Episode 1
The people had wanted their marriage.
But I was just a powerless person who had to do what I was told.
But not this time.
This time, I will leave.
Leave this suffocating place.
Leave him.
With my own decision.
Before he finds out.
With divorce papers that don’t even have his signature,
I ran away without telling anyone.
“Bye, Christine.”
“Yeah, Ria.”
After a good day at work, Christine stood up, waving back at her close colleague.
She smiled and gently touched her rounded belly as she walked out of the magic quarantine office.
‘It’s already that late?’
She glanced at the big clock in the plaza.
It was already six in the evening.
Since it was winter, it was already dark and the stars were out.
“So pretty…”
Christine softly smiled as she touched her belly.
It had already been six months since she came here.
And the baby’s father…
“I don’t want to think about him.”
But even as she said that, his image kept floating around her like a ghost.
Seimon Deirt.
The son of Duke Duran Deirt.
A business genius who made the Deirt company the most powerful in the world.
He was her ex-husband.
And the baby’s father.
A proud and cold man, full of pride.
She hated him.
He was always hard to read, cold, logical, and extremely strict about separating work and personal life.
‘He’s not looking for me… right?’
Her body froze with tension.
It was already cold, and now she had goosebumps.
Christine pulled her red scarf tighter around her neck.
Yes, there’s no way.
It’s been over six months since she left and she hadn’t heard a thing from him.
She told herself he wouldn’t come.
But deep down, she still felt nervous.
Christine walked faster and stopped by the post office before going home.
She was now close with the staff there, and like always, she got a letter and a check.
[Christine,
Raise the child safely in the Republic of Chester.
I’ll make sure it’s safe.
– Duke Duran Deirt]
Christine looked at the letter and sighed softly.
He was one of the top three leaders in the Republican Party, and the head of the Deirt family.
‘Why does he keep sending these?’
She held the check with the Duke’s clear signature and sighed again.
‘He already gave me more than enough money when we divorced…’
The money he sent on the first day of every month was too much for her.
It had already been six months since she settled in the Republic of Rojas, the New Continent.
‘Is he trying to take responsibility because the baby has Deirt blood?’
Christine quietly put the check in her wallet.
‘I’ll save this money for the baby.’
Suddenly, she felt sorry for her child.
If the baby had been born from a normal woman’s womb—not from a fallen royal like her—
maybe it would’ve lived rich and happily in the Deirt family.
‘It’s because I’m from the Oredot royal family…’
Christine sighed, then politely wrote a thank-you letter and gave an update about the baby to the Duke.
After leaving the post office, she went to a nearby bakery.
Her baby seemed to have inherited the father’s picky taste and only liked expensive butter dinner rolls.
Luckily, there was a bakery nearby that sold them.
“Enjoy, Christine.”
The bakery owner was always kind. Christine smiled as she took the paper bag full of rolls and headed to her apartment.
Click.
She came home to her always-clean place, took off her shoes, and neatly lined them up.
“Time to wash up.”
She wasn’t the talkative type before,
but after getting pregnant, she talked more—especially to the baby in her belly.
After showering, she checked her hospital bag again.
She was already over eight months pregnant, and the midwife had told her to be ready any day now.
“I’ll see you soon.”
She smiled softly.
But she hadn’t accepted the baby so easily at first.
—Oh no…
When she first found out she was pregnant with Seimon’s baby, she fainted in shock.
After waking up, she tried to think clearly.
They always used protection.
They didn’t want kids.
But then she remembered—
there was one time.
One night when Seimon came home drunk.
—You don’t know me at all.
—W-What do you mean…?
—Well, I didn’t even know myself.
That night, he didn’t let her go.
And in the moment, they forgot about protection.
She had thought it was just one mistake…
She remembered his sharp nose, his lips, and his jawline.
He was cold when working, but when he slept, his lips stayed gently closed, and he looked so calm.
His long dark eyelashes were even prettier than hers.
That night, he had been strangely kind.
She had thought something was off.
Christine shook herself back to reality.
‘Focus, Christine.’
She had been thinking about Seimon too much today.
Her soft eyebrows creased with worry.
“Haa…”
At first, she even thought of giving up the baby.
Even if she told the doctor to keep it secret, rumors would spread.
There was only one option left:
quietly take medicine and end the pregnancy.
Just thinking about it made her hands shake.
There was a clear “no pregnancy” rule in their contract marriage.
And now she was carrying the baby of a Republican family—while being from the Royalist side.
If the nobles found out, it would be a disaster.
She had to decide soon.
Keep the baby, or finish the role in the fake marriage and leave?
“…I did well.”
Christine looked calm as she drank warm rooibos tea, good for pregnant women.
She had decided to raise the baby.
And the day Seimon went overseas on a long business trip,
she gave Duke Duran the news and handed over the divorce papers.
She remembered the cold look in the Duke’s eyes when he read them.
“It’s warm…”
After the tea, her body felt hot, so she stepped out onto the balcony.
She looked up at the winter moon—bright and yellow.
As she stared into the sky, her eyes slowly dropped down.
‘Huh?’
In front of her apartment was a super fancy black car that didn’t belong in this area.
And leaning against it—a tall man she knew all too well.
“……!”
Christine’s breath caught.
Before she could even move back, her eyes met his.
He was smoking a cigarette.
The winter moon was shining down,
but it also felt like the same moonlight was in his eyes.
Those golden eyes were round and glowing, filled with obsession, exhaustion, and anger.
His stare pierced into her like a knife.
Christine’s mind went blank.
‘How…?’
She froze, unable to move.
“Christine. Long time no see.”
His deep, low voice rang out.
Even though he wasn’t shouting, his voice filled her ears and made her heart shake.
Seimon looked up at her, frozen on the balcony.
“Should I come up, or will you come down?”
The end of his cigarette glowed red in the dark.
“I had a hard time finding you.”
His eyes dropped to her belly—and his gaze suddenly shook hard.
“…Pregnant?”
The cigarette fell from his hand.
Along with his heart.
Seimon bit his lip, then said in a cold, sharp voice:
“We have a lot to talk about.”
Christine didn’t say a word. She just stared down at him.
Seeing her so still, Seimon clenched his fist tighter.
“Princess. Make up your mind quickly.
I don’t have much patience.”
His words were polite,
but his tone was sharp and dangerous.
As he looked up at her unmoving figure,
Seimon took a step forward.
His runaway wife still seemed to want to play hide and seek.
