Chapter 81: Dimples

The Duke of Stern looked as if he were in agony, unable to believe what he had seen.

The scenery before her eyes twisted like shattered fragments. A soft breath escaped her lips.

Her vision warped, and when she slowly closed and opened her eyes again, she was in the Calliope Palace.

Something sticky slid down her cheek, and as the blurred view soaked in, she realized it was tears.

The back of her neck was damp with cold sweat, and her heart pounded fiercely as if to prove she was alive.

The Duke of Stern’s breathing was tangled and rough, and his face grew paler and paler until finally, both his legs buckled.

Thud—

The dull sound of his knees hitting the floor echoed softly.

He knelt down, curled up, and trembled silently, unable to even cry out loud.

He knows now.

That it was Rosemary who had killed her—he found out. Edelweiss felt both relief and bitterness at his reaction.

Rosemary had clearly tried to stab her.

Though she had not been hurt thanks to Damian’s protection, how could the Duke have asked her to stop Rosemary’s execution?

“You asked me to show mercy to Rosemary, didn’t you?”

“……”

“It was really terrifying and horrible. As if making me infertile wasn’t enough, she laughed at how a cripple like me could be Crown Princess, and then she pushed me off the balcony.”

“…..”

“And do you know what she did after? She waved and told me goodbye. So don’t ask me to save her. Maybe if it were someone else, or maybe if you hadn’t known she tried to kill me—but asking me after knowing everything, that’s too cruel.”

The Duke of Stern, trembling all over, mumbled in a broken voice,

“I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Edelweiss…”

His apology was repeated over and over like a broken doll’s cry—disjointed, empty, and desperate.

He lowered the hands covering his face and placed them on the floor.

“What did I do to you… What have I done to you…”

As if suffocating, he pounded his chest in anguish.

Edelweiss silently watched him.

It was strange. She had thought he wouldn’t grieve her death, and that made it impossible to forgive him. Her hatred and resentment toward him were too deep.

Now, realizing he had truly grieved—even shedding tears far too late—left her unmoved.

She felt nothing.

No sympathy, no affection, no sorrow.

Edelweiss wanted Duke Stern to be trapped in those memories for the rest of his life.

That was the only way she could comfort the version of herself who had died so miserably from never being loved.

She walked past Duke Stern and left Calliope Palace.

At the sound of footsteps behind her, she turned. Damian was slowly approaching.

‘…He probably didn’t see the memory with me.’

He must find it strange.

She had suddenly said she was killed by Rosemary and had died falling from a balcony, while Duke Stern fell to his knees in tears.

What if he pressed her for answers? Would he believe her if she told him she had died and returned to the past?

“Edelweiss.”

“So, about that… I mean…”

At Damian’s low voice, she felt her heart being crushed under its weight.

She didn’t want him to find out like this.

Now she just felt miserable.

“…I won’t ask anything, so don’t bite your lip.”

He gently pressed her lips with his hand.

It seemed he didn’t want her to bite down on them any further.

Reluctantly, Edelweiss gave a small nod and spoke.

“They said she’ll be executed tomorrow at noon in Ruathe Square.”

She had wanted Rosemary, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, to suffer endlessly.

Someone who had lived luxuriously and been waited on hand and foot would not be able to endure a cramped space barely big enough to lie down in until death.

Especially Rosemary, who couldn’t even bear the smallest speck of dust.

Living like rotting flesh in a filthy prison would be a far worse punishment.

“Execution is too easy a death.”

She wanted to return the pain she had felt.

The moment she saw Rosemary shamelessly pretend to cry at her funeral, something twisted inside her.

“I want to go where Rosemary is.”

“…Why her?”

“I have something to return.”

Just for a moment.

At her words, a faint crack formed on Damian’s forehead.

He lowered the hand that had been pressing her lips and let out a deep sigh, shifting his gaze.

Damian told her that Rosemary had been dragged from the courtroom and imprisoned in Kalitz Tower to the west.

Together, they arrived at Kalitz Tower, and Edelweiss went inside.

As she climbed the stairs one step at a time, her vision suddenly wavered.

A floating sensation swept over her, and the ground grew distant.

“…Your Highness?”

“How long would it take you to walk all the way up?”

Before she realized what had happened, she was already in Damian’s arms.

“Your Highness, please put me down. You’re injured.”

She remembered that he had been hurt.

His left arm had only recently healed, and he had bled a lot from being cut by glass.

Moving like this could reopen the wound.

But he showed no sign of putting her down and only tightened his hold.

With no choice but to let herself be carried, she suddenly felt compelled to say something.

“…Thank you for saving me.”

Both when she had fallen into the sea, and again at the courtroom.

Damian stepped forward as if acting on instinct, without thought.

‘When I fell into the sea, he might’ve saved me out of duty as a naval officer, but…?’

Carrying Edelweiss silently in his arms, Damian lowered his head. His gaze settled on her belly.

“…The baby?”

It was the first time he’d brought up the child.

“Ah…”

Momentarily stunned, Edelweiss blinked in disbelief before quickly replying.

“The baby is fine. Thanks to you…”

Only then did she realize why he had saved her.

Because she was carrying a child.

Because the baby in her womb carried his blood.

He hadn’t seemed particularly interested before, but this was unexpected.

‘He’s oddly soft when it comes to Lady Shasha too…’

For no real reason, Edelweiss felt her heart flutter as she placed both hands over her stomach and gently rubbed it.

“Your Highness, would you prefer a daughter or a son?”

Damian raised one eyebrow as if caught off guard by the unexpected question.

“Whether a girl or a boy… I just hope they don’t take after me.”

“Do you mean in appearance?”

“…Well, that too.”

Edelweiss smiled faintly at his reply.

She imagined a child standing beside Damian with a pouty face, grumbling with the same looks and personality.

“Why are you laughing?”

His expression happened to mirror what she’d just imagined, and Edelweiss couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Still looking disgruntled, Damian gently poked her cheek.

“…Whatever they take after, I’d like the child to have dimples.”

So that was why he’d poked her cheek—because of the dimples.

Edelweiss found herself agreeing with this first glimpse of his expectations for the child.

She hoped the baby would have dimples like her own.

So that, unlike her, they could grow up showered with their father’s love.

Before they knew it, they had reached the top of Kalitz Tower.

At the iron door stood imperial knights on guard.

Still in Damian’s arms, Edelweiss felt embarrassed being seen by the knights and gave him a pleading look to set her down.

But Damian only nodded in response to the knights’ bows.

Creak—

When one of the knights opened the door, the sound echoed sharply.

A chill wind seeped into the room, and Rosemary, who had been curled up inside, lifted her head.

A heavy iron shackle was fastened around her ankle.

It seemed she had already caused a commotion—her skin was reddened and scraped.

“…Your Highness, please put me down.”

As Damian carefully lowered Edelweiss, despair clouded Rosemary’s dry eyes.

Ugly red veins rose around her eyes. Her cracked, parched lips moved.

“…Your Highness loves me, not that girl.

I’m the one who should be in your arms… not her… Why…”