Chapter 2

"Princess, you're overthinking. I just didn't want to get blood on your dress," I said.

The three gentlemen, sensing the tension, didn't dare speak. Only the one with eyes similar to Gregory stepped forward.

"Princess, I know medicine. Perhaps I could bandage the Consort's wound."

"It's just a small injury. Your only job is to attend to the Princess," I immediately said.

Before the man could even respond, Keisha grabbed another vase and smashed it.

"This is what you want, isn't it? Then why bring three cheap imitations? What if I bring Gregory here instead? Would that make you happy?"

"If it pleases the Princess, then bring him into the estate."

"Fine."

Keisha gritted her teeth and nodded. She took two steps back, then turned and walked away.

"Mother! Mother!" Thomas called after her twice. She didn't respond.

Frantic, he turned back to me, his voice loud and raw.

"Do you have to drive Mother to the edge before you're satisfied?"

I looked up. My gaze drifted flatly over his trembling shoulders.

In the past, I would have gently calmed him down. I would have reasoned with him, tried to make him see things from my perspective.

Now? I couldn't be bothered to waste a single word.

"Are you done? Then you can leave too."

His voice dropped, full of lost confusion. "Father, you weren't like this before. You used to get jealous. You used to fight with Mother. You used to hold me and say no one would ever tear our family apart.

"Mother and I already know we were wrong. But now you're pushing her away. You're pushing me away too. What are you even trying to accomplish?"

I didn't answer. I had a servant take him away.

I briefly gave the three men their instructions, then sent them off as well.

Once the room was empty, I collapsed onto the floor. I curled into myself, trying to ease the pain in my chest.

What was I trying to accomplish?

Peace.

In this final stretch of time, I simply couldn't bear to look at either of them anymore.

If it weren't for the system—if I didn't have to keep this small world balanced—I never would have come back. I was dying. The last thing I wanted was to put on some happy-family performance.

Keisha moved fast. Within two days, she had brought Gregory into the estate.

When I heard the news, memories I had buried came flooding back. Like they belonged to another lifetime.

I first discovered Keisha and Gregory's affair when she was six months pregnant with our second child.

I had gone to church to pray for her. But I felt uneasy the whole way. I turned back early.

That was when I saw Keisha helping Gregory out of a carriage. They couldn't keep their hands off each other. They headed straight for my bedroom.

The servants barely reacted. They had clearly seen it all before. When they noticed me coming, they looked nervous—like they wanted to warn her. But no one dared stop me.

When I got to the room, they were lying on my bed, half-dressed.

Seeing it with my own eyes, I couldn't believe it. The woman I had loved for thirteen years—the one who always preached that monogamy was the only way to have a real marriage—was sleeping with her adopted brother.

She fell to her knees. She begged. She slapped herself.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Sebastian. Please don't be angry. I'm still carrying our baby."

"You remember you're carrying our baby?"

Maybe the baby didn't want such a mother either. She went into labor right then and there. Her pale yellow dress turned red. Keisha's face went white.

I panicked. I reached for her hand to steady her.

But she brushed right past me. She shielded Gregory and guided him out of the room.

"You can't stand the sight of blood," she said to him. "Go. Now."

I blinked. I couldn't believe what I had just seen. My vision blurred. Tears fell.

She wasn't worried about herself. She wasn't worried about the baby. She was worried that he might see blood.