Chapter 39
Carlos stuffed the cloth back into her mouth and smiled brightly.
“Thank you for removing my last hesitation.”
He lifted his struggling wife with ease and strode quickly away. Back in the bridal chamber, he bound her tightly to the bed.
By the time Emily managed to spit out the cloth, the restraints were already secure. Shaking with shock and fury, she lost all composure and lashed out,
“Untie me! Right now! Do you think gagging me will hide that filthy, disgusting sin?!”
“Just endure today, wife.”
“I will never forgive you! You beasts—worse than animals! How dare you—leaving your pregnant wife to do such things with your own mother—!”
“I’ll bring proper cuffs and shackles that fit you tomorrow.”
He spoke calmly, as if he couldn’t even hear her screaming. Enraged by his indifference, Emily spat curses again.
“You’ll be punished by heaven!”
“Heaven’s punishment?”
“You think God will forgive such a vile sin? A mother and son together like that, He’ll cast you into the deepest pit of hell, you filth—!”
“That’s an amusing thought.”
Even faced with her venomous curses, enough to chill the spine, Carlos only smiled. Meeting her bloodshot glare, he murmured,
“It was God who planted this desire in me, to violate my own mother.”
“……”
“If the same God punishes me for the desire He gave me… wouldn’t that be rather absurd?”
Emily’s body trembled as if struck by lightning.
At a loss for words, she could only stare.
Carlos smiled once more and turned away, already thinking how he would deal with the situation at his leisure.
* * *
A few days later, Brunhilde heard that Emily’s health had worsened and that she had been moved to a separate residence.
Worried, she offered to visit, but her son shook his head. Emily didn’t wish to see anyone yet, he said—it would be better to wait until she was calmer.
A few days passed.
As always, after spending the night entangled with his mother, without penetration, Carlos made his way to the annex where his wife was kept.
Even for nighttime, the building felt unnaturally cold, an eerie atmosphere clinging to it. He walked casually down the hall until he reached a certain door. The guard stationed there bowed at once upon seeing him.
Dismissing the guard, Carlos opened the door.
“Mmm! Mmph…!”
Inside, revealed with the creak of hinges, Emily lay bound, struggling and groaning.
Her wrists and ankles were locked in cuffs and shackles, and a round gag filled her mouth, secured with leather straps. It was a device Carlos himself had devised to prevent self-harm.
Seeing him, Emily’s dark olive eyes widened until the veins showed. Carlos smiled at his restrained wife writhing before him.
“Have you been well today?”
“Mmph! Mm!”
“Wait, I’ll remove the gag.”
He wrapped an arm around her as if in an embrace and loosened the strap at her neck. Emily spat the gag out at once and shouted hoarsely,
“You devil! You filthy, depraved monster!”
“I brought food. You should eat.”
“I don’t need it, you hypocrite! You disgusting animal!”
Her insults continued, but he remained unmoved. Scooping up some soup from the tray, he brought it to her lips.
Naturally, she refused.
The moment the spoon touched her mouth, she jerked her head aside, spilling the contents. Even when he forced it in, she spat it right back out.
Carlos glanced down at the soup splattered across his clothes, his expression almost regretful. Setting the bowl aside, he placed a hand over her abdomen that was now faintly swollen and spoke calmly,
“This won’t do, wife. You can’t keep refusing to eat. Think of the child.”
Emily, who had been spewing curses, paused.
“Are you planning to starve the child inside you to death?”
“……”
“It’s my child, yes. But it’s yours as well. Of course, if you want something to happen to it, I can’t stop you…”
“…You cunning devil.”
The words slipped through her cracked lips like something ground between her teeth. Unbothered, he continued,
“Say whatever you like to me. But the child in your womb has done nothing wrong.”
His hand moved gently over her belly. Something like sorrow flickered across her face. Seeing her soften, even slightly, Carlos spoke more gently,
“I promise you, Emily. The child you carry will be the sole legitimate heir of House Brandt.”
His long fingers brushed her cheek, now roughened and worn in just a few days. He lifted another spoonful of soup to her lips.
Emily stared at it and at him before finally asking in a subdued voice,
“…Why should I believe that?”
“What is it now, wife?”
“From what I’ve seen, this hasn’t been going on for just a day or two… so how can you guarantee your mother isn’t carrying your child as well?”
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