Chapter 52
***
Louise raised a second finger to her lips to interrupt Pietro. It was better that the shopkeeper didn't know her identity.
Just then, the owner returned and held out two paper bags.
"Thank you."
Louise quickly stuffed the smaller of the two into her handbag. Then she leaned over the candy stand, pretending to be watching, and said to Pietro.
"Please pretend you don't know. Please."
"But why..................."
No wonder Pietro looked at her strangely.
Not only the people of Melk, but everyone in the world knew that love was the basis of marriage, for if it weren't, they couldn’t imagine why the Margrave would marry a commoner like her.
So how strange it would seem for a commoner woman who fell in love with and married the margrave to illegally obtain contraceptives.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I have a situation, I'll tell you later.................. when I get a chance, much later."
Luckily, Pietro only stood stiff with surprise and said nothing. Louise bowed her head slightly in gratitude.
"The guards are waiting for me, so I'd better get going."
"Madam, wait."
But unlike his earlier correction, Pietro called Louise madam again.
He grabbed her by the cuffs, as if he was afraid she would just disappear.
Louise looked down at her sleeve in disbelief, never having felt so close to him before.
Pietro released his hand, embarrassed.
"Since I'm not going to ask you about the medicine, .................. can you answer me one other thing?"
"Everything, what else?"
Louise questioned, then quickly changed her mind.
"Yes, I can answer that, and the medicine is............... please don't look away."
In the distance, he could see a few guards approaching. Pietro tugged at the hem of his robe, mistaking it for an altercation with a passerby.
"Your husband................"
Pietro said slowly.
"You married him because you love him..................don't you?"
Louise blinked her emerald eyes in surprise, not only because he had just grabbed her, but also because Pietro's demeanor seemed to have changed.
While she hesitated, the captain of the guard, who had now approached, asked.
"Are you all right, madam, and do you know this man...............?"
Louise looked back at the captain and smiled knowingly. She hoped he wouldn't make a special note of this encounter and report it to Caius.
"It's all right. He’s a minor lord here in Melk. I just happened to see him and wanted to say hello."
"Ah."
The captain bowed to Pietro. He took two steps back, as if realizing that nothing was amiss.
But with the captain of the guard so close, Louise couldn't answer Pietro's question.
"..................So, see you later."
And that's how she and Pietro parted ways. She couldn't answer the question in front of the guards, either, so she slipped away. On the way back to Pauline and Miriam, Louise's heart was pounding anxiously.
***
"My lady, are you all right?"
Pauline asked breathlessly from the swaying carriage. Miriam had fallen asleep, exhaustion and carriage sickness overcoming her.
"Huh?"
Louise looked back at her maid after being lost in thought.
Pauline spoke up with concern.
"You look bad....................."
Louise dropped her gaze in surprise.
"Pretend you don't know, Pauline. I just left my mother.”
"Ah..............., I apologize, my lady."
Pauline backed away with a smirk. The motherly excuse had worked on the naive maid.
Louise sighed and placed her hand on her purse. The pills she'd bought in secret were hidden inside. Last week, she had taken the long-awaited dose. She didn't know if it was anxiety or the fact that it was later than usual that had put her to sleep.
There was definitely something wrong with the man coming so often to her room.
Let's say she was forced to marry him. It was her fault for not keeping her promise and pawning her mother's belongings, so she would have to live with it.
Suppose she couldn’t do anything to make the man hate her. She had been unfairly blamed for her parents' sins, but it's her own fault, so it was considered an original sin.
But what if she had a child?
Caius was faced with the task of a lifetime. Louise's life depends on it.
If it failed, the poor child's life would naturally turn to dust along with theirs.
Perhaps the child in her belly would make her grieve even her own death.
Then her heart would be as weak as her mother's. She didn't want to be the second Ermoli to betray him for the sake of a child.
What if the rebellion succeeded?
She had no expectation that he would stay in this marriage even after he succeeded in his reversal.
He was a man who hated her terribly, but stayed with her for the pearl, for the name. What use would she be to him once he regained the throne?
She couldn’t imagine him wanting the child she bore him.
She could handle being abandoned, but she didn't want her child to be abandoned.
The man she slept with almost every night showed no interest in contraception. An irresponsible nobleman, nothing more, nothing less.
So she had to take charge of her body.
She was lucky not to get pregnant in the first month. Louise could no longer leave the fate of her child to the heavens.
She didn't want him to grow up to resent his parents like she did. The thought of the child abandoned by his father and resentful of his mother was horrifying.
Her palm tingled as she rested her hand on the bag.
The contraceptives were against Imperial law, against dogma, and far removed from her mother's teachings. It was strong enough to prevent a fetus from implanting, so it couldn't be good for her health.
But it was the only choice she could make. No matter how much she wracked her brain, she could think of no other way.
***
Tap.
A crisp knock sounded on the door, and the captain of the guard entered. His steady, heavy footsteps echoed through the quiet room.
Finally, he stood before Caius's desk and bowed.
"We’ve returned, Your Excellency."
Caius merely nodded once.
The captain of the guard gave his routine report.
"Her Grace went straight to the Melk parish chapel and said a memorial prayer with the lady. Afterward, she wanted to visit the Melk marketplace, but it was so crowded that she had to get out of the carriage and walk for a while."
"Did .........she walk alone?"
"No, Your Excellency, she went with her maid, and with her permission, we followed. She bought a few snacks in the marketplace, and then we were on our way."
An invisible smile flickered across Caius's lips, but the captain of the guard did not see it.
"Then we went straight back to Burg."
But Caius realized that the captain was hesitating.
"Is it the price?"
"No," the captain said hesitantly.
"It's not a big deal, actually, but I thought I'd report it just in case. We ran into Lord of Melk in the marketplace and had a brief exchange of pleasantries."
"Lord of Melk?"
"Yes, Your Excellency. Madam introduced me to him."
Pietro Georg, Lord of Melk, was quite an impressive man, even for Caius. A brave man who dared to covet a woman who should have been his from the start.
Burning a few of his letters and inviting him to the wedding didn't deter him.
He had hoped Louise didn't meet him on purpose.
That old-fashioned woman had undressed in front of him just to ask him to send her to that village. He had allowed her to please him because she thought it was cute.
"Did ..................they look intimate?"
The captain of the guard looked startled for a moment, as if he'd heard the question unexpectedly, then shook his head.
"Not so much............."
He finally chimed in.
"However, when the madam was about to leave, I did see the lord of Melk grab her sleeve for a moment. It was only for a moment, but I saw it."
Caius's frown deepened slightly.
"He grabbed my wife's sleeve? And yet, in your eyes, they did not seem intimate?"
***
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Write a comment
Eris_chan (Monday, 30 September 2024 00:00)
Please keep translating this novel. I love it!