I Only Want Your Child - Chapter 12

The image of Juliana before their marriage came to mind, when she had openly shown her affection with an innocent face that knew nothing. At the thought, anger naturally welled up inside him, and his fist tightened.

Of course, his mother’s death had been kept strictly confidential, so it would have been difficult for Juliana to know about it.

Even so, whenever she had shown her affection so carefree and ignorant of everything, his insides had boiled.

“Lord Kallion, the heads of the vassal houses are waiting in the council chamber.”

Layla approached Kallion as he glared out the window.

Seeing Layla ready to leave with a stack of documents in her arms, Kallion forced himself to calm the emotions boiling inside him.

“I’ll go now.”

He left the office with Layla and headed straight for the council chamber.

Since the council chamber was at the far end of the first floor, they naturally had to pass beside the terrace connected to the garden.

Just then, he happened to come face-to-face with Juliana as she entered from the terrace.

Kallion’s brow furrowed slightly as he stopped walking. Layla, who had been following behind him, was forced to stop as well.

It was the first time the two had encountered each other since their argument that night.

Then Juliana gave him a slight nod as though nothing had happened and simply walked past him. Dumbfounded by her indifferent reaction, Kallion turned around in disbelief.

She was already walking down the corridor without looking back even once. As though his reaction didn’t matter to her in the slightest.

“Ha—”

A hollow breath escaped him before he knew it. The sight of her pretending to be indifferent was irritatingly insincere.

Fine, this was better than having her cling to him like a child or get angry while acting like his wife.

Even if it was only a bluff, perhaps it was better for her to pretend to be indifferent like this.

Though he had no idea how long it would last.

* * *

The meeting concluded without issue, since it was merely a formal gathering held every quarter for each house to report on its current state.

In truth, the head of House Baldomer was supposed to attend this meeting.

However, Kallion’s father, the current head of the house, had long since entrusted all authority over the family to Kallion and retired to a separate residence.

Layla quietly watched Kallion as he stared out the window.

She both respected and pitied him for silently holding his place while bearing all that weight.

Perhaps it was because she had watched him from beside him ever since childhood.

Then her gaze unconsciously followed his toward the window.

And Layla’s expression stiffened before she realized it.

The person he was looking at was none other than Juliana. Of course, there was neither affection nor curiosity in his gaze. It was a sharp look filled entirely with suspicion.

Even so, the mere fact that his gaze had fallen on that woman displeased her.

“Lord Kallion, shall I leave the Schultz report here?”

She deliberately spoke to draw his attention away, but he merely answered indifferently without taking his eyes from the window.

“Yes, leave it there.”

“……”

She had never dared to think of monopolizing him.

But she couldn’t accept that the woman who occupied the place beside him was a woman from House Heister, the house of his enemies.

If it hadn’t been Juliana, she probably would have quietly kept these feelings treasured in her heart.

‘I don’t know whether House Baldomer would approve of a daughter of Sorento, a house that amounts to little more than Baldomer’s lackey.’

She remembered Juliana sneering mockingly at her.

Layla’s fingers tightened around the documents.

Pretending to be indifferent while drawing Lord Kallion’s attention to herself. She was a woman as cunning as a snake.

Just then, there was a knock, and the head butler entered the office.

“Lord Kallion, um…”

Only then did Kallion turn his attention to the head butler.

“What is it?”

The head butler hesitated as he watched Kallion’s expression.

“By principle, management of the estate should be entrusted to the Madam from now on. I do think it may be too much for her at present, but I thought I should ask just in case.”

Kallion frowned at the head butler’s report.

She was a woman whose head had been filled with nothing but pink flowers. Even if she tried to act like a cool-headed madam now, there was no way her true nature could have changed.

Kallion had been about to reject the idea outright when something suddenly occurred to him, and he changed his mind.

“Since she’s taken that position, she should at least fulfill that much of her duty. Entrust all management of the estate to my wife from now on.”

The head butler and Layla stared at him in surprise at the unexpected answer.

“Pardon…? Will that really be alright?”

Of course it wouldn’t. There was no way she, who hadn’t even been properly educated by House Heister, could manage this enormous estate.

Originally, the head butler and Layla had divided the work between them.

Even the two of them, who knew the estate and House Baldomer inside and out, had to split the duties. How could she possibly handle it all by herself?

In less than a week, she would come crying to him, saying she couldn’t do it.

Then he intended to negotiate.

A negotiation advantageous to him and disadvantageous to her.