To You, Whom I Shouldn't Love (24 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 3
Imperial inheritance rights belonged solely to sons. It was unjust for Riena, yet it remained an unaltered, cruel law.
Thus, the title of Count Daik would pass not to his eldest daughter Riena, but to his only son, ten-year-old Aaron.
However, there was no way the inexperienced child Aaron—who had not even completed his proper heir education—could possibly manage the family.
Consequently, although Aaron inherited the title of count, all governing authority over the family fell firmly into Countess Daik’s grasp.
Unfair as it was, Riena had no choice but to support Aaron inheriting the title; otherwise, both title and estate would pass to a collateral branch.
It was far better for Aaron, who carried their father’s blood, to inherit everything. That was only natural.
‘But I never expected this.’
She gritted her teeth, recalling Viscount Rotman whom she had seen that evening. She had anticipated that Countess Daik, who clearly held no affection for her, would not arrange a proper marriage for her.
In truth, Riena had assumed the countess would simply neglect her marriage prospects altogether.
Yet suddenly, without warning, she summoned her and ordered her to wed Viscount Rotman—a man whose wife had died just months ago. It was utterly unforeseen.
How could she possibly marry someone rumored to have killed his own wife…?!
Since Countess Daik now wielded absolute power over the family, powerless Riena would be dragged straight to the altar if the marriage proceeded.
There was only one option left: flee this estate.
But her father had been an only child, and no blood relatives remained on his side. The same held true for her maternal line—contact with her mother’s family had been almost entirely severed after her mother passed away when Riena was just two years old.
At best, her Aunt Letisha, who occasionally reached out every so often, resided in the capital. Traveling from the Daik domain at the southernmost edge of the Empire to the capital took at least three weeks by carriage, or still a solid three days even using magical portals.
In other words, going to the capital alone without anyone’s help was utterly impossible.
Riena, searching for someone who could aid her, murmured a single name.
“Raoul…”
It was the name of a childhood friend she had known since she could remember—Raoul Berna.
The Berna barony, where he was born and raised, bordered directly on the Daik earldom. Though usually stationed in the capital as a member of the Imperial Knights, he had recently sent Riena a letter saying he’d taken leave and returned to his domain.
If she escaped first to Berna’s domain and then traveled to the capital with him, she could ask Aunt Letisha for help.
Having settled on this plan, Riena quickly pulled out a sheet of letter paper.
To Raoul.
I received your letter saying you’d taken leave and briefly returned to your domain recently. But why haven’t you come to see me? I’m hurt. It’s already been a whole year since we last saw each other.
Ever since Father passed, I’ve been feeling unusually down lately. If you read this, please come visit me. I’m counting on you.
Your old friend, Riena.
Riena suppressed her anxious heart and wrote as neatly and calmly as possible.
She desperately wanted to explain her true situation honestly to Raoul, but fearing discovery by Countess Daik, she disguised it as an ordinary letter of greeting.
Yet Raoul, who had watched over her for so long, would surely sense something amiss from just those words: “I’m counting on you.”
Just then, Joanna entered the room, having fetched some ice. Her face was even more swollen than earlier. Riena looked at her with pity, then handed her the sealed letter.
“After you’ve finished applying the cold compress, send this to Raoul without Mother finding out. Understand?”
“But, Miss… if my lady finds out…”
“That’s why you must do it secretly. Got it?”
“Yes, Miss.”
“Thank you.”
Joanna, still wearing a worried expression, glanced at Riena before tucking the letter into her clothes.
[This is the timeline separator]Rip, crinkle.
Countess Daik tore the letter apart with an angry flick of her hand. It was the very letter Riena had written to Raoul just thirty minutes ago. How had it ended up in the countess’s hands when Riena had entrusted it to Joanna?
Riena carefully studied Joanna’s face behind the countess. This time, her right cheek was bright red.
With that flushed face, Joanna silently whispered apologies repeatedly to Riena—proof that she hadn’t betrayed her.
‘Because of me, only Joanna’s suffering now.’
Feeling compassion for her, Riena nonetheless fixed Countess Daik with a cold stare.
Unsatisfied even after tearing the letter into four pieces, the countess shredded it into tiny fragments. Still not content, she scattered the scraps on the floor and stomped on them with her boot.
Was this really worth such fury? Riena couldn’t understand. As she’d thought earlier, the one who should be angry was Riena herself.
