Prologue
“Your Majesty, the reason I have come to see you is—”
“Speak comfortably.”
At Cassian’s words, cutting off her own, Julia tightly clasped her hands resting neatly on her lap.
She had to pause what she was about to say, but she acted as calmly as possible.
Because what she had to say next was extremely important.
Keeping her gaze fixed on the antique carpet spread across the reception room floor, Julia spoke again.
“I know you’ll be surprised—”
“Speak casually.”
For the second time, Julia’s expression twisted ever so slightly as she was cut off.
She thought that Cassian was obsessing over her tone of voice when he had no idea what words might come out of her mouth next.
‘This isn’t the time for this…’
Julia let out a very small sigh, inaudible to Cassian, and spoke again.
“What I wish to say—”
“Julia.”
At his low voice resonating in her ear, Julia squeezed her downcast eyes shut.
“Stop with the unnecessary formalities and speak comfortably.”
“Hah…”
Julia lifted her head, which had been bowed the whole time, and looked at Cassian’s expressionless face.
His dark green eyes were fixed on her without the slightest change in expression.
“…Why is my tone so important right now?”
“Much better.”
Cassian looked at Julia’s furrowed brow and a satisfied smile played at the corners of his lips.
It was a truly, perfectly beautiful smile.
In that moment, Julia felt a twisted impulse to wipe that perfect smile off his face.
“I’m pregnant.”
She hadn’t intended to be so blunt.
It was just that he was sitting there looking so utterly composed, so different from her, who had agonized over this countless times… and it annoyed her a little.
A heavy silence fell between them, seated across the table from each other.
“…”
Without taking his eyes off Julia, Cassian picked up his teacup and brought it to his lips.
He seemed nonchalant, but the slight furrow in his brow betrayed his unease.
Even a man who seemed unflappable in the face of anything found it hard to remain composed before a woman telling him she was carrying his child.
Julia felt a petty sense of satisfaction bloom in a corner of her heart—one utterly out of place in the current situation.
“Marry me. And move in.”
After a long silence, Cassian spoke.
It was the answer she had expected.
Though not entirely the one she wanted.
“Your Majesty, the Duke and Duchess of Duvert have arrived.”
Abil’s voice came from beyond the door, accompanied by a knock.
“Yeah.”
Cassian took the thick cigar from his mouth and answered vaguely.
As Abil grasped the doorknob and pushed inward, two people who had been eagerly waiting for the large, luxurious wooden door to open rushed inside.
The couple, barging in without any regard for dignity, exchanged glances, flustered by the sight of the room filled with cigar smoke.
“Sit.”
Cassian said without even looking up.
The two sat down one after another on the chairs where Julia had been sitting earlier, catching their breath.
“Ah, Your Majesty, hello. We are Duncan Duvert and my wife, Catherine Duvert.”
Cassian took a drag of smoke from his cigar.
“W-We came here because… we have something to tell you about the girl who left this room a moment ago…”
Duncan pulled a white handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped his sweaty forehead.
Unable to hide his anxiety, he rubbed his greasy forehead with trembling hands.
Cassian nodded as if to say ‘go on’ and exhaled white smoke.
Duncan’s face hardened at the cigar smoke wafting toward him.
How insolent…
He finally managed to open his mouth and began to speak.
“I-I don’t know exactly what Julia told Your Majesty… but it’s all a l-lie…”
At the mention of Julia’s name, Cassian lifted his head.
He fixed his gaze on the pitiful duke sitting before him, repeatedly swallowing dryly.
“The truth is… it was us… that is, our son…”
Catherine, sitting beside him, jabbed Duncan sharply in the side.
“Your Majesty, for certain reasons, we gave Julia a drug. A drug that makes her think she’s pregnant.”
“Th-That’s right! We had a plan of sorts, and it ended up that way… S-So, Julia is absolutely not pregnant.”
It was as if a ray of light pierced the murky, dark confusion clouding the couple’s minds.
“Of course not! As soon as we leave the palace, we’ll seize Julia and make her take the antidote.”
“Y-Yes, that’s right! We’ll take care of it promptly. It’s not at all that she’s pregnant with Your Majesty’s child… So please don’t w-worry! We’re sorry to have troubled you unnecessarily.”
Duncan bowed his head deeply and stammered.
“I know.”
Cassian stubbed out the thick cigar he was holding, grinding it into the glass ashtray on the desk.
“Ex-excuse me? What do you mean you know…?”
Duncan, who had been bowing his head so low it nearly touched the floor, looked up with a stupid expression.
