As Clint looked intently at Psyche, Helen, with a puzzled look, slowly turned her head.
"Yes? Where...?"
She looked around, thinking Clint was playing a prank.
It was unbelievable to her that Clint would refer to Saiki.
“Ma’am, what do you think?”
“…”
Clint looked fixedly at Saiki.
"Yes? Wait. What?!"
Helen dropped the spoon she was holding and stood up suddenly.
Alexandro and Cloud sighed heavily, the only person here comfortable being Clint.
Saiki put down the fork she was holding loudly and softly wiped her mouth with a napkin.
“Oh, sis, really?”
Helen asked with wide eyes.
“…”
Perhaps because he thought the matter could not go on any longer, Alexandru intervened again.
“Excuse us for a moment.”
He spoke to Helen, who seemed unaware of the atmosphere and likely continued to ask questions.
“Why?”
Helen looked at Alexandro as if he were a stranger.
“Well... Your Highness and the Duchess...”
“Since the lady and her husband have something to discuss in private, it would be good if everyone could vacate the seats.”
Clint interrupted Alexandro's words.
“Oh my God, is this really true?”
Helen muttered to herself as she looked into the air, then looked at Saiki again.
“Sister, why did you hide this?”
“Well, this is something I have to ask, so please step aside for a moment.”
The Duke said, smiling.
Eventually, Claude led Helen out by force.
After a while, the hall was now empty of just the two of them, and it fell silent as if water had been poured into it.
Then Clint gently wiped his mouth and opened his mouth.
“I have made my decision.”
“…?”
“The baby is coming with us too.”
"What is this…?"
“Even if the child is from another man, it doesn’t matter. Ma’am.”
Saiki thought about what it meant, and remembered the strange sounds she heard last night when Clint visited her in her bedroom.
“Could it be...”
“But not with this guy.”
"What?"
Saiki was speechless and could only stifle a bitter laugh.
"I'm talking about someone called Claude or Claude. Why does he always stay by the lady's side?"
She had no desire to answer this question.
Claude…
He was never someone who could be misunderstood like this with Saiki from the beginning.
Of course, it was true that he had tender feelings for Saiki, but this reaction was not rational.
Claude was a man who was taught by his father to be loyal to Alistair's family, and was one of the very loyal people to Psyche due to his strong affection towards Alistair's family.
He returned determined to devote everything to rebuilding Alistair's territory.
Therefore, from the beginning, he was one of the very loyal people to Saiki because he had a special attachment to Alistair's family.
Therefore, Saiki found it embarrassing when Clint implicated them.
“I'm just working with him. I don't think you'll interfere in my personal relationships.”
“If this man is the father of your child, the situation changes, right?”
“What in the world...”
A very serious misunderstanding was brewing, but Saeki was resigned to clarifying because she didn't know where to start correcting it.
She wished he would abandon their relationship because of such a misunderstanding.
“Isn't your child like mine? I say I'll admit it.”
“…”
The conversation was getting worse.
“Instead, the next child will be mine.”
"What?!"
“Why are you so surprised? You should have thought like this when you saw me.”
Clint seemed to be trying to suppress his anger when he talked about Claude and the baby.
Psyche sighed.
“Is there a reason for me to be that, Your Highness?”
"From now on, call me by my name. I find it embarrassing to be called Your Highness, ma'am."
“…”
Clint corrected the address adamantly.
“There are many reasons why it is worth having you as my lady, but let me tell you two.”
Saiki looked softly into his eyes.
“First, as I mentioned yesterday, the contract was not fulfilled due to the death of our child.”
Clint finished speaking and took a moment to catch his breath.
“I can't be with another woman if you're not my master, you know that.”
“…”
Psyche swallowed her dry saliva.
“So, the lady cannot abandon her commitment.”
Saiki's thoughts became complicated upon hearing his words.
Assuming she follows him and gives birth to a child, there is no guarantee that he will not kill her once she becomes unnecessary after the child is born.
“You will kill me”
The words reached her throat, but she couldn't get them out.
