Ever After [3]

Lucia received an invitation from the Queen for refreshments and went to the palace. In the corridor leading to the Queen's palace, she encountered a familiar noblewoman. When the woman discovered Lucia, she immediately stopped walking and bowed her head. Lucia wasn't that pleased to meet the Countess of Alvin, Sofia. She was going to just walk by, but her gaze landed on Sofia's protruding stomach and her feet came to a stop.

"It turned out that I will leaving the capital soon. I came to the Palace to briefly give my greetings to Her Highness the Queen, Duchess."

"I have no intention of blaming you. Please, lift you head. I don't think it'll be good for the baby if you bend like that."

Sofia placed her hand under her protruding stomach as if supporting it and lifted her head. Her expression was serene. She seemed like a completely different person from the Sofia that Lucia met at the tea party. Her impression had also changed a little, perhaps because she had gained some weight.

"You are leaving the capital?"

"Yes. I will be going abroad because of my husband's business."

"Is it okay to travel like that when you're pregnant?"

"The doctor said there was no problem as long as we're careful. My husband wanted me to stay back in the capital to deliver but if that happens, I would be away from my husband for too long."

"…I see. I hope you give birth to a healthy and beautiful child."

Sofia stopped Lucia as she began to walk away.

"I apologize once again for my rude actions previously. I was beyond foolish and could not distinguish what was before me. I am not asking for your forgiveness. I just wanted to tell you that I am sincerely sorry for my actions to you, Duchess."

"Since Countess tells me so sincerely, I do not wish to be a narrow-minded person. I hope we can treat each other a little more comfortably next time."

Lucia looked at Sofia who was expressing her gratitude with a delighted expression. Sofia looked the happiest she had ever seen her look. She seemed to be soaked with the joy of soon becoming a mother.

Perhaps Sofia would not have the tragic ending that Lucia saw in her dream, instead, she would give birth to a healthy child, become a happy mother, and live the rest of her life as a noblewoman without any troubles. Lucia just had a feeling.

The Count of Alvin's earnest courtship and eventual marriage to Sofia was still circulating in the social circles as a romantic story of pure love. Lucia heard that the Count of Alvin didn't rebuke Sofia after hearing what she did, on the contrary, he shielded her.

This incident seemed to have played an important role in confirming the couple's affection.

'So you realized the importance of the person by your side. You are wise, Sofia.'

Lucia inwardly prayed for Sofia's safe delivery.

'A baby…'

Lucia unconsciously touched her flat abdomen and immediately withdrew her hand, startled at herself. She kept gazing in the distance until she could no longer see Sofia's retreating back.

* * *

In the Queen's Palace, Katherine had already arrived and had taken a seat. This time, the opposite happened, and Katherine heard of the Queen's meeting with the Duchess today and invited herself to it.

The three of them sat together and comfortably talked with each other. They didn't need to look good in front of the other, nor did they need to curry favor and study each other's face. Katherine was in the know for a lot of things that happened in the social circle and she usually told them of interesting news.

"There is an interesting play these days. Have you seen it?"

"I hear seeing the play makes one laugh. It's uncouth…"[1]

Beth made a sour face. Until now, most plays depicted a magnificent epic story for a grand stage, or a tragedy. For these plays, one either sits in a refined manner while being quietly touched or sometimes, the noblewomen dabbed their tears with their handkerchief.

'So it was around this time that comedy began to spread.'

By the time Lucia entered the social circle in her dream, comedy had already spread like an epidemic. And Lucia did not like plays.

Her life was already tiring enough. She didn't want to see a tragedy and end up crying. But that didn't mean she liked comedies. When she saw a comedic play, it was good and made her laugh a lot but afterwards, she felt empty so after seeing it a few times, she stopped. Countess Lucia didn't have the heart to enjoy the comedic performance.

"Everyone knows how good it feels to laugh without keeping up any appearances. Your Highness the Queen should go see it once. As for me, I have seen it three times."

"Three times?"

Katherine enthusiastically poured out the emotions she felt from seeing the comedy. Beth already looked half-sold on the issue. Lucia knew from the dream that the Queen later became an enthusiastic admirer of comedy.

"Your Highness, what happened to Count Ramis? I keep hearing that he suddenly went down to the territory."

Katherine lightly asked, and Beth gave a wry smile. She briefly explained the circumstances told to her by her father.

"My father said he hasn't been able to look around the fief in a long time and sent down my brother in his place. There's no other meaning behind it."

She didn't want to air her brother's dirty laundry. Even if he wasn't a very desirable brother, he was still her brother.

When Beth was a child, she hated both her brother and her mother and disliked the sight of them. Her mother carried David as if he was her only child and was not even concerned with Beth. Beth was always yearning for her mother's affection. But when she got older and had her own child, she simply felt that her late mother was pitiful.

Beth knew that Robin was her half-brother. Nevertheless, Robin was still her brother. It was merely a tragedy caused by her parent's incompatible marriage, Robin was not at fault.

When her father brought up divorce with her mother and their relationship was severely estranged, her father had another woman in his heart. But even then, he didn't completely abandon her mother. Her father was definitely wrong. But her mother did not try either. They both had a hand in the unhappy turnout of their marriage.

***

"Duchess. I heard that lately, you rarely appear at social activities. Apparently, you haven't gone to a tea party in almost a month." (Beth)

"Yes. My health isn't very good these days."

