I Only Want Your Child - Chapter 3

All the way down the corridor, I could feel people looking at me with pity.

The servants of House Baldomer.

To them, I was merely an unwelcome guest sold here from an enemy house, and a pitiful woman who received no attention from her husband.

Even in the past, despite living in this estate for more than five years, I couldn’t remember being treated as its madam even once.

It was only natural, since Kallion, the master of this estate, had never treated me as his wife in the first place.

Back then, their gazes had hurt as though they were digging into my skin, but now they didn’t bother me at all. It simply felt as though I were looking at objects that existed within the estate.

I approached one of those objects and asked indifferently.

“Which way is the library?”

I already knew where the library was, but if I went there as though it were only natural, it was obvious that I would arouse suspicion.

The maid seemed flustered for a moment by my question before answering in confusion.

“Ah… um… You should see it if you go to the end of this corridor.”

“Thank you.”

I said only that indifferently and slowly walked away.

I could feel the servants staring at me with wide eyes, taken aback by how detached, almost haughty, I appeared.

In the past, I used to shrink beneath those gazes. Without even realizing that the more I shrank, the more they looked down on me. That wouldn’t happen anymore.

Leaving countless gazes behind me, I walked on calmly.

* * *

Sitting in his office and reviewing documents, Kallion set the papers down for a moment and sank into thought.

She was reading in the library?

Juliana de Heister.

The second daughter of House Heister, House Baldomer’s sworn enemy.

This marriage was a transaction intended to bring about a truce between Baldomer and Heister.

As though paying the price of the transaction, Heister had sent the most insignificant woman in their house as the bride.

The Holy Spirit, Dark Spirit, Fire Spirit, Ice Spirit, and Wood Spirit, said to dwell within light and darkness, fire and ice, and trees.

Since ancient times, the houses chosen by these spirits had ruled and governed the continent.

They were the present-day Paveloup Imperial Family, and the four great houses that ruled the east, west, south, and north with the Imperial Family at their center. Baldomer, Heister, Silverstel, and Marcellino.

But as time passed, the abilities possessed by the Imperial Family and the four great houses began to fade. All except Baldomer, known as the master of the Dark Spirit.

Unlike Kallion, who had inherited Baldomer’s powerful ability, Heister’s power to command the Fire Spirit had weakened with each passing generation.

At present, aside from the current head of House Heister and his eldest son, who had inherited even the faintest trace of the ability, everyone else was nothing more than an ordinary person without any power.

That was also why the proud House Heister had bowed its head first and proposed this marriage.

A sacrifice thrown to him as though to placate a ferocious beast.

That was what the woman was.

But whether she understood her circumstances or not, she had openly shown interest in him ever since they were young.

At first, it had merely been uncomfortable. He had even wondered what on earth made her trust him enough to like him so blindly.

Later, it had grown contemptible.

He found it pathetic that she displayed her feelings so openly toward someone she ought to be wary of.

And yet that woman…

She had seemed strangely different at the wedding.

Instead of the gaze that always fixed on him with her face flushed red, there had been crimson eyes that revealed no emotion at all.

It was the first time he had known she could make such an expression.

Today as well.

He had wondered what he would do if she burst into tears like a fragile little girl and threw a tantrum.

But her strangely quiet disposition left him suspicious.

Just then, Layla, who had been organizing documents at the auxiliary desk in one corner of his office, cautiously approached him.

“I’ve organized the reports you asked for concerning the Highland and Schultz territories.”

Only at the sound of her gentle voice did Kallion come back to himself and raise his head.

“Thank you, Layla.”

“Of course. Would you like me to make you some tea?”

“Yes, please.”

Layla was a secretary from House Sorento, a vassal house of Baldomer.

She was intelligent and kind, and above all, quick-witted. She quickly noticed whenever he was troubled or displeased and offered alternatives that could resolve the problem.

Unlike someone who clung desperately to meaningless emotions, she was a very intelligent woman.

Kallion took a sip of the tea Layla had brought and smiled in deep satisfaction.

“Lord Kallion… Your work is more or less finished now. Wouldn’t it be better to go see the Madam?”

Kallion’s brow immediately furrowed.

Apparently, even Layla, who could read his moods with uncanny accuracy, felt sorry for the woman who was spending her wedding night alone.

If anyone else had asked such a question, he would have cut them off without hesitation. But because it was Layla, the person who knew him best, Kallion suppressed his discomfort and answered.

“I’d rather rest here for a while.”

At those words, Layla visibly relaxed.

And Kallion did not see this because his eyes were closed.