When You Turned Your Back On Me, We Became Strangers [EN]: Chapter 13

Turning Away (12)

When she finally opened the door and came out, the atmosphere of the Duke’s residence had changed noticeably. It was a bit noisy, and the expressions on people’s faces seemed excited.

“…What’s going on?”

“H-Her Ladyship.”

Reilly leaned against the wall, gazing silently at the maid. Reilly’s face, which she hadn’t seen in a while, was still beautiful, but she looked like someone trapped in the shadow of sorrow.

“W-Well, that’s…”

The maid stammered, unable to speak properly. A passing butler hurriedly called out to the maid.

“What are you doing? Anna is looking for you.”

“Ah…”

The butler saw the maid’s flustered expression and turned his head. His eyes met Reilly’s, who was staring intently at him, and he gasped.

“M-Madam.”

“…Everyone seems happy. What’s all the commotion about?”

“…”

Despite Reilly’s question, the butler and maid remained silent, as if they had swallowed a bee [meaning they were unwilling to speak].

Reilly slowly approached the butler. As her cold eyes swept over him, he felt goosebumps all over his body.

‘I can’t… I can’t breathe.’

Reilly tilted her head to the side, seeing them silently bowing their heads.

“If you keep your mouths shut like that, it will be even more painful.”

He flinched.

The butler trembled as Reilly raised her hand. Her voice was gentle, but a strong force was felt. As cold sweat trickled down his spine, the butler squeezed his eyes shut.

“What is everyone so happy about? It’s okay, tell me quickly.”

Reilly smiled, brushing dust off the butler’s shoulder. As Reilly’s eyes curved into a smile, the butler could breathe again.

“That is… Anna is pregnant.”

The maid finally confessed the truth, looking tearful. The butler turned to look at the maid, but it was already water under the bridge [meaning the secret was out and couldn’t be taken back].

Reilly felt dizzy. The moment her child died, Anna became pregnant…

It felt like anger was blinding her eyes and deafening her ears. The self-reproach for not protecting her child slowly raised its head and soon wrapped around her body.

“Madam?”

Just then, Anna appeared, approaching Reilly with a radiant smile. Her arrogant expression, scanning her up and down, was enough to provoke anger.

Everyone looked horrified as Anna and Reilly faced each other.

‘I need to get the Duke here quickly.’

The butler glanced at them and stepped back. Confirming that Anna’s attention was focused on Reilly, he quickly headed to the office.

“Oh my, did you hear? Isn’t it amazing how perfectly timed the baby is? The Duke and I were so embarrassed as soon as the scandal broke out.”

For someone who said that, Anna’s expression looked bright.

As Reilly had hoped, articles about Theo’s scandal were plastered all over the empire a few days later, but even that quickly died down.

This was because Theo had been running around, appealing to people. He was quite well-connected and had a good reputation, so it wasn’t difficult for him to win their favor.

Moreover, due to Reilly’s inability to have children, the situation had become one where an heir was needed, so the absurd and obvious lie that he had no choice but to bring in a mistress worked.

Most of all, it was possible because Anna became pregnant at just the right time.

Anna slowly stroked her belly, staring straight at Reilly.

Reilly’s fists clenched tightly. Her nails dug into her palms, drawing blood.

‘She killed my child…’

But no one would believe her. Even that day, Theo was busy defending Anna. Reilly heard something snap in her heart.

Thud.

Her hands lost strength, and a sense of futility washed over her. She finally realized that it was all over.

Nothing turned out the way she wanted. She had sent a divorce petition to the Imperial Family, but this scandal would have increased the things to be reviewed.

In the end, Reilly, the victim of all this, had to swallow a hollow laugh.

She hates Anna so much that she wants to kill her. But the child in her womb is innocent.

“I see… I understand.”

Reilly hated herself for not being able to do anything at this moment. But she couldn’t bring herself to do the same thing as her.

Those who saw her turning around and entering her room looked at her with pity. They couldn’t even imagine what she was feeling as she turned her back on Anna.

* * *

“No matter how I think about it, it’s too perfectly timed to be normal.”

The divorce proceedings were taking longer than expected. She sent a letter to the Imperial Family asking what the problem was, but no answer came.

Ren only told her to wait a little longer.

‘He said it would take some time because he was trying to change the conditions to be completely in Reilly’s favor.’

He could use his authority to make it happen immediately, but if the Emperor found out, Reilly might have to return to the Imperial Family again.

Because of this, Kavel was having a hard time. He was hiding his identity and proceeding with Reilly’s divorce petition, avoiding his father’s eyes.

“What am I missing?”

Reilly tapped the table with her finger, narrowing her brows.

Some time had passed since Anna became pregnant. During that time, Reilly had been lying low, watching her and Theo.

They acted as usual, and Reilly was still only the Duchess in name.

She pondered for a while, then unfolded her fingers, folding them one by one.

‘…It’s been four months.’

She was trapped in this wretched Duke’s residence, unable to escape. She wanted to get out as soon as possible, but the moment she left, she wouldn’t be able to take anything away from him.

Because of that, Reilly was desperately holding on. Above all, she had to figure out Anna’s suspicious movements.

Anna’s belly, which she had seen in passing a while ago, was still the same. Her belly wasn’t particularly swollen, and she didn’t look very pregnant.

“Anna’s belly seems to be the same.”

It wasn’t a problem that she was pregnant, but the timing was too perfect, which bothered her.

“Belly? Come to think of it, has it already been four months?”

