Chapter 02 The Wife and the Mistress (Part II)

Sylvia placed an arm on her lower stomach by instinct. Her brows furrowed, but she remained alert to what trick Lady Clementine was up to this time.

No one should know about her pregnancy except for her and the house’s doctor. For the past two weeks, she’d been carefully hiding it. Since Lady Clementine found out, it could only mean the doctor told her.

It further drove the point that Sylvia, though the duchess of House Winston, held no real power in the ducal house. The house, including its master, saw Lady Clementine as their true duchess.

‘What a pitiful life I’ve lived.’

However, it was too late for regrets. She just had to get out of this pinch alive. Then she’d run off and raise her child somewhere the duke could never reach.

Her child didn’t deserve to grow up in the same environment she’d endured. Besides, Lady Clementine’s child would be the one recognized as the house’s heir. There was no place for her or her child in House Winston.

Sylvia didn’t break away from her gaze. She glared at Lady Clementine, disgust fueling the fire inside her.

“Hm? That’s not the look I came here for,” Lady Clementine said with a frown. “Don’t tell me—”

She trailed off to laugh like she heard a joke only she could hear.

“—you already knew?”

“What are—”

“You’re a real bitch, aren’t you? Were you so lonely that you welcomed the embrace of a bastard?”

Lady Clementine’s laughter grew, mocking and mirthful, clearly pleased by this newfound realization.

However, Sylvia had no idea what she was talking about.

“Don’t lump me with the likes of you. I’ve never as much looked at any other man besides my husband,” she seethed.

“Yet you’re here, pregnant, might I add. Pregnant with a bastard’s spawn. A rat and a bastard. Pfft.”

Lady Clementine clapped slowly.

“You two make a perfect pair.”

Sylvia’s fists shook with so much anger.

“It was you, wasn’t it? You’re the one who fed lies to the duke.”

She did find it peculiar—Duke Alec suddenly accusing her of infidelity and sentencing her to be detained before her trial.

They drifted apart over the years, but he was the one who placed her on the seat of duchess. One that he knew would be loyal to him. One that wouldn’t stab him in his sleep.

She was … his most valued pawn.

“Lies? Why would I lie to the duke? I don’t want to lose my head,” Lady Clementine said in a matter-of-fact tone. “All I ever told him was the truth.”

“I see.”

Since this was happening to her, wouldn’t it mean the duke was cutting off loose ends?

Now that his proper heir had been conceived, he had no use for one born from a commoner’s blood.

“Do you understand now?” Lady Clementine gloated. “I gave the duke what you never could—the removal of the biggest threat on his side.”

Sylvia narrowed her eyes.

A pawn could never be a threat. As she racked her brains for an answer, only one name came to mind.

There was only one man who could usurp Duke Alec’s seat. The throne and even the vassals had taken a keen interest in him lately.

He was an esteemed knight who brought honor to House Winston in the constant skirmishes with the Alteria Kingdom. His contributions were so meaningful that the kingdom agreed to a peace treaty between the two nations.

“Lord … Marcus?” she asked.

Lady Clementine grinned and clapped.

“Yes, yes, that’s right,” she said happily.

“What? What are you talking about? Why is Lord Marcus—”

A grim realization suddenly dawned on her, one that would make sense of everything.

“That night …”

“Do you understand your place now?”

Sylvia thought it was the start of a new chapter for them. Though the duke was intoxicated as he suddenly barged into her private chambers, he held her tightly and gently as he bared his heart, confessing all of his hidden feelings.

In the following days afterward, the duke treated her the same as he normally would—cold and distant. Of course, it pained Sylvia. The night seemed like a lie.

What made it worse was that her only friend and confidante, Lord Marcus, had been avoiding her since. He was indeed a busy man as he was preparing for the promotion ceremony, but he wouldn’t even look her in the eye anymore.

“No,” Sylvia said, denying the conclusion she had come to.

It couldn’t be. It simply couldn’t be true.

“There it is. That face. You realize it now, don’t you?”

Lady Clementine snickered. Her lips twisted into a malicious smile.

“The child belongs to Lord Marcus. I promised His Grace I’d get rid of him, and in exchange, he’d abandon you and take me in as duchess. Isn’t my plan perfect? Drugging that bastard was all too easy!”

“You’re lying! He is an honorable man. Lord Marcus would never—”

“Are you deaf? I said he was drugged,” Lady Clementine said flatly. “Two maids saw him stumble out of your chambers before the crack of dawn. That in itself is suspicious enough, but for this ‘honorable man’ to look so disheveled and … what was it that they said … shirtless? It’s all too suspicious, isn’t it? There can only be one reason, right?”

Sylvia’s chest tightened. The confirmation made her head spin.

“Aren’t you going to cry?”

Lady Clementine huffed in disappointment.

“Well, this is boring. I suppose it’s my fault for expecting much from a dull woman.”

“Shut up, adulterer.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Please, like you’re any better.”

Lady Clementine clapped her hands once.

“That’s right! Since you’re going to die anyway, how about I share a secret? We’ll keep it between us.”

She coughed once while looking back at the guard.

“My lady, visitors must be escorted—”

“Which family are you from?”

The guard bowed immediately.

“Please forgive me! I’ll wait outside for your ladyship.”

He fixed the torch on a sconce, then hurriedly left the two.

Meanwhile, Lady Clementine couldn’t stop showing her an ugly grin. True to her sadistic nature, she enjoyed watching Sylvia unravel.

She willingly stepped closer to the iron bars. Her red eyes flickered as she looked her over. The voice that came out of her next sounded the coldest it’d ever been.

“I’ve always hated that color on you. I’ll tell you my secret, so in exchange, you’ll have to tell me yours. It’s only fair.”

Sylvia was curious. Since Lady Clementine had sent the guard away, this must be what she was truly after.

“What? Not answering? Don’t you want to know why you’re carrying a child now of all times?”

Her smile was unsettling. The excited glint in her eyes and the way she tilted her head from side to side, making her blond curls shake, sent a chill up Sylvia’s spine.

Lady Clementine touched her lower stomach.

“Why does it have to be me? You’re curious, aren’t you?”

“What do you want?” Sylvia finally responded.

 “You really are dull. A secret for a secret.”

The corners of Sylvia’s lips twitched. If this could help her somehow, she had no choice. However, there was no price in the world that would make her trust a snake not to bite.

“You can keep that to yourself,” she said with a smile.

Lady Clementine simply shrugged her shoulders.

“As expected of a Lundren, you’re stubborn.”

“What?”

“I really don’t understand. You shouldn’t have taken what’s mine. You could’ve come out and returned to House Lundren, but you chose to suffer needlessly for a man who had no affection for you,” Lady Clementine replied.

“It always annoyed me that a street rat like yourself was the lady of a prestigious house. Well, that doesn’t matter now … since they’re all dead!” she added with a hysterical laugh.

-gn_cc-