Chapter 76
Elisha stared blankly at Richard. Startled, her heart started pounding loudly. Only the sound of her heart rang in her ears. They had had deeper kisses than this when having sex. But, why? Why was Elisha’s heart pounding so hard just because of a light kiss?
AD
Without understanding what happened, Elisha grabbed at her clothing covering her chest tightly with her free hand. She was scared that his eyes, which stared at her dangerously as if he would devour her at any moment, would see through to her heart, which was beating like crazy. She didn’t want him to know.
‘I feel strange.’ Elisha’s lips twitched and slightly opened at the tenacious gaze that never fell from her.
“So suddenly, what does this mea–” Just as she was about to ask the meaning of his words, she felt a movement in her belly. When Elisha suddenly stopped what she was going to say, Richard, who felt like something was strange, called out to her.
“… Elisha?”
“Love moved.”
Elisha quickly took Richard’s hand and put it on her stomach. At first, it felt weak like a water droplet bursting, but it was getting stronger day by day. Thanks to this, Elisha was immersed in the fun of talking with her unborn child these days. However, Richard, who had been busy preparing for the foundation festival, had not yet felt the fetal movement. This was because the child, as if teasing Richard, didn’t move at morning or night when he was present. Elisha, who knew he was waiting to feel the fetal movement, wanted to let him feel this wonderful feeling as soon as possible. But right when Richard put his hand on her belly, the child became quiet as if he had made a vow.
Unlike Richard, who was startled by the sudden change of topic, Elisha, who was getting a bit impatient, lay down on the bed. She could feel the fetal movement a little better if she was laying straight on the bed.
“Love~ call him like this.”
Hurriedly. Elisha placed Richard’s hand on her stomach in a new spot and pressured him into calling out to the baby. After hesitating for a moment, he cleared his throat and called out the child’s name.
“Love.”
However, even after waiting for a while, the child did not respond.
“Hmm, do you want to play hide-and-seek with Daddy?”
Rather than Richard, who had no high expectations for a response, Elisha showed a very disappointed look. Richard tried to pull away his hand, trying to hide his moderate disappointment. When suddenly,
Glup~ Like a water balloon, a small movement was felt. At the same time, Richard, who was about to take back his hand, stopped moving. Then, this time, Elisha’s belly moved like a wave. Richard’s eyes trembled at the movement. Noticing his reaction, Elisha smiled and spoke to the child.
“Love, Daddy waited so long for you to say hi.”
As if in response to Elisha’s words, the child kicked her stomach once more. Exactly where Richard’s palm was resting. He stared blankly at Elisha’s stomach.
‘Baby…’ It was only then that he realized it. Inside Elisha’s belly, her and his child was growing. He suddenly realized that he was going to be the father of that small child for the rest of his life. Until now, he hadn’t really thought hard about the existence of the child. Originally it was just a link between Elisha and him. But that child, who had been developing while he wasn’t paying attention, was showing off his presence. With hands and feet smaller than the knuckle of his fingers, he was letting them know that he was growing well. The moment he felt the child’s presence, his heart felt stuffy. As much as he felt the weight of the life he created, and the responsibility, he also felt an indescribable, emotional feeling weighing down on his heart.
“What are you doing? Daddy should say hi too.” Elisha whispered while watching Richard’s reaction, who was frozen without saying anything. As she said this, he bowed close to her belly and said,
“Hi, Love.”
The pregnancy name, which he had always called out casually and habitually, suddenly felt awkward in his mouth.
“It’s dad.” He called himself ‘Dad.’ The child answered his call with a kick a beat later. He moved around for a while and then became quiet.
Richard looked at Elisha’s belly blankly for a while even after the child’s movements had stopped. Elisha was relieved by his reaction and smiled. Contrary to the original story, she had the feeling that he didn’t hate children, but she was concerned about what would happen if his mind had changed after he realized the existence of his own child. However, after seeing his reaction just now, it seemed that such worries could be put aside.
“How does it feel to say hello to the baby for the first time?
“…”
“Richard?”
Just as she was puzzled by his unanswered reaction, Richard hugged Elisha.
“Thank you, Elisha.”
He didn’t know how to explain this feeling that he had felt for the first time ever just moments ago, but he thought he should say thank you to Elisha. It was an emotion he wouldn’t have experienced in his entire life if it wasn’t for her.
