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Chapter 22
“Aella!”
Media shouted with an indignant face.
Aella immediately slapped her once more.
“That’s for insulting my father.”
“Have you truly lost your mind? To me, who carries the Crown Prince’s child!”
“Lower your voice, Media. It looks vulgar.”
Aella looked at Media with a cold expression.
“Hey!”
Media tried to lunge at Aella, but Xenia, who had entered upon hearing the loud noise, grabbed hold of her.
“How dare you lay hands on Her Highness the Crown Princess! Get out! Right now!”
Xenia pushed Media outside.
“Lady Diudis, don’t touch me! I am carrying the Crown Prince’s child!”
Media shouted angrily at Xenia.
Xenia’s eyebrow twitched at those words, but she slammed the door shut right in front of Media’s nose.
After closing the door, Xenia looked back at Aella.
“Is what Lady Baldock said true?”
“Yes. Xenia, perhaps Media’s child might be of help to us.”
Xenia looked startled, but Aella’s expression was bright.
“Help?”
Xenia asked back, as if to ask what she meant.
“I think I might be able to negotiate using Media’s child. The Crown Prince would want to raise his own child as an imperial child. Not as a child of House Motita. This means I’ve gained a good bargaining chip.”
“Then…”
“I need to meet the Crown Prince.”
—
***
—
Aella entered Seamus’s office and stood before him with a nervous face. Seamus greeted her with a delinquent posture, leaning back in his chair with his legs up on the desk.
“What brings the Crown Princess all the way here?”
“I have something to tell…”
Aella trailed off as she noticed a crumpled letter, still in its envelope, lying on top of a pile of books.
On the envelope, the recipient’s name was written as ‘Ell’. Tilting her head at her own nickname, Aella unconsciously reached her hand toward the letter.
But just before Aella’s hand touched the letter, Seamus snatched it away and shoved it into a drawer.
“Just say what you have to say. And don’t touch my things.”
Seamus looked at Aella with a stern face.
Aella assumed she had misseen and stood up straight. Since she had a very important matter to discuss, she felt she shouldn’t displease Seamus.
“I heard about Lady Baldock’s pregnancy. They say it’s Your Highness the Crown Prince’s child.”
“That’s right. Unlike the brat you’re carrying, it’s my child. But so what? Are you going to use that as an excuse to ask for a divorce? Huh?”
Seamus took his feet off the desk and rose from his seat with a hardened face. His eyes as he looked down at Aella were menacing.
“No. Congratulations, Your Highness the Crown Prince. This is a true blessing for the imperial family.”
“Crown Princess, what do you mean by that? Are you mocking me now?”
Seamus slammed his fist down on the desk.
At his violent action, Aella flinched and instinctively placed her hand on her slightly protruding belly. Hiding her nervousness, Aella opened her mouth in a calm tone.
“I would like to propose a deal.”
“A deal?”
At the word ‘deal’, one of Seamus’s eyebrows quirked upward.
“I know you are not the kind of man who would give another family’s surname to your own flesh and blood, nor give the Miden surname to Motita’s child.”
“Damn it. Aella, what trickery is this now?”
Seamus swore and raised his voice.
This time, Aella was not afraid. She laid out her thoughts in a clear tone.
“I will send the child to House Petra as soon as it is born. I will send it to the Petra estate and have it raised there. And I will take the child Media gives birth to as my own.”
If she sent the child outside the palace to keep it out of sight, Seamus would likely not go so far as to kill the child. Aella’s plan was to remain by Seamus’s side for a few more years, then divorce him when the time was right, go down to her estate, and live taking care of her child and her house.
“You want to swap your child and Media’s child? Did those words just come out of your mouth?”
Seamus’s brow furrowed.
“Yes. Media’s child will become the child of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and the child I give birth to will grow up without receiving any surname. Without any mother’s love, without even noble status, left to live in such loneliness.”
“Hahahaha.”
At Aella’s words, Seamus burst into laughter. As if it were a truly amusing story.
Seeing Seamus letting out such hearty laughter, Aella’s eyes wavered. She couldn’t tell whether to take this reaction positively.
“Aella, you’ve been using your head. Damn, you have an endearing side.”
Stopping his laughter, Seamus tilted his head to one side and let out a breath, “Hoo.”
