Pregnancy for a Successor - ✿ dusk blossoms ✿

Anne quickly gave her water and medicine while looking at her with suspicious eyes, then carefully covered her with the blanket up to her neck again.

“You’ll feel much better after sleeping.”

Celia barely nodded at the earnest comfort.

After Anne left, Celia tried again to think about last night’s events. But nothing came to mind at all. Celia pulled the blanket over her head.

‘Was it really a dream?’

Could there be a dream this real? The man’s body that devoured her like a beast, his breathing, everything felt so vivid as if she could touch it.

Celia suddenly tore open the front of her clothes. Then she saw red marks imprinted on her snow-white skin.

“Gasp……”

Celia let out a shocked groan as she closed her clothes again.

“It wasn’t a dream…?”

Anne clearly said it was a dream. But what were these marks left on her body?

“No, no.”

It can’t be. Didn’t she hear that she came back fine? But how.

Celia tried again to piece together her memories from last night. But her thoughts couldn’t go any further. Celia eventually fell into a death-like sleep as the medicine quickly took effect.

***

It was in the middle of the night when Celia woke up again. It was partly because the effect of the medicine had worn off, but also because she kept feeling an inexplicable gaze.

Someone is here.

Celia could clearly sense this fact even with the blanket pulled over her head.

“……”

Wrapped in the soft feather blanket, Celia’s body trembled with fear that penetrated from head to toe.

There was no loud noise, nor any sign of violent movement, but someone other than herself had entered this room.

It was an unfamiliar presence, not at all like Mrs. Letten or Anne.

The strange visitor moved quietly and slowly like a snake circling its surroundings. This heightened the sense of fear even more.

Celia swallowed hard while tightly gripping the blanket. In her mind, she recited prayers diligently. Although she didn’t know if this would be of any use, it was a desperate wish for some kind of help.

Is this punishment for lying about being pregnant with the Duke’s child? Will she die without anyone knowing because of that sin? Extreme fear and guilt washed over her like a tidal wave simultaneously.

Please, just leave.

She didn’t want to know who the strange visitor was or why they had intruded. She only wished for one thing.

That they would take whatever valuable items, gold or jewels, and leave this room. Until then, she could pretend to be asleep, staying still as if she was dead. So please.

Creak.

“……”

Contrary to her desperate prayer, there was a sound of the bed creaking as one side sank heavily. The presence of the stranger that had dominated the darkness was felt right next to her. It was coming closer, slowly but threateningly.

Celia held her breath even more and listened intently. All her nerves were on high alert like a nocturnal animal. Her breathing became rough with anxiety and fear, but she covered her mouth with both hands.

What should I do?

Her head seemed to refuse to work properly, turning blank. If she screamed now, would Mrs. Letten or another maid come running? Wouldn’t it be faster for that person to kill her first before that?

I don’t want to die.

Celia prayed desperately. She didn’t want to die in a place like this, without even seeing her younger sibling’s face. As a mere nominal duchess, she wasn’t sure if she would even receive a proper funeral.

She might end her life being carried out on a cart in the dead of night, buried in a hole without anyone knowing. And her father would probably receive a certain amount of money as hush money.

That thought made her whole body shiver. In the end, after all her struggles and living with constant anxiety, this is how she would die.

As the presence drew closer, Celia’s breathing became more rapid. The sound of her heart was so loud it seemed to shake her entire body, almost deafening her ears. Now there were only two choices left. Either die at this person’s hands, or…

Rustle.

As the blanket, her only defense, was pulled down, Celia threw the pillow she had been hugging at the intruder’s face. Without even glancing to see the intruder’s reaction, she sprang up. With staggering legs, Celia got off the bed and ran madly towards the exit door.

“Ah!”

The moment she put her hand on the doorknob, Celia was helplessly caught by the intruder who had chased after her.

“Let go… mmph.”

An arm that reached out from the darkness strongly pressed against her body. The intruder who covered Celia’s mouth with his large hand threw her back onto the bed, almost lifting her up.

Celia twisted her body wildly against the man’s solid body that immediately pressed down on her. She screamed, but blocked by the intruder’s hand, only muffled sounds came out. It wasn’t a sound that the deeply sleeping servants would hear.

Meanwhile, the man’s large hand firmly grasped Celia’s br*ast.

“Hnng……”

The man’s hand that had gripped her large br*ast, seemingly measuring its size slowly began to knead it.

The intruder’s leg wedged between Celia’s legs, pressing firmly against her sensitive area. Like a fish caught on a harpoon, Celia was completely imprisoned by the man’s body.

Celia struggled with all her might. Then she bit down hard on the hand that was firmly covering her mouth.

“……”

Even though she had made her only possible act of defiance, there was no reaction from the intruder. He just exhaled deeply for a moment.

Celia froze while still biting the intruder’s hand. It was because the faint moonlight had momentarily illuminated the intruder’s face clearly.

Her mouth that had been biting his hand opened on its own. A voice filled with shock flowed out between her parted lips.

“Lord… Eugen?”

Celia looked at the man’s face revealed under the moonlight with surprised eyes.

His pitch-black hair was softly disheveled over his forehead, and beneath it, his deep blue eyes were fixed on her. A faint smile spread across the man’s lips as he looked down at her who had called his name.

“So you finally recognize me.”

At his pleased smile, Celia felt like she was going to lose her mind.

This isn’t real. It’s an illusion created by the moonlight, just a prank. If not…

“Celia.”

He called her nam, like a confirmation kill¹.

“How… no, why… what.”

All sorts of thoughts tangled together, unable to come out properly as words. Celia just kept staring at him with a dazed expression, her mouth opening and closing. A deep smile spread across Eugen’s face as he looked at her like that.

“You speak as if I came somewhere I shouldn’t have.”

Of course, it was something that shouldn’t happen. Especially at this time of night.

It was a completely different story from accidentally meeting while taking a stroll in the garden. Moreover, this intrusion…

“What kind of rudeness is this?”

Celia was finally able to speak properly.

“Why are you in my bedroom, at this hour…”

“I don’t think that’s something I should hear from a lady who willingly went to an orgy party to secretly get pregnant.”

Orgy party. Celia flinched at the explicit words that fell from his lips. It felt as if her heart had fallen and was rolling around pathetically somewhere on the floor.

“W-what do you mean, orgy party.”

She spoke while avoiding Eugen’s gaze. Then she heard a suppressed laugh before her chin was grabbed and turned back.

“Well, isn’t it? A place where you stick together with anyone you meet for the first time until you’re sore down there.”

While it was true that the masked ball was lewd, hearing it described in such terms made her feel as if she had become something terribly dirty and vulgar. Hearing it directly from Eugen’s mouth doubled the feeling of being despised.

“There’s no use pretending not to know.”

“……”

Celia realized it was useless to try to pretend otherwise.

“I, I…”

Celia trembled. It was too late to hide the truth. He seemed to know everything. This was nothing more than a confirmation after he had already thoroughly investigated.

“So, who did you have s*x with there?”

His hand stroked Celia’s flat stomach.