His face changed instantly the moment he heard it.
“Are you alright?”
He rushed to my side and carefully cradled the bandaged hand.
“Does it still hurt?”
“Yes… Raymond said that because an outrageous force was continuously applied, the pain could last longer.”
I emphasized the word ‘outrageous’ with all my heart.
His darkened expression elicited a twinge of guilt, but I brushed it aside.
“It won’t happen again. I promise.”
Really… You don’t have to make that promise.
What’s wrong with holding hands?
But I stopped myself from saying this because I was sure he wouldn’t like it.
“…Thank you.”
For a moment, a chilly wind passed through between me and Amoide.
“…Then, I’ll see you later.”
He took out a pocket watch to check the time, then turned around to walk away.
It was still the same as before—he never stayed beyond the fixed amount of time for our walks. But for some reason, I had an ominous feeling.
“Later?”
We’re meeting again? But today’s walk was over.
He didn’t even give me the chance to ask because he had already walked a fair distance away on those long legs of his.
* * *
That afternoon, during the same time as usual, Greta came to see me.
She was temporarily stripped of her title as the head maid, but she still fulfilled her other duties around the house.
“It’s time for your medicine.”
Rona took the medicine from Greta’s hands and brought it to me on a silver tray, which I found suspicious.
“What’s this?”
There was another small pink medicine bottle next to the usual bottle.
“There are two vials today?” I asked without much thought.
“Dr. Raymond added a special prescription. He said he’s rooting for the Young Madam.”
“And today is that day~”
Rona’s hands were wrapped over her cheeks.
“That day?”
Tak, I removed the lid and took a whiff.
Unlike the green medicine bottle, the contents of this one smelled sweet. It was like the scent of flowers and fruits.
The pleasant scent put me in a good mood… Until I heard Rona whispering next to me.
“Room sharing day.”
Rustle.
The medicine bottle slipped from my hand.
“Oh my god.”
Before the bottle could fall to the ground, Rona quickly caught it. Thanks to that, she prevented the liquid from spilling out.
“Today?” I asked back blankly.
“Yes, Milady. Did you forget?”
“No.”
My answer was instantaneous—but inside, I was screaming in my astonishment.
‘Room sharing, room sharing. How could I forget that big day?!’
It was the most important day I needed to look out for ever since I entered this mansion.
It was the day that involved the agreement between Amoide and I.
But because I was distracted by many other things, I forgot about it.
[ I’ll see you later. ]
So this was what he meant.
As I recalled what Amoide said earlier, I bit my lower lip. How could I have forgotten?
“Last month was skipped because His Grace had collapsed, so today—oh my gosh! It’s been two months!”
“…That’s right.”
Still in a daze, I nodded blankly.
I wanted to tell her that nothing happened two months ago anyway, but I held it in.
[ Just because you do it a lot doesn’t mean a child would be conceived. ]
Camilla’s solemn voice echoed through my mind.
[ My son is already weak. What if he uses up all his energy for nothing and then collapses again? ]
She drew the line for Amoide and I to fulfill our duty as a couple only during a scheduled time every month.
Of course, I’m very grateful for this.
If Camilla forced me to come at him all the time, I might have died even before the day of my own execution.
I may have died because of some cardiovascular complication or breathing difficulties before that.
The scornful glare he directed at me was always so pointedly cold.
It was enough to have to go through that just once a month. No, even that was too often already.
Ever since I entered this mansion, Amoide and I have of course been staying in separate rooms. Not only that, we even live in separate buildings, so there was little chance for us to bump into each other apart from the room sharing days.
‘If we shared a room…’
That would be awful.
The mere thought of having to share a room with him and live together made my heart stop beating and all my internal organs twist up in knots.
“It’s too bad, Milady. If you live together in the same room, there would be more opportunities.”
“But Amoide’s still weak,” I answered with an amicable smile, but inside I screamed ‘No thanks!’
“That’s true,” Rona sighed, more disappointed than I should be. “It’s a good thing that the stars have aligned tonight. It’s a golden opportunity.”
