If You Leave Without a Word - Chapter 207

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

Cain’s eyes widened in surprise. Could he really make such a face? Since they had parted and met again, Agatha had been witnessing a changing range of expressions on Cain’s face every single day.

Though she thought she had seen quite a few uncharacteristic looks from him, these startled, wide-eyed “rabbit-like” eyes were a first. Agatha absentmindedly moved her hand.

“It seems the baby is kicking hard, maybe because it knows I’m thinking about it.”

“Moving inside, you say?”

“Of course it’s moving inside, where else would it move?”

Her tone wasn’t meant to be sharp. She simply didn’t quite like how often he found himself looking dazed and lost compared to the image Agatha knew.

Despite her unusual teasing, Cain just carefully watched her belly, seemingly struggling to find the right words to say.

“Ah…”

A flood of indescribable emotions welled up in his eyes all at once. Agatha quickly read the shifting feelings in Cain’s gaze. Surprise? Or was it joy? Somehow, his face looked touched, almost as if he was deeply moved. Could the existence of the child be a source of such emotion for him?

While Cain gazed at Agatha’s belly, she returned his look. Even if he was someone who might eventually become less connected to her, the child’s relationship to Cain was undeniable. After all, he was the father.

Agatha found herself wondering if she truly had the right to take a father away from a child who hadn’t even been born yet.

“The baby… is growing well.”

In a trembling voice, Cain finally managed to say those words, his fingertips quivering slightly. When Agatha looked away from Cain’s face, she noticed his trembling fingers.

Though she still harbored resentment toward him, she felt a sudden pity for this man who had lost his family.

His younger sister had barely survived and had been reunited with him, but the wounds she carried were still too deep to heal. And on top of that, his younger sister wasn’t entirely well…

After hearing Cain’s quiet confession, Agatha resolved to separate the image of the husband who had hurt her from the man she saw here. She couldn’t make sense of him as a single person if she tried to connect those two sides.

She had no idea what kind of emotional changes he had gone through. One moment he was kind, then suddenly cold, then repentant again. Until she learned all his secrets, she knew she could never fully understand him.

“Ah.”

There was no time for long thoughts. The baby kicked even harder, causing Agatha to bend over and let out a sharp sound of pain.

“Is it painful?”

“Yes, a little. Sometimes the kicks get so strong, it’s hard to bear. It even wakes me up from sleep.”

Agatha hadn’t intended to share such trivial details, but without Charlotte, who she used to meticulously share every feeling whenever the baby moved, her true thoughts spilled out naturally. Perhaps her growing sympathy for Cain had blurred her usual defenses.

“…Would you like to try placing your hand?”

It was a sudden impulse to ask Cain if he wanted to feel the baby’s movements directly.

“Me?”

His tone was of disbelief. It was understandably so. After all, it had only been a few days ago that she had recoiled at the very idea of being near him.

Yet now, not only was she allowing him to touch her body, she was offering to let him feel the baby’s movements firsthand. Cain doubted his own ears and glanced back a couple of times, as if wondering whether she’d really said that to him.

“What I said stands. No need to look back like that.”

“Ah, yes.”

He gave a sheepish, faint smile. Was this really the same husband who had been as unyielding as stone, refusing to budge no matter what was said? Agatha let out a quiet sigh and gently withdrew the hand she’d rested on her belly.

Responding to the signal of permission, Cain’s trembling hand slowly rose to her stomach. Her rounded belly was hidden beneath layers of dress fabric. His hesitant fingers searched for the right spot and carefully settled into place.

“Baby…”

As soon as he took his hand away for a moment, the movement stopped. Agatha called softly to the child inside, but it seemed the last kick had just passed. The baby was quiet now.

“Baby?”

She called again, lowering her voice and whispering gently. Sometimes the baby would respond to such coaxing.

A few seconds of tense silence passed. Cain’s body heat pressed through the layers of cloth and reached her. Though she tried not to notice, with no movement to feel, the only sensation was his warmth.

This wasn’t how she had intended it. Agatha hurriedly hid her embarrassment and whispered again to the child.

“…Maybe it’s played enough for now. It’s a moody little baby.”

Despite her efforts, no movement stirred.

“I see. Still, I’m glad it’s growing well. And… thank you for letting me feel it.”

His faint smile was somewhat sorrowful. Though she still resented him, Agatha wanted him to know that, like herself who had lost family and been left alone, there could be joy in knowing there was another family.

But it seemed the baby wasn’t yet willing to share such joy with the father who had caused its mother hardship.