Chapter 8

It was Rachel Halston.

She was sitting in the reception room as if she were the owner of the place, and Psyche involuntarily frowned at her.

“Madam!”

Sitting on the edge of the sofa with her back leaning over and her legs stretched out to the side made her didn’t look lie to be a cultured noble lady.

She looked at Psyche and stood up quickly.

“I was expecting Clint to e, but I didn’t expect his wife to e.”

Psyche raised his eyebrows again at the words and lowered them.

“Call him Duke Valentine here.”

“Yes?”

“This means that you should not use the Duke’s name in the public eye.”

“Ah! Oh. I have been rude.”

Psyche, ignoring Rachel laughing ​​with embarrassment, sat down on the sofa opposite her. Like it or not, she was already tired of having to deal with this woman until Clint came.

“Oh, I brought precious tea leaves as a gift for my visit. I was planning on giving it to Duke Clint, but since his wife is here, shall we have a cup of tea together?”

Rachel, who was the first to notice the awkwardness between the two of them, smiled and reached for something. Psyche made a rough motion to the servant standing next to her. Then one of the standing servants took what Rachel had given her.

The two sat awkwardly facing each other. It was Rachel who broke the strange silence first.

“You are very lucky, Madam.”

“Am I lucky? Me?”

Her husband is trying to kill he. She wasn’t lucky at all. Psyche looked at her with a smirk. Rachel continued without hesitation.

“That, have you heard the rumors about Count Baisek?”

When Psyche just stared at her without answering, she continued.

“Well, it seems that Count Baisek brought a woman from somewhere. I’m not sure if he just let her in, but she kicked out the Countess and her son. I’ll get her a job with the government. Furthermore, the right to succeed to her son’s title was also taken away. It’s really absurd, isn’t it?”

Psyche just shook her head, wondering why she had said this to her.

“I guess men must be like that. If you go crazy in love, you can’t recognize your child and wife. But the Duke is not like that so you don’t need to be worried about that. I envy you.”

Rachel laughed exaggeratedly. Psyche was perplexed, not knowing what to say, but a simple refreshment table arrived just in time. Soon, a teacup filled with tea from Rachel’s tender tea leaves was placed in front of them.

The light green tea water fluttered transparently. Rachel glanced at Psyche for a moment and then quickly raised the teacup in front of her.

“Um… It smells so good!”

Rachel was making a fuss alone, smelling the scent of the tea she had brought. After all, she was a guest, so Psyche sighed again, picked up the teacup, and covered her mouth with the other hand, startled by the unpleasant smell,

“Huh?”

Rachel looked at Psyche with her eyes wide open while savoring the scent.

“This…”

Psyche put the teacup down aloud, not knowing that she was grimacing so much.

It was Zavia tea leaves.

‘Maybe this woman… ‘

Zavia leaf is not good for pregnant women. Psyche pushed the teacup away as she struggled with nausea that caused her to want to vomit. Rachel looked a little embarrassed.

“The leaves of the Zavia tree… Pregnant women like me, ugh…”

Finally, she couldn’t help but groan and put a napkin to cover her mouth.

“This… what happened?”

An unfamiliar voice rang between them. Clint, who appeared just in time, saw Psyche’s pale face and strode into the reception room.

When Psyche saw Clint, she felt relieved that she did not have to stay in the reception room, so she jumped up and stood up. It was because she wanted to leave as soon as possible from this place filled with the disgusting smell of zavia leaves.

“Are you all right? Rachel. What else have you done?”

Clint looked at Psyche carefully. She waved her hand roughly, covering her mouth with one hand, feeling like she was about to open her mouth. It was rather her saying that she would go.

“Ugh.”

Psyche stepped aside from the table. Rachel suddenly shouted at Clint who was trying to support Psyche.

“What are you doing… Clint, no, Duke. Do you know how expensive this tea is?”

Rachel said with a sad face.

“Don’t say anything weird, sit here. Wife, wife. Are you all right?”

Clint, who roughly criticized Rachel, supported Psyche.

He personally carried her to the bedroom.

Her head was dizzy, she couldn’t walk properly, and she was out of her mind, so Psyche lay in bed without knowing how she got to the bedroom.

“I’ve called the physician.”

“Ah…”

She felt like the tense vision had found returned as the smell faded when she lay down.

