I Never Wanted His Child - Chapter 175

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

“It must be referring to me.”

“Your Grace, I have made a report to the Spiegel newspaper. But, Your Grace, is there a particular reason you didn’t stop the article right away?”

Kartho asked, curious.

“Reason?”

Lately, every decision he made seemed to be driven by Emilia von Heinrich. Everything pointed back to her.

“I was curious about the look on Emilia’s face.”

“…You mean, Madam?”

At Mikhail’s words, Kartho pushed up his glasses. It was hard to gauge exactly what words would satisfy the Duke.

“I haven’t seen Madam today. Should I call a maid to inquire?”

“…No need. She’ll find out in time.”

“She must have seen the newspaper.”

“Seeing how quiet it’s been, maybe she’s not thinking about it. By the way, has the review of Baron Vincent’s business been completed?”

“Yes, it’s all finished.”

Mikhail gave a slight nod, and Kartho immediately placed the documents on the desk.

“Seems like there haven’t been any developments from the royal opposition.”

The hotel’s scale was larger than expected. Mikhail’s comment about possibly investing had drawn in quite a few investors.

“We’ll likely begin construction soon.”

“It seems more investors are showing up. We’re also looking for a place for Spiegel newspaper.”

“If we couldn’t find them, the royal family won’t have either.”

It might have been better for both to remain undiscovered. If the royal family found them, the entire organization would surely collapse.

The Spiegel newspaper had been stirring up anti-royal sentiment for quite a while. Recently, they’ve been pumping out articles more than ever.

“They say when the hotel opens, they’ll push forward with railway construction as well.”

“Good idea. Don’t hesitate to invest.”

Baron Vincent’s business plan was worth investing in. The royal family wouldn’t welcome it, but those looking for convenience would likely be eager for industrialization.

The city of Bartsch would change slowly, starting with the hotel.

“By the way, Your Grace, are you really going to let the monarchy fall this way?”

“Kartho, why does the king even need to exist? The Jalliar royal family, who so desperately desired the throne, couldn’t establish an absolute monarchy. Even if they seek a restoration, all they’d be doing is repeating the same mistakes, wouldn’t you agree?”

“…Are you really not going to tell Lady Dahlia anything?”

“Dahlia should know. There’s no way to keep it from her forever.”

“Your Grace, I don’t know if I should be saying this, but… would it be possible for you to dethrone King Adrian and take his place?”

“Kartho, Dahlia and I are Bayern, so we would have a reason to bring them down.”

He had once thought to dethrone them and restore what had been lost. He had believed it was the right thing to do, and had come this far because of it.

But now, everything he had done felt utterly useless.

“Kartho, do you think the direction of my hatred and anger is justified?”

“I think I understand why you’re wavering, Your Grace. But don’t forget, they didn’t spare not only your family but also every member of the previous royal family. I, too, lost my family to them, so I understand you more than anyone else.”

“Still, it’s not all of them, is it? You, Dahlia, and I, we survived.”

“…Your Grace.”

“I know.”

Even without Kartho speaking, he understood. The fundamental principles and goals must not waver. Once one exception is made, everything falls apart.

However, an exception had already occurred. Kartho seemed not to realize it yet.

Mikhail took out a cigar. Lighting it, he inhaled the smoke and stood up, looking out the window.

The garden, once full of green, now had flowers blooming.

“I heard Madam bought all the flowers from a florist and distributed them.”

Come to think of it, she occasionally did things that were hard to understand.

“They’ve started calling her ‘the fairy.'”

“…Fairy?”

“She said she wanted to share happiness with others too.”

“It seems buying a flower made her quite happy. She’s such an easily pleased woman.”

He exhaled the smoke and narrowed his eyes.

“Forget the hotel for now, but if they plan to venture into the railroad business, we need to secure a significant stake before the Elta Club gets involved.”

“I’ll move quickly. By the way, it seems like the royal family is doing things they’ve never done before. They’ve been copying Spiegel’s methods to win people over.”

“Even so, doubt and opposition against the royal family won’t disappear easily.”

Unless the people were completely ignorant, the people of Bartsch couldn’t possibly be unaware of Adrian’s incompetence. Furthermore, the news that the peace with the Eponsen Kingdom had been achieved solely because of him had already spread to everyone, making the royal family seem like a cause of war rather than a solution.

“I heard Miss Leah went to the castle that same day, but Lady Luther refused to meet with her.”

This wasn’t unexpected.

“It’s more surprising that she didn’t expect to be rejected. Perhaps it would have been better to cling to her father’s pants instead.”

Mikhail stroked his chin and glanced at the clock. It was indeed strange.

“Kartho, summon the doctor. There’s something I need to check.”

“…Understood.”

The one who needed to be pregnant wasn’t, and the one who shouldn’t have been was. It was funny.

Mikhail had secretly switched Emilia’s birth control pills with fertility pills.

But after all that time together, there was still no pregnancy news. It was quite odd.

He lightly tapped the ashes from his cigar into a silver dish and stroked his chin.

‘Was the one hiding something not me, but someone else?’

A strange glint appeared in his red eyes.