* * *

That night, Erica’s worries continued as she pulled the blanket back over Eric’s stomach after he had kicked it off in his sleep.

Should I stay put here for a few days?

But then I’d have to close the shop. What would we live on?

Ah, then I have to keep the shop open. If he comes again, I can sprinkle salt or throw filth at him.

“Aish!”

Suddenly overcome with anger, she jerked upright.

“Mmm……”

Erica was so blinded by rage that she didn’t even notice Eric tossing in his sleep and kicking off the blanket again.

‘Why can’t I, who’s done nothing wrong, sleep comfortably with my legs stretched out? That bastard is probably sleeping soundly after committing his sins.’

Her sharp gaze turned toward the firmly closed bedroom door. In reality, she was glaring at the front door beyond it, and at the door of the house across from hers beyond that.

Was that some kind of invitation?

Knock knock.

The faint sound of someone knocking on the front door reached her. And what followed was…

“Erica.”

That insufferable voice cautiously calling her name.

It’s Erica to you, you bastard.

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

Talking is something that happens between people. Can it work between a person and a bastard?

Erica was about to cover her ears and lie down when she hesitated.

‘How long are you going to avoid this? Wouldn’t it be better to resolve it once and for all through conversation?’

Eventually, Erica got up from the bed.

Let’s ask what he wants. And make it clear that whatever it is, he shouldn’t even dream about it.

With that resolution, she took a shawl from the closet and was about to put it on when she paused.

No, why ask? Whatever it is, he’s bound to say something shameless, so why bother listening? I should make him give up immediately.

Erica organized her thoughts as she slipped the fake wedding ring—which she had removed before bed and tossed onto the dresser—onto the ring finger of her left hand.

‘Since he seems to be lingering around after bumping into me by chance, I’ll make him give up and continue on his way.’

That would be the conclusion of the “conversation” he so desperately wanted.

“What are you doing at this late hour with such bad manners?”

As soon as she opened the door slightly, his infuriatingly handsome face appeared. Thanks to that, she didn’t need to pretend to be annoyed.

‘Ugh, even when he’s just standing there, promiscuity drips from that face. Why couldn’t I see it back then?’

Roderick was leaning casually against the wall right next to the door. As soon as his eyes met Erica’s, he straightened up to face her, wearing nothing but a thin shirt in this chilly autumn night, with half the front unfastened at that.

And what’s with those melancholy eyes?

‘My goodness, he’s trying so hard.’

Erica thrust her left hand in front of the eyes of this bastard pretending to be an abandoned puppy, with only her ring finger raised like a middle finger.

“Can’t you see this? You’re now approaching a woman with a husband……”

“Eric said you don’t have one.”

When did you pry that far into my life? The man she thought was a bear turned out to be a dog in heat, and now it seemed he was actually a cunning fox.

Then Erica would have to be an equally cunning fox. So she quickly fabricated a story to cover the gap.

“That’s because Eric doesn’t know.”

Roderick raised one of his straight eyebrows high.

“Shortly after you left, news came that your unit had been wiped out.”

Roderick tried to interject, but Erica ignored him and continued.

“You didn’t think I’d wait for a dead man, did you? Not long after, I married a blacksmith from the neighboring village who had been courting me. But that man died in a fire at the forge before autumn came. It was shortly after I became pregnant with Eric.”

Since she had actually lived in despair believing Eric’s father was dead not long after becoming pregnant with him, the sorrowful act wasn’t difficult.

“My in-laws drove me out to reduce the number of mouths to feed, and my parents did the same. They were trying to sell me to another man. So I ran away alone. That’s when I ran into you.”

And of all places, there with that woman.

My luck was truly terrible.

No, in a way, I was lucky.

“Honestly, I felt betrayed. But what could I do? I lived with another man and had a child, just like you.”

“Erica, that’s……”

“Anyway, perhaps because the timing was similar and Eric has black hair and blue eyes, you mistakenly thought he was your son, but Eric takes after my dead husband.”

