Pregnancy for a Successor - Chapter 37

“It seems there was some misunderstanding.”

“But you… to me……”

Not knowing where or how to argue, Celia just opened and closed her mouth.

“It doesn’t seem right to hear complaints from a woman who, after claiming to be carrying my father’s seed, went to an orgy party to conceive the seed of some unknown man.”

Celia felt a chill run down her spine at his words, spoken with a gentle smile.

“Celia.”

Eugen leaned in, placing his hand on the wall next to Celia. She desperately tried to twist her body away, just before he could touch her. He was a man she didn’t want to be in contact with at all.

“Such a beastly, cunning, and gloomy……”

“I’ve taught you so much, yet you’re back to square one. It seems I’ll have to teach you again.”

As Eugen let out a short sigh, Celia felt as if every hair on her body was standing on end.

“So, are you done with what you wanted to say?”

“Wh-what?”

Celia looked at him with incredulous eyes. He easily took the button from Celia’s hand and smiled.

“Then it seems it’s my turn now.”

“……”

Celia stared at Eugen with blank eyes. He, strangely enough, looked at her with a relaxed expression before speaking.

“…I was too busy with the funeral to notice, but Miss Celia, you weren’t officially married to my father yet.”

“What do you mean?”

The man returned to the desk, tossed down some documents with a thud, and rubbed his temples.

“……”

It took Celia a long time to understand his words.

“What did you say?”

“I said you and my father weren’t officially married.”

“What…?”

“What do you think?”

Celia shrank back as she looked at the family register Eugen had thrown down.

“That… that can’t be. I……”

“Did you mix bodies with my father without even properly registering the marriage?”

“……”

“That’s commonly called adultery.”

“What, no, no. I absolutely……”

“Then what is this?”

Eugen gestured with his chin towards the documents on the table.

“My father’s register is this clean. Not a single woman has been added since my mother’s death. Including you, who’s sitting in front of me.”

“That, that can’t be.”

“We’ve already registered the marriage, so having a child as soon as possible by consummating is the priority. That wedding ceremony nonsense……”

Andro’s words echoed in her ears. So he had deceived her? No, she had been foolish not to check the proper documents herself.

“I, I……”

“Are you saying you didn’t know?”

“No. It’s absolutely not, this… to me clearly……”

“Did you hear that the marriage registration was completed?”

“……”

“The person who said that is already lying in a coffin, so the one who’s lying……”

Celia looked at Eugen, her face pale.

“Has become impossible to determine.”

Words like a death sentence fell.

“There must be… some mistake. Otherwise……”

“Isn’t there clear evidence right here?”

Celia’s eyes frantically scanned the table. Even after pulling it under the black veil and looking at it several times, it was the same.

“Miss Celia is neither the Duchess of Hilbert nor my stepmother, but merely… a woman who committed adultery with my father.”

Slip.

The document slid from Celia’s hand.

“A woman with no relation to the Hilbert family pretended to be the wife at the funeral and even entered the cemetery where only blood relatives are allowed. Do you know how serious a crime this is?”

“……”

Celia couldn’t say a word, as if her mouth was glued shut. There was nothing wrong with what he was saying. There was nothing left to prove that she had come to this mansion as the Duke’s wife.

“And one more thing.”

This time, Eugen held up a different envelope of documents.

“This contains the doctor’s report from my father’s autopsy.”

“……”

Celia felt chills run down her spine at his words.

“Autopsy…?”

“Something seemed off, so we took out the remains again the day after the body was laid to rest.”

“……”

At Eugen’s following words, Celia felt as if her heart had dropped.

“It seems you’ve already guessed what I’m about to say.”

His lips twisted cruelly.

“You clearly said that you consummated with my father and found him dead only in the morning.”

“Yes, clearly, that’s clearly what happened.”

She tried to speak calmly, but it was difficult to hide her voice trembling like an out-of-tune string on a stringed instrument.

“But this says he died much earlier… around the time of the consummation. There’s testimony from Mrs. Letten who guided you to the bridal chamber, so you can’t deny this.”

“That’s, I……”

Celia looked at Eugen. The eyes of the man who used to come and embrace her every night were gone, replaced only by a cold gaze. Celia opened her trembling lips and spoke the truth.

“I thought I might be framed as the Duke’s murderer. I was afraid of suddenly being accused of murder……”

Even as she muttered blankly, Celia found it difficult to understand what she was saying. Her mind was so jumbled that it was hard to think straight. Then, with a sudden realization, she collapsed in front of him.

“Let me, let me go. Please. Okay?”

“That’s not possible.”

A cruel smile spread across his lips.

“This child has Hilbert blood flowing through it. Even if it’s not a child conceived in a formal marriage……”

His large hand began to rub her belly as if it might cut into the flesh at any moment.

“Isn’t that right? Duchess of Hilbert.”

Seeing him speak so coldly, Celia was completely taken aback.

“Is that… so important?”

“Of course it is.”

“Let go, you beast! I shouldn’t have accepted your proposal from the beginning.”

She struggled, but it was difficult to escape his embrace. Instead, she ended up being tightly bound and embraced.

“It’s already too late.”

“I, I can’t do this. This is madness. It was nonsense from the start. It shouldn’t have been like this, but I was blinded by money……”

Celia screamed, tearing at her hair. The sound she let out reverberated, creating an eerie echo. It was like the cry of a banshee.

He was just a man who had poured his seed, neither her husband nor her lover. Their relationship had essentially ended the moment life had taken root in her womb.

“So let me go. I, I don’t need any of this. I don’t need anything. I’ll go far away and live in hiding.”

“Then what about this child?”

“……”

Celia was momentarily at a loss for words.

“Surely you’re not thinking of getting rid of it?”

He dared to speak with a smiling voice, but there wasn’t a trace of a smile on his face.

“That, that’s……”

“If you’re thinking of doing that, I’ll rip it out right now and throw it in your face.”

“How can you say such……”

Chills ran down her spine. Everything he said was terrifyingly horrific.

“I, I’ll raise it, I will.”

“Where? With your drunk father and sick sister by your side? With what money do you plan to raise it? Education? Medical?”

Faced with his relentless questions, Celia, at a loss for words, could only stare at Eugen.

“It’s also not acceptable to raise Hilbert’s seed as someone else’s child.”

A smile appeared on his lips.

“Eugen, please……”

“I don’t want to take the child away from its mother. Of course, you should raise it.”

His expression was something utterly inscrutable.

“Here in this mansion. As the Duchess of Hilbert.”

“No, no……”

Celia’s face contorted.

“Since you weren’t married, the child in your womb is now illegitimate. What to do……”

Eugen frowned as if troubled.

“We can’t ask for a marriage registration with someone who’s already passed away……”

At his strangely drawn-out words, Celia suddenly raised her head.

“Actually, I, I didn’t… do anything with your father.”

Her trembling voice echoed in her throat. Hearing those words, his eyes brightened and he tilted his head.