It was absolutely not the countess—who sought to all but sell her stepdaughter into marriage with a man rumored to have murdered his own wife—who had any right to rage.
“So, you were planning to run away, were you?”
Countess Daik asked in a voice still burning with anger. Her fierce eyes locked onto Riena. Staring into those autumn-sky-blue eyes, Riena momentarily lost herself in thought, oddly detached from the situation.
She couldn’t recall her birth mother’s face. Naturally so—her mother, the former Countess Daik, had died of fever when Riena was merely two.
Yet Riena had seen her mother’s portrait. Her mother’s eyes, gently smiling in the painting, were the blue of an autumn sky.
Eyes that warmed the heart just by looking at them, eyes that made you smile involuntarily—Riena had loved her mother’s blue eyes.
Perhaps for that reason, as a child she had even resented her father for giving her his violet eyes instead of her mother’s blue ones.
Now she took pride in those violet eyes that mirrored her father’s, though she shamefully admitted she’d once harbored such childish thoughts.
Thus, at age eight, upon seeing her new stepmother—who possessed the same blue eyes as her mother—Riena felt destiny and fell in love with her instantly.
Solely because of those blue eyes. It was a simple, almost absurd reason, yet perfectly fitting for a child her age.
But the stepmother’s blue eyes, when looking at Riena, held no trace of affection.
Nowhere could Riena find that honeyed gaze the stepmother reserved for her own children, Bianca and Aaron.
Continuous coldness and jealousy inevitably bred resentment toward blue eyes in young Riena’s heart. Hence, blue eyes now symbolized bittersweet longing for her—something she longed to love but could never truly embrace.
And after witnessing her stepmother’s behavior following her father’s death, even that initial wish to love had vanished entirely.
“Answer me. Were you planning to run away or not?”
Now slightly calmer, Countess Daik asked again in a steadier tone. Riena looked back at her with an expressionless face.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“You were clearly trying to send a letter to Raoul Berna!”
“If you’ve read it, you’d know—it was merely a greeting to an old friend. I received his letter saying he’d just returned to his domain after a long time.”
Riena wasn’t particularly skilled at lying. Yet her voice remained steady, the falsehoods flowing smoothly from her lips.
Countess Daik, of course, believed none of it. At Riena’s calm reply, her eyebrows shot up furiously.
“You think disguising it as a mere greeting letter fools me? You planned to elope with Raoul Berna the moment he arrived! Why else would you send a greeting letter of all things at a time like this?”
“What am I supposed to do if Raoul just happened to return to his domain right now?”
“Your impertinent replies are as sharp as ever! Ungrateful child! Is this how you repay the grace of being raised and fed?”
Riena let out a derisive snort before speaking.
“What grace?”
“What did you say?”
“You claim you raised and fed me, yet I have no memory of such kindness whatsoever.”
The countess’s already flushed face turned an even deeper crimson.
“If you’d ever regarded me as your daughter even once, Mother, you wouldn’t have done this.”
“Miss, your words go too far!”
The head maid interjected on the countess’s behalf. Riena gave a cold smile and slapped the maid’s cheek. Though she never raised a hand to servants, today was different. This was for Joanna.
“For you to call my words excessive—you need to go back and relearn your manners.”
Speaking in a soft yet icy tone, Riena then murmured to Countess Daik.
“I will not go through with this marriage. Keep that in mind, Mother.”
She enunciated each syllable of that final “Mother” as though chewing it bitterly, then left the room. Joanna, after checking the surrounding servants’ reactions, quietly followed her out.
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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Chapter Comments (2)
Inline Comments (6)
It was a command.
I kinda like this bossy Cassel huh 😌😌🤔🤔🤔 even his shy side
“Taking a walk in the rain at this hour of night? Do you have any idea what kind
Fuck that pedophile freak!!! 😡😡😒😒 I hope the step mother suffers 😡
“Why should I care about that, Joanna?”
Nah this is foul. Joanna’s a commoner this is the only way for her to survive. I don’t blame her. Pretty classist sentiment this is.
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I still don’t get how the countess has this much power when she’s not even blood related. Like I get she’s the elder but then when riena turns of age shouldn’t she be the proxy head or smth?? Idk I feel like that’s more plausible.
Wat happened to the other guy—raol or smth??? Wasn’t as going to go to him first?