Obviously, It’s My Child - Chapter 174

Even before, when he was nothing. Now as her husband, he still couldn’t bring himself to apologize to Clare.

Instead, he chose to remain silent.

Unaware of his feelings, Clare fidgeted with the fingers she held.

“Erich.”

Clare saw his blue eyes darken, sinking like a swamp, shadowed by golden eyelashes.

She knew that wasn’t a truly expressionless face but one hiding complex emotions, and that only she could provoke such a reaction from him.

Clare chuckled unknowingly, Erich said as if to fault her.

“Why are you laughing now?”

“Sometimes, understanding you feels almost unfair.”

Clare pulled on the hand she held, and Erich, as if being dragged, leaned toward her.

She did not kiss him.

Their noses brushed, and then their cheeks. Their gaze met under half-closed lids, and the tips of their lips barely caught each other’s breath.

At the brink of his patience, Erich devoured her lips hungrily.

It was unclear whether it was out of anger or passion.

Clare’s breath quickened over his face, and Erich gripped her hand painfully tight as he pulled her into his arms.

“Ha.”

She pushed him away. Her lower lip was bitten, and after a few exchanges of pushing and pulling, Clare’s head bumped against the carriage door.

As Erich let go to cradle her head, Clare took the chance to free her hand and, grasping his cheek like a bridle, she held him still.

Firm in her stop, Erich halted. His orderly teeth were stained red.

“Erich.”

Clare gasped for air.

Erich stared back, his eyes darkened, feeling as though he had been manipulated into pouring out his emotions.

“It doesn’t matter what Bloom said or what was said in the past. That’s all behind us.”

“…”

“What I care about is you.”

Clare looked into his eyes as she spoke.

“It’s okay to be angry. Honestly, I often feel quite satisfied seeing your face contort with emotion.”

“What?”

Erich responded incredulously.

Clare chuckled slightly. Indeed, she often felt that way, what could she do?

“But don’t try to rule with fear.”

“…”

“Don’t look at people like they’re just bugs to be crushed. It’s fine to feel they deserve anger, but don’t judge that they need to be killed. I can’t give my heart to someone like that.”

As if to wipe off the applied rouge, she reached towards his lips. Erich playfully bit her finger.

His response wasn’t easy.

“…I’ll try.”

That was all he could offer.

Clare laughed.

“I never imagined you had a history of actually breaking someone’s nose. To think you were such an emotional person.”

Erich looked at her with annoyance.

The only time he had ever thrown a punch outside of a boxing ring was once, and with Bloom included, just twice.

Both were because of Clare, but he didn’t want to use that as an excuse.

To admit that would mean acknowledging she was the only cause for his loss of control.

The realization that all his turmoil and impulses had revolved around her, and his youth had been consumed by her, was one thing.

To accept it openly was another.

Already caught in her snare, he couldn’t afford to be completely breathless.

With impatience, Erich pulled her in for another kiss.

He had restrained himself once because of her reprimand. He had no patience left to spare.

There was no way to own her past, and monopolizing the future seemed equally unlikely.

So he resolved to have her entirely, at least when they were alone.

As these thoughts swirled in his mind, Clare’s hand gently combed through his hair.

That alone seemed to untangle his knotted emotions and suppressed fury, like ink dispersing in water.

He realized that it was not Clare who needed to relax her grip, but himself.

“Thank you for coming. I needed you.”

She said affectionately.

He sighed and pulled Clare closer. Feeling like a clay figurine might be unsettling, but finding it delightful was the real trouble.

* * *

Bruno Bloom came to his senses as he was being dragged out of the carriage.

The servants forcibly pulled him out by his arms and legs. Bruno, terrified by the mere fact of being handled, struggled wildly.

“Huwah! Huuh”

“No! What is going on with him!”

Baroness Bloom hurried to hug her son while shouting.

“Is this a seizure? Joanna! What have you been doing, not taking proper care of Bruno!”

“And Ludendorff just sent him here in this condition?”

The Baron also reproached Joanna.

Joanna, drained of any strength to argue, just looked on helplessly.

Bruno’s condition was not a new development.

Once a favored law student at the academy during his youth, he had never regained his vitality after dropping out and returning home. His daily routine had devolved into seeking alcohol, harassing the maids, and cursing at the newspaper.

Yet, his parents never gave up on their only son.

[“He’s just lost right now, but one day, he’ll do great things.”]

That was already 10 years ago.