155. The Truth She Never Knew

Consciousness returned in the dead of night.

Adelaide struggled to determine whether her eyes were open or closed in the oppressive darkness.

‘What… happened to me?’

As she recalled the events leading up to her blackout, Adelaide fumbled for her wrist. She felt the stiff bandage wrapped around it.

When she moved her wrist without thinking, a horrific pain surged through her entire body.

“Agh…”

“Your Grace!”

Before she could even complete her groan, frantic footsteps echoed towards her. A maid’s tearful shout reached her ears as a face loomed over her.

“Are you awake? Can you recognize me?”

“…Margaret.”

Adelaide forced her voice out, though it barely came. Hearing her name, Margaret collapsed to her knees in a fit of sobs.

“Oh, thank the heavens.”

Adelaide felt embarrassed by the exaggerated reaction, but Margaret’s intense weeping prevented her from speaking further.

“Are you alright, Your Grace?”

Zatia, appearing far more composed than Margaret, asked with teary eyes.

Adelaide couldn’t decide whether to say yes or no, so she delayed her answer.

Had she… failed?

As the pocket watch vibrated and emitted a blinding light that tried to engulf her, someone burst into the room and grabbed her. That someone was…

…Callion.

Her mind cleared as if doused with cold water.

What had happened to Callion?

Desperately, she tried to rise, but the door opened at that moment.

“Your Highness, Her Grace is awake!”

Margaret’s tearful voice called out to Callion as he entered the room, stopping to look at Adelaide.

He wore an expression she had never seen before, one that spoke of a man who had given up all hope and seemed utterly despondent.

After a moment of silent staring, Callion hung his head and sighed deeply.

“I need to speak with the Duchess. Leave us for a while.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After the maids left and closed the door, Callion slowly approached the bed. His steps were heavy with burden.

As Adelaide tried to sit up, leaning on the mattress, she winced in pain. She must have strained her wounds, for her wrist throbbed.

Callion gently helped her sit up before taking a seat himself.

“…”

Silence stretched between them.

He didn’t speak, and she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

An eternity seemed to pass before Callion finally broke the silence.

“How could you do this to me?”

“…”

“Were you planning to leave me forever without a word?”

“…”

Unable to respond, Adelaide clutched at the blanket in her lap.

She had known how cruel her actions were when she went to see him in the study.

But she hadn’t anticipated being reproached by him. She had thought she would be long gone by the time he found out the truth.

“Why do you always do this? Do you never consider my feelings at all? How can anyone be so selfish?”

His voice, growing increasingly emotional, finally cracked with sobs. Startled, Adelaide looked up.

The unshakeable man was now completely broken.

She couldn’t even manage an apology and tentatively reached out to touch his tear-streaked cheek. Callion angrily grabbed her wrist.

“Do you know what I thought during the ten days you were unconscious?”

“…”

“I worried you might never wake up, that I might never see you again, and that I’d be left all alone.”

Tears fell steadily from his strong jaw. His eyes, full of reproach, still held warmth, deepening her guilt.

“You should have told me. Why did you try to handle it alone? What am I supposed to do if you disappear like that…”

His shoulders shook. He seemed unaware that he was crying, looking at her with a pained expression.

“I…”

Her voice, heavy with effort, came out jagged. Adelaide swallowed the lump of emotions in her throat.

“How could I possibly tell you that?”

“…”

“Just being near you feels like a sin. How could I possibly…”

“What are you so sorry for?”

Callion pressed her.

“That I died because of you?”

“…!”

Adelaide’s eyes widened. Her already pale complexion turned even whiter.

“How, how did, you…”

“…”

“When did you…?”

Her words came out in broken, trembling fragments. Tears welled up in her dry eyes. Callion rubbed his face, giving it a distressed look.

“……From the beginning.”

On the day Adelaide turned back time, Callion woke up at dawn, thinking he had had a disturbing dream.

All he could recall were fragmented scenes. The shattered pieces of memory were too vivid, but there was no clue to regard them as more than a dream.