At the same time, she felt that there was no need to dispel misunderstandings about the child.
“Give me time to think.”
“I'm impatient, ma'am.”
“…”
Psyche was surprised. He had never acted rashly in front of her.
After she had escaped from the Duke's Palace, he now seemed completely different.
Even though it was clearly the same person, Saeki didn't feel comfortable with him treating her like a different person.
“Until the lady decides to return to my family name, I plan to stay here. So, please, choose wisely.”
“…”
It was almost like a threat.
“Take the child, but remember that you cannot take this man.”
“…”
“I will wait for the lady’s wise decision.”
He finished speaking, approached her, patted her hand again, and left the hall gracefully.
Looking at his neat and tidy back, Saiki's thoughts became more complicated.
❖ ❖ ❖
Suddenly, I missed Shellard.
So she decided to postpone all her appointments and go see him.
"mama!"
Schildard excitedly hugged Psyche as soon as he saw her.
“Do you feel lonely alone?”
Saiki asked as she gently caressed Shillard's cheek.
When Shelard smiled, it seemed as if all her worries had disappeared.
She feels bad for not caring about Shelard because of Clint, and Saiki didn't even have a chance to look at him after hiring a maid.
For two days, it felt like Clint was throwing her around.
“Yes, I missed you too.”
“Even Mama?”
Shellard continued to call her mother.
Every time the little girl called her that, it made her chest feel bitter.
“Yes, your mother will always be there for you.”
Claude, who had come to see Shelard, made a remark when he saw him.
Seeing him, Saiki remembered Clint's words that she had forgotten, making her feel embarrassed again.
"Oh my God! How does your face show such disgust when you see someone? Should I leave?"
Claude asked with a worried expression.
“No, that's not the case at all.”
Claude put his sword on his waist, and approached Shillard.
"Pa! Papa!"
“There seems to be a big problem.”
Claude froze when Shellard called him daddy instead of Clint.
Psyche burst out laughing, finding the situation amusing.
"Are you laughing? Now, our lady is mother, and to me he is father. This man who makes me, a bachelor, a father, is a truly terrifying father!"
Claude pretended to blow smoke.
“Moreover, if His Eminence hears this, ah, just thinking about it is terrifying.”
Despite already facing such misunderstanding.
But Psyche decided not to say that ignorance is bliss.
“Claude. If you return to the Duke’s Palace again.”
“Oh, are you going to be a duchess again?”
Claude asked in surprise.
“No, it's about family. Listen to the end.”
“Ah yes.”
“Wouldn't it be easier to find Shelard's parents?”
Claude's face became visibly sunken.
“No, isn’t it already difficult to find this child’s parents? Just raise him as his lord’s son! And that’s all!”
“You really have a way with words.”
Psyche tapped her fingers, as if to indicate that she was bored.
Then suddenly, Claude, who had burst out laughing, put on a serious expression on his face.
“Don't worry about it here. I'll be here. And you being the Duchess will be more beneficial to Aleister Territory. So, there's no need to worry here.”
“…”
Saiki was lost for words upon hearing his statement.
She was hoping Claude would leave, but instead, he pushed her to move on.
Now that she thought about it, she realized that he wasn't wrong because if word got out that Master Aleister received the duke's protection, she wouldn't have to worry about succession and other matters.
There have been many benefits in many ways.
She left this place as if she was abandoning him at first, but now the situation is a little different.
“As expected… I guess.”
Things got more complicated for no reason.
Shelard, who was squirming in Psyche's arms, laughed.
“Oh, today, I will spend some time with Shelard and we will sleep here together.”
“Understood. How do I inform the Duke?”
“Maybe I'll be here for a while. Just remember that.”
So, Psyche decided to spend her time with Shellard.
I read books to him and played toys with him.
In the end, they slept together in that place.
The next day, Psyche is shocked when she wakes up to find Shillard asleep in her arms, in a state she did not expect.
Note: I have changed the child's name.
Next chapter is Monday