When he removed his hand from Leila’s cheek, Leila’s heart turned into despair itself.
“I think I’ve been telling you for a long time, take care of your health.”
But luckily it wasn’t serious. It’s just some words he had been saying for a long time.
At that moment, Leila was relieved.
“I am taking care of it.”
“No, you’ve been at home for too long. If you had been walking in the sun consistently, you wouldn’t have gotten sick from just a short walk.”
Leila turned her head slightly, avoiding his gaze.
He was always concerned about her health and always paid attention to it.
Leila was well aware of his concerns, so she always took care of herself and tried not to get sick.
However, it was an effort that could be done at home, thus, she seldom went out.
“Meeting with people is also important. If you’re alone for a long time, you’re bound to get sick.”
“I don’t want to trouble you.”
As soon as his worried words were finished, Leila opened her mouth in response.
Usually, Leila would only say, ‘I understand, I will keep it in mind.’ However, she had a fever at the moment and had been taking drugs for several days.
Without even thinking about it, Leila spits out the words as they came out.
“You don’t want to trouble me?”
The man’s right eyebrow twitched.
Leila, who immediately regretted speaking out, hesitated for a moment at the question of her lover.
If she answered ‘it’s nothing’ just like this, it’d only hurt the man’s feelings. So, she decided to be honest, but not completely honest.
“If I make a mistake, your prestige will be damaged. I don’t want to put you into a situation like that.”
On the surface, Leila was his mistress, and the mistress’ mischief might hurt her lover.
Even a cute mistake that could be easily overlooked would be severely criticized if the mistress made it.
So, for the past few years, Leila had chosen to stay at home, even though she is now able to get out on her own.
She doesn’t think of herself as a mistress, so she doesn’t want to be called a mistress, and she doesn’t want her lover to be slandered because of her.
She merely mumbled, but she really hoped that he would encourage her after this happened.
‘You are the best lady I know. You’re not the kind of person who will ever make a mistake, so don’t think like that and do whatever you want.’
‘Even if you make a mistake, it will never hurt my prestige. So you don’t have to worry about it.’
She needed encouragement and comfort.
If he cheered her that way, she was going to hold him in her arms and tell him about that time.
If he only took her side and comforted her warmly, all suffering seemed to go away.
“… …”
But her lover seldom spoke. He lowered her gaze and just stared at something on the floor of the room.
Leila was dying to know what he was thinking.
However, in the end, the man did not tell Leila what he was thinking.
The man stood up without a word. Seeing that, Leila hurriedly got up.
“Theon?”
And with both hands, she desperately grabbed the arm of her lover, who was distancing himself from her.
“I’m sorry. Don’t go!”
Leila thought Theon would be gone.
She thought he would get up, leave this room, and go back to being a marquis.
She didn’t want to offend him. If he went away hating her like this, it seemed like he would never come back.
She was afraid of being alone. She was afraid that there would be no one to protect her. She didn’t want to go through the same thing again.
“What are you saying? I’m not going anywhere.”
Theon placed his hands on Leila’s and smiled softly.
“But…”
“I think you need time to rest.”
He glanced at the side table next to the bed. There was a book that Leila had been reading.
“I was going to the bedside to read a book.”
“Really?”
Theon, who had turned his body halfway, sat back on the bed.
“Really. I thought you need a break now and I shouldn’t take that time.”
“It’s okay. I’m not sick.”
Then smiled and clasped Leila’s face with both hands.
“And of course you’re saying this while sweating profusely.”
He didn’t know. It wasn’t because of the pain that cold sweat broke out on Leila’s face.
Afraid of getting dumped. Afraid of being hated. The fear was so great that a cold sweat welled up.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been slurring…”
“No, you’re sick. That’s enough. I understand.”
She could vaguely sense that something was wrong. But, Leila couldn’t clearly figure out what it was.
The lover in front of her was important, and it was important to be loved by him. So, she drove those unimportant things deep into her mind.
He said he understood her. That was enough.
“Get some rest.”
Theon lightly kissed Leila’s forehead.
“What about you?”
“Of course I have to take care of my loved one overnight.”
Leila shook her head.
“You are tired. Let’s sleep together.”
“Well, but I don’t want to bother my lover.”
Leila, unable to understand Theon’s words for a moment, widened her eyes and then blushed.
