Chapter 28

 Anna seated Ella at the table and gently recited the day’s schedule. The fact that she specifically mentioned the banquet at the palace suggested that Ella would also need to attend. If so, the banquet would continue for several days. In the evening, a ball. The next morning, hunting in the forest owned by the royal family. Afterward, there would be a gathering where even the noble ladies would join for conversation, and on the evening after the hunt, they would watch a performance by inviting jesters.

 “Will Eddy come too?”

 “Well. I heard other young masters will be coming, but that’s for His Highness to decide.”

 The conclusion was Larque. Everything related to the baby culminated with Larque. She was the one who bore and raised him, but everything concerning the baby followed Larque’s decisions. It was frustrating at one time and still unfair now. Ella thought of Larque as she swallowed her stew.

“I want to go to the master. No, no, I want to see the master.”

 *** 

 Larque was looking at his young son. He had heard that the child had a slight fever last night, but contrary to what he was told, the child was looking up at his father with bright eyes. Baroness Laerik, the wet nurse, stroked the little forehead.

 “He had a fever at dawn. Dr. Belmont gave him fever medicine, but it didn’t go down easily.”

 The woman patted the baby’s bottom. Larque just watched him silently. Though he could have held and soothed him at least once, the man’s gaze was heartless. Indeed, the saying that if one was not the birth mother, one wouldn’t even glance at the little one seemed true.

 “Being such a brave child, he overcame it.”

 The wet nurse smiled slightly. The Duke’s gaze remained cold. No, rather than cold, it was emotionless. This was a time when the child would be squirming and seeking his father’s embrace, so he could have shown some affection. Isn’t that usually the case? Even if one tried not to give affection, if one’s own child had been sick all night, one would feel sympathetic and hold them at least once. He seemed to have no intention of even visiting the child’s room.

 “Master.”

 Hermel called Larque. Baroness Laerik turned her head. A young woman’s dress hem flickered outside the door.

 “It seems the young master’s mother has arrived.”

 Baroness Laerik whispered softly. At the word ‘mother,’ the child in her arms whimpered. Hearing the child’s whimpering, Ella, who was peeking through the door, tried to enter. While Hermel briefly calmed her, the child cried.

 Larque frowned and looked at the child. It was such a fierce glare that it could be described as a glower.

 “Let her in.”

 The door opened. Ella’s face was flushed. Larque sat still and looked at her. The woman had rosy cheeks. When their eyes met, she pressed her lips tightly, and then she looked at the child. Larque watched as Ella naturally approached the wet nurse and took her young son.

 “I heard. That the child was sick at night.”

 “He’s fine now, Ella.”

 “No. He still seems to have a fever.”

 “Dr. Belmont says he’s better.”

 Ella bit her lip. The wet nurse smiled weakly, but no one smiled along with her. The Duke’s study froze in silence as if thin ice had formed.

 “The child was sick. Why didn’t you tell me?”

 Hermel secretly sighed. The non-argument that was about to start again gave him a headache. Ella, who had become sensitive after the birth of the young master, and the Duke, who pressured rather than soothed her, were always a problem that weighed on his mind.

 Whether legitimate or illegitimate, the Duke’s family had few heirs. Moreover, the child was designated as a ‘young master.’ Before turning two, the child would be proclaimed as the Duke’s successor. He was a precious child. Nevertheless, Hermel wasn’t particularly happy about the young master’s birth. It was because of problems like this.

 “Leave us.”

 At Larque’s words, the wet nurse and Hermel left the study. Ella could finally hold the child in her arms and face the man.

 “I told you not to be rude.”

 Ella breathed heavily. She felt like she would go mad with anger, but the man was talking about manners. Why did he make her have a child if it was going to be like this? Even though he knew she would go crazy like this.

 “What should I do to please you?”

 The temperature around her eyes was rising. Ella twisted her lips, bit them, and then tightened her arms holding the child. If he had a fever, it wasn’t good to expose him to the wind like this.

 “What should I do……”

 She couldn’t continue. Larque’s gaze was still calm and peaceful. He would have been this peaceful even when he heard that the child was sick. Because he was always thinking only of himself. Because he was someone who didn’t think about the child at all after impregnating her.

 “The child is fine.”

 “……The bath might have been the problem.”

