Chapter 13

It was hard to open her eyes, feeling drowsy.

She blinked rapidly, trying to regain her senses, but it wasn’t easy.

Staring straight ahead while lying down, she saw only a sophisticated and clean ceiling.

Something felt off. This was definitely not the Valois residence.

“Why am I here…?”

What had happened?

She tried to recall her previous memories, but her head throbbed. Her body felt heavy and weak, like she had a fever.

The sunlight streaming through the distant wide window indicated it was early morning.

Elina habitually wiped her forehead, frowning slightly at the sweat that soaked her hand.

She propped herself against the bedhead, looking around the spacious bedroom.

The room was empty except for a few scattered items.

Someone had been nursing her until recently, as evidenced by the wet cloth in the water-filled bucket. Her familiar luggage and a blood-stained dress that hadn’t been cleaned up yet….

Why was there a blood-stained dress?

Now she noticed she was wearing very soft, neatly finished white pajamas.

Pajamas so well made that even someone from a wealthy family would hesitate to use them.

But what she wore didn’t matter now. Elina’s gaze lingered on the unsettling blood-stained dress.

She hadn’t forgotten what happened after passing out for a few hours.

She wished those memories would vanish.

The memory of tumbling down the stairs during a dispute with him was vividly clear. So was hitting her stomach on the sharp edge of the stairs.

With a start, Elina looked down, slightly surprised.

She found herself naturally placing her hand on her lower abdomen after only a few weeks together.

She hesitated, contemplating whether to remove her hand, then gently clenched her fist.

She had screamed that day that it was okay if the child was gone, but really… she hadn’t meant to part like this.

That really wasn’t the case. She was sincere.

Tears welled up in her suddenly dry eyes, but Elina held them back.

Thinking she needed to leave this place, she stood up.

Perhaps she should be grateful they didn’t rudely kick out an uninvited guest who came to the Grand Ducal residence.

Or maybe it was because she was carrying the Grand Duke’s child that she received such treatment.

The empty room, devoid of furniture, mirrored her own emptiness, making her feel miserable.

Pulling back the white blanket, Elina again faced the bloodstains she hadn’t noticed before and sat down, covering her mouth.

My child….

It was a child she had to get rid of anyway. Why did she feel so sorry…?

“No, it’s better this way.”

If she had decided to kill the child, she would have given up midway. Now that everything was over, it became clearer.

After rolling down those high stairs and bleeding, the child couldn’t possibly be okay.

Her mind was filled with terrible memories. She wanted to leave this place quickly.

As she groped her way to find the door, a faint noise came from one wall.

A plain wall with embossed decorations suddenly opened into a rectangle. On closer inspection, there was indeed a doorknob.

The person who entered through the white door was someone she had dreamed of for months. The problem was, he seemed to have emerged from a nightmare now.

Elina pretended not to see him.

No, she tried to pass by. Her body, weakened by illness, couldn’t move at its usual pace.

Was her body aching, or was it her heart? She felt like sitting on the floor and crying.

She couldn’t even grasp what had happened to her in just one day. She didn’t have the mental capacity.

“Don’t move.”

His first words were unexpected. Elina glanced up at him, then stopped and looked around.

Did I touch something wrong? I hadn’t dragged the blanket with me….

While she was staring at her bare feet without slippers, her body was suddenly lifted into the air. His touch was cautious, aware of her pain.

He slipped his hands under her slender waist and knees, carrying Elina back to the bed.

The intense gaze they couldn’t share while standing lingered silently for a moment. There was much to say. Precisely, much that needed to be said.

Elina struggled not to avoid his gaze.

Why was his identity like this?

Where did the lies he whispered to me begin and end?

Was it a mistake made under the influence, or did he deliberately play with me?

Was it all a lie when he said he loved me?

As she thought of the words she wanted to say, all that remained was the feeling of being foolishly deceived.

What was she thinking, truly loving this man? Why. It was just a one-night stand, nothing more, nothing less.

In hindsight, it was right that the child left for a better place. There was no need to feel sorry.

