Let’s Just Make a Child, Your Grace - Chapter 10 Part 4

Walking hurriedly without paying attention to her surroundings, she got pricked by a rose bush. A scratch appeared on the tender skin of Arne’s hand. At that moment, Cedric’s footsteps faltered.

As Arne raised her head while cradling her hand, she met Cedric’s chilly gaze looking down at her.

“If you have any last words you want to say, say them.”

“I don’t know what you heard today, but it’s all made up by the Duchess. I don’t want to be engaged to Kale. It’s something the Duchess arranged because she wants me and Kale to be engaged.”

Cedric’s eyes remained cold. Arne’s heart sank chillingly. In front of that gaze, her heart kept aching.

“What I want is you.”

Cedric stepped forward to stand in front of Arne. Since the sun had set, only the light from the lanterns flickered. The light danced on his face, casting deep shadows.

A low bass resonated from the slightly parted lips.

“Are you sure? That what you want is me?”

“Of course……”

“My lady, answer carefully. I despise lies. It’s better to say that the Duke is urging you to meet me, or that you’re tempted by Renigrad’s prestige, or even that you want to sleep with me. If that’s the truth. You don’t need to make excuses.”

“No, why do you think it’s a lie……”

“My lady, countless ladies have told me they like me. Some even tried to throw themselves at me recklessly. But I’ve never seen someone with a face like yours while saying they want me.”

Cedric’s red eyes flickered. Those eyes, staring directly into Arne’s, were hot, as if flames would ignite. As Arne stepped back from the overwhelming emotions, she felt the vine-covered wall behind her.

“I’ll ask one last time. Is it really true that you want me?”

Cedric took another step closer to Arne. Close enough to almost touch her body, close enough for her to be completely enveloped by Cedric’s body with the wall behind her back.

Arne was frustrated by why Cedric kept asking such an obvious question. Of course, to meet Vivian, she had to meet him again, and it was only him.

“No matter how many times you ask, my answer is the same. I will break off the engagement with Kale, and I sincerely want to marry you. If you can’t believe my words, I’ll show you.”

Strangely, Cedric’s gaze sank even colder.

“Even now, you speaking of marriage sounds like someone carrying out a mission. An even stronger resolute will, a sense of duty. But your eyes are terribly sad. Are you being sold off somewhere? Did the Duke of Ronia sell you to the cursed Renigrad?”

Cedric had felt it from the beginning. He didn’t know the identity of the deep emotion flickering in her eyes, but it wasn’t affection. No, even that affection was for someone else.

“Have you ever looked at me wholly, even for a moment?”

“……”

For the first time, Arne was at a loss for words. There had never been a moment when she looked at Cedric without thinking of Vivian. It was all to meet Vivian again.

And Cedric was sensing that truth.

“I guess that’s the answer.”

His eyes were terribly cold, but somehow they looked hurt. Cedric withdrew without hesitation. After placing a scroll in Arne’s hand, he turned away. He was moving away.

Arne’s mind was blank. Her breath quickened. Her heart ached. Her lungs constricted painfully as if submerged in water.

But she couldn’t bring herself to stop him. Because everything he said was true. Was he disappointed? But she couldn’t let go of Vivian either. Having lost her daughter, there was no room for other thoughts. She was just desperate. Engagement, marriage, child, her mind was spinning.

“Ah…… haa… haa.”

Would she have wanted to marry him if it weren’t for Vivian? She didn’t know. Her head hurt. Was her heart hurting?

Ugh.

She felt nauseous. At that sound, Cedric’s footsteps stopped, but he clenched his fist and started walking again.

Cough.

However, the moment a faint smell of blood wafted, Cedric’s footsteps turned back at once. He had thought countless times that it was right to end it here, that he should stop those steps, but…

Damn it. He couldn’t stop. Why do you keep…

Thud.

* * *

Arne lifted her heavy eyelids. Then Penny, holding Arne’s hand tightly, said with a sob,

“Lady Arne, are you conscious?”

“Penny?”

“Yes, it’s me!”

As Arne sat up, Penny quickly supported her and looked at her worriedly.

“Am I in the Ronia mansion now?”

“Yes. Don’t you remember?”