It was a strange sense of déjà vu that made him realize it was not just a dream. Every time Adelaide moved, the reality that deviated from his dream strangely irritated him.

Once, twice, or three times. The more his feelings for her grew, the deeper the déjà vu became.

And then, at some point, Callion realized that the memories wandering in his mind were not dreams but reality.

It was a realization that came too late.

No matter what kind of person Adelaide was, it couldn’t be undone. He had already fallen in love with her.

With pale lips that seemed to have forgotten how to breathe due to the immense shock, she barely managed to speak.

“Even so… you didn’t hate me?”

“I hated you.”

It would be a lie to say that there was no resentment or hatred. But love came before hatred.

“And as much as I hated you, I loved you.”

He loved her, knowing everything. That’s why he couldn’t let go even more.

“How could you do that, knowing everything…?”

Adelaide asked, her expression showing she couldn’t understand. Callion looked at her confused face and bitterly smiled.

“My last memory is not of you trying to kill me, but of you trying to save me.”

Callion gently placed his hand on her tear-streaked face.

“This time too, you were recklessly trying to sacrifice yourself to save me.”

At his calm reproach, she lowered her head.

“…But in the end, I failed.”

“You didn’t fail.”

Callion denied her words.

“If I had succeeded, I wouldn’t be alive. Because I failed—.”

“I shared the cost of the spell with you.”

“…What?”

“When you cast the spell on the sacred object, it seems my blood mixed with it.”

Adelaide blankly pondered over his words.

The prerequisite for casting the spell was blood, and the price to complete it was life.

That day, she had held Callion’s bloodied hand, and with that hand, she wished upon the pocket watch.

Thus, the spell was completed with the blood of both of them.

“The moment you activated the spell again, I felt it too. That’s why I was able to save you in time.”

Finally, the puzzle pieces fit together.

“Your Highness, you… shared the price I had to pay.”

“It was a price we had to pay together.”

Callion corrected her.

Adelaide sighed and asked,

“Then the spell…”

“The sacred object is broken.”

Callion opened a drawer and took out the shattered pocket watch. The hands and internal mechanisms were so thoroughly broken that it was unrecognizable in its original form.

“According to Zatia, there are two reasons why a sacred object breaks. Either the spell is completed or it completely fails.”

“Then…”

“The spell was completed at the cost of the lives of the three of us.”

Adelaide, who had been nodding absentmindedly, suddenly stopped and stared.

“Three…?”

Callion answered with a gentle smile.

“There is a child inside you.”

“…?”

‘What did Callion just say? A child?’

Adelaide looked down at her belly.

Her flat belly looked the same as usual. She couldn’t believe his words—that a new life was growing inside her.

She hadn’t experienced the usual signs like morning sickness, nor had she felt any unusual symptoms. Though she often skipped meals due to indigestion, that was nothing new.

Moreover, Adelaide had never thought she could conceive a child.

“Th-That’s impossible. I’ve been taking Nerium leaves…”

“It’s true that Nerium leaves have contraceptive effects, but they are useless if not taken consistently.”

Callion seemed to have done thorough research, worried that there might be a problem with the child and the mother.

“The doctor said it’s been about three months.”

Three months would be around the time they set off for Tiflis.

That meant she had conceived the child, made the long round trip, killed Rosaline Harper, and completed the spell.

Callion, seeing her pale face, reassured her.

“The child is safe. But it’s not a time to be careless, so rest without any worries for now.”

Callion covered her with a fallen blanket and comforted her. But Adelaide couldn’t bring herself to be happy.

If she gave birth to the child, it would become the emperor’s heir. She wasn’t sure if she could handle that fact.

“Your Highness, I can’t possibly…”

“Shh, the child will hear you.”

Callion hushed her and gently embraced Adelaide.

“This child is a miracle for us. Thanks to this child, we are alive. The child who inherits both your blood and mine has shared the price we had to pay.”

“…”

“So, we have an obligation to make this child happy.”

Tears poured out again.

Adelaide buried her face in Callion’s chest and cried for a long time.