Chapter 22
Because his conversation with Cayden ended too flatly, he was able to return to the bedroom earlier than expected.
Harvich faced Anna, who was standing in front of lincia’s bedroom.
“…Why are you outside?”
“His Majesty has just come to visit Her Highness the Princess in her chambers.
He said he wanted to talk with her since it’s been a long time.”
Harvich, about to open the door to the chamber, froze at the mention that Julius was inside.
“If Your Highness wishes, I can inform the Princess that you are here.”
“No, that won’t be necessary.”
Whatever conversation lincia was having with Julius, if Harvich went inside, he thought lincia would dislike it.
“Let me know when His Majesty leaves the chamber.”
With that, Harvich entered the adjoining room.
He was just about to close his eyes for a moment, overwhelmed by fatigue.
*I was being thoughtless, insisting like that.
I could have gone north myself to visit.*
A voice came from the adjoining room.
Harvich realized that the room he was in was connected to lincia’s bedroom.
Her quarters had been designed as a marital chamber, and since there was a connecting door, the soundproofing was weaker than other rooms.
*For my sister to be pregnant… I can hardly believe it.
Does that mean I’ll have a nephew or niece?*
The guilt of overhearing their private conversation lasted only a moment, before a faint voice reached his ears.
From beyond the thin wall, lincia’s words were difficult to understand.
So… lincia was being pressured by Julius, and that was why she had someone else’s child?
A sense of betrayal rose in him without reason.
Truthfully, Harvich had no grounds to feel betrayed by lincia at this point.
Even when she had claimed he was the father of her child, he had never once believed it.
So the fact that she bore a child in obedience to Julius’s orders shouldn’t have been shocking.
You had a child just to obey me?
Julius’s voice sounded full of delight.
…Please leave now, I want to rest for today.
*Ah, right.
Your condition wasn’t very good today.
I’m really looking forward to having a nephew, so I hope you give birth safely.*
Sweet dreams, sister.
Harvich heard the sound of Julius leaving the room.
And not long after, Anna’s voice followed.
…Did Your Highness have a good conversation?
Yes.
*His Majesty was very pleased.
He said he was glad to meet you again after such a long time.
Oh, and! The Grand Duke has arrived.*
Harvich jumped to his feet.
He felt he mustn’t eavesdrop any further on lincia’s conversations.
Yet, leaving the room before Anna came to find him also felt strange.
If anyone realized that voices carried clearly between the chambers, that would be troublesome.
Harvich did not want lincia to know that he had discovered her betrayal.
That, too, was a feeling he couldn’t define.
…Does Harvich know that I spoke with Julius?
*…Pardon?
Yes, I told His Highness that His Majesty had visited your chambers.
Will that be a problem?*
…No.
Shall I call the Grand Duke?
Yes.
Before Anna could knock on the connecting door, Harvich stepped out.
Anna looked slightly startled to see Harvich standing outside, but quickly composed herself and said stiffly,
“His Majesty has just left.”
“…I see.
You should also return to the servants’ quarters.”
Anna gave Harvich a slight sideways glance, then bowed her head.
He watched her walk away.
But Harvich himself could not bring himself to grasp the doorknob.
He stood frozen in front of it.
A mood dragged down by feelings he could not define.
Was it really because he had learned that lincia carried a child at Julius’s command?
Harvich had even wondered whether there might have been a night he didn’t remember.
Because lincia’s repeated insistence had made him think there must be a reason.
But now there was no need to wonder.
Her betrayal was certain.
Though he couldn’t give a clear name to this unpleasant feeling, Harvich at least recognized that he was upset.
Hadn’t he always doubted lincia anyway?
Shouldn’t he actually welcome this truth, now that he knew?
Yet he could not make sense of his own heart.
Standing before the door, Harvich finally opened it with a long sigh.
lincia was sitting on the bed, not yet lying down.
The soft light revealed her figure.
As Harvich looked at her sitting there, he felt as if his breath was being choked.
The same impulse that had tormented him the night before rose again.
“You came back earlier than I thought.”
lincia’s voice trembled slightly, but still remained gentle.
“Yes, my work ended earlier.”
Harvich removed his coat and walked toward the flickering lamp.
Without asking, he blew out the flame.
The room quickly fell into darkness.
Because of the cloudy weather, even the moon was swallowed by the clouds.
“…Did something happen?”
At her cautious question, Harvich’s emotions swelled.
“Nothing happened.”
He slowly removed his clothes.
He was supposed to share the bed with lincia again tonight, yet he did not want to do so with his emotions unresolved.
“Nothing at all.”
Her slender fingers touched his shoulder.
Harvich turned his head to look at lincia.
She seemed to be struggling with something, lips opening and closing before she spoke slowly.
But more than her words, the sensation of her touch on his shoulder weighed on him.
“Well… Julius and I didn’t talk about anything special.
It’s just… because I hadn’t agreed to meet him before, he seemed a little angry with me.”
lincia began to ramble about her conversation with Julius.
But she left out the last exchange that Harvich had overheard.
His fingertips grew cold.
“…That is all of our conversation.”
Her violet eyes brimmed with tears, as though to say her talk with Julius had been dreadful.
Her reddened eyes nearly deceived Harvich again.
“There’s no need to tell me trivial things.”
As Harvich turned his back, lincia gasped softly.
Though it caught his attention, he did not turn back.
***
Even after changing his clothes, Harvich did not lie down in bed.
He sat on the sofa, as if waiting for lincia to fall asleep.
She watched him from the bed.
Though the night was pitch-black with the moon hidden, his silver hair still gleamed in the dark.
As lincia gazed at him, she bit her lip.
Harvich had entered the chamber earlier than expected, but his mood was clearly not good.
She suspected it was because she had spoken privately with Julius.
Though reluctant, she had been honest with him.
About what Julius had said.
About the tone of their exchange.
Harvich had not interrupted.
He listened until the end, only to respond coldly afterward.
“There’s no need to tell me trivial things.”
If that was how he would respond, why had he bothered to listen until the end?
She hadn’t wanted to say it in the first place.
