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Chapter 121
“The child Teresa gave birth to died.”
After a long silence, Rosalia denied it.
No emotion could be felt in her restrained voice.
However, this was merely a public façade, and it was impossible to know what fervor truly lurked within.
Hayden answered with a tense face.
“It did not die.”
“No, it died. Everyone confirmed the corpse.”
“She was confined and bound, but she was originally a person of good fortune and standing. The midwife and maid conspired to smuggle out the child and presented a dead infant in its place.”
“Are you saying that you alone saw through the deception that Teresa had fooled everyone with?”
“Because the child was sent to me.”
Rosalia closed her mouth.
A silence longer than any before fell between them.
After a while, Rosalia issued a cold command to her subordinates to leave.
“Everyone out.”
“But, Your Majesty the Empress, it is dangerous to be alone with a criminal...”
“Did you not hear me say to leave!”
Rosalia snapped irritably, cutting off her subordinate’s protest.
Only those who had long served the Empress had followed her into this place, and they knew well that it was not in their best interest to cross her at such times.
They did not make the Empress repeat herself.
After everyone had withdrawn like the tide, only Rosalia and Hayden were left in the room.
Hearing the door close, Rosalia opened her eyes long and said, “Continue.”
“…You must remember the maid named Mariam. When I was staying outside the capital under Your Majesty’s orders, a member of the maid’s family came looking for me. With a child in arms.”
Hayden added with a bittersweet tone, “You know, don’t you? Princess Teresa truly loved me. Even up to that point, she was eagerly awaiting my return.”
Rosalia muttered to herself as if scoffing at the disgusting notion.
And she thought herself no less nauseating for having such thoughts.
She had always tried to justify the actions she had committed, but she had never felt proud of herself, only repeatedly failing.
The reason Rosalia could not forget Teresa was simple. Teresa represented her shameful past.
Rosalia closed her eyes and slowly retraced those distant days.
The Leman royal family had always treasured daughters for generations.
Among her boisterous brothers, the former Emperor had cherished Princess Teresa, his second daughter, with special affection.
This exceptional love for his daughter was not confined to the private sphere alone.
Even after his children had grown up, the former Emperor hesitated in choosing a successor, and the eldest, who had believed it was natural for him to inherit the empire, felt threatened.
Rosalia, too, had married him with his future in mind.
The eldest was wary of his sibling but hesitated to take direct action, for he had cherished them as a family over the years.
It was Rosalia who stepped in to take the place of her indecisive husband.
Rosalia thought it necessary to create an undeniable flaw in Teresa, and opportunistically used Hayden, who was lingering around the royal court seeking favor.
Princess Teresa was exceptionally bright for her age, but naive about the malice of others.
Loved by all, the Princess had a carefree and cheerful nature.
Hayden, on the other hand, was a man who, with his impressive appearance, had a history of toying with numerous women.
For him, seducing an innocent woman who had never been with a man was easier than breathing.
The Princess quickly fell into a secret love with the nobleman who appeared before her as if by fate, unaware that their meeting was the result of someone’s vile scheming.
Before long, Teresa became pregnant.
It was perhaps inevitable, given that she had engaged in relations at the man’s whim without a thought for contraception.
Coincidentally, Hayden had to go abroad around that time, and Teresa kept silent about her condition, waiting for her lover’s return.
She thought they could simply hold an official marriage ceremony upon his return.
Although Hayden’s status was somewhat inferior to hers, Teresa was confident she could persuade her father until then; the former Emperor had never once refused her anything.
But strangely, there was no word from Hayden for months.
Her pregnancy became too obvious to hide, and whispers among her attendants soon spread the rumor that the Princess was with child.
The rumor eventually reached the former Emperor’s ears.
When he confronted his daughter and confirmed the truth, he was furious.
He was ready to tear apart the man who had impregnated his daughter then and there, and in front of her enraged father, she could not bring herself to name her beloved.
Ultimately, by the former Emperor’s command, Teresa was confined to wait out her pregnancy.
While pretending to support Teresa’s love, Rosalia consoled her and managed the circulating information behind her back.
If Hayden’s name reached the former Emperor’s ears, it was likely that the couple would be allowed to marry formally.
Rosalia hoped the child in Teresa’s womb would remain a mere bastard.
Even if the former Emperor cherished his daughter, he would not pass the throne to a Princess with a fatherless child.
If Rosalia endeavored to tarnish Teresa’s life, conversely, the former Emperor wished more than anyone to erase that blemish from his daughter.
Yet, what hurt Teresa more was not Rosalia’s malice but the affection of the former Emperor, who decided to erase this whole affair by eliminating the child.
Given the advanced stage of the pregnancy, abortion was risky, so the former Emperor waited until the birth. Then, as soon as Theresa gave birth, he snatched the baby away and had it killed without a trace.
‘But Teresa foresaw this and smuggled the child out in advance?’
It wasn’t impossible.
The former Emperor certainly never vocalized his intention to kill the child, but Teresa, observing the circumstances, must have guessed her father’s intentions to some extent.
‘Was she planning to send the child to its father, unable to raise it herself...?’
To entrust her daughter’s fate to the man who ruined her life was a sorrowful affair.
Rosalia swallowed a hollow laugh and then, with an icy gaze, turned to Hayden and asked, “Do you understand what you’re saying?”
A royal bloodline, thought to be dead, clinging to life in obscurity.
It was a matter not to be spoken of lightly.
Whether it was a lie or the truth, it presented a problem; the truth, even more so.
Hayden, looking troubled, attempted to explain his position as if to justify himself.
“I’ve struggled with how to present this matter to Your Majesty. The reason I chose silence at that time was...”
“...”
“Still, isn’t it a child of my blood? Revealing its existence would surely endanger its life, so as a father, I couldn’t just speak up. I could only hope it lived untroubled, hidden away in some unnoticed place.”
“It was merely your last resort for blackmail.”
Rosalia retorted coldly.
Hayden did not bother to deny it.
Indeed, he was blackmailing her at that moment, and any further embellishment would only serve to antagonize her further.
Hayden spoke in a subdued voice with a subtle tone.
“Your Majesty the Empress would want to handle this matter with the least complications possible.”
“...”
“Ensure the safety and well-being of my family and me. The investigation isn’t over yet, so the outcome could very well change. If everything is restored to how it was, as if nothing happened, I will tell you where the child is. And I will cleanly forget all the facts I know.”
Hayden added, as if to persuade Rosalia.
“Haven’t I proven over the past two decades or more that I am tight-lipped?”
Hayden knew the weight of a secret.
The moment he took custody of the princess’ child, his immediate thought was to use it to silence Rosalia.
It would have been disastrous if the princess, realizing she had been betrayed by him, reported his name to the former Emperor.
Rosalia promised Hayden personal safety and power, but he didn’t fully trust the Empress. After achieving her goal, Rosalia had no reason to protect Hayden to the end.
After much deliberation, Hayden returned to the capital and reunited with Teresa with Rosalia’s help.
Then, with a look of joy, he said to the princess, who inquired about the child’s well-being.
“Your Highness, rest assured, I have safely hidden the child you sent. As long as our meetings remain a secret, as they have been, the child will always be safe.”
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