Although she read displeasure on Seamus’s face, Aella did not back down and continued speaking.
“I believe that would be better for Your Highness the Crown Prince as well. For the sake of the imperial family, too.”
“Don’t even dream of it, Aella. That child in your belly, even if it’s not my own flesh and blood, it is mine. Just like you.”
With a darkened expression, Seamus reached his hand toward Aella’s belly.
Startled by Seamus’s hand approaching her belly, Aella stepped back and wrapped her arms protectively around herself.
At Aella’s blatantly guarded posture, Seamus’s lips twisted.
“Why? Are you afraid I might rip that brat out of your belly right now and kill it?”
Coming out from behind the desk and approaching Aella, Seamus sneered.
Aella backed away step by step as Seamus drew near. But Seamus immediately grabbed Aella’s arm and pulled her close.
Aella caught her breath and looked up at Seamus with tense eyes. Seamus looked at her with savage eyes, then lowered his gaze to her belly.
Whenever he saw Motita’s child growing inside Aella, Seamus felt like he was going mad. That bastard, whom he could chew up and still not be satisfied, had planted his child in Seamus’s own wife. Inferiority burned Seamus’s heart black.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Aella grew uneasy as Seamus’s gaze fixed on her belly.
Seamus reached his hand toward Aella’s belly. Aella flinched in surprise, but Seamus stroked her belly with a rather gentle touch and spoke.
“You, and this one too, are mine. How dare you think of sneaking what’s mine outside? How insolent, eh?”
Raising his gaze, Seamus met Aella’s eyes.
Aella held her breath for a moment at the look in Seamus’s eyes. They were eyes filled with madness. It seemed he truly believed both she and her child belonged to him. A sense of eeriness made it hard for Aella to breathe properly.
“The child is innocent. I will remain by Your Highness’s side. So please, at least let the child leave the palace.”
“Why is it innocent? It’s that bastard’s spawn. That bastard’s seed dares to grow inside my wife’s belly.”
“…”
“Aella! You shameless Aella! That brat you’re carrying, how old should I let it become before I kill it?”
Suddenly erupting in rage, Seamus grabbed Aella’s shoulders and shook her. His rolling eyes were completely like those of a madman.
“Shut your mouth!”
But Aella, too, was not in her right mind at the mention of killing her child. Aella shouted just like a madman, as crazed as Seamus himself.
Ever since the quickening began, her time bonding with the child had grown longer. Aella loved her unborn child with all her heart. For this child, there was nothing Aella wouldn’t do.
“You seem blind to everything because of Motita’s little bastard. Fine, good. I’ll kill it when it turns three. Just when you’ve grown attached, I’ll snatch it from your arms and throw it to the dogs as feed. How about that? Do you like that, Aella?”
“If you touch my child, I will bite your throat out. I’ll cut off your windpipe.”
Aella glared at Seamus with bloodshot eyes.
“You’re fun when you’re excited.”
Seamus giggled and tilted his head sideways. The look in his eyes as he gazed at Aella was as fierce as if he might strangle her at any moment.
“So why did you have to conceive some other bastard’s child? And Motita’s at that. Thanks to you, I’m going out of my mind, Aella.”
“Don’t take my warning lightly. If you touch my child, Your Highness the Crown Prince will not come out unscathed either.”
“I warn you too. The moment you or your child tries to leave my side, your head will fly. Lady Petra, who is staying in the estate knowing nothing, and Diudis, who follows you like a dog, will meet the same fate. So don’t have any foolish dreams, Aella.”
Seamus warned in a clear tone.
Aella’s fists trembled. After glaring at Seamus for a moment, Aella turned on her heel.
*If anyone touches my child, whoever they are, I will throw them into the flames of hell.*
With bloodshot eyes, Aella left Seamus’s office.
—
***
—
Time passed, and both Aella and Media were now heavily pregnant. Media, who had moved into the imperial palace, eagerly awaited the day Aella would give birth.
Then one day, while resting in her room at the Crown Princess’s palace, Media sat up on the couch at the sound of urgent knocking. Media’s maid, Anne, hurried toward the door.
When she opened the door, a maid from the Crown Princess’s palace entered. The maid greeted Media and explained why she had come running.
“Her Highness the Crown Princess has just begun her labor pains.”