Lucia tried not to blush. He had left a lot of traces on the exposed part of her neck and arms, so she could not appear in public places in such a speckled state. When she cried to him that she couldn't go out in such a state, he got a kick out of it, instead of being apologetic. It was only after she declared that they would sleep in separate rooms if he did it again, that he quit his mischief.

"Oh no. It must be because the weather is so cold these days. Even Her Highness the Queen has been cooped up in her palace lately."

Beth smiled pleasantly, not saying anything. Seeing Beth's strange smile, Katherine tilted her head, then her eyes widened.

"You have something to be cautious about!"

"A few days ago, I was diagnosed by the Imperial doctor. I have been careful so far because I could sense something."

"His Majesty must have been delighted."

"He asked me to give him a princess this time."

Lucia belatedly realized what they were talking about after being unable to follow the conversation and she saw Beth stroking her lower belly.

"Congratulations, Your Highness."

"Thank you. I have already had three children, so I don't want to make a big fuss."

"What are you talking about? It is only right that it is celebrated. Since elder brother keeps talking about wanting a princess, do you hope for that now?"

"It might be a son again."

"Ah…that's a little, you know. I want to see a cute baby girl."

"Oh my. Aren't your nephews cute?"

"Boys are too much. Just one hour with them will drain you completely."

A handmaid approached Beth and whispered something to her.

"Bring him in."

Beth instructed the maid and asked the two of them for understanding.

"It seems Ethan is feeling peevish after waking up from a nap. I think I'll have to interrupt our fun."

Ethan was the third son of the King and turned three years old this year. Lucia and Katherine were willing to understand the situation and after a while, the handmaid came in with a blonde little boy in her arms.

The child rubbed his eyes, looking annoyed, and as soon as he saw his mother, he stretched out his arms, wrapped them around her neck and cuddled up in her arms. Beth gently stroked the child's back while patting him and kissed his forehead.

The sight of a mother pouring out her love onto her child was more beautiful than the smile of an enchanting beauty. It was sublime and mysterious. Lucia remembered her late mother. She remembered her mother hugging her and calming her down after she had scary dream.

As Lucia looked at the prince who was quickly falling asleep in his mother's arms, she projected her childhood onto him and overlapped the image of the Queen happily embracing her beloved child with herself.

'A child…'

The greed of man was endless. Just a month ago, she was happy to get his love and felt as if she had gotten the whole world. She had already prepared herself to never have a child in this life. The problem was that she gave up on it earlier than she gave up on his love. She didn't know why the firm determination she made in the past was beginning to waver so easily after getting his love.

* * *

Lucia came down from the royal carriage that brought her out from the Inner Palace. The Taran family carriage was waiting to take the Duchess back to the mansion. Since a while ago, she had been stuck on the thought of a child.

'I know talking about a child now is premature. We just started seeing eye to eye.'

Her desire to have his child was her greed after all, even with the excuse that she loved him. Even though she knew that, she kept thinking of the image of the young child in the Queen's arms.

Because of this, Lucia didn't notice that her guard Dean didn't come out to meet her and simply climbed up the carriage stairs that were dropped down by the servant. But suddenly, she felt something pulling her and fell forward. She let out a short scream and fell into a familiar embrace.

"Hugh?"

His eyes curved gently as he looked at her and he brought his lips to hers. One of his arms held her waist while the other held her arm as he supported her unstable position.

He tasted her sweet lips like biting into a fruit, and swallowed her hot, tender flesh. His tongue effortlessly dove into her small mouth, sweeping through her moist innards, and savoring the faint scent of tea leaves coming from her.

After ending the long kiss, he was still not satisfied. As she gasped for breath with a flushed face, he kissed her lips lightly again. Then, he knocked on the wall of the carriage. Understanding the signal, the carriage began to move slowly.

"Why are you…" (Lucia)

"I came to pick you up." (Hugo)

Lucia smiled faintly and wrapped her arms around his neck. She liked the light pressure on her back as he returned the hug and pressed his hand against her back.

'Things are fine as they are.'

Lucia's heart was overflowing with happiness. The strange emptiness from a moment ago had disappeared. She didn't want to do something stupid like agonizing over something she couldn't have and ignoring the happiness right in front of her.

Over the past month, on the outside, their relationship had not changed much. Even before they confirmed their feelings for each other, they were known to everyone as a devoted couple. Even if she was thrilled by the fact that they had unexpectedly confessed their love to each other; to other people, they were just a little more unusual.

Thanks to this, Jerome had been dealing with an internal dilemma. In the matter of a month, another maid had quit. As expected, the reason was marriage. It was unprecedented for maids to quit a stable, high-paying job like the Duke of Taran's, one after the other.[2] Jerome had to worry about bad rumors turning up that the job environment was so atrocious, causing so many to quit, and that brought him a headache.

"Do you want to go somewhere else instead of going home?" (Hugo)

"Go where?" (Lucia)

"I heard there's a funny play these days."

"Are you interested in such things?"

"I was told it is popular among noblewomen."

Whether someone said it in passing and he remembered it, or whether he deliberately asked someone about it, either ways he made an attempt for her sake. Lucia was happy with just that. She kissed his cheek and gladly accepted his invitation for a date.