“But I’d prefer she never finds out.”
A slow smile spread across Cassian’s face, which had been icy cold until then.
Julia stood before the large door.
She turned her head and looked reproachfully at Emma.
‘Fighting!’
Emma, the seasoned head housemaid who had worked at Isheide Mansion for over fifty years, winked repeatedly at Julia.
Abil, standing behind Emma, also clenched his fists in a cheering pose.
‘Just go straight in!’
Receiving their bright, eager gazes was nothing short of pressuring.
Julia reluctantly turned her head back.
“Hah…”
It wasn’t difficult to see him.
But his attitude lately was so different from what she had known before that it was uncomfortable and awkward.
After swallowing once, Julia gently tapped the study door with the edge of the marble tray she was holding.
Thud, thud.
“Come in.”
The low voice carried through the thick door.
The moment Abil turned the doorknob, Emma, waiting behind her, pushed Julia in the back, shoving her into the room.
What a fantastic duo they made.
Stumbling into the room pushed by Emma, Julia grumbled softly as she walked toward the large desk.
Behind her steps toward Cassian, she heard Abil close the door with a click.
“…I brought some snacks. Coffee and… are these butter cookies…?”
Emma, you should have told me what you prepared…!
Cassian looked up and fixed his eyes on Julia.
Suddenly feeling awkward, Julia couldn’t approach him further and stopped right on the carpet in the middle of the room.
“…Are you planning to throw the snacks at me from over there?”
“Ah, no… it’s not that…”
“Come a little closer.”
Cassian stretched out one arm, gesturing as if beckoning Julia.
He had been holed up in his office since morning and looked clearly tired and worn out.
When Julia came close enough, he took the snack tray she was holding with one hand and placed it on his desk.
“Did you rest well today?”
Turning his body completely toward Julia, Cassian looked up at her.
He took her white hands and pulled them toward him.
“Yeah, well… I just lay in my room all day.”
Julia answered, allowing herself to be pulled obediently toward Cassian.
Here it starts again.
Having brought Julia close, Cassian began to slowly stroke the back of her hand with his thumb.
The gentle stroking tickled, and Julia’s shoulders flinched slightly.
“I’m a bit tired.”
Cassian, still holding her hands, murmured.
Looking down at the desk, she could see a precariously stacked pile of documents, clearly a large amount.
He hadn’t slept properly for days, organizing the profiles and special notes of the high-ranking nobles newly appointed this year.
“Julia.”
Cassian, facing Julia, frowned slightly as if displeased that she had dropped her gaze to the desk.
“Huh? Oh, sorry…”
When her gaze returned to him, Cassian’s expression softened warmly.
He interlaced his fingers with hers, palm to palm, and then asked abruptly.
“Want to take a bath together?”
“…Huh?”
“My head feels too heavy. I think it’ll be better to wash up and then go back to work.”
“But… I just washed a little while ago?”
Take a bath together, all of a sudden?
Startled by the out-of-the-blue bath invitation, Julia doubted her ears and gaped.
“I read in a book that the easiest and fastest way for a married couple to get closer is to bathe together.”
“…What kind of book teaches you that?”
“I’m studying everything I can get my hands on. The baby is growing, but it seems like Mom and Dad aren’t very close.”
Surprised by the unexpected answer from his lips, Julia was genuinely taken aback.
Even Cassian, endlessly busy day and night, was thinking of ways to get closer to the mother for the child’s sake.
‘But I, the actual mother…’
Julia placed one hand on her still-flat belly.
She felt guilt and sorry towards the baby growing inside her.
Seeing Julia slowly caress her belly, Cassian reached out, supported her back, and pulled her closer to him.
“Julia.”
Julia awkwardly placed her hands on his shoulders and moved closer to him.
Cassian gently leaned his face against her flat stomach.
Sometimes, Cassian would do this to let the baby know he existed.
He would occasionally place his hand on Julia’s belly, carefully stroking it, press his ear or cheek against it, or attempt the lightest of kisses.
Julia silently looked down at Cassian’s jet-black hair, plastered against her belly.
A few strands sticking up at the crown looked comically cute.
She was lost in thought, feeling a faint urge to raise her hand and stroke his soft-looking black hair.
Before she knew it, a month had passed since the wedding ceremony with Cassian.
In other words, a month had passed since Cassian had begun acting as a tender husband to Julia.
Meaning, this strange and unfamiliar marital relationship had begun on that very day.
That damn graduation party day.
