Chapter 188. I’m Such a Fool, Aren’t I?
The atmosphere of Elpengreen, where not even a single breath could be heard, had completely transformed overnight.
It had been so long since the birth of a Cheister that no one could even remember when the last one had been.
Although he was officially an illegitimate child who could never bear the family’s surname, everyone in the mansion sincerely rejoiced at the birth of the duke’s first child.
But no one was happier than the Dowager Duchess, Eleanor von Cheiste.
“My goodness… How can he possibly be this adorable?”
Affection practically overflowed from Eleanor’s eyes as she gazed at the baby in her arms.
Watching Eleanor from nearby, the butler Greg and Charlotte smiled with satisfaction.
“What do you think? To me, he looks exactly like our Ray did when he was little.”
Gently soothing the fussing baby, Eleanor whispered softly.
“I think so as well, My Lady.”
Greg replied as he looked at the child in Eleanor’s arms.
He was not merely saying it to please her.
It was truly the case.
The baby resembled the duke so perfectly that it was as though he had been made from the very same mold.
It was astonishing just how identical they looked.
No wonder the Dowager Duchess refused to let him out of her arms, Greg thought.
Several days earlier, the mansion had been thrown into complete chaos by the sudden news.
It had happened while there was still a long time left before the expected due date.
Eleanor, who had remained silent until then, finally burst out of her bedroom after hearing that both the mother and child were in danger.
She hurried all the way to the delivery room, only to find her son standing there as motionless as a statue, and it felt as though her heart were being torn apart.
“It’ll be alright. Everything will be alright.”
She stayed by the side of her silent son, comforting him despite receiving no response.
It had not been the situation she wanted, but that did not mean she wished harm upon her son’s own flesh and blood.
And the same was true for the woman giving birth.
Regardless of the past they had lived through or the future that awaited them,
Eleanor sincerely wished with all her heart that both of them would survive safely.
Perhaps because her earnest prayers were answered, after what felt like an eternity of agonizing waiting, the baby was born safely.
The moment she first saw the baby being carried out in the midwife’s arms after everything had been taken care of, Eleanor felt all the disappointment and anger she had harbored melt away like snow beneath the sun.
People said one’s own child and one’s grandchild felt different.
She had never imagined there could be a child so precious that she could cherish him without end.
That was why she found it all the more regrettable.
How wonderful it would have been if this lovely child had been born to the future Duchess of Cheister instead of a woman of low birth.
If that had been the case, a child who resembled her son so perfectly could have become the next Duke of Cheister.
Sigh—
A long sigh escaped Eleanor’s lips as her worries deepened.
***
“Here you are.”
Charlotte, carrying the baby, gently laid him beside Deborah.
Since it was still difficult for her to sit upright, she was nursing him while lying on her side.
“Then get some rest.”
After confirming that Mrs. Charlotte had left, Deborah brought the baby to her breast.
She stared at the baby in fascination as he suckled with his tiny mouth.
Was she really the one who had given birth to this child?
Or had God accidentally dropped a little angel into her care?
The thought was so absurd, yet the more she looked at him, the more unbelievable he seemed.
The baby truly…
looked unbelievably like the duke.
Aside from the color of his eyes, which resembled hers, everything else was exactly like his father.
Perhaps it was ridiculous to say such a thing about a baby who had only just been born, but since everyone else was saying the same thing, it apparently was not just her imagination.
What would the baby look like?
Would it be a girl or a boy?
The child she had wondered about for so long was now right before her, and it still felt like a dream.
Just thinking that she had almost never gotten the chance to meet this precious child made her heart sink.
“The baby… the baby wants to see you too.”
“He wants to see his mother’s face as soon as possible… That’s why he’s doing his very best right now.”
“So… just a little… just a little more strength. You’ve… held on so bravely until now, so just a little longer.”
“……”
Those were the words she had heard when the pain had become so unbearable that she wanted to let go of everything.
Holding tightly onto the hand that had gripped hers, she had unknowingly burst into tears as she brought her child into the world.
For just that moment, the man who had always been as cold as ice had seemed to become the kind person he used to be.
But even now, several days later, he had not shown his face even once.
As though the only thing he had ever wanted from her was for her to give birth to the child.
That was only natural…
There could never have been anything else…
And yet, somewhere deep inside her heart, she must have been foolishly hoping.
Perhaps…
perhaps a small part of his heart still held a place for her.
Even after learning the lesson over and over again, she still could not come to her senses.
She found herself utterly pathetic.
“Mom is such a fool, isn’t she?”
At her absent-minded murmur, the baby, who had been eagerly nursing, frowned ever so slightly.
It reminded Deborah of the little movements she had always felt from him while he was still in her womb, and before she realized it, a bright smile spread across her face.
***
“Are you really just going to stand there and do nothing!”
At the furious shout, a pair of golden eyes slowly lifted.
Seeing his wife trembling with anger, Marquess Constant’s brow furrowed irritably.
“Do you even know how many days Olivia has locked herself inside her room?”
At her bitter accusation that he was being indifferent, the marquess clicked his tongue.
“As if I don’t know.”
“Then how can you stay so calm?”
How could he possibly be calm?
He was suffering from the very same problem himself.
Everything that had been so close to success had been ruined because of that mouse-like wench.
Several months ago, he had received a report stating that the girl had left the capital, Denverer, and gone to a farm in distant Rosewick.
Once that thorn in his side had disappeared from sight, he believed all that remained was for Raymond von Cheister. and his daughter Olivia to be married without incident.
Yet, of all things, there had happened to be a Cheister villa near the farm where that girl had been sent.
And, as fate would have it, the duke had moved there and encountered her once again.
What kind of absurd coincidence was that?
It was almost as though some invisible thread kept binding the two of them together.
And there was something else as well.
“You kept insisting those rumors were all baseless nonsense, but look! Every single one of them turned out to be true! The entire social circle is talking about how that maid gave birth to the Duke of Cheister’s child—and a son at that!”
That was exactly it.
Just when had that woman become pregnant with Raymond von Cheister.’s child?
He had heard nothing of the sort before she left Jade Wilkins’s house for Rosewick.
If she had already been visibly pregnant, the people watching her would never have failed to report it.
Which meant her pregnancy had only become noticeable after she had left.
If only he had continued to keep people watching her even after she went to Rosewick…
But regretting it now was completely useless.
“What are you going to do now? Everyone is saying that our Olivia was cast aside by Raymond von Cheister. because she lost to a lowborn woman! Tell me, what exactly do you intend to do?”
The marchioness shouted as though driven to the brink.
It was already heartbreaking enough that her precious only daughter, Olivia, had stopped eating and confined herself to bed.
But to think the cause of it all was nothing more than a lowly maid.
Her daughter, who had once happily chattered about her dreams, now cried every single day with those beautiful eyes.
How could any mother remain sane after seeing that?
If she could, she wanted to storm straight into the House of Cheister and scratch the face of that woman who had given birth to the duke’s child.
The only thing stopping her was the last shred of pride she still possessed as the Marchioness.
That did not mean she intended to let the matter pass.
For the sake of her daughter’s honor,
and for the sake of House Constant,
this was something that absolutely had to be addressed.
She would make them answer for humiliating her daughter, the young lady of House Constant, because of a mere lowborn maid—
With a resolute expression, the marchioness stared directly at her husband.
