# 73
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Days after Roger left, Ariana remained holed up in her room, thinking about what to do.
Anxiety was growing due to frequent cramps in her lower abdomen, perhaps due to fear.
'Baby, please, have a healthy pregnancy'
I'll think of a way, baby.
Trying to forget her fear by focusing on something more productive, she went through her belongings. At least, they didn't keep her in underwear.
She was wearing simple, ordinary clothes, but they were more humane than the ones she had worn in prison.
'There has to be something to l.'
Decorations for cufflinks, shoes, or even socks.
While she was living as a poor noblewoman, she learned that these items could bring in more money than she expected when pawned.
'Is there a way to get help from Mr. Baptiste?'
But that was impossible because she needed to get out first.
There was a reason she didn't ask him for direct help.
Receiving direct help will make it easier for Clifford's family to track it...
At that moment, the door opened without knocking.
The room was now a place where servants entered without permission.
Ariana's shoulders slumped as she studied the new arrivals.
They were hotel maids.
“What's wrong?”
“We came to pick up the laundry, ma'am.”
Their tone was polite but harsh. But as if what they said was true, they pushed a large cart carrying a laundry basket.
Ariana turned awkwardly towards the bed, but suddenly felt a strange atmosphere and quickly turned around.
“...Wait, you've already taken the laundry-”
The laundry was taken out yesterday, so what do they need to address now?
But before she could scream sharply, the maids caught her.
“What are you doing, brother...!”
Her mouth was covered with a handkerchief. She didn't know what it was used for, but as soon as she inhaled, her vision went blurry and she blacked out.
* * *
The medicine the maids used was not strong.
It is likely that the medicines that could be secretly obtained were limited, and there was reluctance to kill Nabila.
When Ariana opened her blurry eyes, fortunately, her limbs were not tied.
She felt dizzy for a moment, but even with her blurry vision, she saw a strange and dark ceiling, and she quickly got up.
'Where am I?'
Ariana looked around with confused eyes.
At first glance, the place looked like a luxurious club, but the maids were not supposed to take her to a place like this.
The floor was littered with empty wine bottles and the remains of broken glasses.
There was a candle holder...
A candle holder she had seen one day, waving it around as if playing with prey in front of a small animal.
Ariana raised her head slowly, as if she had been doused in ice water.
I realized that there was someone sitting on a sofa in the dark room.
And he was smiling at her.
“Hello after an absence, ma'am.”
“…ah”
Ariana almost stopped breathing for a moment.
The man who tortured her so long ago.
'Still...alive?'
How could Andrew Claude be alive and well?
In her previous life, she had never heard of him, so she assumed that she would not encounter him, which made her feel uncomfortable subconsciously.
She almost vomited in horror at the sight of him.
'...No, calm down.'
If you grab her stomach, it may hurt her. You must remain vigilant.
She couldn't be as weak as she was before.
Saint Colette's affirmation gave her the strength to hold on to her sanity.
This time Baby will grow up healthy, far from the evil spirits of illness. She cannot be harmed before you give birth to her.
'However, compared to what I remember…'
I felt that Andrew looked thinner. Was that an illusion?
Of course, he was supposed to be under stress after escaping.
Ariana looked warily at the wine bottles scattered on the floor.
There were clear signs that he was drinking excessively to cope with the stress.
Heavy drinking and a reclusive lifestyle would not have had a positive impact on his health.
However, she couldn't afford to be complacent, she was at a complete disadvantage.
Ariana thought that she should calm his mood first, so she tried to remain polite despite her trembling body.
“Your Highness the Prince.”
“Wow…more obedient than I expected.”
Andrew approached her, smiling sarcastically.
Ariana lowered her eyes to the ground, trembling.
“After living as Lady Duke, you have become even more radiant.”
“When you were my fiancée, you lived as if you were going to die.”
"maybe."
That was true.
They were moments she couldn't bear to live. But Ariana, with her head bowed, quickly rolled her eyes.
As she got used to the dark room, she began to see its structure.
There were no windows, but the door was right behind Andrew.
'The only way to escape is over there.'
But she didn't know what would wait for her if she got out.
She tried to hold on to her sanity as she clenched her cold hands.
It was the first thing her fingers touched...
“But, did you know, Ariana?”
"What?"
Ariana answered the drunkard's question as she slowly grabbed what she touched.
The candle holder she feared so much...
“Everything that happens to you is because of Kenneth.”
“…I knew you didn’t like him.”
She bit her lip as she remembered the events before and after the engagement.
Before the engagement, he was satisfied that his cousin's family, which made him jealous, was destroyed, so he wanted to set off fireworks early.
The repeated insults, insults, and occasional violence were due to his resentment towards his fiancée who refused to have intimate relations before marriage.
The extravagant gifts were attempts to hide his corrupt intentions and make Ariana suffer in the eyes of others.
But when Andrew saw her puzzled face, he laughed drunkenly.
“No, no. You don't seem to know anything.”
“Ariana, your lowly mother and your brother were of no use.”
"What…?"
“Compared to others, what was so great about their accomplishments?”
Ariana looked at him in shock as he smiled sarcastically.
Weren't their achievements great?
But Josefina and Quentin got big rewards...
‘Because they led in ling the Clifford family…’
They created an opportunity to target Kenneth through Ariana.
Andrew gently slapped her cheek in a disgusting way.
“My empty-headed bride. There was no need to use the lowly Aberdeen family for this work. Don’t you remember what a fool your brother was?”
“However, I deliberately chose the Aberdeen family because I knew Kenneth wanted you from the beginning.”
Ariana listened dumbfounded as he spoke in a drunken, confused tone.
In fact, he had no intention of using the Aberdeen family.
He said that giving protection to a ruined viscount's family was less valuable than giving a piece of meat to a dog in the street...
“It was funny how he was acting like a dog on a rampage... because of a worthless woman like you.”
“If you hadn't shown your desire for him, would you have been treated like a whore?”
So, this guy is saying that everything that happened was in reverse order?
“So, everything you went through, the blame for it falls on Kenneth.”
“If he didn't like you, the Aberdeen family wouldn't have died in the first place.”
Ariana silently remembered the prison.
They were cruel and neglectful to her, but they were her family. Saying that they deserved to die a hundred times over is not humane.
“Now, look, Ariana.”
“Did Kenneth believe in you even once?”
"…no."
Ariana smiled tearfully and shook her head.
When he saw her collapse, Andrew laughed disgustingly.
But no matter how tempting his words were, they could not shake her reality.
She could think of Andrew Claude's words later.
Now, the most important thing to her is…
“Ugh!”
She did her best to hit Andrew's disgustingly smiling face with the candle holder.