“It’s impossible to just sleep when you’re next to the person you love.”
Theon said with a deep smile.
“So get some rest and get well soon.”
“… kay.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s okay to bully me. You might catch a cold, but if you’re not worried about that…”
Before Leila could finish speaking, Theon laid his body on her lover.
“What are you talking about? I’m so healthy, I won’t catch a cold.”
“But what if you really get sick?”
“Then I’ll have to cancel all my plans and get a good rest. If I get a cold, will you take care of me?”
Leira nodded with a face full of determination, and her mouth was covered with his as it was.
Kissing her lover, Leila wrapped her arms around his neck.
She thought. She wants Theon to catch her cold.
He would be very ill and would have to stay here for several days.
***
Unfortunately, Theon didn’t catch a cold.
He left the room the next morning. It was Leila who was sick.
The nights with him were always intense, so it was only natural that Leila, who had made love with a weakened body, had a worse cold.
Leila stayed in bed for two days. And it wasn’t until the afternoon of the third day that she barely managed to push herself up.
The first thing she did when she got up was to wash herself.
“You even cleaned me up.”
Leila smiled faintly as she put her feet into the bathtub of warm water. She didn’t feel any discomfort.
When she just put one foot into the bathtub, Leila’s body stiffened.
“Did I take the pill?”
Every time she had an affair with her lover, she always took a pill after. It was a drug she took to avoid having children.
I haven’t missed a single time since I first started dating him. However, this time, no matter how much she remembered, she had no memory of taking the drug.
Not to mention, Leila was ill and her mind was such a mess that she wasn’t really in the condition to order someone to bring her the drug.
Leila stepped out of the bathtub and hurriedly put on her gown. Then she went straight out of the bathroom and called her maid who was currently making her bed.
“Did I take any medicine last night?”
The maid who was changing the sweaty bed sheets stood up.
“No. I didn’t bring it to you because I wasn’t instructed.”
Leila did not tell the maid exactly what kind of medicine it was. But since she only asked after Theon was gone, as someone who always brought her the medicine, the maid knew immediately which one she meant.
In response, Leila’s whole body stiffened, and her fingertips became cold.
It felt like the pounding of her heart had fallen down under the soles of her feet.
“I see.”
Leila went back to the bathroom pretending to be okay.
And then she slumped down on the cold floor. All of a sudden, her back was wet.
‘Surely. Surely that won’t happen.’
Leila grabbed her damp hair with one hand and denied reality.
It was only once, and her body had been in a poor condition. Besides, was it that easy to get a child?
Just look at her mother. She had only had one child, Leila, in her lifetime.
“No. There’s no way.”
It was plausible because it denied reality. There seemed to be no way that a child could be born with just one mistake.
“Bring me my medicine.”
Still, just in case. It was already late, but Leila ordered the maid to bring the medicine.
While waiting for the maid to bring the medicine, she kept denying it while soaking herself in the bathtub.
Then she drank all the pills that the maid brought.
***
About a month has passed since then.
During the rest of the week, Leila had been doing well, denying and turning away from reality. She didn’t even think of the slightest possibility, and even forgot about it.
As for this week, she started living in anxiety and nervousness. It was because she hadn’t gotten it even though it was time for her period.
“What to do. What if I really get it?”
It was still the same even now as she wandered the room muttering to herself.
She had no one to share her concerns with.
The two maids hired by the lover reside in the mansion except at night, but they are not Leila’s friends. Their relationship was just a relationship between the employer’s lover and the employee.
And Theon hasn’t visited Leila since that day.
So, as always, Leila was stuck in the house and embraced all her thoughts and worries by herself.
Alone, engulfed in anxiety and impatience.
‘Okay, I have to check.’
She couldn’t come to any conclusions alone. Of course, even if she wasn’t alone, nothing would have been resolved. However, in the end, Leila moved to find an answer.
She couldn’t stand the anxiety anymore.
She went to the clinic where she had been buying medicine for years.
It was the same old doctor whom she had been meeting from the first time she came here until now.
“You’re pregnant.”
The reason Leila came here was to convince her that she wasn’t pregnant. She didn’t come to hear her say she was pregnant.
If she had even thought that she would get such an answer, she would not have come here.
But in any case, her utter denial became a reality. Leila and Theon’s child.
And now she was standing alone in the busy afternoon street.