“What if there was someone, no, what if I wasn’t here when you came. What would you do?”
“I came in because I made sure that you were the only one here, and if you weren’t here, I would’ve tried the bedroom.”
Har, who had erased his bitter smile at Nivera’s reproachful remarks, answered as if it was insignificant and sat down on the sofa.
Nivera, who was standing there staring at Har, soon softened her eyes.
“Are you hurt?”
Nivera’s, who was looking at the eye patch that Har was wearing, face was not worried. It looked a bit annoyed instead.
“Are you hurt? Is it serious? How did you lose so much weight? Why did you put on that eyepatch?”
At Nivera’s words, Haru touched the eyepatch he was wearing.
“Ah, this. This is for disguise.”
“For disguise?”
“Because you and I look a bit alike. I wanted to see if it would look different if I wore this.”
Har looked at Nivera and smiled.
“How about it? Doesn’t it look different?”
It was absurd to say the least, making Nivera smirked. She and Har were not at the mere level of looking ‘a bit alike.’
Now, her body has changed due to the gender difference, but it should be hard to tell if one merely looks at their faces.
When they were young, they looked so much the same, so there was a time when her brother wore her dress and pretended to be her.
It wasn’t something one could hide with such a crude eye patch.
Twins are twins for a reason.
‘I guess he didn’t understand why I asked him.’
If it was Leila, she would immediately think of Duke Serios upon seeing Har. And this is exactly what Nivera wanted.
Instead of sitting across from Har, she sat down on top of her desk.
“So, what did she say? Did she agree?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t tell me you came here without an answer.”
Har, who was sitting on the sofa looking around the room, only tilted his head and looked at Nivera.
“I… haven’t asked yet?”
“…What?”
“I didn’t know how to bring it up, so I’ve been watching her a little bit, and the timing just passed.”
A laugh escaped from Nivera’s mouth.
‘You didn’t know how to talk about it? It would have been enough if you just shove that face in front of her.’
Har, seeing that, opened his mouth.
“I said I couldn’t do it from the beginning. It was you who forced my back.”
“But you said you’d do it.”
“You know, don’t you? That I’m not the right person for this kind of work. Well, screw this.”
Nivera bit her lip, looking annoyed.
“Don’t be angry. I’m not going to play in your game.”
“But you’ve played it. If you haven’t, then what have you been doing for the last few days?”
Again, Nivera bit her lip.
Har has been like this since childhood.
When he was dissatisfied with something, he behaved like that. Even as an adult, nothing has changed.
But it was the same with Nivera.
Every time Har is like that, she shuts her mouth as if nothing is worth dealing with.
“Pay her at a fair price.”
Whether or not he knew Nivera’s dissatisfaction, Har, who was sitting on the sofa with his arms stretched out, burst into a yawn. Sleeping for a day after staying up for several days and several nights didn’t make the fatigue go away.
He stood up to shake off his fatigue.
“Isn’t that obvious? If I hadn’t thought of that, I would have asked you to take the child by force.”
Hearing Nivera’s words, Har walked around the room.
He felt it when he glanced around earlier. This was very different from the scenery in the room he had seen as a child. There was no trace of his father to be found.
Perhaps it was natural, but seeing that there was nothing left of his touch made him a little bitter.
“She is planning to leave for the Kingdom of Sronakia. But the circumstances don’t agree.”
“The Kingdom of Sronakia?”
“I don’t know the details. Whether she’s just going on a trip or wanting to settle in. All that matters is that she wants to go there, and you can help with that.”
His steps stopped in front of a picture. It was a picture of a family that seemed to be united.
A middle-aged man, a young woman with a youthful face, and two silver-haired children greeted him in the painting.
“That should be enough as a price for the child, right?”
Har frowned slightly at the part “a price for the child”, as if he didn’t like it very much to get those words out of his mouth.
But he definitely had to. Not to mention that Leila may not listen to what he has to say, Nivera is in a position where she can pretend to forget what she promised at any time. Once Har is done with this matter, he will be leaving this place.
Therefore, he had to get a definite answer from Nivera before he left here.
He didn’t come here only to help her sister, to ruthlessly take the child away from Leila.
Har looked at Nivera’s face painted in the portrait. Wearing a sky blue dress, she was much younger than she is now.
But her eyes are still as fierce as it was back then.
“Of course. If she leaves the Empire, it will be better for me. If she says she wants to settle in a country other than that kingdom, I will support that too.”
“Great. Then…”
“But only after giving birth. I want her to give birth to the child within my reach.”
