Whose Child Belongs to the Emperor - Chapter 4 Volume 2 (Prologue)

Chapter 4 Volume 2 (Prologue)

Warning: “Spoiler Ahead”. Please finish reading the previous volume first before reading this chapter. 

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It was only a few days later that Alaina Salvatore requested a private audience with Leonard.

It was also the day after the maid he had brought from Marquis Evan had died while being questioned.

When Alaina entered the study, she had the same vacant expression as when she came with Marquis Salvatore. Leonard gestured for her to sit and opened his mouth with a stern face.

“What brings you to ask for my presence?”

“I have come to deliver a message from my father; please dismiss the servants.”

Her voice was unfamiliar and calm, creating an uneasy atmosphere. Even the attendants exchanged glances among themselves.

“Step aside.”

Leonard spoke with a cold expression.

With the absence of the Empress, being alone with Alaina, who was once his fiancée, could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings. Moreover, rumors were circulating that Alaina, who had returned shortly after the Empress was dethroned, might be reinstated as Empress.

He didn’t want to entertain the misconception that he harbored feelings for her.

“State your business briefly and leave.”

As the door closed, Leonard said it coldly. However, when Alaina burst into laughter as if finding it amusing, his rigid eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Can’t you speak more kindly? You used to treat me somewhat kindly in the past.”

The scene was different from when she came with Marquis Salvatore to the study. The lively eyes, the smiling face, and the powerful voice were the same.

“What?”

“I’ve been through a lot since I ran away from home, and as you can see, I’m pretty much dead, so I’m trying not to go against my father again.”

Alaina spoke, brushing away her red hair, reminiscent of her father.

She had been putting on an act the whole time. The stunned, lethargic demeanor, the frightened slump of her shoulders.

Finally feeling a bit relieved, Leonard’s expression softened slightly.

“What about the words that you wanted to be reinstated as Empress?”

“What kind of marriage is it among siblings? I ran away because I didn’t want to marry the Emperor. You know that, don’t you?”

Even though she had openly expressed her disgust, Leonard’s expression wasn’t favorable.

Certainly, he didn’t find her rejection uncomfortable, and he had no desire to marry her.

“Your father is Marquis Salvatore, and mine is the late Emperor Sunhwang. How could we become siblings?”

It was a warning not to mention being siblings again.

If he was so confident, he could make her Empress without hesitation.

Despite covering his eyes and pretending to be indifferent, Alaina didn’t want to think that she misunderstood his feelings.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. It was something I blurted out without realizing because of my father’s nonsense. Please forgive me generously.”

“What brings you here?”

Leonard brought up the main topic without showing any discomfort. Only now does Alaina remember why she came.

“I heard that Lady Evan has run away.”

He didn’t know she would bring up that story.

Leaning on a table, Leonard hesitated for a moment but nodded.

It was an affirmation. Alaina asked without answering.

“Did the maid who was confined in the Marquis’s mansion die?”

Bringing the maid back from the Marquise’s mansion had been done in secret, but he was not surprised to learn that she had already escaped.

“I ordered an interrogation, but she refused to talk, and the interrogator mistakenly tortured her, thinking she was another criminal. Whether it was a genuine mistake or your father’s doing, I’m not sure.”

“I’m sure it was my father. A maid had tried and failed to drug Lady Tenere, and he thought that if she kept him alive, she might one day speak.”

“What do you mean, a drug?”

Leonard narrowed his eyes. Alaina saw his usually composed face twist.

It was a facial expression she hadn’t seen during their engagement five years ago.

All she remembered from that time was his consistently drawn smile.

“……Yes.

Alaina glanced at him impatiently, then opened her mouth and told him the story of her father and the knight.

As he listened, Leonard’s expression changed from moment to moment.

Anger, nervousness, and seemingly uncontrollable glee flashed across his clean-shaven face.

After a long moment of silence, he spoke up.

“Are you saying that the empress is pregnant?”

“It’s just my speculation.”

Alaina replied nonchalantly, but she quickly realized that the Emperor still referred to Tenere as the Empress.

And Leonard sat there, dumbfounded, as if he’d been punched in the face, unaware of what he’d called her.

She had a child.

My child