Episode 27

?????? (11)

When Ragnar asked nervously, the doctor took out a stethoscope this time.

“The young lady’s pulse is very weak. I can barely hear it. Please stay warm. And excuse me, but when was your last menstruation?”

Christa glanced at Ragnar and then quietly shook her head at Kenneth. He frowned and wrote something on the paper.

“For the time being, I’ll prescribe medicine to protect your body.”

Whatever happens, it wouldn’t change the fact that she was infertile. However, it meant one thing: the crown prince came and gave abortion pills to her.

“The rumor is very fast.”

Christa murmured in wonder.

“When did I get pregnant?”

She’d never heard of it before. She couldn’t even guess why such rumors were spreading.

“Everyone thought it was morning sickness when you had a meal here the other day.”

With a startled expression, Mervin asked Ragnar urgently.

“You told me before that Knight Palmaril was pregnant! Was it a lie?”

“The important thing is that the rumor has spread widely now. Enough for Elio to notice.”

Mervin’s face turned white as plaster. All of this was the plan of this damn duke.

This was why he was uncomfortable last time. He can’t believe he just realized it now. He couldn’t help but grieve.

“And that’s what I wrote in the marriage proposal document sent to Baron Palmaril.”

It was Mervin, not anyone else, who wrote the proposal.

“That’s right! That’s what the leader said…….”

Mervin now seems powerless to stand. Kenneth handed him his usual prescription. It was a very effective medicine for stomachaches.

Argonod’s employees have a heavy mouth and are loyal to the Duke from a long time ago. Therefore, the information was leaked after the document was sent to Baron Palmaril. Everything was as Ragnar planned.

Christa, who could not see the flow of the story, had no choice but to tilt her head. Recognizing it, Ragnar explained it to Christa.

“It means our marriage contract is working.”

“Is that so…?”

“Since this has happened, I should make the rumors bigger.”

Kenneth, the doctor, has long been a reliable servant of the Argonod family. Ragnar gave him an order.

“Please write down on the prescription that Christa is pregnant without any problems. And for the time being, I want our family’s servants to know that.”

“I understand.”

Both Kenneth and Mervin followed suit. Mervin was simply dying inside, but there was no way for him to fix things now because it was already spilled milk.

Ragnar intended to hold his upcoming wedding with great grandeur and splendor. It has to be the most extravagant wedding in the empire so that no one will miss it.

??

Christa Palmaril, the illegitimate daughter of a baron and a low-ranking female knight. Rumors that she would soon have a grand wedding after she got pregnant with the child of Duke Argonod, the richest man in the empire, and has a standing in society close to the emperor, spread for thousands of miles.

“Oh, my God, the Duke of Argonod!”

“What kind of family is she from?”

“Baron Palmaril? It’s a baron family that I’ve never heard of.”

“How dare she seduce a man to raise her status!”

It was a provocative gossip that the Duke of Argonod chose marriage with love rather than a political marriage with the imperial princess because he fell in a passionate love with his colleague, Knight Palmaril. Wherever she went in the capital, everyone used to talk about them.

Naturally, this news came to the emperor’s ears.

“That lady has the Duke’s child?”

“Yes, sir.”

Pre-marital pregnancy in the Empire was not honorable. Even if it’s between engaged couples. Therefore, in order to take responsibility, it was right for the two to get married.

However, that would lead to a great deal of trouble for the imperial family. The Imperial family wanted to have the influence of the Argonod family in their hands. If the northern forces decided, it was not difficult to overthrow the central forces, which were weakened by the Three Kingdoms’ War.

It is difficult for that to happen. If the Argonod family now has a successor, it will be the seed of unrest that threatens his imperial power when Elio later ascends to the throne.

“Then, he can’t marry Natalia?”

“Did you get a reply to the marriage proposal sent to the Duke?”

“They sent a clear rejection reply.”

The entire house turned pale. Pelias I’s face was shaded. He had to calm his anger for a long time.

“Then shouldn’t you get rid of her?”

??

“We don’t know what will happen in the future, so you should stay here from now on.”

Ragnar suggested to Christa to stay in his town house.

“But…”

“It’s because I can’t stand it if something like what happened with the crown prince happens again.”

It was a fair fact. No one predicted that the Crown Prince would come out of such an open place with such a bold move. Something more serious could have happened if Ivar, the Deputy Chief Knight, had not sent an urgent message.

