Chapter 86: Eliminate the Root of Trouble
The room was filled with a damp and heavy silence. Warm air seeped slowly through the cracks in the window.
“Are you saying… this child isn’t yours? Are you saying I had an affair and lied, claiming this baby is yours?”
Edelweiss forced out the trembling words. Her mouth was dry, and her fingertips had turned cold.
Her chest ached as though something were tightly pressing down on it. She barely managed to lift her head to look at Damian.
His gaze was heartlessly indifferent and cold to a cruel degree.
There were still remnants of distrust in his eyes. It seemed he hadn’t been able to erase his doubts.
She felt suffocated. It seemed no matter what she said, he wouldn’t believe her.
Edelweiss gripped the hem of her dress tightly. She could feel the faint movement of the baby inside her, which only made her more anxious.
What if the baby could feel what she was feeling now? She tried to calm herself, but every time she met Damian’s eyes, her heart pounded with unease.
Though she hadn’t eaten anything, she felt nauseated and clutched her chest tightly.
Summer had only just arrived—winter, when the baby would be born, was still far off. It felt impossible to clear up his misunderstanding until a paternity test could be done after the birth.
‘I should’ve destroyed the letter sooner.’ In that moment,
a sudden realization flashed through her mind.
He had taken the letter as if he had known about its existence.
The reason he killed Rosemary and didn’t return all night.
Could it be that Rosemary had told him?
“Did… Rosemary say that? To look for the letter?”
“…..”
Damian’s silence said it all.
Not a single word was spoken, but that only pierced deeper than denial.
Being misunderstood like that was miserable and humiliating. It broke her heart that the child was being treated that way by Damian.
He brought the letter to the candle. The parchment quickly dried up in the heat and the letters turned to ash.
Edelweiss stared blankly at the sight, as if the flames were swallowing her whole.
“Tell me who it is.”
Damian lowered his voice, but the fury in it scraped through the air like a blade.
Tell him who?
Edelweiss couldn’t hold back the sorrow rising in her throat.
“Your Highness!”
Her cry echoed through the hollow room.
“If it’s going to cause trouble, I’ll kill it. What if someone later claims to be the real father? I can’t be made a fool. Either way, it will have to live as my child.”
“……”
Every word that framed the baby as a result of betrayal stabbed into Edelweiss’s heart like an awl.
“Rosemary… likes you. She’s always tried to drive a wedge between us. And now—you believe her?”
“…”
“Not me, but Rosemary…”
Her voice cracked. The tears she had been holding back blurred her vision. A wave of nausea surged again, and Edelweiss clutched her swollen belly.
Her eyes burned as if the blood vessels had burst.
Ringing filled her ears, and her head spun.
“…Of course, I understand. It’s a letter that could raise suspicion. It’s in my handwriting, and I kept it all this time—of course it’s hard to believe.” She knew all that, and still, she resented him.
“While Your Highness was away at war, I hardly went out. I spent nearly all my time here, at Ruer Villa, with Lady Shasha…”
“……”
“You were risking your life at sea—how could I—”
She couldn’t bear to look at him any longer.
Her childhood self, waiting endlessly and never daring to reach out for a hug from the Duke of Stern, clawed at her unease.
‘I don’t want to raise you… the way I was raised…’
She bit her lip until it bled. No matter what she said, he wouldn’t believe her. No plea would reach him.
“I swear… I’ve never done anything I’d be ashamed of before my child.”
The faint quiver at the end of her words was drenched in resignation.
“……”
She couldn’t stay with Damian any longer.
As she walked past him, he didn’t stop her.
Thud.
The door closed behind her.
Her steps faltered as she descended the stairs into the corridor.
Her breathing grew ragged, and Edelweiss collapsed, clutching her belly at the sudden pain.
“Ah…”
It was nothing like the playful kicks before. A small whimper escaped her lips.
“Sis!”
From afar, Princess Charlotte came skipping toward her. Her smiling face soon twisted with worry.
