Chapter 15

Life temporarily at the Grand Ducal residence was comfortable. Very much so.

In this place, she could eat the food she wanted every day. There was no harassment under Madame Rasiche’s orders.

And she could drink as much orange juice as she liked….

“I’m going to sleep. Please leave, Your Grace.”

“…Ella. I’m truly sorry. I was wrong.”

Every day, she heard apologies from Floi, or rather, the Grand Duke Rennes.

Today, Elina buried herself under the blankets instead of facing Floyd. She still couldn’t bring herself to accept his apology.

Her body hadn’t fully recovered, leaving her unable to make proper judgments, and most of all, she resented him.

She resented him deeply. The one who loved her, yet was the Empire’s only Grand Duke, unmatched with her.

“Are you feeling very unwell? The physician said you were better than before….”

Floyd’s cold hand touched her cheek. Elina shivered at the sensation, quickly pushing his hand away and burying her face under the blankets.

She felt like crying. The man she had longed for was right in front of her, yet approaching him was terrifying.

“I’m… I’m sorry. Did I make you very uncomfortable? Just look at me for a moment… Ella?”

Tears fell from her eyes. In truth, she wanted to cling to him, but felt she shouldn’t.

Knowing the child inside her was safe and her body slowly recovering, harsh reality began to press in.

That day. She didn’t realize how good it was to be thoughtlessly draped in Floyd’s embrace upon hearing the child was safe.

She knew the escapade she had embarked on was behavior that would clearly be criticized by others.

But she thought she could endure whatever anyone said. She had steadfastly endured Madame Rasiche’s harassment and resolved to take responsibility for the child inside her.

She thought someone might show her a kind gaze for not running away from what had already happened and taking responsibility.

But reality was harsh. Harsh to the point of cruelty.

Listening to their words, it seemed more so because the child’s father was none other than the Empire’s Grand Duke.

They said she approached intentionally knowing he was a Grand Duke to have the child, or questioned if the child’s father was really the Grand Duke.

Though they were careful with their words in front of Elina, she heard everything they said.

“What’s going to happen to Lady Silvesta? Surely not because of that woman?”

“Is that woman going to become His Grace’s mistress?”

She thought being ordered around by Madame Rasiche was her most terrible memory, but that was a big mistake.

At some point, she became a shameless woman who spent a night with a man who had a partner and had a child to tie him down.

Elina didn’t know where to start correcting this. Or if it could even be corrected.

Part of it was undeniably true.

She didn’t want to be known as the woman who ruined a family.

She didn’t want to be slapped and chased out by Floyd’s political marriage partner whom the maids followed.

Nor did she want to shamelessly stay and become Floyd’s mistress, clinging to him.

She couldn’t say she’d get rid of the child inside her just to live well alone.

How could life be so unfortunate?

Living deceived by Madame Rasiche was already unfair enough. How could a one-night escapade twist life like this?

Tears filled with despair fell endlessly.

I was wrong. But I didn’t know it would lead to such a terrible outcome.

“Floi… I’m so scared….”

“It’s okay… I’m here.”

“They said I and the child… shouldn’t have been born, how could I… hear such words… sob….”

Elina didn’t know she was such a weak person. Originally, she wanted to resent Floyd for not loving him.

But she knew she couldn’t dare utter such words.

She knew well she was in a position where begging him not to abandon her and the child wouldn’t be enough.

With rumors already spreading, going out alone to give birth and raise the child wouldn’t be smooth.

“It’s okay. I’ll take care of everything.”

How are you going to solve it? 

Elina held back the urge to question him, leaning into his embrace.

Though she fled from his touch, his embrace was still warm.

She reached out and hugged Floyd tightly. He hesitated for a moment, then gently patted Elina’s back, slowly wiping away the tears.

***

Days later.

She told Bianca, the only kind physician at the Grand Ducal residence, and Floyd, who visited daily, to change the maid cleaning the bedroom.

She couldn’t stand the maids chattering about the stories circulating outside the bedroom anymore.

Initially, she listened to the stories about Floyd and herself circulating in the Empire out of curiosity. Sadly, she was interested.

Through this, she learned in detail what kind of person Floyd was and what kind of trouble she had caused. Initially, she thought she should know this as part of her karma.

“If the child inside that woman dies on its own, things will be easier.”

