Have My Child - Chapter 17

The crowd’s gaze burned into my skin.

Startled by his sudden movement, I avoided my husband’s gaze, even though I could feel him looking at me.

Whenever we were together, he would start by kissing the back of my hand.

This memory surfaced without warning, and I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks.

Flustered, I quickly turned and made my way back to my seat.

Not long after, the deep, resounding beat of drums echoed through the air, signaling the start of the hunt.

The participants — including my husband — mounted their horses and rode boldly into the dense, shadowed forest.

“I heard the Commander treats Princess Sienna terribly, but they seem closer than the rumors suggest.”

“Exactly. I’ve heard there are shouting matches every day at the Helares estate… Honestly, I thought he despised her so much he treated her like a slave.”

“Same here. I even heard there was violence involved… But it doesn’t look like he treats her that harshly.”

“Princess Sienna really is lucky, isn’t she? For a fallen royal…”

“Oh, she might hear you. Lower your voice. No matter what, she’s pregnant—what if she gets upset…”

Murmurs spread through the crowd.

Whether they knew I could hear them or not, people were whispering about my husband and me without restraint.

The voices behind me were becoming unbearable.

I told Laura to stay where she was, then quietly slipped away from my seat.

“My lady, where are you going?”

A soldier immediately followed behind me, likely assigned as both my guard and my watcher.

“There are many people here. It could be dangerous. I’ll accompany you.”

“Very well.”

I didn’t protest.

After all, I couldn’t say no.

I didn’t go far; I just moved to a quieter part of the general seating area, away from the main crowd.

Sitting at the very back, I took a deep breath and looked ahead.

While waiting for the hunters to return, various performances kept us entertained.

Some people watched with delight, while others wandered among the booths. I simply observed them in silence.

Then, the ground trembled.

“Montario must be acting up again.”

A small ripple of movement passed through the crowd, but no one seemed particularly alarmed.

The Montario region, home to an almost dormant volcano, was accustomed to minor tremors like this — usually no more than a slight tremble, occasionally accompanied by rising steam or bubbling hot springs.

My hand moved instinctively to my stomach, and then I felt something land softly on it.

Startled, I glanced around before picking it up and unfolding it in my lap.

It was a hastily written note.

[That wasn’t an earthquake.]

What… was this?

A wave of dizziness washed over me, followed by a sharp pain in my abdomen—perhaps from the stress.

Gritting my teeth, I forced the pain down and continued reading, my eyes trembling.

[In ten minutes, I’ll set off something bigger. If you tell anyone, I’ll detonate it anyway. If you don’t want all these people to be burned to ash, come alone to the back of the venue where no one’s around.]

The frantic handwriting—the tone—it was unmistakably familiar.

[P.S. I’m always watching.]

Ludwig was here.

A chill ran down my spine. I nearly screamed.

That b*stard is still playing with people’s lives as if they mean nothing to him.

I wouldn’t let myself be swayed by his words again without proof.

I rose to inform the soldier assigned to guard me.

“Excuse me, I—”

Just as I was about to tell him about the note—

Boom!

A loud explosion shattered the air behind me.

At the same time, my face drained of all color.

“Oh dear! It looks like a gas line exploded. We’re terribly sorry for the disturbance!”

A nearby stall had collapsed in a small explosion, and its owner rushed over, apologizing frantically.

Was it really just gas?

The timing was too precise: it had gone off the moment I tried to ask for help.

I sank back into my seat, trembling and covered in cold sweat despite the chill in the air.

This wasn’t a bluff.

He was more than capable of harming people without a second thought.

Slowly, I swept my gaze across the crowd.

Through my blurred vision, I saw them: wives praying for their husbands’ safe return, children laughing and running around unaware, people enjoying the festival stalls, merchants presenting their goods eagerly, and officials maintaining order diligently.

All of them… ordinary people. Innocent lives.

I had no choice.

I had to stop Ludwig.

“…I’m feeling suddenly short of breath… and my head hurts. Could you go to my maid and bring me some medicine?”

Already pale, I clutched my head and staggered, feigning weakness.

The soldier’s face turned deathly pale.

“My lady! Then please wait here. I’ll return at once.”

My husband had entrusted him with the task of protecting me. He must have been so frightened when I suddenly fell ill!

I felt a flicker of guilt, but there was no other way.

The moment he disappeared, I stood up and made my way towards the deserted rear of the venue —the place that Ludwig had specified — my expression hardening as I went.

There was a warning sign barring entry, so there was no one nearby.

“Good morning, Sienna. You came, just as I expected. Looks like you understood my second message. If you’d been any later, I might’ve actually blown it up.”

Disguised in the attire of an ordinary bourgeois, Ludwig grabbed my shoulder and turned me around.

Even today…his body was damp.

“Seeing you come running like that, pale as a ghost… I knew it—you missed me, didn’t you?”

“Shut up, Ludwig.”

“You’ve gotten so rough with me lately. How did you even manage to hide that temper before? And now you’re going to be a mother—you should speak more gently. Oh, and congratulations on the pregnancy. You look like you’re living quite well. Meanwhile, I’ve been crawling through h*ll.”

“Ludwig. Stop your nonsense and get out of here.”

Smack.

I knocked his hand off my shoulder and spoke, low and cold, my expression unmoved.

“Nonsense? I’m about to carry out something grand. The glorious return of Crown Prince Ludwig—ta-da. What do you think?”

“Grand? What kind of insane b*llshit is that?”

“What nonsense? I’m telling you—I’ll make a spectacle of it. I’ll announce my return to the world and turn everything upside down.”

It wasn’t empty bravado or the ramblings of a madman.

Neither the government nor my husband truly understood him.

To the outside world, he was merely a fragile crown prince who had spent his life in his father’s shadow.

The nobles who might have supported him had fled overseas, while those who remained in the Republic were executed or imprisoned. It was only natural for them to believe that he no longer held any real power.

But the Ludwig I knew was not sane.

He could not be measured by reason or judged by common sense — especially now that he had nothing left to lose.

Even now, he moved freely through a place teeming with soldiers and guards, completely unbothered by the fact that causing chaos here would only worsen his position.

That alone was proof enough.

“Did you like the little gift I sent during the harvest festival? Looks like Helares took the blade for you. I actually preferred it that way.”

“What?”

“All I did was tell that drunken old fool that you were the Witch of Beatrix. After that, he acted on his own. Seems like we’re still quite hated, aren’t we?”

At last, everything fell into place.

I now understood why the attacker had charged straight at us, undaunted by our disguises.

Steeling myself against the growing sense of dread, I tried to provoke him to reveal his plans.

“Ludwig… if you’re still lurking in places like this, it seems things aren’t going quite as well as you’d hoped.”

“Mm. Not really. The soldiers have been tracking me closely. I almost got caught the other day.”

He admitted it far too easily.

“Those damned nobles have all become cowards! No matter how many times I call on them to reclaim what is ours, they just hide and refuse to come back. It’s all because your husband sent assassins after them. Do you know how many of our people have already been lost? Such a waste of talent.”

I thought of my husband’s words about sending agents abroad.

No matter how powerful the nobles had once been, they were now fallen.

Even if they dreamed of restoration, they were hiding in safer countries, unwilling to risk their lives.

Reinhardt Helares had crushed every royalist uprising with ruthless force.

It was no surprise that those who remained had no desire to return.

“So I decided to try a different approach.”

Ludwig’s eyes gleamed, sharp and unhinged, brimming with madness.

A familiar dread tightened in my chest.

I took an involuntary step back, my body trembling.

“I think I’ll use you again. You really are the best for that. You know what they say—old tools are the most reliable.”