Chapter 2

“Child support?”

The atmosphere froze instantly.  

Eric furrowed his brows, staring at Euphrasia.  

It seemed he couldn’t quite comprehend what he had just heard.  

Devonie, too, widened her already large eyes even more and turned her gaze toward Euphrasia.  

Her hand, which had been covering her mouth, trembled slightly.  

Amidst this, Euphrasia alone desperately maintained a composed expression. She was ready to take full responsibility for everything that would follow. She wasn’t naive enough to be unaware of the weight of her words.  

No matter what might happen, it couldn’t possibly be worse than being poisoned on her wedding night in the past.  

Repeating this thought to herself, Euphrasia steadied her nerves, which kept wanting to shrink back.  

Her only wish was to settle everything and live a modest but safe life with Louis.  

“Your Grace, please forgive us for the offense. I believe we should… take our leave for today. I hope we can discuss this matter… at our next meeting.”  

Devonie, barely regaining her composure, stammered out her words.  

At the same time, she grabbed Euphrasia’s hand and tried to pull her up from her seat.  

However, Euphrasia, with her body firmly tensed, sat upright and refused her stepmother’s touch.  

It was an expression of her determination not to budge a single step until the situation was resolved.  

“Euphrasia! Get up this instant!”  

Finally, Devonie’s voice turned sharp and irritable.  

Her eyes, raised high in frustration, reflected her current feelings.  

‘So, this ungrateful illegitimate child finally shows her true colors! Is there another case in this world of someone so foolish as to throw away the chance to become a duchess? Ignorant! Pathetic! She can’t even repay the grace of being fed and housed properly!’  

Devonie swallowed down the words that were on the verge of spilling out and once again roughly grabbed Euphrasia’s wrist.  

Swoosh. 

Euphrasia, who had lifted her face, looked straight at Devonie and opened her mouth.  

“As the one who requested this meeting, I don’t want to commit the rudeness of abruptly leaving.”  

Although her voice quivered slightly, the tone of her words was resolute.  

Devonie almost screamed at the defiant response of the insolent illegitimate child.  

“You’ve already committed a huge rudeness, haven’t you? What? Child support? You must have lost your mind! Are you out of your senses?”  

Devonie’s patience had reached its limit.  

At the pouring scolding, Euphrasia instinctively hunched her shoulders. She had tried her best to remain composed.  

However, the fear of her stepmother, which had been deeply ingrained since childhood, was not something she could easily overcome.  

Meanwhile, Devonie felt as if her insides were burning.  

That foolish girl was clearly broken in some way.  

In a situation where even discussing marriage was out of the question and they had only managed to provoke the Duke’s anger, she couldn’t forgive Euphrasia for ruining things so thoroughly.  

“Enough. That’s enough.”  

At that moment, Eric’s dry voice rang out.  

“The lady of the Count’s family isn’t wrong. So, who gave you the authority to leave without my permission?”  

Why was the blame suddenly shifting to me!  

Startled, Devonie inhaled sharply at Eric’s piercing gaze and hastily bowed her upper body.  

“I was thoughtless. I was so flustered that I… I apologize for my daughter’s rudeness. It’s my fault for not raising her properly. For now, I’ll try to persuade her after this meeting and…”  

“It seems you don’t quite understand who is being rude here.”  

Eric slowly rose from his seat and extended his finger toward the door of the parlor.  

“This is a matter between the lady of the Count’s family and me. I won’t tolerate any further interference. If you’re so eager to leave, I won’t stop you. However, don’t force someone who doesn’t wish to leave.”  

His tone was firm, leaving no room for negotiation.  

There wasn’t the slightest hint of discomfort in his manner of speaking, which naturally treated her, the Count’s representative, as beneath him.  

“…Understood.”  

Devonie, frozen by Eric’s overbearing demeanor, could only nod her head a few times before walking out of the parlor.  

Even as she left, she cast a lingering glance at Euphrasia.  

But Euphrasia remained unmoving, her gaze fixed solely on Louis.  

Click. 

Once the door of the parlor closed behind Devonie, Eric returned to his seat.  

“I should’ve brought your stepmother to the battlefield.”  

Crossing his long legs, Eric spoke in a languid tone.  

The tense atmosphere in the parlor seemed to relax in an instant.  