Roderick’s eyes narrowed. The pupils between his increasingly sharp gaze said:

Liar.

Erica pretended not to notice and wrapped up her fake story.

“Eric doesn’t know yet that his Dad is dead. So don’t tell him. And don’t think about becoming Eric’s new dad. Even if he’s dead, the child already has a father. Anyway, what I want to say is, I’m a woman with a husband, even if he’s dead……”

Erica gripped the doorknob so she could close the door at any moment and drove the final nail into that shamelessly handsome face before her.

“Eric is not your child.”

She was about to close the door after saying everything she needed to say, but as expected, Roderick grabbed the door to stop her.

“Erica, don’t be like this. Listen to my story.”

“I’m not interested in your story. Stop this and leave. Do you want your fingers broken?”

As if his fingers would break. Erica was about to be flung to the opposite side of the living room.

Roderick was merely holding the door with one hand, but Erica, who was putting her full weight into closing it, was sliding backward as if she’s doing some kind of door-dance in place.

While Erica struggled to close the door, Roderick essentially bought time to speak.

“I know how I must have looked in your eyes that day.”

“If you know so well, why are you being so clingy? Ah, you have a brain but no conscience?”

Roderick made a face like someone who had been stabbed in the heart. Why are you making that expression? Do you have the right to feel hurt? Erica gritted her teeth even harder.

“I didn’t just play with you for one night and throw you away.”

“Aha, so now you’re trying to pick me up again to play with me? Then it would be playing with me twice and throwing me away, so I guess I was wrong. Right?”

“Erica, you’re misunderstanding right now.”

“Misunderstanding?”

At this outrageous word, Erica suddenly let go of the doorknob and stood straight.

“Fine.”

Go ahead, clear up that misunderstanding.

“Then are you saying the child that woman bore is not yours?”

“……”

It was an incredibly simple question. Yet Roderick couldn’t answer for quite some time.

At first, he turned pale as if he had been given a life-or-death riddle. Then, as he opened his mouth to say something, he suddenly clutched his left chest, bent over, and furrowed his brow.

Like someone having a heart attack.

Since he didn’t collapse even after waiting, it probably wasn’t a heart attack.

‘What kind of act is he putting on now?’

After a long while of this, Roderick finally closed his mouth without saying anything and just looked at Erica desperately. As if begging for the mercy of withdrawing this difficult question.

“Erica, please ask me something else.”

What is this?

She started to get annoyed.

“Is it your child or not? Answer me straight without lying.”

“The child is……”

Finally, a word escaped his lips but was immediately cut off. As if trying to catch the tail of words that had escaped on their own. Roderick looked like someone fighting against something.

And in the end, the answer he barely squeezed out of his constricted throat was…

“Yes.”

Erica blankly stared at Roderick’s face, which was breathing heavily and becoming colored with despair, then snorted.

“Then what misunderstanding are you talking about? I know exactly what’s going on. You’re the one who’s misunderstanding. That girl is indeed your child, and Eric is not your child.”

Slam.

Erica closed the door firmly and locked it while he was still dazed. She could hear his voice calling her again from behind the door, but she ignored it and walked to the bedroom.

Does he not know the definition of misunderstanding?

If that child is his, then he did sleep with that woman. That means all of Erica’s assumptions were correct, so what was wrong?

“Erica, don’t be like this. Listen to my story.”

What would change if I listened? Would the past magically disappear? Would it make it so you didn’t betray me?

All the wounds would remain the same.

Perhaps they would only fester more.

Erica collapsed onto the bed. Then she pulled the child, who had somehow managed to lie upside down, into her arms.

Like she’s asking him to breathe a sigh of relief onto his wounded mother’s chest.

‘Resolving it once and for all through conversation, yeah right……’

Conversation was foolish. Who knew it would be so worthless?

‘I’m never talking to you again.’