Charlotte hurried up the stairs two at a time and crouched in front of Edelweiss.
“Sis, are you okay? Does it hurt a lot?”
Edelweiss tried to catch her breath under the concerned gaze.
Princess Charlotte reached out and gently rubbed Edelweiss’s belly. That warm touch gradually calmed the baby’s restless movements.
“Sis, does it still hurt?”
“I’m feeling better now.”
“Hmm, don’t hurt my sis, okay? Be gentle. When you’re born, I’ll play with you a lot. Got it?”
Her playful voice toward the baby was so comforting to hear.
“You know, sis? I had a dream yesterday, and there was an orca in it. I told you before, right? I really think the baby is an orca.”
“An orca?”
Edelweiss gently stroked Princess Charlotte’s cheek.
“Yeah! I was playing in the sea, and then a wave came like this, and I got swept away. I woke up so suddenly because I was startled—it was such a shame. I hope the dream comes back again.”
The contents of the dream didn’t seem ordinary. Come to think of it, there was a subtle warmth radiating from her palm.
Princess Charlotte’s cheeks looked unusually flushed.
It hadn’t been long since she was terribly ill with a high fever. Remembering that, Edelweiss worriedly cooled her cheeks with both hands.
“Lady Shasha, your forehead is hot…”
“Huh? I’m not sick! I just played outside all day! It’s hot today, right?”
“…Still.”
“I said I’m fine. I ate five cherry pies earlier. And I could totally eat five more later! There’s no way I could eat like that if I was sick, right?”
To reassure Edelweiss, Princess Charlotte spread her fingers wide. Looking at her short and chubby little hands, Edelweiss thought,
‘I should sleep with Lady Shasha tonight and keep an eye on her.’
She didn’t want to go back to the room where Damian was anyway.
“Lady Shasha, would you like to sleep with me tonight?”
“Geez, I’m not a baby!”
Princess Charlotte puffed up her cheeks with air. Edelweiss found it so endearing that she smiled and coaxed her.
“Right, you’re not a baby. But I’m just so worried. I think I’ll only be at ease that way.”
As Princess Charlotte rolled her eyes, a smile appeared on her lips.
“Then I’ll read you a storybook tonight. I can read well now. I even learned some hard words!”
Princess Charlotte held Edelweiss’s hand and led her to the bedroom.
***
That dawn.
Edelweiss, unable to sleep deeply, was tossing and turning when she heard a faint sound.
She opened her weary eyes, darkened from fatigue, and used her hand to push herself up.
“…Hnn, hnn…”
Princess Charlotte’s fragile breaths suddenly turned into spasms. Her whole body was soaked in cold sweat.
“Lady Shasha! What’s wrong? Lady Shasha!”
Princess Charlotte’s arms and legs trembled violently, as if seized in a spasm. Edelweiss urgently reached out to touch her.
Then, Charlotte’s eyes flew open wide, staring blankly into the void. Her pupils had no focus.
Clenching her teeth, Edelweiss quickly pulled the cord by the bed. The bell rang frantically.
‘What do I… first, the rose—
The rose…’
It was her first time witnessing such a seizure, and her thoughts froze. All she could think of was that she needed to make a blue rose, so she summoned the green butterfly.
Just then.
Princess Charlotte grabbed Edelweiss’s sleeve.
The eyes that seemed to have lost consciousness trembled faintly, and gradually, their focus began to return.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the trembling of her small body began to subside.
“Si…s… baby…”
“Lady Shasha, what did you just say…?”
Edelweiss leaned in close to catch her voice.
Panting heavily, Princess Charlotte slowly moved her lips.
“…What?”
“You’re… pregnant. Don’t give me… the rose…
It hurts you, and if it hurts you, it hurts the baby too. I won’t eat the rose. Never… don’t give it to me…”
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Heyhihello
How can she stay with him after he accused her of infidelity !!! She doesn’t need his *ss – she has the marquisate but yeah author let her stay for the sake of drama now that the villain’s are out it’s time for stupid misunderstandings 🙄