If she handed the baby over and said, “It’s our child,” wouldn’t he be horrified? Was it not repulsive enough that she had loved her enemy for half her life, only to bear his child? Wouldn’t he be reminded of his hatred every time he looked at the child?

Should she kill it? She pressed her hand gently against her stomach. The thought of ending Zephion’s life with her own hands was unbearable. He might never love her again, but she still loved him with all her heart. Was this longing—the desire to leave part of the man she loved behind—what it truly meant?

“What will you do?”

The physician’s voice was calm. She understood his caution. After all, wasn’t she a noblewoman—unmarried? He surely knew what a scandal it would be for her to be with child before marriage.

“Give me the medicine.”

The words barely left her lips. The man nodded.

“After taking it, you must rest for several days.”

“…”

“I’ll leave it with your maid once I return.”

With a composed expression, the physician slowly left the room. She stared blankly at his retreating figure.

“Ha…”

A long sigh slipped out as she leaned her head back against the chair. She had never imagined a day like this would come.

‘No… I did imagine having Kaelid’s child a few times.’

Each time, she wondered whether she should get rid of it as soon as she found out. Or should she give birth and then kill the baby in front of him? But what if it wasn’t his child? What if it was Zephion’s?

Reina gazed vacantly at the ceiling.

‘Even if I wanted to raise it, they wouldn’t let me.’

If Kaelid discovered the child in her belly was another man’s, he would no doubt cut her open himself to kill it.

A bitter smile tugged at her lips. Zephion’s first child—was it truly to vanish so pointlessly?

The truth was, she wanted to keep it. But when she could not even be sure of her own survival, to bring a child into the world was madness.

If only she could believe Zephion would raise it—she might have tried, somehow, to carry it to term. Yet from his view, wouldn’t the child carry the blood of his enemy’s house? Another life on his hands might mean little to him, but she prayed he would never be forced to stain them with the blood of his own child.

A dry laugh slipped out.

Closing her eyes, she placed a hand over her stomach. They had said five months, yet she felt nothing at all. Was it because the child already sensed her death, trying desperately to hide and endure until the day of its birth?

‘I’m sorry.’

She whispered the words in her heart. It wasn’t that she suddenly felt love for the child she hadn’t even known existed until now. What pained her was the thought of erasing Zephion’s trace from her body as though it were nothing.

She waited for Rose to return. The moment the maid brought the medicine, she intended to drink it without hesitation.

She would tell her it was Kaelid’s child. Then Rose would keep the secret without a word.

“You should have stayed hidden a little longer.”

She murmured softly to the child. Just two or three more months, without giving the slightest sign—long enough that the medicine could do nothing. Then she might have forced herself to give birth and sought some way to keep the child alive.

‘Even so, I couldn’t have raised you myself.’

Would sending the child away to be adopted somewhere safe have been the best she could do? If that was the case, perhaps it was better never to be born at all.

She didn’t know how long she’d been lost in thought when a knock sounded at the door.

“Come in.”

‘So, it’s farewell to the child inside me.’

With that thought, she spoke calmly as the door creaked open and Rose stepped in, her face pale as death.

“My lady.”

At the tremor in her maid’s voice, Reina turned her head—and saw the large figure standing just behind her. Kaelid.

Rose clutched the medicine tightly in both hands, her expression stricken.

“Tell me what this medicine is for.”

Reina cast a glance at Rose, trembling all over. From the look on her face, it was clear she had already confessed what it was. Knowing there was no point, Reina nevertheless replied with a steady lie.

“For my headaches. I asked her to bring me something for them.”

“For headaches, is it.”

Kaelid’s lips twisted. He wrenched the vial from the maid’s hands.

“M–Master…”

“Leave.”

“M–My lady…”

“Go on, Rose.”

Though she looked back again and again in worry, Rose finally stepped slowly out of the room.

The man gave the vial a slight shake, the golden liquid inside glinting faintly as he drew closer. His hand seized her chin, tilting her face up.

“Whose child is it?”

“Zephion’s.”

She answered without hesitation. She thought he would open the vial and force her to drink its contents there and then. Instead, however, he just looked at her in silence.

Uncertain of his intentions, she held his gaze. He removed the stopper. As his hand pressed against her cheek, she obediently parted her lips. Would it be bitter? Sweet? At least she hoped it would be bitter enough to make her feel the pain of losing a child.

“Ha.”

A short laugh slipped from him.

“You thought that if you claimed it was that bastard’s child, I’d simply let you get rid of it?”

What was he saying? Reina’s brows furrowed.

“They said it’s about five months along. Meaning the child was conceived after you returned to the estate.”

With a sharp crash, he hurled the vial to the floor. Shards of glass scattered across the ground.

“Yes… I thought you’d be eager to kill my child so easily.”

“It really is Zephion’s child.”

“You must know saying that will only make me angry.”

This man was very wrong. She bit her lip hard. He was convinced that the child inside her was his. Yes, during the time the doctor mentioned, she had also been with Kaelid. But the likelihood that the child was his was extremely small — she had taken the medicine the morning after she had slept with him.

“No matter what you say, this child is Zephion’s.”

She couldn’t call it proof, but her instincts told her that Zephion was the father. It wasn’t a matter of wanting to believe it. She simply felt it. It was something beyond words, and it was strong enough that she would have staked a wager on it.

“It’s mine.”

Kaelid bit off each word. His grip on her cheek tightened. She gazed silently up at him. His blue eyes gleamed. He truly believed the child was his. Perhaps the timing, so uncertain, had made him sure.

“If you go through with this, you’d better be ready.”

He crushed the shattered vial under his heel. The fragments, already broken, crumbled into dust with a sharp crack.

“Bear it quietly, Reina.”

“You expect me to believe that after all this time, when you never once managed to make me pregnant, suddenly now you did?”

At her words, his face contorted. He raised his hand, and she squeezed her eyes shut, certain he would strike her. But he only clenched his fist tightly instead.

“Yes, you know well how to provoke my temper.”

With a rough hand, Kaelid stroked her cheek and gave a short, harsh laugh. Reina lowered her gaze, her heart tangled in turmoil. The thought of being forced to bear this child felt absurd, and yet somehow relieving, and at the same time horrifying.

‘Even if it is Zephion’s child, I don’t want to give birth to it.’

Wouldn’t it only be a child fated for tragedy? Wouldn’t it inherit nothing but their hatred?

She closed her eyes tightly, then opened them again. No matter what truth she told him, Kaelid only believed what he wanted to believe. He had decided that her confession was a lie born of her not wanting to carry his child, and he was determined that she would bear it.

“If you give birth, I’ll at least acknowledge the child as mine.”

“…”

“And if you behave, I may even give you the place of marchioness.”

“I don’t want that.”