“Do you want to hold him… just once?”

“I told you, he’s that man’s—”

“The child is innocent.”

At that, he let out a short laugh, ha.

“Born into the Berend house, and you call him innocent? Who says a child isn’t guilty? You’ll say anything just to save him.”

“Just hold him once.”

Reina pressed him again.

“Yes, being born into Berend may be a sin. But just for now, hold him as though he were your own child.”

“As though he were mine… when he could never be?”

“Please.”

“You ask for too much.”

The man’s brows furrowed, his expression unpleasant. With a bitter look, Reina let out a long sigh.

She had wanted, at least once, for her son to be held in his father’s arms. But perhaps even that was too much to hope for. Lowering her gaze, she stayed silent.

Then Zephion strode toward her.

Large hands lifted the child. Reina’s eyes widened as she watched him awkwardly hold Aaron, gazing down in silence. His broad hand rested against Aaron’s chest. Could he feel the tiny heartbeat within?

She etched the sight deep into her memory. She would never see it again.

‘At least he held him once… I’m glad for that.’

Aaron and Zephion might not realise that they are related, but to her — who knew everything — nothing was more satisfying than this moment.

Golden eyes studied the child closely. Was it only her imagination, or did he seem to be searching desperately for some sign of resemblance? Reina’s lips parted slightly. His nose, his eyes, even his lips… they were all like Zephion’s. Yet she feared that, to him, the child looked nothing like him.

“He looks like you.”

After a long silence, Zephion spoke in a stiff voice, still staring at Aaron.

“If I didn’t know he was that man’s child, I might believe it if you said he belonged to another.”

His lips curled crookedly.

“Is that why you say it? Calling him mine? Hoping I’ll be foolish enough to believe it?”

“If you don’t believe me, then let’s not talk about it.”

Reina answered wearily. She was tired of his sneers. With so few days left to her, she didn’t want to waste them in meaningless quarrels.

“You almost sound as if you believe it’s true.”

“Yes. I believe Aaron is your child.”

She cut him off before he could speak again, the words spilling out quickly.

“Even if you don’t believe it, it doesn’t matter.”

She took Aaron back from Zephion. His face remained rigid and unmoving.

“There’s no proof anyway.”

“……”

“No proof he’s that man’s child, and no proof he’s yours either.”

“So?”

“Aaron is simply my child.”

“Calling him yours only makes him a child of Berend.”

“I know.”

Reina met his golden eyes head-on.

“So I’m not begging you to spare me. I’ll take Aaron with me. You don’t need to worry about that.”

She intended to kill her child before Zephion’s hands could. The day before the execution would be best. She wanted at least a little time to mourn the child’s death. She held Aaron’s warm body tightly against her.

Zephion pressed his lips firmly together. She could see the tension in his jaw, as though he were grinding his teeth.

“Why won’t you beg?”

She felt the firm grip of his hand closing tightly around her arm.

“Beg me to let you live.”

At his words, Reina let out a short laugh.

“You just want to see me humiliated, don’t you?”

A sharp grinding of teeth reached her ears.

“I’ve had enough humiliation already. You don’t need to try and measure just how miserable I am.”

His grip tightened further. She worried her arm might break.

“My life has been full of misery anyway. It has been for most of my life. There’s no point in becoming miserable at the very end.”

‘That autumn I spent with you… that was the one time I wasn’t miserable.’

She swallowed the words.

His eyes, sinking into a darker hue, made it clear what he was thinking.

“At least once you’ve had your revenge, you’ll be satisfied. Isn’t that enough?”

She wanted to shake his hand off, but holding the child left her no way to escape.

“I just want to rest now. Please leave.”

He glared down at her, breathing harshly. She had never before found his gaze frightening, but a lot had changed in the last year. Now, he radiated such a chill that it sent shivers down her spine.

After a long silence, Zephion slowly released her arm and raised his hand.

The calloused tips of his fingers brushed her cheek and swept back the strands of hair that had fallen forward. She flinched and tried to turn away, but he gently tucked the hair behind her ear, his expression stony. She felt his gaze settle on her ear.

‘Ah… the earrings.’

She realised with some surprise that she was still wearing the earrings he had given her. She hadn’t taken them off even after returning to the estate. She simply disliked wearing anything else. Before she knew she was pregnant, she thought of them as the only thing Zephion had left her. That was why she always kept them close.

Kaelid had never cared about her ears, let alone the cheap earrings she wore. Had he known they were a gift from Zephion, he would have smashed them to pieces on the spot.

Even when she had fled with Aaron and been captured, she had forgotten that she was still wearing the same earrings. They felt like an extension of her own body.

Long fingers slowly brushed against her earlobe.

Reina pressed her lips tightly together. What would she say if he asked her why she was still wearing them, or what they meant to her? Contrary to her anxious thoughts, however, Zephion didn’t ask. Instead, he gazed at her contemplatively, absently running his fingers over the cheap stones a few times.

“……”

Though silence had settled between them many times already, this was the most suffocating yet. Holding Aaron tightly, she turned her body slightly, tilting her head away. Strands of hair slipped forward again, falling over her ear.

Zephion’s fist clenched hard.

Without another word, he left the room. A moment later, she heard the sound of the door locking. Reina let out a long, weary sigh. The spot his fingers had touched still tingled faintly.

***

From that day on, Zephion came every day.

And the words he spoke were always the same—things meant only to wound her. Calling her shameless. Accusing her of lies. Even when he looked as if nothing touched him, once he left, she would turn his words over in her mind again and again.

She knew his anger was justified. She knew it was better for him to hate her. And yet… her heart still ached.

Was she truly wishing, even now, to be loved? When she was already set to die?

‘Foolish thoughts…’

Reina gave a bitter smile. She knew those golden eyes would never again shine with warmth.

It wasn’t the pain of being wounded by his anger that made her chest ache. It was because she pitied him. Because every time he poured his fury onto her, it felt like proof that he still carried her in his heart.

How foolish. He should have kept it simple—just hate her, resent her, and take joy in revenge.

Reina stared blankly out the window. She knew the execution date was drawing closer. With each passing day, as her remaining time dwindled, her heart grew calmer. She tried to pour all the love she could into Aaron, even if only for a little while. After all, there was no one else left to give her feelings to but him.

“Aaron.”

She softly caressed the cheek of the child sleeping soundly.

“In your next life, may you meet a better mother than me.”

A faint laugh slipped out. To think he had been born to a woman like her. She let out a small sigh and gazed out the window. How much time had passed when the sound of the door unlocking reached her ears?

‘Zephion?’

She didn’t bother to turn her head. He was the only one who came here. The familiar sound of heavy footsteps drew closer. She felt the presence of the large man approaching.

Then he suddenly lifted Aaron into his arms.

Startled, Reina whipped her head around, just in time to see Zephion pass the child to a man outside.

“Where are you taking him?”

Reina shot to her feet. She grabbed for her cane, but in an instant it was snatched from her hand. She wanted to rush forward and take Aaron back, but she knew all too well—without the cane, she could barely take a step. She stretched out her arms desperately, struggling.