Har took his gaze away from the painting and looked at Nivera.
“I’m opposed to her going on a long trip while pregnant. It’s dangerous, and I’m afraid she will change her mind after she gives birth.”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“And I want you to check again, whether she really wanted to get an abortion.”
“… If she really did, she would still be able to get along with the Marquis. Why does she want to go to another country?”
Nivera was about to say something.
Having researched Leila’s past, she knew more than expected.
If Leila had found out at least one or two of the truths that Nivera knew, the reason for her leaving the Marquis could easily be explained.
As for whether the child is in the womb or about to get aborted…
“I can’t say for sure. She’s a woman who didn’t want to be a mistress, so this opportunity could save her life, in a way.”
However, Nivera didn’t dare to tell her brother about it. So she only said some vague words.
It was just that, ironically, she felt something similar to how Leila felt now.
There are so many things they both desperately want.
Har turned his head toward the painting to hide his wrinkled lips.
Now, the eyes of the child in this picture are still as fierce, but that slightly innocent face has disappeared.
She hated their father so much that she erased all his traces and just hung up a family picture.
Likewise, there was no longer the boy who stood next to the girl and tried to pretend to be polite.
Just as the girl and the boy disappeared, the two names they used these days, ‘Harsian’ and ‘Nivera’, also lost their original owners.
“I’m going now.”
After taking more money from Nivera, Har went out through the window as he had come.
***
Coming out of that mansion, Har went straight to Leila’s house.
And put the letter he had written before leaving the inn in her mailbox. Now the die is cast.
Whether or not Leila will receive this letter and make it to his appointment is not known.
But Har was eager for her to come out.
Otherwise, he would have to trespass, and he didn’t want to do anything like that.
***
“Humm.”
Leila kept her mouth shut and barely held back her yawn. She hadn’t been sleeping well for two days.
No matter how much she thought about it, it was unreasonable for her to go to the Kingdom of Sronakia.
Then she has to go somewhere else. In fact, wherever she settles, it will be an adventure for Leila.
It’s going to another country without knowing anyone, after all.
‘I’ll go to the mercenary guild and cancel the quest, and I’ll try to visit the bookstore for a while.’
There weren’t many books with information regarding other kingdoms, probably because it was an Empire’s bookstore.
There was no place for her to get information except for numerous books in the bookstore.
“What is this?”
Leila asked as she looked at the tray her maid held out. To be exact, the letter on the tray.
“I brought it from the mailbox,” The middle-aged maid answered calmly.
Leila looked at the letter once more. There was no seal of the Marquis.
Has anyone ever sent her a letter except for Theon? No.
Who the hell sent this? Who the hell knew she had a child with him? Leila quickly turned her head to look at the clock hanging on the wall. There were less than two hours left until the appointment.
***
A woman wearing a hat entered the crowded square. It was Leila. After receiving the letter, she pondered for about an hour.
There was only one person who knew of her pregnancy, a doctor at the hospital.
But Prittenin Square and the hospital were in opposite directions.
If she went to the hospital and questioned that doctor, time would run out before she could come to the square.
If she could only go to one of the two places, where should she go?
She knew the doctor and where she was staying, but she could not meet the owner of the letter except now. After much deliberation, she came to the square.
‘Is it the Marquis’ wife?’
While she was walking around the square, her worries did not stop.
No matter how much she thought about it, there were only two people who might care about her child and sent her a letter.
One of them was Theon. But if he had known, he would have come and asked personally.
Therefore, it’s the other one. Someone who will try to avoid Theon’s gaze and calls out Leila to talk about the child.
In the final analysis, there is none other than his wife that fits this criteria.
‘She’s been watching me all this time!’
Leila didn’t have the ugly habit of biting her nails.
But now, overwhelmed with anxiety, she started biting her fingernails.
‘What does she want to talk about? I can only hope she’s not going to kill me.”
All sorts of bad thoughts filled her head. She really didn’t want to come out. If it was the Marquis’ wife’s call, how could she know how the other party would act?
But if the other party wanted to kidnap or try to kill Leila, Leila also realized that there was no need to summon herself, as Leila didn’t have any escort.
And the place written in the letter calmed her mind a little.
Prittenin Square was the busiest downtown area among the commoners.
Besides, it must be crowded with people coming out for lunch in the middle of the day.
She never thought she would face such a daunting task in a plaza filled with so many people in the middle of the day.
‘Who is it then?’
Leila looked at the faces of the young people and moved her feet.