“Wh-Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Damn it, why now of all times!”
Samon bit his lip until it bled.
The betrothal to the 4th Imperial Princess was currently being negotiated. What would people think of him if they found out he was part of a fake pregnancy scheme?
With his marriage to the 4th Imperial Princess becoming a major topic, if his relationship with Mariyu were discovered—and worse, if it were revealed that he had impregnated two women at once—this lifeline he had barely managed to find would be severed.
Who would believe the sincere heart of a man who wavered between two women?
Specifically, if the Emperor of Kazen found out that the scoundrel who impregnated his daughter had also impregnated another woman, he might roast Samon alive.
He had just managed to grab a rope to escape this hell, and Mariyu was about to set that rope on fire.
*‘Absolutely not! I can’t let that happen.’*
Grinding his teeth, Samon reached through the bars again and yanked her wrist toward him.
“Ack—! It hurts!”
Ignoring Mariyu’s cry of pain, his eyes glinted with a murderous light, like a wolf’s.
He leaned closer to the bars, ensuring no one else in the prison could hear. Then, he whispered lowly.
“Get rid of it. I don’t need it.”
“What?”
Mariyu was appalled. She doubted her ears.
*‘It can’t be. He wouldn’t—’*
“W-What do you mean? You misspoke, right? I… I misheard you, didn’t I?”
Samon crushed Mariyu’s desperate attempt at rationalization and intimidated her.
“I won’t say it twice. Get rid of that brat. Unless you want to die.”
“Samon!”
She hadn't misheard.
A look of shock and betrayal flashed through Mariyu’s eyes.
As soon as she announced her pregnancy—without congratulations or joy—the first words she heard from her lover and the father of her child were to get rid of it.
“Strictly speaking, how do I even know that child is really mine? You’re a lowly maid; how am I supposed to know who else you’ve slept with? Do you think just insisting it’s my seed makes it so?”
Samon glared at Mariyu as if he wanted to kill her.
Far from feeling joy, rage boiled within him at the sight of her stupid face.
“How dare a vulgar wench try to hold me back without a shred of shame.”
“H-How can you say that! I… I only have you!”
The man insulting her felt like a total stranger to Mariyu.
Where was the warm lover who used to breathe hotly and whisper sweet words of love into her ear?
“You said you loved me. You said I was the only one. You said you would marry me!”
At Mariyu’s anguished cry, Samon brushed his gaunt face irritably. He made no effort to hide his annoyance.
“Ha, have you lost your mind? How can you take words said in the heat of the moment so seriously? Were you always this stupid?”
“I… I’ll tell the Duke and Duchess as well. They will want this child; they will scold you!”
Her eyes moved past the man toward Hoakin and Catherine, who were lying slumped over, weakened by hunger.
“Do you think those people have the mental state to listen to your useless prattle right now?”
Samon barked irritably.
“And that’s only if you hadn't done something so foolish. I told you clearly. You were supposed to be my cousin’s most cherished maid. You, Mariyu, were supposed to know everything that bitch Medeia was doing and thinking.”
His dry, sunken black eyes glared at her.
“From the moment you failed to report properly on Medeia, you already let go of my hand.”
“No, Samon. Absolutely not. I only have you.”
Mariyu collapsed at Samon’s feet. She shook her head convulsively.
But to Samon, who was now clinging to the 4th Imperial Princess, Mariyu was merely an extra burden that needed to be discarded quickly.
“Samon, you love me too. Please, Samon. Don’t do this!”
“Please, just get lost!”
Samon kicked at Mariyu to shake her off as she clung to him.
*CRASH!*
“Aaaagh!”
He kicked the bars so hard that the basket of food overturned, and Mariyu fell back in shock at the loud noise.
“Argh! Damn it! Because of you, not a single thing is working out!”
Samon, who was starving and acting solely on temper, lacked any finesse. Clutching his broken toe after kicking the iron bars with all his might, he screamed.
“You there! What’s going on! What’s all this noise?!”
In the distance, the sound of startled jailers approaching reached them.
Samon clutched his broken big toe and glared at Mariyu with eyes full of killing intent.
Mariyu’s eyes trembled with shock and terror.
The cunning eyes scanning her and her stomach as if she were an inanimate object felt like they belonged to a man she had never loved.
“Mariyu.”
“N-No….”
A chill ran down her spine. Mariyu began to back away slowly.
Then, she barely managed to stand up and fled in a panic, cradling her stomach.
“……”
Samon did not take his cold, heartless gaze off her retreating back.
***
The Baldina Prison, after Mariyu had fled in a hurry.
“Uncle.”
Raju Count visited the place secretly once again. It was to meet Samon.
A look of joy spread across Samon’s face, as if he had never been angry.
“It is done. The Baldina Royal Family has reached an agreement. They have decided to let your family go alive. Once you get to Kazen, there will be a new opportunity.”
