CH 55

Charlotte managed to support her trembling legs and took both hands to her mouth and bit her nails. She heard the sound of her teeth biting her nails, and then blood flowed. Charlotte’s body shook as she shook her head roughly as the fishy taste that touched the tip of her tongue, she immediately began to yell.

“No, you’re wrong! No! I’m Miguel’s mother!”

“…….”

“Migel is my son whom I gave birth to with your seed!”

“…….”

“Duke! Ezekiel! Look at me! I’m the mother of your son! How can Miguel live if you throw me away like this! Just for the sake of Miguel, please…… A child can’t live without a mother!”

“…take him with you if you want. If that’s what you want, I won’t stop you.”

Ezekiel replied in a low voice to Charlotte, who almost cried out. Charlotte, who was turned speechless at his ruthless reply, stuttered, shaking her head.

“What, what? What did you just say?….”

“If you’re so anxious, take gold along with you soon and leave. If you want that, I’m willing to give you enough gold to fill this room, or ten times more than that.”

“…….”

“But you won’t be able to. Because it’s not what you want in the first place.”

It was true. What good would a son bring if he wasn’t in this castle? The son, who had a lot of money but was rejected by his father, could not make her a Duchess.

“I don’t intend to match whatever delusion you have. So leave quietly now.”

Charlotte accepted the deal with Ezekiel and fell for his whispers of greed too easily. At first, she was genuinely mistaken for being pregnant with his child, but in a short time her delusion grew and it was out of control.

From Ezekiel’s point of view, it didn’t matter much what Charlotte was mistaken for. But he gave her another chance at the last minute. Apart from being indifferent to Charlotte, it was clearly his responsibility for her involvement with it.

“As I’ve said earlier, I will pay you enough for your hard work as promised. And……”

“Oh, how…….”

“……It would be good for you to take gold and go far away at this point.”

“How could you do this to me! How can you abandon me!”

Charlotte kicked away Ezekiel’s first goodwill toward her. The shrill voice grew louder and louder. But the more she screamed, the clearer the memory of the day became.

“Don’t expect anything but gold. That’s the condition.”

“What do you mean….?”

“I don’t love you. In other words, I have nothing to care about you. I won’t hold you, I won’t touch you. You’re just acting. A mistress favored by me enough for the Duchess to ignore.”

“Well, then how do we have a child? I’m sure I have to be the mother of the Duke’s son…….”

“……I’ll also explain it to you, who will be your son.”

“What?”

“It’s not a person who would be acting like your son. Usually… …it deserves to be called a demon or monster and things like that.”

The memories buried were rich in her head, but all of them were considered false in her mind. She came this far with the affection of the man in front of her. She gave birth to a child who would be the successor to the man and be qualified to sit next to the man.

“……that’s all. My explanation ends here. You make the choice.”

“…….”

“I don’t care if you don’t like it. Because it’s your only chance. Usually you may not want to get involved with that. But…”

“…I’ll do it.”

“…….”

“I’ll do it. I’ll do as you say. You said you’d give me gold. And whatever it is, be the mother of your son. Then there will be people who serve me, right?”

Charlotte clenched her teeth in the afterimage that kept coming to mind. Yes, this situation is all because…….

“It’s because of her, isn’t it? Because of her! I’ll kill her! I’m gonna kill her and her son right now! I’ll kill them both and chew them up!”

It was clear who Charlotte was referring to. It was difficult to maintain her sanity in front of Ezekiel, who looked bored before Herace was mentioned.

He pushed the chair behind and rose to his feet. The pressure of a huge man added to the atmosphere was terrifying. However, such a thing could not have come into Charlotte’s view, whose reason flew away. She yelled at Ezekiel, pointing her finger at him like an animal who could not stand danger.

“How good is she? At best, she’s a traitorous woman with a fair face! She’s lower than me! A woman who probably opened her legs to the prisoners in prison by now! Besides, my son was born first and looks a lot more like you! So I’m above her! But why is she the Duchess and I’m not!”

If she was in her right mind, Charlotte would have stopped. But she’s half crazy now. Ezekiel’s expression became more and more gloomy every time she poured out her insults to Herace. And eventually he took his hand to his waist.

“……I didn’t want to care, so I left you alone, but it was a mistake. Well, you’ve done things that I didn’t ask you to do over and over again. You aren’t even liked by the subjects.”

A sharp sword appeared with a sound. Charlotte finally came to her senses and closed her mouth after facing the cool blade of the sword. But there was no hesitation in Ezekiel’s hand. The white blade made Charlotte come to her mind in an instant.

“Oh, don’t come! Don’t come near…… Argh!”