“You will need your luggage, right?”

Christa thought of her room in Palmaril’s mansion. In her old, moldy, gloomy room, the only items that could be called hers were her swords and armor which was supplied by the military.

So she nodded her head slowly. She doesn’t know how Ragnar took her nod, because they were soon welcomed by the Baron and Baroness Palmaril.

“Oh, my God, Duke! Christa!”

Eva greeted them and shouted in a high-pitched voice.

“Oh, the Duke!”

When Sebastian heard that the Duke had arrived from somewhere, he hurriedly changed his wig and welcomed him.

“Well, shouldn’t we be more careful about our behavior since Christa has a baby?”

Eva approached Christa before she knew it and wrapped her arms around her affectionately.

“What the hell is this…….”

Eva then poked her in the ribs and whispered in her ear.

‘Shut up and follow my lead.’

“Yes! My lovely niece. Come on, come on. It’s not healthy for you to stand like that. Come and sit here in front of this warm fireplace, since your body is no longer yours alone.”

Sebastian also made a fuss and made it look like Christa was as precious as jewelry. Christa was never used to this treatment.

“Now, a woman should have a warm stomach. Nancy, go ahead and get this child some warm milk. With plenty of sugar!”

Sugar-infused foods were the finest luxury in the Palmaril residence. She had never given such a precious thing to Christa before. Christa was enjoying the finest luxury sitting in the top seat where Sebastian usually sits.

“Now, I want to talk to the Duke about marriage.”

As a sly dig at Ragnar, Sebastian threw the hot topic at him. He was about to bargain.

“So, according to the documents sent by the Duke, our Christa is about to give birth to a precious baby.”

“She is.”

“By the way, the truth is, Christa has promised to marry Count Pasquier, so we are in serious trouble in that regard.”

Sebastian began his speech. To summarize his long and sluggish speech, he “needs money.”

“If there’s a conflict with the Count of Pasquier, will this amount solve it?”

Ragnar wrote down the amount on paper. The more zeroes attached to the amount, the brighter Sebastian’s expression became.

“Oh, my.”

Sebastian seemed unable to breathe.

“Oh, my! Yes, yes, yes! Of course this will do!”

A hundred million sounds like an exclamation. There was a sharp glow on Sebastian’s face, which flushed red.

“Then, I’m thinking of taking Christa to my residence before our wedding. Do you have any objections?”

Then Sebastian rolled his eyes.

“Ha, but it hurts us so much to send our niece, who hasn’t even been married yet.….”

“T, that’s right! How much we love Christa……. Thinking that this child is not here, I’m already about to cry, honey.”

Eva took out her handkerchief with tears in her eyes.

In the end, the Duke promised to take Christa with him with two thousand florins and 100 million ducats, twelve horses, northern silverwork, five skilled servants and four boxes of high-quality gemstones mined this year in Argonod-owned mines.

“Well, let’s go get your luggage.”

At the end of the deal, Ragnar managed to see Christa’s room.

It was a narrow attic almost like a warehouse. A window with no sunlight, worn-out, straw-filled bedding and old linen, mirrors with blurred edges and poorly illuminated corners, creaky floors and dusty furniture.

The room was bound to resemble its master. It was a place that was nearly impossible to describe other than desolation.

‘This is where Christa…….’

A niece who is so well taken care of could not be treated in the same way. Somehow, he was filled with anger.

Christa took out a small wooden comb, a single-winged class badge, and her favorite sword from a cabinet.

“Is that all?”

Then she nodded with a calm face. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking because she was still expressionless.

“I was always on the battlefield.”

As she explained, she opened the closet. There are only three simple, decorative clothes that she wears every day. In the narrow room, everything was within reach in four steps.

“Well…”

Ragnar wasn’t knowledgeable about women’s products, but it was clear to him. Christa was a woman with no trace of life in this house.

Women’s rooms usually have more stuff. Whether she was rich or poor, it didn’t make sense that her room was so devoid of her things. Her empty room seemed to show what her life had been like. At that moment, something sour passed through the corner of his chest.

“That’s all.”

It was so simple that even if she put everything in one bag, there would be a lot of room left. Somehow he felt stuffy in his heart. His stomach grew uneasy and he felt nauseous.