“It has. At this point, her belly should be noticeably bigger.”

Even when she recalled her appearance, her belly wasn’t that swollen.

“Something’s wrong. Even if we consider the timing, there’s no way a pregnant belly would stay the same, right?”

“I don’t know. But it’s true that that bastard was going in and out of that woman’s room when you were pregnant.”

Ren shrugged at Reilly’s words. He didn’t know what Reilly was thinking, but in his opinion, that bastard [referring to Theo] was capable of anything.

Reilly nodded at Ren’s words.

‘Since Anna came, they haven’t spent the night together.’

If Theo had been frequently visiting Anna’s room while she was pregnant, it wouldn’t be strange for her to have a child.

But why did she feel so uneasy?

It wasn’t just because Anna, who had killed her child, was pregnant. Reilly couldn’t believe anything Anna said anymore.

Though she had never believed her in the first place.

‘Something is definitely going on. What am I missing?’

Even if her husband was a scoundrel, he wouldn’t try to have another child now that he had an heir.

What Theo wanted was a child who carried the blood of the Trailla family.

It was also strange how Anna’s belly had remained the same.

‘What on earth is that woman thinking?’

With a complicated mind, Reilly opened the window and looked outside, then suddenly stood up.

Startled, Ren stopped Reilly.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s a man I’ve never seen before.”

Reilly raised her hand and pointed to a suspicious-looking man outside. If it was that direction, he must have come from the main building where Anna was.

Besides, it was strange for him to cover his face like that and look around as he came out.

Reilly was certain. If she followed that man, her questions would be answered.

“He’s definitely connected to Anna. Please follow that man.”

Ren looked out the window at Reilly’s words. He couldn’t see exactly who it was because his face was covered by a cloak.

‘Did that fool get caught?’

Ren swallowed hard, wondering if he had discovered Caberre. Even if it was him, Reilly would not stand still if she knew he had been constantly interacting with the Crown Prince.

“What, who is that?”

Fortunately, it wasn’t Caberre. He had received a letter saying that he would be busy with a recent request and wouldn’t be able to come to the estate for a while.

A guy he’s never seen before?

He looked at his attire, wondering if it was someone Caberre had sent, but he wasn’t affiliated with the Imperial Family. His movements were clumsy, so he was definitely a novice.

“That man definitely received something from Anna.”

When did she see that again?

Ren breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he should be more careful in the future. He thought she was indifferent, but Reilly was watching everywhere.

“Okay, I’ll check it out.”

“Thank you.”

Ren quickly left the room and watched the man from above.

Moving secretly, he looked suspicious, just as Reilly had said. The hat pulled down low and the pocket full of gold coins were saying, ‘I’m a suspicious guy!’

Ren followed him as he left the estate and entered the forest.

“That woman is really endlessly greedy.”

The man took out a gold coin from the pocket in his hand and hummed a tune with a smirk. Ren, who had been silently following, hid his presence and listened.

“I don’t think I could do something like that, scared out of my wits. Not only infertility drugs, but also a fake pregnancy.”

He shuddered as if he was disgusted. Feeling strangely uneasy, the man turned his head back, and at that moment, a large hand covered his face.

“Ugh!”

The man struggled, his head slammed straight into a tree by the merciless force. He couldn’t see properly because Ren was holding his face.

A hot liquid was felt on the back of his head. The man trembled with fear and dread. In the red eyes that he could barely see between his fingers, he saw a terrifying shadow of death.

“Ugh!”

Eventually, the man wet himself like a child. His pants were soaked, and the liquid dripped to the floor.

“What did you say earlier?”

“P, please. S, s, save me.”

Unable to speak because he was suppressed, he stammered and struggled to utter the words like a child who had not learned to speak.

The man instinctively felt that the person in front of him was someone who could kill him right now.

‘Did the Duke’s estate send him? No, she said that no one knows about this.’

He couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard he racked his brain.

Ren leaned close to the man’s ear and whispered.

“This is your last chance. What did that woman take from you?”

“Hic! I, I’ll tell you everything.”

Ren’s hand loosened slightly. As his feet touched the ground, the man’s body collapsed to the floor.

If he didn’t speak, he would die. The man had no choice. The red eyes flashed as if they would cut off his breath at any moment.

“Anna, Anna, that woman asked me for medicine. She asked for a drug that would make her infertile! She took it a long time ago, but she asked for it again this time. She also bought some items along with a drug that would make her look pregnant.”

The man spewed out words like someone who had spoken in tongues.

“Items?”

“Drugs and items to make her look pregnant.”

The words coming from his mouth were unbelievable. The identity of the strange stench that had come from her food a long time ago was none other than an infertility drug.

It was all in vain.

In any case, Reilly’s unstable mana made it difficult for her to have children.

“Won’t she get caught? That drug I mean.”

“Th, that drug is made a little special. It is manufactured with a scent that men cannot smell.”

Only then did everything fall into place in Ren’s head. That’s why Theo hadn’t noticed.

“I told you everything. A, are you going to spare me?”

“Of course, I have to spare you.”

The man seemed relieved and took a breath. However, soon after, Ren, who had fixed his face, reached out with his other hand and grabbed his tongue, causing his terrified eyes to shake.

“Eee, eeerase it.”

“But I can’t just let you go, because you can’t let the word get out anywhere.”

“Aaaaaaagh.”

The man’s screams echoed in the forest. Startled birds fluttered from the trees and flew into the sky.