Abandoned Maid of the Grand Duke - Chapter 44
Damn it, I’m right next to you, so why?!
“What exactly are you so anxious about? Emperor? I never wanted that, not even once. I didn’t even want the title of Grand Duke.”
If I had those things, I couldn’t have you.
The higher his position, the farther he’d be from her.
So how could she say that he regretted not having it? How could she ask him about something so trivial?
“Isn’t there just one reason you’re acting like this?”
Conversely, isn’t it that you regret choosing me?
That instead of choosing him, she should have chosen that young and innocent stable boy.
That on their first wedding night, instead of being tied to Ernst and crying while being taken in a dirty haystack, you should have been warmly embraced by that guy.
Seeing her hesitate, Ernst let out a bitter laugh.
“Don’t say it’s not true.”
Because if you say that…
“Do you love me?”
That phrase he had never actually heard from her lips.
The one he would habitually whisper to her as he’d kiss her cheek, her forehead, her lips… It’s something he had only ever dreamed of hearing from her.
“Ernst!”
Realizing this, he couldn’t stay there any longer. Without even properly putting on his coat, he grabbed his hunting rifle and stepped out the door with only his hat on. He didn’t look back, not once.
He feared that if she saw the face he imagined he had right now, he would feel too wretched.
Creak—
The sunlight pouring through the twisted wooden door was unbearably hot. As if only the prince in the story had genuine feelings, while the princess’s love would vanish like a mirage once the book was closed.
The emptiness of it all made him unable to move from the doorway for a long time.
***
Lying on the bed, she covered her eyes. The soup he had given her had long gone cold, and her mind was filled with thoughts.
So many thoughts about various things.
‘I’ve ruined everything.’
Why did she say something so stupid?
Is this some kind of marriage blues? No, they’re not even married, so how could she have marriage blues? Then again, she had been through two ceremonies. One engagement and one common-law marriage.
If she were going to wallow in self-pity, she should have considered the situation. She just said that to a great man who left everything behind to be with her.
Confused Julie blamed it all on her hormones, while rational Julie scolded herself.
“Agh, really!”
She couldn’t hit her chest out of fear of affecting the baby, so she just smacked her head and jumped up from her seat.
This was no time to be sitting around. In romance comics, if the characters just sit around, events happen on their own, and the couple reconciles and gets entangled in a passionate love story. But reality isn’t like that.
If she just let him go and waited, he’d come back home, not speaking for three or four days, only going out to hunt. If she chased after him and grabbed him now, they’d reconcile in just three minutes and four seconds. Being stubborn and letting it drag out for days was not the mature thing to do…
“Ugh…”
As soon as she opened the door and stepped outside, the humid and hot air hit her nose, making her knees buckle.
‘What’s this?’
How could there be such a temperature difference between inside and outside? No, she had thought it was relatively cool for summer weather.
She hadn’t been outside much lately because her body felt heavy. She hadn’t had any important errands, and most of her needs were taken care of by Ernst. So, she had thought it was cool for summer in the forest.
‘Wow, he used leaves for the roof like that…’
She wondered how he had come up with such an idea. Why build a hut in such a remote place? Then she saw that the entire roof was covered with large leaves, blocking the sunlight. It was clearly his handiwork, weaving them together one by one.
The sunlight hitting the roof was kept cool by the moisture in the leaves, and the natural breeze passing through the forest carried a coolness into the house, making the interior cool as well.
It was impressive that a nobleman like him had such skills, but she realized it was inevitable. Even nobles had to survive in the front lines of battle.
Reaching out, she touched a cool stem.
The leaves were still fresh, indicating that he replaced them often. He was busy hunting during the day and handling tasks from the Grand Duchy in the evenings. When did he have time for this?
Just as she was about to be overwhelmed by a wave of emotion, thinking about how she had been able to breathe easily because of his care—
“Oh no.”
No. Instead of a wave of emotion…
Her water broke.