“But even if we go to Kazen, won’t it be discovered soon? Since it’s a pregnancy created by fake medicine, it will be exposed if a physician other than the divine doctor examines her.”
At Samon’s point, Raju patted his shoulder boisterously.
“Do not worry. Would your godfather move so carelessly? I have already thought of a plan.”
Raju intended to bribe the Princess’s maid again to give the 4th Imperial Princess another dose of medicine.
To make her bleed briefly and stage a fake miscarriage.
“The road back from Baldina to Kazen is famously rugged. Who would look for evidence if a Princess, exhausted by a harsh return journey through the wilderness, lost her child?”
Raju spread his arms, a smirk curling his lips.
“Of course, you’ll face some suspicion, but it’s more than enough as a price for preserving your life. You can endure that, can’t you?”
Samon nodded slyly.
“Of course. I’ve secured the position of the 4th Imperial Princess’s consort; what is there that I cannot endure?”
“Hahaha, yes. Truly befitting of royal blood. But what happened to your foot?”
The joy was short-lived; at Raju’s curious question, Samon bit the inside of his cheek.
After a moment of silence and deliberation, he stepped closer to Raju. Then, he whispered secretly.
“……Uncle, something has come up that requires your hand.”
After hearing the whole story, Raju Count sighed and nodded.
“Dear, that is a headache. Very well. I shall take care of both of them on this end.”
“Yes, I leave it to you.”
Though he had removed the final possibility of danger, Samon’s heart felt a bit heavy.
*‘To think I have to kill my real child for the sake of a fake one that doesn't even exist……. Damn it…….’*
As Mariyu said, their family valued bloodlines immensely.
If the situation hadn't been pushed into such a corner, he would have found a way to save the child somehow.
But right now, there was no other choice.
*‘I can always have more children.’*
Samon shook his head, trying his best to suppress his heavy heart.
Once he reached Kazen, a smooth path would lie before him.
He had no intention of being a fool who gave up his future because he was bound by a fleeting connection.
***
The Princess’s Palace of Baldina.
It was a time when deep darkness had fallen and everyone was in a deep sleep.
Inside the shabbiest room in the corridor where the maids' quarters were connected, several hushed noises leaked out occasionally.
*Rattle. Rustle.* Every drawer was open, and belongings were being rummaged through.
“He’s crazy, he’s gone mad. How…… how could Samon……”
Even as she stammered incessantly, Mariyu did not stop her hands from packing her bags.
“I have to run away. I can’t stay here……”
There was nothing Samon, trapped in prison and facing execution, could do.
However, Mariyu could not forget those murderous eyes glaring at her in the darkness.
But Samon wasn't the only reason she was trying to flee.
“The Princess…… won’t leave me be.”
Mariyu shivered as she recalled the memory.
In the evening, as the sun was setting as usual, Mariyu headed to her room, dragging her swollen legs.
*Creeeeeak.* The door opened.
In the small, old room smelling of wood, she suppressed a yawn.
“Haaa.”
“You’re late, Mariyu.”
In an instant, Mariyu froze.
Beside the window where the sunset glowed red, the Princess was sitting.
Mariyu tried to turn around and leave immediately, but *click-clack*, the doorknob only spun uselessly.
*Slide.* A chair was pulled back. Mariyu stared at the Princess with fearful eyes as she stood up and approached.
“What are you doing here?”
Mariyu’s voice was full of wariness.
She looked up at Medeia with terrified eyes.
“Don’t be so wary. I only wanted to talk with you again, Mariyu.”
Contrary to her gentle tone, Medeia was expressionless.
“There is something you haven't told me, isn't there?”
The moment she realized those green eyes were directed toward her stomach, she retreated haltingly.
Involuntarily, her hands covered her stomach. As if trying to protect the child from Medeia.
“I—I have the bloodline of the Claudio Duke Family in my body!”
“Dear, Mariyu. You shouldn't say that.”
Medeia let the corner of her mouth curl up.
“Knowing how much I hate my uncle’s house, the words 'Claudio’s blood' are poison.”
“The—the royal bloodline!”
Mariyu hurriedly corrected her words.
“If you try to harm the child, I—I won’t stand for it, no matter if you're Her Highness. I’ll run to the Queen Dowager and tell her that Her Highness Medeia is trying to kill even an unborn child.”
Though she stammered in fear of Medeia, she bared her tiny teeth until the very end.
Like a cornered mouse showing aggression to protect itself.
“……”
However, Medeia only stared down at Mariyu.
“S-So, the thought of harming this child—”
When Mariyu, unable to withstand the pressure of that gaze, moved her lips, the Princess let the corner of her mouth lift.
“Mariyu, Mariyu.”
A kind and gentle voice, calling her name repeatedly, descended upon her.
“Do you think you can avoid me by hiding behind Grandmother? Poor thing, you still don’t know me.”
Mariyu’s face turned white.
