I Don't Need the Grand Duke's Regret - Chapter 79
Ugo agonized daily, burdened by the troubling conscience.
It was truly unbearable.
He was just getting by because the Grand Duke had not gone to him for a while. Ugo was already stretched thin when the Grand Duke looked for him but directly asked him questions.
After a year of emotional turmoil, Ugo’s heart had been in tatters. He decided to relieve this burden. The Grand Duchess’ secret was too immense and overwhelming for him to bear alone.
“There is something I must tell Your Grace.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about the Grand Duchess’s condition.”
Ugo’s revelation caught the attention of not only the Grand Duke but also the Crown Prince and Nasir. Ugo clenched his eyes shut and began.
“The Grand Duchess was pregnant at the time of her disappearance.”
Ugo’s words made the Grand Duke’s eyes widen. He stared at Armilla’s doctor with veins bulging in his eyes and hissed.
“What did you….just say…”
“The Grand Duchess was carrying an heir, Your Grace’s successor.”
Clutching his fists tightly, the Grand Duke’s pupils trembled.
“That’s impossible. I never…”
He never made a mistake.
He was about to deny it, but was shocked. A single exception flashed through his mind.
Ricardo had been meticulous about contraception. He consistently took birth control and ensured to separate Armilla at the end.
Except for once.
Recalling the one day among many when he had held Armilla, his towering body shuddered.
After returning from a beast hunt, he had forced himself on Armilla. He dragged her away from a conversation with the gardener and lusted after her endlessly. He was consumed in his desire to make sure he was his.
Losing his temper at that time, he kept Armilla clutched to him. During the climax when he had most avoided it. And when he realized his mistake, he inflicted pain with intent not to leave his seed.
Brutally.
‘Aaahh!’
A vision of Armilla screaming and the merciless man, oblivious to her agony, unfolded before him.
The man held the delicate woman’s ankle tightly. He was indifferent to her screams and focused solely on covering his mistake.
Ignoring the woman’s pleas for him to stop, the man only repeated a single action, etched into his mind with obsession.
The eyes, like a devil in his cruelty, flashed with madness. The eyes met Ricardo’s as he watched the scene unfold. At that moment, Ricardo stumbled and lurched forward.
“Uuhp!”
Ricardo was overtaken by a surge of nausea.
The devil, that cruel man, was Ricardo himself. He had forcefully held Armilla, ignoring her pain, only intent on erasing his mistake.
In nausea, Ricardo stumbled and collapsed to the floor.
“Your Grace!”
“Ricardo!”
Ricardo fell and vomited. Voices called out to him, echoing distantly. The only clear sound he heard was Armilla’s cries.
‘Stop, please! Your Grace! Your Grace, please!’
Ricardo was lost in despair clutching his fists. Scratches formed on his palms from his nails digging in, but he felt no pain.
The floor seemed to sway beneath him. In his dizziness, Armilla’s desperate voice reached him.
‘Do you dislike the idea of having a child with me?’
Her tearful, pitiful green eyes looked at Ricardo. Her face was marked with tears, devastated by her husband’s cruelty.
‘Is it because I’m not good enough?’
Ricardo gritted his teeth. What had he said to her who was somehow clinging to a desperate hope?
‘No one can have my children. If there is even a chance….I will kill it.’
Oh, Armilla.
How much pain have I caused you? How much suffering have you endured because of me?
“I’m sorry…”
Ricardo spoke as if spitting blood. His eyes burned, as did his heart and mind.
It felt like someone savagely hacked at his heart. Amidst the agony, as if whole body was being torn asunder, Ricardo desperately sought forgiveness.
“I was wrong…”
Tears fell onto the back of his hands where knuckles bulged. Ricardo pleaded for forgiveness in a pit of despair so deep it felt like falling into an abyss.
Yet, there was no one to answer his pleas. No one heard his confession.
The one who could have forgiven him was no longer by his side. That brutal truth plunged Ricardo into endless despair.
“Your Grace!”
As Ricardo was begging for forgiveness, darkness filled his vision. He collapsed, losing consciousness.
* * *
Ricardo, who was lying in bed, slowly opened his eyes. He felt the soft caress of the plush bedding enveloping his body and sat up briskly.
“Stay down a bit longer.”
As Ricardo pushed back the covers, Valerio, who had been staying by his side, spoke with a troubled tone.
Ricardo had been asleep for three full days.
Due to nearly sleepless nights, his body seemed to have finally succumbed to exhaustion.
Valerio couldn’t forget the moment Ricardo collapsed.
The sight of him, who was as sturdy as an oak, crumbling powerlessly was unforgettable.
Was the shock of finding out about the Grand Duchess’s pregnancy that overwhelming?
Valerio thought there wouldn’t be anything more surprising after coming to Renato. Yet, that prediction was spectacularly wrong.
‘It is pitiful.’
Valerio watched Ricardo with a look of sympathy. He reluctantly leaned back on the bed upon Valerio’s urging.
While Ricardo lay unconscious, Valerio had learned more about the Grand Duchess from Nasir.
The Grand Duchess seemed to be a different person than the rumors suggested.
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