Chapter 148
Chapter 148
Translation: godsn
"Why—why are you acting like this?"
"Damn it, why now of all times!"
Samon bit his lip until it bled.
Negotiations for his marriage to the Fourth Imperial Princess were underway. What would people think of him if they found out, not knowing the pregnancy was fake?
Now that his marriage to the Fourth Princess was being discussed, if his relationship with Mariyu were exposed—if it came to light that he'd gotten both women pregnant—the lifeline he'd barely managed to grasp would snap.
Who would believe in the pure devotion of a man who'd been with two women?
Especially if Emperor Kazen learned that the bastard who'd impregnated his daughter had also gotten another woman pregnant—he might very well roast Samon alive.
Just as he'd finally seized the rope to climb out of this hell, Mariyu was trying to set fire to it.
'Never! I can't let this happen.'
Gritting his teeth, Samon reached through the prison bars again and yanked her wrist.
"Ah—! It hurts!"
As if deaf to Mariyu's pained cry, his wolf-like eyes blazed with murderous intent. He pressed closer to the bars, as though wary of being overheard by anyone in the prison, and growled in a low voice:
"Get rid of it. I don't need it."
"What did you say?"
Mariyu was aghast. She couldn't believe her ears.
'It can't be. He wouldn't—'
"Wh-what do you mean? You must have misspoken, right? I must have misheard, that's it, isn't it?"
Samon crushed even her desperate attempts to rationalize, snarling at her:
"I won't say it twice. Get rid of that brat. Unless you want to die."
"Samon!"
She hadn't misheard.
Shock and betrayal flashed across Mariyu's eyes.
The moment she announced her pregnancy, without a single word of congratulations or joy, the first thing her lover—the father of her child—said was to demand she abort it.
"Frankly, how do I even know that brat is really mine? Who knows who you've been sleeping with, you lowly maid? Think I'll just take your word that it's my seed?"
Samon glared at her as if he wanted to kill her.
Far from being happy, the sight of her stupid face only made his blood boil.
"You shameless wench, how dare you try to drag me down like this?"
"H-how can you say that! You—you're the only one I have!"
The man insulting her felt utterly foreign to Mariyu.
Where had the warm lover gone—the one who'd breathed hot whispers of sweet nothings into her ear?
"You said you loved me! That I was the only one! That you'd marry me!"
At Mariyu's anguished cry, Samon's gaunt face twisted irritably. He made no effort to hide his annoyance.
"Ha, are you insane? What, you actually believed all that crap I said to set the mood? Are you really this stupid?"
"I—I'll tell the Duke and Duchess! They'll want this child—they'll scold you for this!"
Her gaze shifted past him to Joaquin and Catherine, collapsed weakly from starvation.
"You really think those two have the energy to listen to your nonsense right now?"
Samon snapped impatiently.
"And that's only if you hadn't already made a stupid mistake. I told you clearly—you had to be the maid my cousin cherished most. You were supposed to report everything—what Medeia was doing, what she was thinking."
His dry, black eyes skimmed over her dismissively.
"The moment you failed to report properly on Medeia, you were already out of my hands."
"No, Samon. Absolutely not. I have no one but you."
Mariyu collapsed at Samon's feet, convulsing as if seized by spasms.
But to Samon, who had already latched onto the Fourth Imperial Princess, Mariyu was nothing more than an inconvenient obstacle to be swiftly removed.
"Samon, you love me too, don't you? Please, Samon. Don't do this!"
"Just get lost already, I said!"
Samon kicked out to shake off the clinging Mariyu.
Crash!
"Aaah!"
The food basket toppled over from the force of the kick against the cell bars, the loud noise sending Mariyu sprawling backward in shock.
"Argh! Goddamn it! Because of this bitch! Nothing ever goes right!"
There was no finesse in the actions of Samon, who was starving and lashing out in rage. Kicking the iron bars with all his might, Samon howled while clutching his broken toe.
"You there! What's going on? What's all this commotion?!"
The distant shouts of alarmed guards approaching echoed through the corridor.
Samon glared at Mariyu with murderous eyes as he wrapped his broken big toe.
Mariyu's eyes trembled with shock and terror.
The cold, calculating gaze that swept over her and her belly no longer resembled the man she had loved all this time.
"Mariyu."
"N-no... don't..."
A shiver ran down her spine. Mariyu began slowly backing away.
Then she barely managed to scramble to her feet and fled in panic, arms wrapped protectively around her stomach.
"......"
Samon's merciless stare remained fixed on her retreating figure.
The Valdina prison that Mariyu had fled from in disarray.
"Uncle."
Count Laju had secretly returned to this place once more—to meet with Samon.
Samon's face was flushed with excitement, as if he'd never been angry at all.
"It's done. The Valdina Royal Family has agreed. They'll spare your family. Once we reach Kazen, you'll have a fresh start."
