duke Klaus in the novel was because a year from now, she would be carrying the Duke’s child.
Until then, she must have been embezzling the jewels sent to Esika and currying favor with the Grand Duchess.
But for Yuri to continue receiving the Grand Duchess’s favor, Esika’s jewels cannot be cut off here.
“…”
With her earlier confidence gone, Yuri left with a stiff face.
‘That stupid girl will take measures to ensure the jewels don’t stop coming.’
Not knowing that it might be digging her own grave.
**
When Yuri left and the dark night came, Esika sat on the floor in a cross-legged position.
While it was important to discipline those who were acting out without knowing their place, what Esika was focusing most on now was the formation of her inner energy.
The energy here was thicker than in Murim, but for Esika’s body, which had never trained even once in her previous life… there were many difficulties.
Gathering inner energy through breathing techniques and circulating it through the body to open the pathways for inner energy.
She had already spent a week on just that first step.
‘It’s not easy.’
If she trained according to the demonic sect’s methods, it could be faster and smoother, but forcibly accumulating inner energy with such a weak body would likely result in qi deviation.
To put it simply, this body is too fragile, and using unorthodox methods to train might drive her insane.
So, unlike her usual self, she decided to slowly build up strength using the orthodox methods used by righteous sects.
Sella, who had been threatened, was bringing quite good food regularly, so she trains with a strong mind while nourishing herself with good food.
Of course, once her inner energy pathways open up properly, things will speed up from there.
It’s not difficult to find a path that has been traveled once before.
‘Even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’
Esika focused her mind on her dantian and gathered inner energy.
Then she slowly circulated the energy, starting to open the pathways for qi.
It was truly a difficult process, like clearing a path through dense undergrowth, but Esika concentrated her mind.
Sweat and accumulated waste were flowing out of her body.
“…”
After struggling for a long while, Esika’s expression gradually became more relaxed.
She had succeeded in opening the first pathway for inner energy in this extremely weak body.
Even this was such a difficult task.
A moment later, Esika opened her eyes in the moonlight shining through the window.
Her clothes were slightly damp, but her skin had become clearer and softer than before.
Esika stretched and said to herself.
“I need to wash up.”
**
While sending off the uninvited guest, Callian said,
“I’ll escort you to the imperial palace.”
Resban raised his left hand to decline the ceremonial offer.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll decline.”
Resban Deon Lucein, Crown Prince of the Tureshian Empire.
A peerless beauty with black hair and clear golden eyes, similar to Callian in height and sturdy build.
He was still unmarried at the age of 29.
There were many rumors about why he was still unmarried past the appropriate age, but the most credible one was that he hadn’t found a woman as enchanting as war.
After the ‘Eunivs Conquest War’, Resban was called a cruel warmonger.
The reason this warmonger visited the ducal residence today was because of the emperor’s order to inspect the Klaus family’s aid supplies to be sent to Sorbe.
The Grand Duchess’s plan to mix a lot of husks into the relief grain was foiled.
“Thorough protection is needed not only for the aid supplies.”
Callian’s eyebrows twitched at Resban’s chilly voice.
It meant to manage everything thoroughly so there would be no more issues to worry about.
Soon, Resban mounted his white horse with an agility that didn’t match his large build, and his blue cape fluttered widely.
Callian watched Resban with a sour expression before bowing his head in respect.
“Then have a comfortable journey, small sun of Tureshian.”
Resban nodded his head and began to ride his horse.
His black hair fluttered in the cool night breeze.
The horse galloped, and the scenery of straight trees changed incessantly.
The roads of the Klaus ducal family were very well maintained.
They had been poorly managed until the duke married, but I heard that wealth had increased considerably after the marriage.
‘Was it the daughter of Baron Brigitte?’
It’s not uncommon to supplement one’s family’s shortcomings through marriage.
Resban, who was frowning while riding his horse, suddenly gripped the reins tightly.
“…”
It was because he sensed a presence nearby.
As the horse came to a stop, Resban lightly dismounted and landed.
Although it was still the territory of the Klaus ducal residence, he felt the need to check.
It was when he went a little deeper into the thicket.
A lake appeared, filled with the crescent moon and the Milky Way in the sky of the dense forest.
And in the middle of the lake, someone’s back was visible.
“…”
Silver hair fluttered in the gentle breeze, and water droplets falling from the wet white clothes sparkled like jewels.
She slowly turned her head as if sensing Resban’s gaze.
There were shadows on her high nose bridge and beautiful jawline, and blue eyes like stars shimmered under her finely drawn eyebrows.
Only her profile was visible, but Resban stood still, staring at her with hardened eyebrows.
And in an instant, with a splash- sound, her body disappeared into the lake.
“…!”
Resban immediately moved his feet to stand closer to the lake.
The lake was as calm as if the woman he had just seen was an illusion.
There was no trace of the woman anywhere.
He stood for a long time, taking in the scenery of the lake with his deep golden eyes in his cool gaze.
Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.
Male lead says he’s pregnant — and it’s female lead’s child
Something seems a bit off about this world.
Wang Zhao thought as she watched a pregnant man walking towards her…
Intro
Female lead finds herself in a world where the men who possess the ability to bear children.
As she navigates this unfamiliar reality, she is caught off guard by the sudden appearance of her boyfriend, who reveals that he is pregnant.
Is this truly her boyfriend?
Why can’t she recall any details about their time together?
She begins to doubt whether the child her boyfriend is carrying is even hers.
Is there a hidden reason behind her amnesia, or could it be a side effect of her sudden arrival in this strange new world?
Just when it seems the protagonist’s life couldn’t become any more entangled, her ex-boyfriend makes an unexpected appearance, raising questions about the protagonist’s past.
__________
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