My Child's Father is The Emperor - Chapter 3.1
Adele shouted with indignation,
“My child! I carried him in my womb for ten months! What were you doing?”
In that moment, the Emperor’s gray eyes flickered, revealing indescribable complex emotions.
‘…Huh?’
The words of reproach and anger she had prepared disappeared, unable to escape her lips.
When the Emperor turned his gaze back to Adele again, it was a cold look.
“I can’t do it. There’s no choice. Bring the woman too,” the Emperor said.
As he turned away, the knights seized Adele’s arms on both sides.
Adele struggled and twisted and struggled.
“Let go! Let me go!”
“Mommy!”
Leo exclaimed in surprise.
“Leo…”
Adele took a deep breath and tried to calm her heart.
“Let go, please. The child is frightened. I’ll go quietly.”
At Adele’s words, the knights released her.
“Mom.”
Leo, now reassured, nestled against her skirt.
Adele held back tears and hugged Leo tightly.
* * *
The place they were dragged to in the carriage was Dreyfus Castle.
The castle of the Marquis de Dreyfus, where Adele went to work every day.
At night, the entire castle was aglow, filled with torches.
Since Adele usually finished work at exactly 4 PM, this was a sight she had never seen before.
Even the residents outside the carriage were out on the streets at this late hour, as if enjoying the peculiar spectacle.
Steinhart, the capital of the Albrecht Empire. Although it was only a few hours away from Dreyfus Barony, the Emperor seemed to have decided to stay here instead of heading to the capital today.
Adele and Leo were guided to a clean guest room.
“We will depart early tomorrow morning.”
The guide, and those who came to offer a simple meal, were not servants of Dreyfus Barony. Adele was impressed by their thoroughness.
But the Emperor also seemed to have overlooked something.
‘This is my workplace.’
Adele knows Dreyfus Castle like her own home.
She composed her expression and respectfully spoke to the messenger.
“We are leaving suddenly. I would like to convey my greetings to the lord.”
Adele tried hard to conceal her anxiety.
“It will only take a moment.”
The messenger who went to deliver the message soon returned.
“The Emperor has granted permission.”
Adele was taken aback. She thought the messenger had gone to seek permission from Drephus Baron, her lord.
‘The Emperor’s permission.’
Adele was surprised; she thought the servant had gone to ask the Marquis de Dreyfus for permission.
“The Emperor’s permission.
The power over her and Leo’s lives had already passed into his hands.
Adele, breathing gently, straightened the blanket over the sleeping Leo and left the room.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
As she opened the familiar study door, the inside was not as bright as she expected.
The Marquise de Dreyfus, familiar from her daily encounters. She was still young and vigorous, in her late thirties. The normally cheerful Marquise looked somber today, as if she had something on her mind.
Adele bowed politely.
“My lord, I came to pay my respects.”
“I see.”
Adele scanned the room for signs of disturbance.
The lord of Dreyfus Castle. It wouldn’t be easy to hide in the lord’s office without being heard. Adele lowered her voice anyway.
“I am leaving.”
The Marquis of Dreyfus looked at her with an endless pause.
“During the last Imperial succession, most of the royal bloodline perished.”
Only Emperor Albrecht and those who supported him survived.
“As the Emperor has not yet accepted a queen, it is only a matter of time before our lives are brought to an end.”
The illegitimate child of an unmarried emperor.
It was worse than being the illegitimate child of Adele, a commoner. It was a perfect position to become a sacrificial pawn in the political strife.
“Well.”
The baroness sighed.
“Lady, spare Leo’s life just once.”
The Marquise de Dreyfus was Leo’s godmother.
When Adele gave birth to Leo as an illegitimate child, the residents subtly looked down on Adele and Leo.
But when the Marquis de Dreyfus, the Lord of the manor, appeared as Leo’s godmother at his christening, no one in the manor looked down on him afterward.
“What is the child’s name?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“Is that so? Then… Leopold. Let it be this name.”
