My Child's Father is The Emperor - Chapter 1.1
A cheap inn bedroom. It was dark inside.
Moonlight seeped through the window crack, casting a glow on Inyoung’s contours, as if sculpted from marble.
“Sigh.”
Adele drew in a ragged breath.
Sweat streamed down the smooth back and shoulders of the man pouring passion into her.
Adele clung to his neck, feeling the storm of ecstasy surging through.
The man, reaching his climax, soon stiffened.
Holding her close, he kissed her face endlessly.
His affectionate gestures were as light and tender as feathers.
It was the first time she had seen him today.
Adele was extremely satisfied.
She had achieved the purpose of tonight’s escapade.
“Just once,”
The man whispered sweetly, lips brushing against her temple.
“May I?”
Adele nodded her head.
She had no regrets.
* * *
Four years later, in Ernst.
A small, well-maintained mansion. Though aged, it seemed meticulously cared for, and today, the mansion was unusually bustling.
“Mommy!”
A boy, his left cheek stained with water from not washing and drying his face properly, ran up to Adele and hugged her.
“Leo, didn’t I tell you to wash your face properly?”
“Hehe.”
Leo tried to sneakily wipe his wet cheek with the sleeve of his pajamas, but Adele caught his fern-like hand.
“The other side.”
Dabbing the wetness with a towel, Adele made Leo burst into laughter.
“It’s my birthday today!”
“I know. It’s the birthday you’ve been waiting for, huh?”
Adele lifted Leo with ease, holding him close.
“Well, we have something special for breakfast this morning.”
“What is it? What is it? Tell me!”
Despite his impatience, Adele smiled down at him affectionately.
“Ta-da! Leo’s favorite Sautéed spinach omelet!”
Leo sat down at the table with a big frown on his face.
“Mommy. I can’t skip the spinach?”
“No, you can’t. If you don’t eat spinach, you won’t grow an inch taller by your fourth birthday.”
“Yeah, no. If you don’t eat spinach, you won’t grow a centimeter until your fourth birthday.”
“Ugh.”
Adele handed Leo a sandwich with spinach, bacon, and cheese thinly sliced between the bread, making it easier for him to eat.
“If you eat it like this, you won’t taste the spinach.”
“That’s right. You can eat this.”
Leo swung his adorable legs in the air as he ate breakfast. A little juice spilled as he did, but Adele decided to overlook it since it was his birthday morning.
“If you eat quickly, I’ll take you to the cake shop early.”
“Okay.”
“Eri, please feed Leo breakfast, and prepare the carriage.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
Adele called the maid, Eri, to take care of Leo and headed to her room to get ready for the outing.
Adele changed into her outdoor clothes.
A simple solid-color dress buttoned tightly from neck to waist. The design didn’t accentuate her feminine charm too much.
It suited her well due to Adele’s long neck, slender shoulders, thin arms, and a slender waistline. Thanks to her chestnut hair and green eyes, the outfit appeared even brighter.
Adele looked into the mirror and meticulously fastened each button.
* * *
One day, four years ago, Adele’s mother, Melina, called her with a flushed face.
“Hey, Adele. There’s a marriage proposal for you.”
“What?”
Adele was already past the marriageable age.
However, taking care of her ailing father and accumulating debts at home, the circumstances had gradually spread through rumors, leading no one to send marriage proposals to Adele.
“What are you saying? Marry into the Dreyfus family?”
Viscount Dreyfus, son of the Marquis de Dreyfus, had seven known wives.
He was in his mid-40s, bald, and with ten children.
Melina spoke to Adele, who seemed as if her soul might be consumed by anger, as if to reassure her.
“No, it’s not Viscount Dreyfus, it’s the Marquis.”
“What?”
Adele doubted her own ears.
“Your prospective spouse is Marquis de Dreyfus.”
The old man, who will be seventy next year, and who can count the missing teeth faster than the remaining ones.
“Thankfully, he generously provided a dowry, so we might be able to clear our debts.”
Debts had accumulated over the years due to the prolonged illness and the lack of a carriage.
On top of that, Melina had bought expensive medicine from a mysterious gypsy apothecary.
All of it was in debt.
“How could you sell me off like this?”
Adele shouted, and Melina turned red.
“What a vulgar thing to say! How fortunate we are to have the Marquis’s shadow to rely on without worrying about money or clothes.”
“Fortunate? This is all because Mother bought strange medicine or fell for a fake healer, creating debts!”
“Then should I tell your father to die because he doesn’t have money?”
Adele was infuriated.
“Are you really my mother? Trying to sell me for money.”
Melina avoided Adele’s gaze.
“You must remain chaste and discreet until the wedding ceremony, so as not to be a nuisance to the Marquis.”
Adele snatched the marriage proposal from Melina’s hand.
“I’m not getting married!”
“Adele!”
Adele tore the marriage proposal into pieces and threw it into the fireplace before storming out of the house.
“You cannot.”
Adele was rumored to be a beautiful, polite, and intelligent young woman.
However, no one had loved Adele enough to marry her, taking on the burden of her ailing father and paying off the debts.
“I would rather die than be married to such an old man!”
Adele walked with a sense of despair.
“Quiet? Modest? Ridiculous.”
The result of enduring such humiliation was becoming the concubine of an old marquis. Moreover, the Marquis was in such poor health that it was doubtful he would last the first night.
“The Marquis de Dreyfus, who has seen his grandchildren, cannot be as chaste as I am.”
Adele felt unjustly treated.
Instead of spending the prime of her life caring for her father’s illness, it seemed she was now being sold as the caregiver to an elderly husband.
It was on that day she met Leo’s father. It was unforgettable.
A wandering knight named Van.
He was a strikingly handsome man, young, and had an exceptional physique.
Looking at his healthy and clean skin, nails, and teeth, there seemed to be no sign of illness.
Adele spent an intense and passionate night with him.
She had a slight worry about the consequences. However, she had no regrets.
But what awaited Adele upon her return from that night of escapade was the news of Drephus Marquis’s death due to illness during the night.
Unexpectedly, things turned out well after that.
The incompetent and lecherous Viscount Dreyfus had been pushed aside, and the Marquis’s eldest daughter, Lord Ellipson, had been elevated to the position of Lady Marquise.
“Are you the daughter of Administrative Officer Ernst?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Adele, suddenly summoned by the new Marquis de Dreyfus, was nervous.
“You also studied public administration at university.”
Adele had attended school on a scholarship. Obtaining a diploma in public administration at the age of 17 was unusually quick. She once aspired to become an administrative officer like her father, but family circumstances prevented her from pursuing that path.
“I will hire you as the new administrative officer.”
“What?”
“You’re to start tomorrow.”
The Ernst Mansion, the administrative officer’s residence.
The house remained the home of Adelaide Ernst, now the administrative officer.
As Adele worked as an administrative officer, she gave birth to Leo.
Lord Ellipson, perhaps because they were both women, showed Adele a lot of favor. Thanks to her, Adele was able to take time off work to give birth to Leo.