 Larque shook his head. Belmont, the physician, said it was part of infant colic. He said it was a symptom that naturally disappears after four months of age, but if all children grew exactly as written in books, there would be no need to worry. Ella had kept the child close for six months after giving birth. Even Larque, who had no particular affection for the child, wasn’t indifferent to a newborn’s cries.

 “Ella.”

 The woman took two steps back. Despite her upright demeanor, the light of wariness in her white face contained fear. He stared at his young son. The child, who had been whimpering in the wet nurse’s arms, was nuzzling his nose against his mother’s chest.

 They say blood ties cannot be severed. This was what Hermel had said to him when he tried to separate the son from Ella. He casually dismissed the advice that the old butler had given after much deliberation. For Ella, the only person she couldn’t cut off was Larque von Durac. No, she should be content with just him. It must be only him, and no other being could intervene. Not even his young son, dare he say.

 He would make no exceptions.

 “Don’t come near me!”

 It was a desperate cry. She was unusually agitated today. Despite being disciplined continuously since returning from the battlefield, she was still so ill-mannered. What was the child to her? What was it that made her defy him like this? He smirked and then grabbed her white forearm.

 The woman stopped breathing. Crushing wasn’t his preference. He didn’t want to act fierce in front of a nursing infant either. Ella was trembling. She wrapped the baby’s head and prevented him from raising his head. He felt like a scoundrel. He clenched his molars.

 “……Master, you are a cruel person.”

 The moisture gathering at the corners of her eyes looked fragile. Ella, though trembling, didn’t lose her spirit. She said it hurt. That he cried all night. Ella was rolling in bed with the child’s father while the child was crying. How, how…… How could all parents be so terrible? While their young son was crying to the point of losing his breath, they were entangled like beasts in bed. They weren’t even human. Ella shook her head. She felt like crying.

 She could endure everything else. Everything else, everything else was fine. But when it came to Eselmund, she didn’t want to compromise at all. If he disliked this, he shouldn’t have had a child with a servant girl.

 “You’re not even human!”

 Tears streaked down, leaving long marks. Ella glared at him with her head pulled in tightly. Suddenly, the hand gripping her shoulder applied force. Before she could scream, Ella was dragged and her lips were consumed. With the child in her arms, she had no free arm to push him away. A familiar sensation overwhelmed her. The act of sucking her lower lip and crushing her upper lip. That uncivilized, barbaric, and at the same time, sensual feeling. The man forcing his way in to entwine his tongue smelled like a male. Ella knew that scent. It was the scent of a male. The breath colliding with hers was hot. The thick tongue filled her mouth, trying to devour her.

 “Hmm……!”

 A nasal sound escaped. She opened her eyes and looked at him. His eyes were emotionless. She couldn’t even read a trace of anger. Disgusting. She placed her right hand on his chest to push him away. Of course, he didn’t budge. The slippery tongue swept across the roof of her mouth. She couldn’t handle the heat rising from her neck. Ella couldn’t endure and stepped back. The man supported her back. Ella unconsciously moaned. The kiss was no different from s*x. The entwined tongues felt like two legs, and the saliva like bodily fluids. He pulled Ella while slowly turning his head and gently caressing her lips. She felt his large hand pushing the child away to touch her br*ast.

 “Mama! Mmm.”

 The child wriggled, tipping over. Ella tightly closed her eyes and bit the slippery tongue. The man didn’t retreat. Blood from his tongue flowed into Ella’s mouth. Her breathing staggered. She opened her eyes and looked at him. Unlike her, who felt like dying from the cruelty, the man was smiling. His eyes, which had been emotionless throughout, were drawing a faint smile.

 How many times had the snake-like tongue stirred inside her mouth? The man made her bite his bloodied lips and gazed at her intently. Ella hugged the child’s head with her head bowed.

 “……Did the woman of a man who’s not human burst into tears?”

 Ella said nothing. She just blankly stared at the afternoon sunlight pouring in. The child reached for her lips. She grimaced in misery. The man laughed softly. Tears shimmered and rose again from her dry eyes.

 “Ella.”

 “Stop……”

 She caught the child’s hand touching her lips and blinked. The child had his mouth open. She wiped her tears. Suddenly, a long shadow covered her. She raised her head and looked at Larque, who had come close. He bent his waist, kissed the child’s soft cheek, and then bit her earlobe.

 “Just get used to me already.”