“I think her grating voice would’ve been highly effective in lowering the enemy’s morale. It’s a shame the Count Olden family missed their chance to make a significant contribution to the war effort.”  

“Pfft.”  

A small laugh escaped Euphrasia’s lips.  

The way he shamelessly made such a dull joke with a straight face was unexpectedly amusing.  

The atmosphere wasn’t bad, and a faint sense of hope began to rise within her.  

Perhaps…  

Perhaps the Duke of Herrington might actually agree to her request.  

Eric noticed the glimmer of hope in Euphrasia’s eyes and tilted his head slightly.  

He had been irritated by her timid demeanor after boldly making such an explosive statement.  

Now that the conversation seemed to have reached a point where they could have a ‘proper’ discussion, it was time to get to the main point.  

“If that were the case.”  

Unfortunately, Eric’s main point was to completely crush Euphrasia’s hopes.  

“You wouldn’t have had to sell your body for the prosperity of the Count’s family.”  

“…What?”  

“Why don’t we be honest with each other? At the ball, you learned who I was and deliberately approached me. By sheer luck, you conceived my child in just one night, and I understand your ambition to use that as leverage to claim the position of Duchess.”  

“Your Grace!”  

“Listen to the end. I’m not finished yet.”  

Unexpected words began to flow from Eric’s mouth.  

Euphrasia, who had been listening in a daze, belatedly stood up from her seat.  

She forced her trembling body to stand upright and clenched her teeth, trying to protest.  

However, Eric, now wearing a cold expression, silenced her, a stark contrast to his earlier joking demeanor.  

“So, even knowing all this, didn’t I willingly agree to take responsibility for you? I need an heir, and you need the position of Duchess. I accepted this as a mutually beneficial transaction.”  

A transaction.  

That confirmed it—he had viewed their past marriage as nothing more than a transaction.  

And once he got the heir he wanted, he had disposed of her with his own hands.  

The moment her vague suspicions were confirmed, her mind became unexpectedly calm, as though doused with cold water.  

Euphrasia held Louis tightly in her arms once more.  

Each time she felt the warmth of her child, she gained a little more courage.  

If she were alone, she wouldn’t have been able to argue with the Duke of Herrington. But with Louis, she felt she could stand her ground.  

“Your words are excessive. I don’t need the position of Duchess. So please don’t misunderstand and judge me at your convenience. I find it unpleasant.”  

“That’s what’s strange.”  

Eric shrugged as if he truly couldn’t understand.  

“When you rejected the position of Duchess and proposed child support, I started to wonder.”  

Eric’s narrowed gaze fixed on Louis. His eyes locked precisely onto Louis’s blue eyes.  

“You’re the illegitimate child of the late Count Olden, aren’t you? Could it be, just maybe, that your claim that this child is my son is a lie? Blood doesn’t lie, after all.”  

It was an insult of the highest order.  

“Your Grace! Are you insulting not only me but also the late Count Olden and my mother? Why is this conversation heading in this direction? Apologize immediately. Right now!”  

“I think it’s a very reasonable suspicion. Were you afraid I’d find out the child isn’t my son? Is that why you planned to take the money and disappear instead of entering the ducal household?”  

“…I was simply demanding what is rightfully ours. Louis is undoubtedly your son, and you have a duty to support him. There’s nothing wrong with my demand for financial support.”  

Eric was being obstinate.  

Louis’s blue eyes, which resembled his own, were undeniable proof of their relationship.  

Yet he was grasping at ridiculous straws to avoid paying child support. His behavior was utterly petty.  

“Are you hesitating because you’re stingy? As the head of the great Herrington Duchy, endowed with wealth and honor, do you find it so difficult to take responsibility for your one-night indiscretion?”  

Euphrasia’s anger boiled over, and her words became sharp.  

At this point, the child support itself wasn’t the issue.  

For her honor, and for Louis, who was being denied by his own father, Euphrasia could not back down.  

“Of course, I’ll take responsibility. But only if it’s proven that the child is indeed my son.”  

However, Eric, unfazed by her sarcastic tone, calmly continued with the words he had prepared.  

“Until that proof is provided, you and the child will stay at the ducal residence.”  

Finally, Eric revealed the ‘main point’ of the conversation, curling his lips into a sly smile.