She was backing away from the sword, but she lost her balance on the way and collapsed. It could have been pitiful for anyone to see her shriveling with a blue face. However, Ezekiel put the tip of the sword against Charlotte’s neck without any hesitation.

“Until now, I thought I needed you, but if you insult my wife any more, I will cut your throat immediately without any hesitation. Will you be decapitated and stuck in the golden crown, or will you go out quietly?”

The sword close to the neck sliced the thin skin and created a red line. Charlotte changed her attitude like a coin flipping over the imminent death. She began to pray to Ezekiel, holding her breath in case the sword touched her neck for her rough breath.

“I will get out… I’m going to leave. I’m leaving. I’m leaving.”

“…….”

“Week, I’ll leave in a week, so please, get that sword away…….”

Ezekiel, who looked down at Charlotte, withdrew the sword with dry eyes. As the sword returned to its place with an arc, Charlotte breathed out her breath. Her constantly shaking eyes and rising and falling upper body showed her fear well.

“If you’re done talking, get out. Tell James here as soon as you’re ready. I want you to get out of the castle as soon as possible.”

Ezekiel, who sat at the desk again and picked up the pen, gave a congratulatory order and gestured toward the aide standing by the door.

“Stand up.”

“…….”

James, who had not moved his eyebrows even in a series of events in the room, raised Charlotte up and opened the door before pushing her forward.

It was not an impolite move, but Charlotte clenched her fist at the unkind attitude. But she no longer had the strength or will to make a disturbance.

When Charlotte was kicked out, Ezekiel beckoned James again. He spoke in a low voice without even looking at the approaching aide.

“………watch her thoroughly so that she won’t do anything wrong.”

“Yes, Sire.”

***

“Erzen!”

“Mom!”

As soon as Erzen, the small body of the child, appeared through the hole, Herace hugged him tightly. Erzen was also happy to see her, so as soon as he saw his mother, the child bounced vigorously and dug into the arms he missed. Miguel, who followed Erzen at the touching reunion, quietly watched the two.

She was busy looking at Erzen without even noticing Miguel’s presence. She didn’t see her son for only a few weeks, but in her eyes, the child had changed a lot.

“Erzen, are you sick? Does anyone bother you?”

With moderately fat cheeks, the clothes the child was wearing were much better than before. However, Herace was heartbroken by the shadow of sadness on her son’s face.

Erzen shook his head and smiled as if he were okay, and gently rubbed his cheek against the palm of Herace, who grabbed his face.

“I missed you, Mom. I searched for Mom a lot.… Sniff.”

The child was a child after all. It was also for a while that he was showing a mature look to others in case he was scolded. Erzen, who hadn’t been acting like a child for a long time, burst into tears as he seemed to be emotional while talking. Herace also shed tears that she had been holding back.

“Oh, my God, Erzen. Please stop right away.”

Miguel, who had been still so far, quickly approached and took Erzen off Herace and blocked his brother’s mouth. Then, he looked at her and said with a troubled expression.

“As you know, we came here secretly. It’s not good if the sound leaks out.”

“……I’m sorry. I haven’t even said hello yet. How have you been, Miguel?”

Only then did Herace, who recognized Miguel, greet him with a shy face. Miguel showed an exaggerated face as Herace’s gaze reached him.

“I’m doing great, Madam.”

“Thank you very much. It wouldn’t have been easy to bring Erzen.”

“No, more than that…….”

“Mom!”

When Miguel was smiling brightly and talking to Herace, Erzen shook off Miguel’s hand, which was blocking his mouth, and hung on to Herace again. Herace, who was showing an awkward smile at Miguel, came to her senses and bent her knees to face Erzen.

“Yes, my Erzen.”

The gesture of supporting the child was friendly. Herace swept Erzen’s face with one hand, erasing the tear marks, and patted the child’s back gently with the other.

“Don’t cry. Huh? If Erzen cries, your Mom will be sad, too.”

“Yes.”

Erzen, who was still sniffling, shook his head and put his lips on Herace’s cheek. With a squeak, the soft child’s lips touched and fell. When I asked you to do it, you didn’t do it and even said you were embarrassed……. Herace smiled as she kissed her son’s forehead briefly.

“Erzen won’t go anywhere now. I’m staying with Mom.”

Before returning to the castle, he was a child who was full of curiosity and enjoyed playing. But now Erzen stuck to Herace like a baby and didn’t think about falling off.

Herace stopped breathing for a moment when she saw that his hand holding the hem of her clothes was white due to excessive force. Erzen put all his strength holding Herace to the extent that he could get hurt.

“Erzen, my dear.”