So the Duchess Disappeared

47. The Price.

“What? What did you say?”

Alejandro came out early before sunrise, standing in front of the hall with a puzzled look on his face, unable to comprehend Clint’s words.

He had to ask again in disbelief because Clint’s words were hard to believe.

“I said we are going to the ducal estate right now.”

“Really?”

Alejandro suddenly made a dumbfounded expression at Clint’s statement about going back to the ducal estate.

He vaguely recalled Clint saying just yesterday that he would probably stay longer at the Alistair Castle.

No, wasn’t that the day before yesterday?

“Am I dreaming?”

Alejandro blinked his eyes, staring at Clint.

“I’ve made all the preparations. I’m taking the lady and her child with me. Follow suit once you’re ready.”

“Really?”

“I won’t say it twice. Hurry up and follow.”

With just a few words, Clint disappeared from in front of Alejandro.

Feeling as if he had been struck by lightning while coming up to the hall to have a pleasant breakfast, Alejandro stood there dazed.

Then, he belatedly learned of the situation from the newly arrived Claude.

“Oh my, did such a thing happen? To not know about it and oversleep….”

Alejandro grabbed his head in frustration.

Amidst the chaos, he felt pathetic for having slept so soundly and comfortably while everyone else was in turmoil.

“The doctor here couldn’t do anything about the situation. So, the Duke quickly prepared to go up and show Shilard to his personal physician.”

“….”

Alejandro scratched the back of his head.

‘Is this… Well, can we say it’s a good thing?’

While it was certainly a good thing that Phsyche returned to the ducal estate, there was no guarantee that their relationship would be smooth.

“I’ll take care of things here. Please inform the lord or rather, the duchess.”

“Understood.”

Alejandro replied with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

“I’ll come up once things settle down here.”

“Oh, no! If you’re more comfortable here! There’s no need for you to come up to the estate, especially with the complicated situation!”

As Claude was still considered Shilard’s father and Psyche’s ex-fiancé in Alejandro’s mind, he felt it was necessary to prevent Claude from entering the estate.

If Claude were allowed to step into the ducal estate without good reason, Alejandro felt it could lead to his own demise.

“Do you really hate me that much?”

Claude, who had noticed the atmosphere, asked without turning away.

“Hahaha.”

In response, Alejandro awkwardly laughed to defuse the tension.

“There’s something going on. I should know about it.”

Claude squinted his eyes, threateningly speaking to Alejandro.

“W-Well….”

“Well?”

Feeling unsure, Alejandro closed his eyes and spoke.

“A situation where one woman is shared by two men is not acceptable in our country!”

“….?”

Claude tilted his head, as if he couldn’t understand.

“I’m telling you, the Duke I serve has no interest in sharing a woman with another man!”

“Really? With who? Who is the woman?”

Claude’s words seemed like a riddle to him.

“Yes! The lady is the Duke’s wife!”

“What? What on earth are you talking about?”

Only then did Claude realize the meaning and covered his head.

Was this an absurd, novel-like imagination?

He realized that there was a huge misunderstanding, but it was already too late.

However, this time was different.

“A baby?”

It felt like she had met her child in a dream, a child slightly older.

It was a girl.

A girl who resembled her silver hair.

Her eyes, resembling Clint’s, were a very beautiful shade of blue, like the clear dawn or the deep abyss of the ocean.

The child, who looked exactly like Shilard’s age, was smiling sweetly.

Although she couldn’t touch her, it felt like she could reach out and hold her right away. It felt like she could meet her right away, so Psyche reached out her hands.

“Baby!”

But the child disappeared like an illusion.

“Baby!”

As if being chased from somewhere, Psyche, startled and shocked, stared blankly into the air.

She slowly blinked her eyes.

“Ah… It was a dream.”

“Are you coming to your senses?”

Lowering her gaze from the empty air, Clint was there.

“…”

Unlike the day Shilard was in pain, Psyche, who had regained her sanity, felt a mix of emotions as she looked at Clint, the first person she saw.

She remembered crying and fainting in front of him, and on one hand, she felt embarrassed about it.

Trying to appear nonchalant, she stood up from the bed and leaned against the bedhead.

“Where is this?”

She looked around, pushing her flowing hair back, and saw a very familiar scenery.

“It’s the lady’s room.”

“….?”

For a moment, she thought she had returned to the past.

It was definitely the room she had stayed in at the ducal estate.

The scenery, unchanged, felt strangely eerie.

“Why am I here….”

“I brought you here because they couldn’t fix your child in that place.”

Clint, sitting on the chair in front of the bed with his fists clenched, replied quietly.

“Ah! Shilard!”

Only then did Psyche, who remembered, try to get up from the bed and go to Shilard.

However, she was stopped by Clint.

“The doctor has examined the child thoroughly. She’s resting after treatment now, so you don’t have to go see her.”

“Shirley, are you okay?”

“…I’m okay.”

Psyche quietly leaned back on the bed.

Her own room at the ducal estate, which she had decided never to return to.

It felt strange to come back like this.

Both herself lying on the bed and Clint sitting in front of her felt peculiar.

But at least Shilard was okay.

However, that didn’t mean she trusted Clint.

To her, he was still a man who tried to kill her.

So, she spoke quietly.

“What’s the price for fixing the child?”

The Clint she had seen before was that kind of man.

A man who didn’t move without profit.

A man who proposed a contract, saying he would give an equivalent price if she bore a child.

A cruel man who tried to kill her once the child was born and no longer needed.

So, she didn’t think he was being kind out of goodwill.

“…Price?”

Clint, sitting with his fists clenched, raised his eyebrows.

He thought she would express gratitude or something similar, but she was asking him what she should do.

“Are you asking what you can do for me? I know that you don’t move without profit. Did you fix the child because you have something you want from me?”

“….”

Clint was taken aback.

While it was true that he quickly assessed situations and judged people based on profit, he didn’t expect to hear those words from Psyche.

In the first place, he didn’t save Shilard with any particular expectations.

Psyche’s piercing words left Clint feeling somewhat uneasy.

“A price, you say.”

“….”

Psyche’s gaze, fixed on him, stirred more emotions in Clint.

“The price must be repaid with your body. Madame.”

He hadn’t originally intended to say such a thing.

He had prepared words.

Words like, ‘Was losing the child that sad? I’m sorry I couldn’t be there with you at that time. It’s our responsibility, and I hope you won’t suffer alone.’ and similar sentiments.

But the words only came out crooked.

The formless words, sharp and piercing, were like thorns, pricking at the other’s heart.

“….With my body. What on earth…”

Psyche was perplexed by Clint’s words.

“You should fulfill the contract, shouldn’t you?”

“….”

“You have to bear my successor.”

Psyche bit her lip at his words.

Even after several years, he hadn’t changed a bit.

No, he seemed to have become even sharper.

The man who treated her kindly and gallantly had disappeared, and he didn’t even seem to recognize her as a person.

“Wasn’t that our agreement?”

“Contract… Ha.”

It was maddening.

To be entangled in a contract once again.

And to top it off, since he had fixed Shilard, Psyche couldn’t refuse.

She slowly examined Clint’s face.

Stubbornly closed lips and eyes that stared through her.

There seemed to be no sign of him stepping back.

Moreover, after all the talk about contracts and children at Alistair Castle, it seemed sincere.

Unconsciously, Psyche swallowed a dry gulp.

“Fine. That contract. It seems it’s time to end it now.”

“You should approach it sincerely.”

“….”

Clint twisted his lips into a smile.

“Madame seems eager to end the contract quickly, so let’s actively engage in it. Let’s say once a week for our bed-sharing arrangement.”

“….What?”