`The Melancholy of Diamonds`

“What did you say I have?”

Herman, who had been sitting in his office drinking coffee, instantly furrowed his brow. As he set his coffee cup down on the saucer while knitting his eyebrows, the butler floundered, unsure what to do.

“That, well, you see…”

“Say it clearly.”

“Th-there are rumors… about you having an illegitimate child…”

Even as he spoke, his expression seemed to be gauging whether this was just a rumor or possibly true. Given Herman’s past behavior, even the butler couldn’t completely dismiss the possibility. Herman quietly smoothed his furrowed brow.

“Perhaps, Young Duke…”

“No.”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t.”

A look of disbelief immediately followed, as if to say, ‘How can you be so sure?’ Herman let out a long sigh and ruffled his bangs.

“I couldn’t have one.”

“…Pardon?”

“To be precise, it was a magical tool I carried…”

While playing around with women, of course he had considered contraception.

‘If by chance I got someone pregnant, it would be troublesome.’

As someone carrying the Telloien bloodline, an illegitimate child would create its own set of problems.

So before fully embracing his free-spirited lifestyle, Herman had obtained a magical tool from a mage he knew in the Republic.

Smaller than a palm and shaped like a red pouch, simply carrying it provided contraceptive effects—its efficacy already proven through multiple partners.

“You mean to say the heir of Telloien carried such a vulgar thing?”

“Thanks to it, no bastards were born.”

Occasionally, there were women shameless enough to try passing off children from other men as Herman’s. Each time, the magical tool served as perfect counterevidence.

Women caught in affairs with other men would flush red and burst into tears, but that was all.

‘I never intended to sow seeds I wouldn’t take responsibility for.’

Unless the woman was from a sufficiently good family, both mother and child would be killed by the Duke. Even if she was from a good family, unless she was someone the Duke approved of, she would quietly have a miscarriage without anyone knowing.

So this was, in a way, a precaution not just for Herman but for the women involved too.

‘…I’m not using it now though.’

The day he destroyed that long-cherished magical tool without hesitation was…

The first time he slept with Esina.

“Ah, no more… I can’t…”

“You’re the one who insisted on marriage, Esina.”

That moment, rolling about indecently in the parlor, spilling his seed inside her—

Herman had impulsively reached into his pocket and crushed the magical tool in his hand. He felt no regret for that action.

Once he had made up his mind, he was determined to have his heir only with Esina. That was the greatest kindness he could show the woman bound to him by contract, and one of the ways to maintain their married life for a long time.

Moreover, until Esina became pregnant and safely gave birth to a child, he had absolutely no intention of being with other women.

‘Depending on the situation, I might even extend that period.’

Perhaps he might refrain from seeing other women until the child was born healthy, grew up, and reached a certain age.

Herman didn’t explain all that as he looked at the butler.

“In any case, I’ve never fathered any bastards. I have no idea where this rumor started.”

“…It came from the department store clerks, sir.”

“The clerks?”

“On the day of the soft opening, several ladies were whispering such things…”

“…I should have thrown them out immediately.”

Had he known they would spout such nonsense, he would have kicked them out on the spot.

Remembering the words they had spewed in front of Esina, a dull headache began to throb.

“Good heavens. She definitely married into the Telloien family for their wealth.”

“Isn’t that just like a cheap prostitute?”

The moment those words replayed in his mind, something twisted unpleasantly in Herman’s chest.

Considering their contract, it was true that Esina should appear as a lavish, wicked wife—but hearing it from others’ mouths felt different. He hadn’t even bought her the necklace with that intention in the first place.

And worse, Esina had heard it all herself.