31. Hiccups

After the banquet dinner, the news of that day began to spread ferociously through the mouths of the nobles.

The news of the duke’s mistress’s pregnancy had already become an established fact.

Men’s gossip was even worse than women’s. Casis was realizing this truth as he read the letter sent from the imperial palace.

[She’s not only the duke’s life savior. They say she’s carrying a child for the Torpeo ducal family that lacks heirs, so wouldn’t it be appropriate to give her the position of duchess?

The duke’s precious welcoming banquet is scheduled. It would be good to announce the good news together then.

The imperial family wishes for her to become the duchess—the woman who saved this country’s only duke. And I would very much like to meet you and your mistress together soon.

Ah. Since the duke is still not fully recovered, you need not attend the banquet.]

He carefully folded the letter received from Crown Prince Trasi and placed it in the drawer of his office desk.

Then he raised his finger and flicked it repeatedly on the desk.

‘……He wants to meet my mistress.’

And that was his mistress in the provinces, no less.

Thinking of the crown prince who would be snickering at his situation in the imperial palace by now, the corner of the duke’s mouth twisted.

How ironic that he was trying so hard to match him with someone he didn’t know was the daughter of the marquis family who had fled from the crown prince.

The duke found this situation quite pleasing.

‘Since His Highness personally wishes to meet her, I should show her to him soon.’

The moment he confirmed that Del, whom he thought was a commoner, was actually Adeline. He could almost visualize the crown prince’s face contorting. An enigmatic smile—whether genuine or mocking—bloomed at the corner of Casis’s lips.

He stopped his tapping fingers.

Then he asked the butler standing at the door of his office.

“Does my Del have no intention of gracing the dining room today either?”

“Yes. She says she is unwell and cannot attend.”

“Is that so? If she’s not feeling well, I should go see her.”

He immediately rose from his office desk. Then, putting on the jacket he had hung up, he spoke.

“Your Grace.”

Casis, who was about to leave the office, turned around at the butler’s low voice.

“Do you… know about the rumors circulating about the Lady?”

The butler’s expression was extremely dark as he questioned the duke.

“Rumors?”

At the butler’s concerned question, the corner of Casis’s mouth curved.

“Ah. That the mistress is using pregnancy as an excuse to aim for the duchess position?”

“For Lady Del’s sake, you should correct these false rumors.”

The butler cautiously added.

Casis seemed to stroke his chin before patting the butler’s shoulder a couple of times.

And then.

“Hmm. Who knows? Whether that rumor will become reality.”

The corners of his mouth curved gently as he spoke dismissively.

“How will you handle Lady Del’s condition if she is pregnant?”

At the butler’s continued concern, Casis recalled the events of the previous night.

“Her pulse is detectable, but……”

After Adeline repeatedly retched at the banquet, the duke promptly ended the dinner.

Everyone immediately thought of pregnancy upon seeing Adeline’s condition. The duke was no exception.

That night, the duke immediately summoned his physician to examine Adeline.

“The Lady’s body is quite weakened, so I cannot be certain. Further examination is needed to determine. However, the probability of pregnancy is high, so she must take good care of her body.”

Since that incident, Casis had not spoken with Adeline. He knew well that he needed to visit her and have a conversation.

But seeing Adeline’s terrified reaction whenever she saw him, he couldn’t approach her carelessly for fear of worsening her condition.

Reports came in that she ate well when he wasn’t present, but strangely, Adeline would mysteriously start retching whenever Casis was in the vicinity. Casis found it increasingly difficult to approach Adeline.

However, they couldn’t keep avoiding each other forever.

Casis, who had only half-opened the door and was lost in thought, asked the butler.

“Where is Del now?”

“The Lady is in the greenhouse.”

⁕⁕⁕

Adeline was sitting at the greenhouse table, intending to fill her stomach with sandwiches during tea time.

Since the banquet, Adeline had never entered the dining room.

Though Casis invited Adeline at every mealtime, she still refused to comply. When she was with Casis, not only could she not eat, but she also kept feeling nauseous.

She still couldn’t believe the doctor’s words.

This was understandable because her intimate encounter with Casis had been just that one night at the Horn villa.

Despite constantly reminding her to fulfill her role as a mistress and always sharing the bedroom, the duke had never actually touched Adeline.

‘Morning sickness due to pregnancy?’

Though she thought it impossible, Adeline couldn’t erase that single night from her mind.

