TLAD 01

Chapter 1 …

It was a marriage the nation wanted.
I was nothing more than a powerless being who had to do as I was told.
But this time is different.
I will leave this suffocating place, his side, by my own will.
Before he finds out.
Holding a divorce document without my husband’s signature.
I unilaterally divorced him and secretly ran away.

“Take care, Christine.”
“Yes, Ria.”

After finishing a pleasant day, Christine stood up from her seat, and a close colleague waved at her first.
Smiling, Christine left the magical quarantine station while gently rubbing her swollen belly.

“It’s already this late.”

Glancing at the large clock in the square, it was already 6 p.m. Winter evenings grew dark early, and stars were already visible.

“…It’s beautiful.”

A faint smile appeared on her face as she carefully caressed her pregnant belly. It had already been six months since she came here.

And the father of the child was…

“I don’t want to think about it.”

But contrary to her words, his presence lingered around her like a hallucination.

Seimon Deirtt, the young duke.

The son of Duke Duran Deirtt, a business genius who turned Deirtt Corporation into the most influential company in the world.

And her ex-husband, as well as the father of her child. A proud man with strong self-esteem.

She hated him.

He was always cold, difficult to read, rational, and strictly separated work from personal matters—a businessman through and through.

“Could he possibly be looking for me?”

A chill ran through her body, stiffening her with tension. It was already cold, but she still got goosebumps and pulled her red scarf tighter.

No. That couldn’t be.

It had already been more than half a year since she left, and there had been no news…

Though she tried to convince herself, anxiety still lingered.

Quickening her steps, Christine stopped by the telegraph office before heading home.

With a familiar smile from the clerk she had grown close to, she received her mail, which always contained the same letter and a check.

[Christine.
Raise the child safely in the Republic of Chestir. Safety is guaranteed.

• Duke Duran Deirtt]

Christine looked at the letter and let out a small sigh, her feelings complicated.

The head of the Deirtt family, one of the three major political figures of the Republic.

“Why do they keep sending this?”

She fiddled with the check bearing Duke Duran Deirtt’s signature and sighed.

“He already gave too much divorce settlement money.”

The money sent every 1st of the month was burdensome.

It had already been six months since she settled in the New Continent’s Rojas Republic.

“Is he trying to take responsibility since the child carries Deirtt blood?”

Deciding to save the money for her child, Christine calmly put the check into her wallet.

“My baby, I’ll make sure you never lack anything.”

Suddenly, she felt sorry for the baby.

If the child had been born through a normal woman, carrying the Deirtt name, they would have lived a wealthy, luxurious life…

“Because I’m of the Oredot imperial family…”

With a sigh, Christine, as always, wrote a polite thank-you letter along with news of the child and sent it to the duke.

Leaving the telegraph office, Christine stopped by a bakery near her home.

The child, much like its father’s picky taste, insisted on eating expensive butter dinner rolls.

She was glad there was a bakery selling such high-end bread nearby.

“Enjoy your meal, Christine.”

The bakery owner, always kind, greeted her warmly. Christine carried the paper bag full of dinner rolls and went up to her apartment.

Clack.

Returning to her always clean and neatly arranged home, Christine took off her shoes and stepped inside.

“Let’s take a shower now.”

She wasn’t originally very talkative, but after becoming pregnant, she often spoke to the baby in her womb.

After a clean shower, she checked once more the bag she had packed in case she needed to rush to the hospital at any moment.

She was already over eight months pregnant. The midwife had told her to be ready, as labor could begin anytime.

“We’ll meet soon.”

Christine smiled softly.

But she hadn’t always accepted the child with a smile.

—

-My God!

When she first learned she was pregnant with Seimon’s child, she was so shocked she fainted in her room.

When she woke up, she tried to think rationally.

They had always used contraception since they didn’t want children. Trying to recall when it could have happened, she suddenly remembered one night.

The one time Seimon came home heavily drunk.

—

-You don’t… really know me.
-Wh-what do you mean…
-Well, I didn’t even know myself.

For some reason, that day Seimon had been unusually persistent, not letting her go. And swept away by the mood, she had failed to use protection.

One moment of carelessness had caused everything…

Christine remembered his high nose, his lips, and his jawline.

A man who never hesitated to speak harshly at work, but whose lips when resting were unexpectedly elegant.

His thick black eyelashes, resting like a doll’s, were so beautiful she once thought he might even have more lashes than her.

She had thought it strange how gentle he acted that day…

Christine snapped back to reality.

“Pull yourself together, Christine.”

She had been thinking about Seimon too much today. Her delicate brows furrowed.

“Haa…”

At first, she had even considered giving up the child. Even if she asked the doctor to keep it secret, rumors would eventually spread.

In despair, there was only one option left.

Quietly terminating the pregnancy with medication.

Even thinking about it made her hands tremble.

She had to follow the “no pregnancy clause” of her contractual marriage with Seimon.

Moreover, carrying the child of a Republican noble would cause a scandal if the royalist aristocrats found out.

She needed to decide quickly—whether to keep the child, or to maintain the fabricated contract marriage to the end and leave her role behind.

“…I did the right thing.”

Drinking warm rooibos tea said to be good for pregnant women, Christine looked calm.

She had decided to keep the child. And the day Seimon left for an overseas business trip…

When she told Duke Duran about her pregnancy and handed him the divorce papers, she remembered his terrifying gaze.

“It’s hot.”

Feeling warmed by the tea, Christine stepped out onto the balcony and stared at the high winter moon.

Tonight’s moon was a clear, beautiful shade of yellow.

Absentmindedly, she lowered her gaze.

“Huh?”

A luxury sedan that didn’t belong in this neighborhood, and a familiar dark figure leaning against it.

“…!”

Realizing who it was, Christine felt her breath stop.

Before she could even step back, her eyes met the man’s, who had a cigarette between his lips.

Ah, the winter moon was below as well.

A pair of round golden eyes burned with persistence, exhaustion, and anger.

That gaze pierced through her heart, leaving Christine’s mind completely blank.

‘How…?’

While her mind turned white and froze—

“Christine. It’s been a while.”

A low, deep voice echoed.

It wasn’t loud, but it pierced her ears sharply, making her heart tremble.

Seimon looked up at the frozen Christine and said slowly,

“Should I come up, or will you come down?”

The tip of the cigarette in his hand glowed red.

“I had quite a hard time finding you.”

His gaze, fixed on Christine, dropped to her belly—and in that instant, his expression shook violently.

“Pregnant?”

His cigarette fell to the ground.

So did his heart.

Seimon bit his lip, then released it, speaking coldly toward her.

“We seem to have a lot to talk about.”

Looking at Christine, who silently stared down at him without any reaction, Seimon clenched his fist tighter.

“Princess. Decide quickly. I don’t have much patience.”

Despite the polite words, his voice was sharp and cutting.

Watching Christine who still did not move from the balcony, Seimon stepped forward.

It seemed his runaway wife still wanted to continue playing hide-and-seek.