Chapter 42
Rosen snapped awake when the large hand softly caressing below her navel slipped down between her legs. To be precise, it was when Iscarion’s regretful voice reached her ears.
“…It was too much to hope for an immediate pregnancy, I suppose.”
“What?”
Just as she was about to fall asleep, Rosen turned her head sharply. Unlike her shocked expression, Iscarion, lying on his side with his head propped up on one arm, remained unfazed.
“Seeing blood like this means you’re definitely not pregnant.”
“Brother! What do you mean by that? Surely, you don’t mean…!”
Rosen had always assumed that Iscarion was taking precautions. The issue of heirs was a sensitive matter, especially for high-ranking nobles. Imperial law stipulated that only children born from legitimate marriages could inherit the family, to prevent complications from illegitimate children. Some men, of course, boasted about their ability to maintain two households with mistresses and illegitimate children, but she never thought Iscarion was one of them.
“Were you not using contraception all this time?”
“Contraception?”
When Rosen asked in a flustered manner, Iscarion stared at her as if hearing something completely unexpected.
“Why would you think that? You said you wanted to have a baby soon.”
“When did I ever say that!”
“When Sir Leonore brought his baby over, remember?”
“……”
Rosen was too stunned to speak. It had been years since Sir Leonore, a high-ranking knight of the Lutèce Order, visited the castle with his wife and their youngest baby. It was the first time Rosen had seen such a small baby up close, and she had found it fascinating and adorable.
At the time, Rosen had just awakened to the feelings of love and was nursing a heartache over Iscarion. Seeing the usually taciturn Sir Leonore being affectionate with his family stirred something in her heart.
The sight of him, his wife, and their baby, bound by an invisible yet strong connection, left a deep impression on her. She had longed to have such a relationship with Iscarion someday.
Though she had imagined having a child and a happy family with him, that was when she believed they would marry. She had never meant she wanted to bear an unblessed child while being confined to his bed…
“A baby that looks like you would surely be adorable.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Why would I have your baby!”
Rosen’s sharp outburst made his eyes narrow. Yet, she couldn’t help but resent him and shouted again.
“There’s bound to be another woman to become the Grand Duchess. Have a baby with her.”
“Ha, another woman?”
Iscarion briefly looked incredulous, then his expression turned ominously cold.
His tone became oppressively grave as he asked,
“If another woman bears my child, what will you do?”
“We’re nothing to each other, so I’d naturally leave… Ah!”
Rosen couldn’t finish her sentence. Iscarion’s grip on her shoulders tightened as if to crush them. He pressed down, preventing her from rising, and stared down at her.
“Why, are you planning to have another man’s child if you leave this place?”
“Let go! Ah… umph!”
Rosen couldn’t understand why he was so angry. Before she could protest, his lips covered hers, and his hot tongue invaded her mouth. Desperately, she scratched and hit him, but his rock-solid body didn’t budge.
As she struggled for breath, the soft feather blanket got tangled. Iscarion’s large hand lifted her clothes, forcefully spreading her soft thighs and pushing between them. His firm grip on the thick fabric between her legs felt like it would tear it apart.
“Ah…”
Thinking he would let her go once he got tired of her was naive. If she wasn’t careful, something irreversible might happen. She had assumed he would be troubled if she got pregnant, but the reality was the opposite. Many noblewomen didn’t see mistresses or illegitimate children as serious issues and often dismissed them as mere amusements.
Rosen was no longer a child who believed that holding hands with an adult man in bed would result in a baby. She had been lucky to menstruate this time, but she could easily conceive next month. Her cycle was regular. With the frequency they were intimate, it was only a matter of time…
I have to escape quickly.
That thought pierced her mind like cold water.
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