Raymond knew everything, even my menstrual cycle, so he was the one who selected the best days to conceive a baby.
Camilla even consulted an astrologer despite the doctor’s medical knowledge only because he was known throughout the capital.
The astrologer named ‘Latuz’ was a man who always carried a large crystal ball with him.
With his whole body wrapped in a black and white robe, at that time he sat in front of me and mumbled indecipherable words as he caressed the crystal ball.
After a while, he carefully chose the date, time and place where the auspicious star’s energy resonated the most.
[ The stars of fertility are hanging over the moon. This is the perfect time for the union. ]
The astrologer’s face was so ancient, with wrinkles so deep that I couldn’t tell where the eyes and mouth were, but when I heard the words coming out from his lips, I felt dazed.
Noblewomen of the capital would say that he’s the best person to go to for matters that you couldn’t really tell anyone. Even in the novel [ Lady Crown ], the prominent ladies of aristocracy were all clamoring for the astrologer.
His specialization in divination was mainly dating, marriage… and pregnancy.
[ The lady who was advised with a room sharing date by Mr. Latuz conceived right away. ]
[ He even got the gender of the children—even the fact that they were twins. ]
Every time Latuz visited the estate, the servants would always be abuzz, and the end of their chattering would always go like this:
[ But why can’t the Young Madam get pregnant? ]
Why, you ask? Because even the stars couldn’t get me preggers if I’m not doing the deed in the first place.
Of course, I couldn’t say this. I could only bemoan and walk down the thorny path throughout these two years of marriage.
Ah, this was putting a damper on my mood. I had to do the room sharing with a man whose face I couldn’t even look straight at.
And apart from that, I still needed to take prescribed conception medicine every single day.
It’s like I’m a collaborative pregnancy project that both medicine and astrology, hand in hand, were working hard at to succeed. Not only that, there’s also Camilla’s nagging.
[ You should be active in bed. ]
Every time these people advised me about what went on between a couple during the night, I’d be red all the way to my earlobes. Listening to it all without any real life experience just made my imagination run rampant.
“Milady, your face has turned red.”
“No, it hasn’t.”
“Huh? What do you mean no~?”
Beside me, Rona was more excited.
‘I don’t think I’ll ever have a baby.’
I heard that putting too much pressure and placing excessive attention could be more detrimental because of the stress.
But, well, only Amoide and I knew why we didn’t have any children.
“You’ve been getting along so well lately, and I’m sure His Grace has also been eagerly waiting for this day.”
“There’s no way,” I said, smirking.
That guy? Waiting for this?
“Pardon?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Rona tilted her head to the side as she stared at me.
“It’s going to be nighttime soon, so we need to get you ready. It’s been a while since Milady and His Grace have been together, so I’ll doll you up especially well.”
Rona pulled on my arm.
“Huh? Oh, right.”
I nodded with a smile.
‘Just smile. Let’s smile, Selena.’
It was a monthly occurrence, but this was the first time I was doing this ever since memories of my past life came back to me.
It’s time for another theater play. I sighed deeply.
“Sure, let’s go.”
I stood up reluctantly.
* * *
Before spending the night with him, I’d need to stay and get ready at a room on the same floor as his bedroom, and it was only a short walk going there.
As I entered, Rona led me to the bathroom where the tub was already filled with hot water. The maids had already come and sprinkled rose petals on the water, so the steam rising from the tub carried a heady fragrance.
As I took a whiff, I felt both relieved and dazed.
I slowly sank down the tub of practically rose perfume, and the petals reminded me of the ones that were scattered in his room during our first night.
“If you take a bath with this, Milady’s entire body will have this scent.”
“Alright,” I murmured distractedly. I wanted to say that it would be useless even if they made me bathe like this for a hundred days.
“Now, please drink this.”
Rona held out the pink medicine bottle that I almost dropped earlier, and I drank everything slowly.
Even if I drink a hundred of these bottles, I don’t think I’ll ever get pregnant.
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