But after a few days, hearing the maids talk made Elina cry. She couldn’t tolerate words insulting the child inside her.

Nine-tenths of the reason she was struggling was simply because of the words they spoke for amusement.

She already knew there wouldn’t be any good words exchanged.

The maids weren’t just reassigned; they were expelled from the Grand Ducal residence. It seemed Floyd personally ordered it.

“Should I squeeze another glass of orange juice for you…?”

“No. It’s okay….”

“Or maybe an orange tart….”

Floyd seemed desperate to feed her something. Over the past week, she ate everything for the child’s sake, but still, Elina noticeably paled.

The maids who conveyed stories of the outside world had vanished, but the words she heard then remained in Elina’s mind.

First, Lady Silvesta, who was said to be engaged to Floyd.

When she first saw her with Floyd, she thought she was undoubtedly his fiancée. Even during the early days of hearing the maids chatter.

But in reality, they were merely ‘to be engaged,’ nothing more. The difference between being engaged and to be engaged was significant.

Currently, Floyd had no official woman, and if she begged him to marry her for the child’s sake, he might agree.

Though Lady Silvesta’s father was a Duke and a very important person to the Rennes Grand Ducal family and Floyd, that was the problem.

“…I want to eat strawberry tart.”

“Bring strawberry tart. A big one, if possible.”

For the first time today, Elina expressed her desire, prompting Floyd to smile bitterly and send the maid attending to them out of the bedroom. He seemed pleased she mentioned the strawberry tart.

He dragged a chair beside the bed, sitting close to Elina.

Once the maid left the bedroom, only Elina and Floyd remained in the spacious room.

Who would speak first? 

After hesitating, Floyd spoke first.

“Thank you for listening to me. And thank you for coming to me like this….”

She brushed off the first words without much thought, but the following words seemed truly sincere.

Since that day, he couldn’t stop thinking about Elina. They had spent a night together, lost in each other’s emotions, yet she kept circling in his mind.

The reason he had to leave urgently that day was to attend a very important meeting. It was a meeting concerning the survival of the Grand Ducal family, requiring his presence at the Imperial Palace.

“The reason I did as you wished that day was… simply because I didn’t want to see you cry.”

It might have seemed like a flimsy reason, but Elina, hearing this now, could somewhat understand. He was also deeply immersed in sorrow that day.

Perhaps they saw themselves reflected in each other’s eyes.

Fortunately or unfortunately, he truly loved Elina that night.

If those emotions hadn’t been genuine, if they hadn’t shared the same feelings, Elina might have run away from the Grand Ducal residence immediately.

Floyd admitted those feelings a few days after that night.

He harbored emotions beyond a mere one-night stand.

And by then, it was already too late.

Elina easily found him with the address Floyd provided, but it wasn’t the same for Floyd. Though they had shared their family stories that night, nothing precise was revealed.

After the alcohol wore off and the sorrow that filled him that night faded, he lied about his status once more.

Leaving the Grand Ducal residence address while repeatedly claiming he was a lower noble was laughable even to himself, but he didn’t have the luxury to think otherwise then.

If he had revealed his true status as Grand Duke Rennes that night, Elina might have disappeared.

He was in such a difficult position.

Yet, the contradiction created by his unwillingness to let Elina go.

“If you had told me you were Grand Duke Rennes….”

If he had said his true status was Grand Duke Rennes, at least she wouldn’t have come to the Grand Ducal residence.

She resented him, and she resented the outcome of that small lie.

But she also felt relieved hearing ‘lower noble’ from his lips.

She thought it was acceptable to spend a night with someone of that status and later expected to accept his proposal.

Unaware that a mere Earl’s daughter, who couldn’t even inherit, spent a night with the Empire’s only Grand Duke.

“Elina, I wanted to find you. But all I knew was a name close to a nickname and your face….”

Listening to his words after everything happened made it all feel like excuses.

Of course, he must have tried everything he could. If he had been truly bad, he wouldn’t have urgently sought a physician when she fell down the stairs with the child inside her.

“But now… what does it matter?”

Most events have a story. Regardless of scale, someone will pity it, and someone will criticize it.

But in the end, only the result remains. In the end, she was a young lady who spent a night with a member of the Imperial Family and ended up having a child.

“I don’t want to become your mistress, Your Grace.”

And only an obvious conclusion remains.