Although the king was old, his eyesight was better than a youth’s. Moreover, he wasn’t showing Edgar that document just because he wanted him to check its calculations. Instead, he was going to make some excuses and hold him at the capital until he gave him a much better idea.

“Carl, I will take care of this by tomorrow, so prepare for it.”

“Of course, Your Grace.”

Carl had already found all the necessary documents like the map of old sewers, records of its condition, records of the recent extension of water pipes, and records of increase and decrease in population and had put them in the duke’s office last night.

Sacrificing an hour in the evening for a spare time of 10 minutes in the morning was worth it.

He was going to get up as usual, enjoy a cup of tea, and go to the duke.

“Sir! Sir!”

However, his rest was interrupted by someone knocking on his door, so Carl forced himself to leave his bed. It was early in the morning and the sun hadn’t come up yet. Who was waking him up so early? He pressed down his irritation and opened the door.

“Sir!”

The man in front of the door was the servant who took care of the messenger birds. Seeing him made Carl’s sleepiness vanish. What kind of urgent message had come during the night that he was making such a fuss?

“What is it about?”

“I just got letters from the Claymore Mansion.”

“Letters?”

Carl did a quick calculation. It was impossible for letters to arrive now unless they had been sent on the day the duke left his home. Plus, it would require very fast and well-trained messenger birds.

“What can it possibly be?”

“And there are many letters, from multiple places.”

Are they protesting against the duke’s decision for not getting mana quartz? The duchess must have played the defense well and they had decided to bring the fight to the duke.

Carl yawned. He didn’t like that the servant had wakened him up for nothing important.

“I will organize them in the morning and get them to the duke. It’s not that urgent.”

“One of the letters were torn by the claws of a falcon and I saw its content. Sir, it’s important!”

The servant was smiling widely. If it was important enough to wake a sleeping person up so early, it had to be an emergency, but the servant looked like he was so glad and was eager to share the joy with anyone.

“Important?”

“The duchess is pregnant! They are all letters of congratulation.”

It made Carl run out in his pajamas.

“Bring the letters now!”

“Of course, I’ve already brought them here with me.”

The servant handed him the letters and he quickly put them in his pocket. Carl looked outside the window. The sun hadn’t come up yet, so it would be better to bring the news to Edgar now rather than waiting till the sun came up. After the sun came up, his master would have too many factors to think of to make a decision.

“Your Grace, Your Grace!”

Carl banged on the duke’s door hard, and soon he heard a sleepy voice.

“What is this about?”

“It’s, it’s urgent. It’s about the duchess!”

The door was immediately opened, and Edgar yelled at him, “Rubica? Has something happened to her?”

In that short moment, images of bad situations went through his head. He shouldn’t have left. Even though it had been necessary for later days, he should have stayed with her.

“Your Grace, she is perfectly fine. It’s just that she is, she is…”

Carl just couldn’t make himself say the rest, but Edgar was relieved to hear Rubica was fine.

However, at the same time, he got mad. Why did Carl wake him up at night when Rubica was not sick or hurt?

“What is it? Speak!”

Carl handed him the letters with shaking hands, and Edgar frowned. Those colorful letters seemed more like congratulation cards rather than urgent messages.

“Look.”

Carl urged him to look and he unfolded a letter very reluctantly. Soon, he almost fainted at seeing the sentence that was revealed. Rubica really knew how to go beyond his imagination.

-Your Grace, congratulation for Her Grace’s pregnancy.

“P, pregnant…”

He hadn’t done anything with Rubica to make her conceive. He could swear on that upon his conscience. He had stayed up all night next to her fighting his rising desire on their honeymoon. And now, she was pregnant?

“Your Grace, congratulations.”

The servant, who hadn’t been brave enough to come up to the second floor but was standing on the stairs, managed to say that.

“Get out!”

Carl and Edgar yelled at the same time.

The servant was surprised and quickly ran down the stairs.

“Carl, prepare a carriage immediately. We are going back.”

“What about the conference with the king?”

“It should be canceled. Send a message now.”

He took off his pajamas as there was no time. He had to sit in the carriage before the sun came up.

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Edgar put on pants and shirt, went down, and got on the mana stone carriage. Carl had prepared a jacket and necktie for him there.

“Driver, go!”

He yelled. The moment the driver started the carriage, the sun came up, so Edgar dragged his feet to sit inside the carriage and breathed heavily.

‘She’s pregnant.’

The baby wasn’t his. He wished the baby was his child, but there was no way he was the father. It had to be someone else’s baby.

‘Rubica.’

Was that why she had hesitated so much? Was that why she had always mercilessly turned her back on him no matter how hard he tried to seduce her?

‘Arman, that bastard.’

Rubica hadn’t had any lover before the marriage according to the research he had done on her. The only guess he could make was that Arman who Rubica said she loved. What kind of man was he? How could he not send even a letter to the woman who had been forced to marry another man while pregnant with his child? If Edgar had been Arman, he wouldn’t have left Rubica in that fate.

‘I will find him and kill him.’

However, that could make Rubica hate him, and she might even leave him.

‘… what should I do?’

It was the thing he now feared the most.

-Edgar, I’m sorry. I can’t be with you when I’m pregnant with another man’s baby.

Her leaving him. Even imagining it made his heart ache. The worst scenario was her leaving the mansion without even seeing him, leaving behind only a letter. Considering her high pride and belief, it was more than likely.

“Driver! Faster, go faster!”

“Yes, Your Grace. I am doing my best.”

Edgar’s heart ached all the way to the mansion. He was so nervous that he couldn’t even think the news might be fake. There had come not one but many congratulation letters, and that fact seemed like a good proof.

Exactly four hours later, Rubica’s letter that explained how it was all a misunderstanding arrived tied around a bird’s leg, but Edgar didn’t get to read it.

Rubica was quite busy on her own while Edgar was coming home. She was making plans on how to patch up the crisis that had been caused by the sudden announcement of pregnancy with Ann. Luckily, the family’s doctor knew who he should be loyal to and agreed to make things look like Rubica miscarried her baby about a month or two later. They discussed deeply on when to put the act and how to act in the meantime to avoid suspicions.

That was why she had sent the letter to Edgar slightly late. The caretaker of the birds said that it would arrive a little late than the relatives’ congratulation letters, but only slightly late. So, Rubica wasn’t that worried. Although Edgar would be surprised to hear the news, he valued his work more than anything. He wouldn’t put his businesses at the capital aside and quickly come home.

“For now, the fewer people know about it, the better. So, only the doctor, I, and Elise should know about it. I’ve already told Elise not to tell anyone about it.”

“Your Grace, I’m so sorry.”

Ann apologized again and again to Rubica who had to take another hard burden because of her.

“It’s fine, Ann. But you should be careful with your mouth. To be honest, I’m more worried about you than about the doctor.”

“Okay.”

Even though the doctor had been working for the family for a long time, he had never leaked information about his patients’ condition. When it came to having a heavy mouth, Rubica was more worried about Ann.

But actually, the whole being pregnant thing came with some good points. First, there were no more visits from the relatives about mana quartz. The Claymores were nasty, and most nasty people were quick-witted. They had to find out who would put up with their temper and, only then, let it out. Rubica would become the mistress of the family regardless of her background if her baby was a boy.

Of course, the society was full of noble wives who were not from good families that wouldn’t mind, but the Claymore relatives did mind.