She blinked her eyes with a bewildered expression at his sudden embrace, then smiled and held him in her arms.
It was the first night the two realized the meaning of ‘family.’
[tl/n: I feel so single right now :’) ]
* * *
Late at night when even the servants were asleep, Marquis Dion returned home.
Mikaela, who was just about to fall asleep, heard the sound of the carriage and went down to the lobby on the first floor. Marquis Dion, who saw her, muttered a greeting.
“Your Highness the Princess. Are you still awake?”
Mikaela furrowed her brows involuntarily at the smell of alcohol. Seeing his reddened face and staggering gait, he looked like he had been drinking somewhere.
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“Why did you drink until you got to this point? It’s not good for your body either.”
“I was upset, so I drank.”
“What happened?”
“That little immature bastard, huh? You become so arrogant after being praised once and now you go around ignoring people.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about that jerk, Duke Rubellin. How he ignores me in meetings!”
Marquis Dion gritted his teeth and recalled a memory from several days ago.
“Isn’t it the chairman’s duty to remove anything from the agenda that is not worth discussing and get everyone to focus on the main subject?”
“Wha, what?”
The eyes that looked at him as if he was pathetic, dismissing his opinion about preparing a gift for the Emperor, and clearly saying it was ‘not worth discussing’ were still vivid in his mind and his teeth clenched. Marquis Dion raised his voice and cursed at Richard.
“It’s not as if I’m saying that for my own good, but since there’s a small budget left over, I thought about doing something for His Majesty the Emperor, the light of this Empire, but he ignored me to only take care of some beggars.”
Mikaela frowned at Marquis Dion’s rambling. She had been fond of Richard since the time he made his appearance as the Young Duke.
[tl/n: Young Duke or Small Duke is the title for the Duke’s heir]
How excited she was inside when it was announced that her Royal Father would marry her to him. However, Albert, who saw through the Emperor’s scheme, took a girl from a lowly viscount family without a name and married her to Richard. Because of that, Mikaela felt as if she had been rejected by Richard. It was even more heartbreaking to see how Richard, who seemed unlikely to give himself to anyone, was getting along well with Elisha.
She hated not only Elisha for marrying Richard, but also him, who lived well without her. Moreover, it was frustrating to hear that he had ignored her husband’s suggestions about a present for her Royal Father.
Mikaela replied sternly in response to Marquis Dion’s words.
“He has been that way since long ago. He can’t help but be arrogant about his own strength. The same goes for that woman, the Duchess.”
“Is that girl the same too?”
“Those two are very similar. Whether it was at the hunting festival or at the tea party not long ago, anyone would have thought that woman was the Empress.”
“Tsk, Tsk. It seems as if that girl doesn’t know her place. As the old saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. It seems just right.”
“You must be very offended, honey. I’m sure you must have felt very upset after having to cope with that.”
“That’s what I want to say to you.”
The two responded to each other and comforted themselves. At that moment, the butler who was by his side approached.
“Your Grace, Viscount Magenta has visited this afternoon.”
“Again?”
At the name of Viscount Magenta, Marquis Dion wrinkled his brows. Viscount Magenta was his uncle. He inherited a portion of the inheritance from Marquis Dion’s late grandfather and started a business, but failed one after another and suffered several losses. Despite a series of deficits, he was unable to give up on his business and was begging to borrow the foundation of the business by moving around several relatives’ houses. He had visited Marquis Dion about three months ago but seemed to have come back again.
“Yes. His lordship asked me to let him know when Your Grace would return and said that he would like to meet you.”
It was obvious what they would talk about. He would say he had an amazing business idea, and he would ask him to invest because it will surely work out this time.
“Don’t say anything, just ignore him. Do I look like a charity?”
Marquis Dion, who was about to go straight up to his bedroom with Mikaela after replying bitterly, suddenly remembered the story of Viscount Magenta, whom he had met three months ago.
“The produced items are very good quality, but perhaps because security has improved these days, it hasn’t sold well.”
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Viscount Magenta showed an expression of disappointment and introduced the business items he had made. A flashing thought struck Marquis Dion who remembered that ‘item.’
‘Then, I can give that cheeky bastard a big blow.’
Marquis Dion raised one corner of his mouth and looked back at the butler, and ordered him.
“Send a letter to my uncle right now. Tell him that I’d like to see him tomorrow.”
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