Psyche took a deep breath with her gaze fixed on the ceiling. Cold sweat was forming on her forehead.

She thought she’d buy some time. She said helplessly to Clint, who stood next to her with a worried expression.

“Lady Halston will be waiting for you. Go ahead. It’ll be all right to have the physician here.”

Psyche urged him to go quickly.

“No. I’ll wait for the physician’s report… You’ve been collapsing a lot lately, and you don’t appear to be in good health, so I’m concerned about the child.”

Psyche made a deflating laugh at him.

“Yes. It’s a big deal if something goes wrong with the child.”

“Yes. So I hope you don’t overdo it. Why don’t you skip the next banquet? I will write to Her Majesty the Empress and request for her understanding.”

Psyche was startled by those words and jumped up, only to fall back down because her head was spinning.

“Ah…”

“Be careful!”

“That… I will go to the banquet.”

“Do you have to go?”

Of course. She doesn’t have a chance to run away unless it’s then.

After trying to hide her thoughts, Psyche said with a smile.

“When I have a child… I can’t move around for a long time and I have to stay at home. I think it will be my last outing…”

At that, Clint made a worried face and then nodded.

“I hadn’t thought of that. But I can’t acpany you, so you must bring Alexa.”

“Alexa?”

“The physician has arrived.”

Despite the fact that she stated that she disliked escort knights. However, she was unable to continue the conversation due to the arrival of the physician before she could even argue with him.

***

“How long were these symptoms last?”

The physician examined Psyche’s body carefully and asked.

“Symptoms… It was never repeated.”

“I’m glad to hear that. You may have a very weak premature birth, but you’ll be fine if you continue to rest.”

“Premature?”

“Yes. It is preferable not to wander around, to walk as little as possible, and to lie down as much as possible. I’ll make sure you have fresh herbs every evening.”

“…”

Psyche felt lucky that Clint left the bedroom after the physician came in.

If Clint had been here, she really would have been stuck and lying in bed.

Let alone a banquet, she was sure she won’t be able to get around.

“All right, get out.”

She let the physician go and caressed her stomach. In the meantime, she has maintained a healthy state, but the sudden change was most likely caused by her constant exposure to the Zavia leaves.

So she wasn’t concerned. She assumed it was a one-time occurrence. Rather, it was more pressing to pay for living expenses after running away.

She thought over and over, and it felt stuffy inside, so she went for a short walk outside. The Duke said he would reconsider, and Alexa stopped staying by her side one day. Of course, there were other conditions attached.

Back from the ball and the next day. The Duke called her.

“I want to be alone until I give birth.”

The Duke sighed as Psyche asked with sad eyes.

“All right. Let me fix it. But when a child is born, there is absolutely no promise. Wife. Please understand that this is all for my wife and children.”

“… All right.”

This made Psyche alone again. The air outside was fresh after a long time. She went to her usual walking spot in the garden. Her favorite spot was the garden, which was close to the main gate.

The afternoon sun, which was just setting, felt warm. She organized her thoughts one by one as she walked.

It seemed like it would be better to trade jewelry or dresses for expensive herbs or spices. There were some light and expensive herbs that bid the price of a rare diamond. An unfamiliar voice flew into her ear as she was thinking about this.

“Hmm. Even though I don’t know what I’m gonna do?”

“What?”

“That’s why I want to bother you like this.”

At the voice that seemed to seduce a man, Psyche recognized the woman in the garden. She hurriedly approached the voice. As soon as Psyche passed the neat topiary, he was able to bump into Clint and Rachel, who were a little flustered. She narrowed her eyes and fixed her gaze on them both.

“Wife?”

“…”

Rachel placed her hand on Clint’s chest. Clint backed up as he met Psyche’s displeased gaze.

“It seems that you two are having fun here?”

“Oh. Madan must be misunderstood. I just.”

They are funny people. Psyche had no desire to question what kind of relationship she had with her husband.

“Keep doing what you are doing.”

She’s thinking of running away anyway, there’s no need to heat things up like that.

She walked rashly. She could hear Clint following her from behind, but Rachel appeared to have caught him again. While they were arguing, Psyche walked through the garden wherever she could.

It was the first place she had seen when walking. Psyche looked around with a slightly bewildered expression.