“Hm? Celia… share yourself with me too.”

“……”

While trying to steel herself not to fall for her husband’s suddenly pleading tone, Celia inhaled sharply at the sensation of him gently prodding her insides with softened movements.

“Hm?”

It wasn’t easy to ignore her husband as he repeatedly asked, meeting her eyes. In the end, it was she who raised the white flag.

“Then, just… the left side…”

It was, so to speak, half permission. He frowned as if displeased but soon nodded with a smile. After all, he could soon obtain the other half of the permission.

“Alright. Just half.”

He took the br*east that was now his share into his mouth and smiled, rolling it with his tongue.

“I’ll take… just half.”

For now. Eugen swallowed the rest of his words and smiled like a snake.

At that sight, Celia felt an ominous premonition rise but forcibly suppressed it. Surely, she thought, he wouldn’t try to take away the remaining half that belonged to the child.

Celia’s eyes wandered in the air as Eugen laid her back. The clothes that had been hanging around her waist were already stripped off and lying on the floor, and the same was true for Eugen’s state.

The second time proceeded more intimately and teasingly. Eugen, mounting his wife’s body, soon began to conquer her again.

Finally having obtained everything he wanted, the man allowed his wife to rest comfortably, if only temporarily.

Suddenly, his eyes fell on the fish tank placed by the window. Everything from the aquatic plants to the single pebble inside had been carefully chosen and created by him.

A world made beautiful, peaceful, and perfect in every way.

It was enough for his wife to be in it.

The sight of his wife, having exhausted all her energy, falling asleep in his arms with soft breaths was incomparably beautiful and noble.

It was the smile of a woman, infinitely happy, carrying the heir of the man she loved.

<Pregnancy for a Successor> Fin.

Side Story. Eugen von Hilbert

“Eu, Eugen…”

A tear-filled cry burst from the lips of the noble and dignified Duchess Hilbert, originally the duke’s daughter, Violetta.

Before her stood her son, Eugen, who had just turned eight years old.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“……”

Eugen gave no answer to his mother’s question. He merely maintained his silence with calm eyes.

“Even though it’s come to this, why didn’t you tell Mom?”

Violetta’s blue eyes shook uncontrollably. Eugen was shirtless. His upper body, revealed before Violetta’s eyes, was covered in bruises. The long, drawn-out marks resembled traces of torture.

When Violetta heard that Eugen was refusing to undress despite it being time for his bath, she called her son to scold him and noticed something strange.

In the end, after forcibly removing his clothes, she was confronted with this devastating sight.

“Huh? Eugen. Why on earth…”

“There’s no need to worry.”

The son was mature beyond his young age.

“Did Andro do this?”

“……”

“Your stepfather, did he do this?”

Eugen neither denied nor confirmed. He simply watched his mother’s face crumple like wet paper while silently putting his clothes back on.

“I won’t let this slide, absolutely not.”

Violetta rose with a face that had lost all reason.

“Please don’t, Mother.”

It was the young son who calmed his agitated mother.

“Eugen?”

Violetta looked down at him with disbelieving eyes.

“You’re telling me to endure even though it’s come to this?”

“……”

“When Father accepted that man as my husband, he made one promise. It was to treat you, you who were in my womb, as his own child.”

Violetta’s tear-filled voice pierced Eugen’s ears.

“But to do this to you, I never thought…”

Eugen’s maternal grandfather and Violetta’s father, Duke Hilbert, was enraged when he learned that his only daughter had become pregnant out of wedlock with a poor man. What angered him even more was that the man had died.

When his daughter, whom he had raised preciously after losing his wife early, was on the verge of becoming an unwed mother and having her reputation plummet, he came up with one solution.

He decided to marry his daughter off to Andro, who had been earnestly courting Violetta for some time. He was the third son of a count’s family, far from inheriting a title.

In the end, Duke Hilbert married Violetta to Andro, passed on his title to him, and then passed away.

“I agreed not to have any other children. That was my promise with your grandfather.”

It was, so to speak, a relationship with clear give and take. Thanks to his wife, Andro became the heir to the duke’s family that he couldn’t have even dreamed of, but he couldn’t fill that succession with his own blood.

Because that’s what he had promised.

Even if he had children with other women, the right of succession was granted only to Eugen, who was born from Violetta’s body.

It was also a clause for Violetta, who could no longer become pregnant after giving birth to Eugen due to a difficult delivery.

On the surface, they were a perfect couple. Andro cherished and loved Violetta, and he treated Eugen, who was publicly known as his own child, with utmost affection in front of Violetta. Violetta realized too late that this was a trap and shed tears.

***

“Are you already prepared?”

An excited voice echoed in the bridal chamber.

“Come here and sit down. Even if it’s a ceremony for an heir, we can have this much romance, right?”

His voice was already hoarse, apparently drunk.

“Why, are you shy to show yourself? I’ll close my eyes. I’ll love you for a long time in bed anyway…”

Andro poured wine into a glass until it overflowed and brought it to his lips.

“Come here. Sit here. The night is long. Have a drink… Huh!”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Y-You.”

Andro’s face turned as white as a skull when he saw Eugen sitting in front of him.

“When, when did you come, no, more than that, what insolence is this.”

“I’m disappointed. Is that all you have to say to a son you haven’t seen in a long time?”

“Get out! Get out right now! How dare you, do you know where this is.”

“Am I somewhere I shouldn’t be? As far as I know, there’s nowhere in this mansion I can’t go.”

“Hmph, the son of a woman who defiled her body before marriage, a dirty bastard who doesn’t even know who his father is.”

“What does it matter? It’s a position that will come to me anyway.”

“You think I’ll hand it over willingly? Right now, the Duke of Hilbert is not your grandfather, but me, Andro von Hilbert. If I don’t pass it on, that’s the end of it.”

“Are you saying you’ll break the promise you made before the marriage?”

When Eugen asked with a smiling face, Andro gnashed his teeth and shouted.

“That musty old contract… what do I care. It’s already a thing of the past. The old man is dead, and your wanton mother is dead too.”

“Even if people die, contracts are eternal. The promise you made with Grandfather should be kept even after death.”

“No matter how much you struggle, it’s useless. While you were gone, this mansion, no, everything of the Hilbert dukedom became completely mine. It’s rather fortunate that your mother got scared and sent you abroad to hide…”

Andro started to cackle as if he found it amusing.

“Just wait. Soon, a sibling will be born. My child who will succeed me and become the heir to the Hilbert dukedom.”

“Without a single drop of Hilbert blood mixed in, how dare you speak of succession.”

Eugen’s voice dropped chillingly.

“I am Hilbert!”

Bang, the wine glass that Andro slammed down violently shattered and fell to the floor. The red liquid soaked Andro’s hand and began to flow down, staining the carpet red.

“I, none other than I, am Hilbert. I am Hilbert! No one can deny it!”

“If you’re so righteous, why are you trying to consummate with a bride in secret in the middle of the night?”

“……”

“Isn’t this remarriage after 10 years of losing your wife? It seems you’ve had enough time to mourn your wife, so you could bring in a new wife openly. Why are you trying to have this thief’s wedding?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Isn’t it because of the condition Mother set?”

“……”

“Isn’t it because Mother set the condition that if you marry within 10 years after her death, all titles and property would be reclaimed?”