If the child were still inside me, what would he have said?

Get rid of the child? No, perhaps he had a happier family. Asking me to become his mistress?

It felt pointless to even bring it up.

He had simply spent a night with her. That was all. Nothing more, nothing less.

The child that resulted from that….

Elina pressed her face with both hands. She just had to think she was back to her daily life.

She left the Valois residence alone, and she would live outside alone. And she would prepare to reclaim her parents’ inheritance alone.

Because she was alone. It would be ea

The plan to inform the man she fell in love with overnight about her pregnancy and propose had long since turned to dust.

The nation’s most eligible bachelor had pretended to be a lower noble and whispered love. Actually, he hadn’t even pretended. She simply believed what he said. That was all.

Foolish. She was foolish. Elina scoffed at herself.

“Are you okay? You shouldn’t move yet….”

“…….”

“I’m really sorry… I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry….”

He couldn’t even touch the edge of Elina’s pajamas and bowed his head in apology at the side of the white bed.

What was this man apologizing for?

She turned her head, finding it ridiculous to apologize for something irreversible.

Then Elina’s eyes widened at the sight of the appetizing mushroom soup beside the bed, which hadn’t been there before. She realized she was hungry.

From what she’d heard, losing a child required the same care as giving birth.

So….

Pfft. Elina was startled by the laughter that escaped her lips and covered her mouth.

It was funny. And sorrowful.

Some people desperately wanted a child, and she had suddenly gained and lost one, feeling pleased… she despised herself.

But she didn’t want to show such a side in front of this man. Unexpectedly, words she didn’t mean flowed easily.

“It was a child I was going to get rid of anyway. Someone as high as you, no, Grand Duke Rennes, wouldn’t be pleased with a child from a one-night stand.”

If I refused to get rid of it, wouldn’t you secretly give me medicine?

“It’s for the best.”

As Elina concluded in a calm tone, the man shook his head vigorously in denial. There seemed to be a hint of sincerity, but she no longer trusted him.

“That’s not it… really not. Ella, just once. I truly didn’t know about the child. I was searching for you, but you were hard to find….”

His words were disjointed, making it unclear what he wanted to convey.

But she had to acknowledge a bit of sincerity. At least he remembered her during that time.

Even so, he seemed to have a fiancée, so what could he possibly do for her? Even if that wasn’t the case, a Grand Duke wouldn’t formally marry someone from a one-night stand.

She had already let go of any lingering feelings.

“It’s for the best….”

Drip.

Eventually, Elina burst into tears like a dam overflowing in the rainy season.

It was a cry filled with despair. She was so drained from crying that she couldn’t fend off his approaching touch.

She cried, screaming in the arms of the man who had brought her despair.

What did I do so wrong?

Why did I meet this man, and I’m so sorry to the child who left….

It was truly the cry of a mother who lost her child.

The man was busy wiping Elina’s incessant tears with a handkerchief from his pocket.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry. I truly did wrong….”

“I didn’t want to send it away like this… I didn’t want to send it away like this!”

Truly a bad man….

Elina mumbled, unable to voice those words. After that, falling down the stairs was certainly her fault.

“But what have I… done.”

Tears that seemed to have stopped momentarily burst forth again. Crying until her voice wouldn’t come out, she coughed repeatedly.

“You have a fever….”

He brushed Elina’s sweat-drenched forehead with his hand, speaking in a voice filled with shock. The fever she had barely lowered seemed to be rising again.

“I… killed the child.”

Elina’s trembling words made the man, Floyd, who was picking up dry towels stacked neatly on one side, turn his head in surprise.

“What are you talking about since earlier? Killing the child?”

“It was inside me… right?”

“…I’m scared the child might really be harmed.”

He cautiously embraced Elina.

Already weakly nestled in his arms, she couldn’t be drawn any closer. It was warm, despite being the arms of a man she resented greatly.

Huh? 

At the same time, Elina’s eyes rolled. A tear that had pooled in her eye trickled down.

“What do you mean?”