"But even if we go to Kazen, won't we be exposed soon? Since the pregnancy was faked with medicine, any physician other than the Divine Physician would discover the truth."
At Samon's pointed remark, Laju heartily clapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry. Do you think I'd act without a plan? I've prepared countermeasures."
Laju intended to have the bribed princess's maid administer another dose of medicine to the Fourth Imperial Princess—to induce temporary bleeding and fake a miscarriage.
"The road from Valdina to Kazen is notoriously treacherous. Who could possibly verify the claim that the exhausted princess lost her child during the harsh journey through the wilderness?"
Laju spread his arms wide with a sly grin.
"Of course, there'll be some gossip to endure, but it's a small price to pay for keeping your lives. You can handle that, can't you?"
Samon nodded with a sinister smile.
"Of course. Having secured the position of the Fourth Princess's Consort, what couldn't I endure?"
"Hahaha, indeed. Truly worthy of royal blood. But what happened to your foot?"
The momentary cheer faded as Laju eyed Samon's injury with curiosity. Samon chewed the inside of his cheek.
A brief silence passed before he stepped closer to Laju and whispered conspiratorially.
"...Uncle, there's something I need you to take care of."
After hearing the full story, Count Laju sighed and nodded.
"Tch, what a troublesome mess. Understood. I'll handle both of them here."
"Yes, I leave it to you."
Though he had eliminated the last potential threat, Samon's heart remained unsettled.
"To have to kill my own flesh and blood for the sake of a child that doesn't even exist... Damn it all..."
As Mariyu had said, their family placed extreme importance on bloodline.
Had circumstances not cornered them like this, he would have found some way to save the child.
But now, there was no other choice.
'I can always have another child.'
Samon forcibly suppressed his conflicted emotions and shook his head.
Once he reached Kazen, a smooth path would unfold before him.
He had absolutely no intention of being a fool who would throw away his future over something as trivial as past ties.
Princess Valdina's Palace.
It was the dead of night, when darkness hung thick and everyone should have been deep in slumber.
From the shabbiest room at the end of the corridor where the maids' quarters were lined up, stifled noises occasionally leaked out.
Creak. Rustle.
All the drawers had been flung open, their contents ransacked.
"This is insane, absolutely insane. How... How could Samon...?"
Mariyu muttered incoherently, but her hands never stopped packing her belongings.
"I have to run. I can't stay here..."
There was nothing Samon could do now—locked in prison, awaiting execution.
But Mariyu couldn't forget the murderous glare that had pierced her from the darkness.
Yet, her desire to flee wasn't solely because of Samon.
"The Princess... She won't just let me go."
Shivering, Mariyu recalled the memory.
One evening, as the sun dimmed like any other day, she had dragged her swollen leg back to her room.
Creeeak. The door opened.
Inside the small, musty room that reeked of old wood, she stifled a yawn that threatened to burst out.
"Haa..."
"You're late, Mariyu."
Instantly, Mariyu froze.
By the window, bathed in the crimson glow of the setting sun, sat the Princess.
Mariyu immediately tried to turn the doorknob and escape, but click, click—it only spun uselessly in place.
Screech. The chair scraped against the floor.
With fearful eyes, Mariyu watched as the Princess rose and approached her.
"What business do you have here?"
Her voice was thick with wariness.
She looked up at Medeia with frightened eyes.
"Don't be so guarded. I only wanted to talk to you again, Mariyu."
Despite the gentle tone, Medeia's face remained expressionless.
"There's something you haven't told me, isn't there?"
The moment Mariyu realized those jade-green eyes were fixed on her belly, she staggered back.
Unconsciously, her hands flew to shield her stomach—as if protecting the child from Medeia.
"M-My body carries the bloodline of Duke Claudio's house!"
"Oh, Mariyu. You shouldn't say things like that."
Medeia's lips curled slightly in a smirk.
"You know how much I despise my uncle. Mentioning Claudio's blood is like poison to me."
"N-No, I meant the royal bloodline!"
Mariyu hastily corrected herself.
"If you dare harm this child, I—I won't stand for it, even if it's Your Highness! I'll run straight to the Queen Dowager and tell her—tell her that Her Highness Medeia intends to kill even an unborn child!"
Though her words trembled with fear, she bared her tiny teeth in defiance—like a cornered rat revealing its fangs to protect itself.
"......"
But Medeia simply stared down at her in silence.
"S-So, if you have no intention of harming the child—"
Just as Mariyu, unable to bear the weight of that gaze, began to stammer—
Flick. The Princess's lips curled.
"Mariyu, Mariyu."
A sweet, affectionate voice called her name repeatedly.
"Do you really think hiding behind my grandmother will save you from me? Poor thing... You still don't understand me at all."
Mariyu's face turned deathly pale.