Arne’s last memory was of Cedric’s back.

“How did I get here?”

“I don’t know. When I entered the room, you were lying on the bed. There were blood stains on your hands and around your mouth, so I called for a doctor, but he said you collapsed after coughing up blood due to severe stress.”

“Was there anyone else besides me?”

Arne’s voice trembled desperately, and Penny unknowingly held Arne’s hand tightly. Because the Princess looked as precarious as a child who had lost her mother’s hand in the marketplace.

“You were alone when I first found you. Why do you ask?”

“……It’s nothing. Could you give me something to drink? I’m thirsty.”

“Yes, just a moment.”

As she drank the water Penny brought, Arne traced her memories again. No matter how much she thought about it, Arne couldn’t remember tearing the scroll.

Her breath quickened, and after coughing, blood stained her hand. The last thing she remembered was Cedric’s back, which she had hoped would turn around at least once through her hazy vision.

“The scroll… is gone. Did I tear it unconsciously?”

Arne’s chest ached as she kept recalling Cedric’s back as he coldly turned away.

As she pressed down on her increasingly tingling chest, Arne’s hand touched her mana core.

‘The core is full of mana.’

Arne’s hand trembled. She closed her eyes and felt the mana exactly as Cedric had taught her.

‘It is indeed the mana of Cedric’s spirit.’

Arne exhaled a shaky breath. Relief and doubt came simultaneously.

He clearly left her behind, but did he come back? Why… when he spoke as if it was the last time. Was it because he was too much of a gentleman, even though he said he didn’t like dealing with corpses?

Her mind was in chaos.

‘What’s certain is that Cedric feels that I wanted to marry not because of him, but because of Vivian. He might not know it’s exactly Vivian, but he knows the reason isn’t because I want him.’

She finally understood why he had been telling her not to mistake his kindness for other emotions, that she only liked his kindness.

And why he thought Arne’s words today were lies or excuses.

When she looked into his eyes, she was reminded of Vivian’s eyes. She wanted to see Vivian again.

‘Maybe you’re really right.’

Among the ladies who said they liked Cedric, none had a face like Arne’s.

‘Those young ladies—did they have a child with you, or did they lose that child? They probably just said they liked you because they loved you.’

Arne furrowed her brow. Cedric’s words resonated in her heart.

「Have you ever looked at me wholly, even for a moment?」

The words didn’t come easily. Because it was a question she had never properly thought about.

‘Because I had never thought about my feelings for Cedric. Because I decided not to expect such things, that I couldn’t afford such luxury.’

Arne chewed on her left lip. The scab came off, causing a tingling sensation. Cedric’s chilly gaze, his expression suppressing anger, and his cold back kept flashing in her mind.

‘For a moment, he seemed hurt. Is it because he thinks I’m lying until the end?’

If nothing else, she should clearly state that she genuinely doesn’t want to be engaged to Kale.

As she pressed her throbbing temple, Agatha entered.

“You’re awake. The Duke has just arrived.”

No sooner had Agatha finished speaking that the Duke burst in.

“Arne, you’re awake. Well, did you bring the antidote? I was surprised to find you lying down covered in blood when I was told you had kept it in a safe place. You did bring it, right?”

Arne’s face contorted at the Duke’s greedy gaze. At that moment, Agatha approached stealthily and whispered to Arne.

“I secretly removed your bag as I thought the Duke might search it while you were unconscious. Your handbag is here.”

A smile crept onto Arne’s face as Agatha discreetly placed the handbag in her hand.

“You’re really diligent.”

Arne stroked the bag strap and looked at Agatha and Penny, who was still holding her hand tightly. Just a moment ago, she felt like all her efforts had been in vain, but that wasn’t the case.

By her side were Penny, who genuinely cared for her, and Agatha, who was striving to become a capable subordinate.

She had the magical tool from Rein, the laccarine detox herb from the Grand Duke, and she had also gained the trust of Duke Xenon. All of these were Arne’s achievements.

If she were to crumble now due to the Duke and Duchess’s schemes, that would be exactly what they want.

‘That can’t happen.’

There was a reason she had received an extra bundle of laccarine herbs. She didn’t know she would actually use it, but it’s karma.