Her head was filled with unending confused thoughts.

‘If I’m really pregnant, what should I do?’

She belonged to the Marquis Credion family. Becoming the duchess, as the maids whispered, made even less sense.

Casis had made her his mistress to humiliate her, so there was no way he would place her in the position of duchess.

And Adeline herself declined the position of duchess. If it happened, she would have to formally show her face in society.

‘Then, I’d surely be a dead person.’

The crown prince and her father wouldn’t leave her alone.

Adeline looked at her flat stomach and then shook her head a couple of times, as if she had imagined something terrible.

The only times Adeline had proper meals were after Casis finished dining or when eating sandwiches in the greenhouse like now. Adeline picked up a sandwich, saying she was having useless thoughts because she was hungry.

Adeline, who had just started her first meal of the day, was stuffing sandwiches into her mouth.

When her mouth was full of sandwich, suddenly an uninvited guest arrived at the greenhouse.

Hic. As soon as Adeline saw the uninvited guest’s face, she felt like she would choke, as if her body had been waiting for this moment.

Adeline repeatedly hit her chest as the hiccups wouldn’t stop.

“Now you’re even hiccupping?”

And whose fault is that? Adeline glared at Casis, who seemed to deliberately choose the most annoying words.

“Ah. Should I be grateful you’re not vomiting at the sight of me?”

“Do you really think I’m pregnant?”

Adeline, having finally swallowed the sandwich in her mouth, questioned the annoying Casis accusingly.

“Of course you’re pregnant. Or is the child not mine?”

“What nonsense……”

Adeline found it strange that Casis was so tentatively certain about the pregnancy.

He couldn’t possibly not know that they had only spent that one night together.

“If you’re carrying my child, keep your body and mind proper. Don’t just eat things like that.”

“But! We haven’t slept together since that time?”

At Adeline’s words, Casis’s lips curled up as if something had occurred to him.

“It must have happened then. Or did you desire it quite a bit while sharing a room?”

At Casis’s provocation, Adeline raised her voice indignantly.

“No. What……! Is pregnancy such an easy thing? In the first place!”

Adeline continued, lowering her voice in consideration of the surrounding gazes.

“In the first place, I am a person of the marquis family. If I’m really pregnant……”

“Isn’t it a good thing? It would be better for you to stay by my side like this than with the crown prince.”

Adeline felt like she was talking to a wall. No matter what she said, Casis seemed to have completely burned the premise that Adeline might not be pregnant.

“Ah. A letter came from the imperial family. They highly value commoner Del’s virtue and say it would be good to take you as the duchess. I’m thinking of accepting the imperial family’s opinion.”

Casis sat in the empty chair next to Adeline. Moving close to Adeline, Casis brought his large hand to Adeline’s flat stomach.

“What do you think?”

Despite his affectionate touch and tone, Casis looked at her as if he would devour her.

“You know better than anyone that this doesn’t make sense.”

At Adeline’s words, Casis just stared at her without changing his expression, as if asking what didn’t make sense.

“Does tormenting me like this make you happy?”

Adeline shouted, pushing Casis’s hand away from her body as far as possible. Casis pulled Adeline closer, as if he had anticipated her reaction. Their bodies were pressed together with less than a hand span between them.

The red irises were fixed on Adeline’s face, as if admiring her contorted expression. Casis’s hand, caressing her face, showed no sign of stopping.

“Seeing your contorted face does make me feel somewhat better.”

Adeline thought this nonsensical conversation had no further meaning.

She felt goosebumps rising at Casis’s touch as he stroked her face. Adeline coldly pushed away Casis’s remaining hand and abruptly stood up from her seat.

As if she hated being in the same space any longer, Adeline quickly left the greenhouse.

Casis didn’t stop Adeline. He leaned on the table and nervously ran his hand through his hair.

At that moment, the sandwich placed on the table caught Casis’s eye.

After staring at the half-eaten sandwich for a while, Casis spoke to the maid.

“I plan to dine out with nobles tonight. Tell your mistress to eat comfortably.”

Casis leaned back in the greenhouse chair and gazed into the distant void. When he had come to the greenhouse looking for Adeline, he hadn’t intended to pick a fight like this.

Seeing her face crumple at the sight of him, Casis once again spat out thorny words, and he couldn’t bear his own wretchedness.

“Yes. I will convey your message as instructed.”

The maid accepted the duke’s order and quietly left the greenhouse.