I Will Raise this Baby as Another Man’s Child - Chapter 29
The thought of being able to rest made Hinael’s voice noticeably excited.
“Do you have a room?”
“You’re not infected with a contagious disease… are you?”
The innkeeper looked Lutz up and down.
When they finally found a shabby inn after wandering around the streets, Lutz was in a state where he couldn’t stand on his own.
Even now, he was barely standing with an arm draped over an organization member, so it was natural for the innkeeper to be suspicious.
Hinael waved her hand and quickly added an explanation.
“A plague? No, he’s just exhausted from traveling for too long.”
“But you seem perfectly fine…”
The innkeeper clearly wanted to drive them away. But Hinael soon realized that she was judging them based on their attire.
Lutz and Hinael were wearing clothes that the people of this rural village would never see in their lifetime.
Hinael straightened her shoulders.
When she first put on the clothes prepared by Chetter, she felt ashamed and got goosebumps, but now she was grateful she had them on.
She was glad she had changed out of her blood-stained negligee into the finest dress.
It wasn’t just Hinael. Lutz’s attire was incomparable to hers.
Even the buttons made from finely crafted expensive jewels indicated his high status.
Still worried they might be thrown out, Hinael imitated the elegant speech of a queen, thinking of Marsily.
“We will pay generously, so please guide us quickly. We must not harm our bodies before such an important task.”
After speaking, she felt like she sounded more like an old man with white hair than a queen.
Before the innkeeper’s suspicion deepened, Hinael pointed to the stairs with her finger.
“Shall we go upstairs?”
“Oh… Yes, yes. This way, please.”
The innkeeper, who guided them to their room, asked if they needed meals and bath water. When they requested both, he kindly explained the costs and then went downstairs.
An organization member laid Lutz on the bed.
“I will inform the superiors immediately to find a way to take care of you comfortably.”
“Is there any need to announce that I’m unwell? Ha… I’ll be fine if I rest, so don’t babble. That’s an order.”
The man bowed his head with a serious expression and left the room.
“Ha. Ha…”
But contrary to his words, his breathing was rough enough to be frightening.
“Should I get some medicine?”
“I said I’m fine.”
Reluctantly, Hinael carefully covered him with the blanket and adjusted the pillow under his head.
She rubbed her hungry stomach and got off the bed. No, she was about to get off when Lutz suddenly grabbed her wrist.
“Ah!”
When did the man who was about to collapse recover so quickly? Her body was helplessly pulled towards him.
This wasn’t the only surprise.
“Ha. Tonight… we will consummate the marriage.”
His words, delivered with labored breaths, were shocking.
What did I just hear? Is he saying he wants to consummate the marriage in his current state?
Hinael thought she had misheard, her ears muffled from being exposed to the cold for too long. She pretended not to hear and quickly moved away from the bed, warming her hands by the fire.
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“…Pardon? What did you say?”
She hoped he would say, ‘Never mind,’ but instead,
“I said we will consummate the marriage.”
She heard the sound of her heart dropping with a thud. Without turning around, Hinael pressed her hand against her chest.
No matter how experienced she was in her previous life, her partner was entirely different.
To Hinael, Lutz was like an unknown world.
Facing something she had never experienced made her nervous and scared, and the thought of showing herself to him as she was made it hard to calm down.
“Hinael.”
Determined to get a clear answer, he persistently called her. Unable to avoid him forever, she tried to persuade him with concern.
“You’re not well. We can consummate the marriage after we arrive in Tubon. You should recover first.”
“Ha… I’m saying this because I won’t recover if I hold back. Come here.”
When she glanced at him, he was gesturing with his hand from under the blanket.
Hinael blushed. It was natural to share a bed since they were married, but the suddenness of the situation left her feeling embarrassed.
She couldn’t just run away, so she hesitated, dragging her feet. She needed time to prepare herself.
“All we had today was jerky and dry bread. First, have a meal, and then… the innkeeper said she would prepare bathwater, so soak yourself in warm water. I want to wash up too…”
Had the heat spread from her face to her ears? Hinael rubbed her earlobes and exhaled a thin breath through her mouth.
He didn’t complain further, as if he could wait that long.
However, when they were sitting face to face and eating, she could hardly swallow the food properly, as though something was stuck in her throat. It was because Lutz wouldn’t take his eyes off her.
Unable to endure it any longer, she scratched her face and asked,
“Is there something on my face?”
“No.”
“Then why do you keep looking at me?”
“I remembered the saying that a man becomes a beast when he’s in heat. I was contemplating whether I could embrace just anyone if I got excited.”
In other words, he was wondering if it was natural to spend the night with a woman he didn’t love.
To be precise, it meant he didn’t love Hinael but still wanted to get close to her.
Hinael didn’t know where to place her eyes and stirred the stew with her spoon.
She didn’t particularly want to know what his feelings were. She just wanted to advise him to remain silent rather than confirming that she wasn’t a woman he loved.
However, since she had no right to speak, she had no choice but to remain silent herself.
‘Even after knowing everything, I was the one who asked to get married first.’
She needed to train herself not to be flustered even if something that gnawed at her self-esteem suddenly came up.
Hinael responded with a faint smile.
“I see. I wouldn’t know since I’m a woman.”
The meal continued in an uncomfortable atmosphere. Only the clinking sound of cutlery mixed into the quiet space.
When the meal was over, the maids came in carrying a large wooden tub and heated water. As they were about to fill the wooden tub and leave, Hinael called out in a flustered voice.
“Wait.”
“Yes?”
“You need to bring a screen.”
“We don’t have… that. Sorry.”
The young maids looked at Hinael, who was looking for an unfamiliar item in this rural place, as if she were strange.
After they hesitated and left, Lutz snickered.
“Think about it. What kind of guests do you think usually stay at an inn like this? Passing mercenaries or merchants, or those with the purpose of prostitution.”
“I understand.”
It meant there was no need for a screen in the first place. Hinael quickly composed her expression, feeling like she had acted like a child who didn’t know the ways of the world.
She faced him with a clear expression, erasing her embarrassment.
“Get in before the water cools down.”
She stood in the corner, turning her back to let him undress comfortably. But for some reason, he didn’t say anything.
As she fidgeted, not knowing what to do, he threw out another shocking statement.
“Let’s wash together.”
“What, what?”
Her carefully composed expression crumbled instantly. Hinael wore an expression of utmost bewilderment, her mouth agape.
“Why don’t we wash together to save time?”
Lutz was adamant.
She couldn’t understand why they had to bathe together, but it seemed he had no intention of backing down once he had made up his mind.
“You keep making me rush. Come here.”
“Just, just, you go first.”
“I hate people coming and going to fill the water. I also said I can’t stand being slow.”
Even though she stubbornly stood still, he sighed softly and coaxed her in a gentler tone.
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about between a formally married couple.”
It would be stranger not to be embarrassed. They hadn’t even seen each other’s bodies.
Hinael pouted her lips invisibly.
It would be nice if he gave up, but unfortunately, the sound of footsteps echoed behind her.
Thud, thud.
At times like this, he didn’t even hide his presence and pressed on deliberately.
For a moment, the face of the demonic Chetter flashed through her mind. Would Lutz try to assault her if she kept refusing like Chetter?
But Hinael’s situation with Lutz was clearly different from that with Chetter.
She had agreed to bear his heir, acknowledging it as her duty as a wife. Having promised to meet his demands, she couldn’t go back on her word now.
Ironically, her desperate desire to have a child resurfaced.
As her thoughts reached that point, it felt like a fetus was stirring in her womb.
‘My baby…’
The sorrow and regret for the life that had vanished so futilely almost brought her to tears.