So the Duchess Disappeared

20. The Pure Man

Before Rachel’s visit, Psyche suddenly recalled a story she had heard a long time ago about the Duke’s secret marriage.

‘Come to think of it…’

Valentine, the Duke, and Hailston Marquis, where Rachel was born and raised, had maintained a good relationship. Although the Duke’s power had grown too much to be measured now, at that time, both of them were noble members of the Imperial family, and the Duke and the Marquis enjoyed sparring with each other, often meeting.

Young Clint naturally followed the Duke during his swordsmanship training, and everything else was boring, but watching their swordsmanship duels over their shoulders was very enjoyable.

Rachel began to accompany their meetings from some point, and Clint and Rachel, who were of the same age, naturally became close.

They were not particularly close, but Rachel noticed that Clint always accompanied their gatherings, even though the swordsmanship duels of two adult men might be boring.

When the Duke and the Marquis sparred, they often spent time together naturally.

Clint simply answered Rachel’s questions to avoid awkwardness. There was nothing particularly intimate between them. But from the perspective of adults, their relationship seemed a bit unusual.

The relationship that had continued since childhood.

However, at that time, the Duke told Psyche that he had no intention of getting engaged to Rachel.

Above all, Clint disliked Rachel more than he liked her, and there was no reason for the engagement in a family that was becoming a noble family, so it was postponed.

‘I thought they were on good terms since they were young. It was unexpected…’

But one day.

When the Duke and the Marquis visited the Marquis’s house for business, Clint, who was wandering around alone, accidentally fell into the lake.

Rachel, who was the first to find Clint in danger, risked her life to save him.

After that, their secret marriage was quickly arranged.

‘If you saved your own life, you might develop feelings for each other.’

Perhaps it could be considered a fateful love.

However, unlike what everyone expected, as soon as Clint became the Duke’s heir, he unilaterally demanded a breakup, and the Marquis, who was much more forceful than when he was young, had no choice but to accept the Duke’s request.

‘Why did he break up with her?’

Rachel didn’t know the detailed reason, as she had not heard from Clint. It was a sudden turn of events.

If she thought about it that way, Rachel could harbor enough resentment towards Psyche.

‘Does he still love her?’

She had every reason to be suspicious. If Rachel liked Clint romantically, it would make even more sense, especially when she had brought an inferior, noblewoman with no other remarkable qualities to marry the Duke, effectively usurping her position.

However, no matter the reasons, Psyche thought Rachel’s actions went too far.

How would she handle it if she ended up having a miscarriage?

No reason could justify these actions.

Psyche, after hitting Rachel’s abdomen, slowly opened her mouth, saying, “Begonia leaves are not good for pregnant women. Did you know that?”

In response, Rachel only rolled her eyes, pretending not to understand.

“Oh? I didn’t know…”

The expression on her face did not reflect ignorance. It seemed like she knew but chose to pretend she didn’t. Psyche laughed wryly at the thought.

“Alright, let’s say you didn’t know. If you kept drinking that tea despite knowing, you would likely have already had a miscarriage. You’re in the early stages of pregnancy, right? You don’t even have a noticeable bump.”

The one who was most surprised was the prince; his eyes grew significantly wider.

“What did you say? Are you pregnant?”

“Oh…”

Rachel had a troubled look on her face. Psyche was quick to continue, “I guess you didn’t know that I was aware of such things.”

Psyche sneered. Rachel seemed slightly perplexed in her expression, but her facial color remained unchanged.

Rachel was now caught in her own trap. She couldn’t possibly confess that she knew begonia leaves were dangerous to pregnant women but still carried on drinking the tea. Furthermore, it was an act of self-sacrifice as it could be perceived as suicidal to risk the life of the man she loved.

Rachel listened silently as Psyche continued her offensive. She knew that the more she spoke, the more disadvantageous it would be for her.

“There are no completely effective methods of getting rid of a non-existent child. You almost fooled me into believing that.”

Psyche quietly sat back, her eyes cast down.

“I don’t think my husband is that depraved. Please don’t drag people of his caliber down with you, Rachel. Stop tarnishing the reputation of the Duke.”

It was an extremely insulting remark.

Rachel seemed as though she was about to respond, but Psyche raised her hand to stop her.

“By constantly having begonia leaves around me, did you intend to deliberately induce a miscarriage in my surroundings? Was that your plan?”

Upon hearing this, the prince’s mouth fell open.

“What?”

Rachel, appearing a little flustered, quickly replied, ‘What?’

“It’s not possible. I don’t know much about herbs.”

“Is that so? Then why were you carrying begonia leaves, even though you’re pregnant?”

At that statement, Rachel’s face turned pale again.

One of the two facts had to be false. If she admitted to deliberately carrying begonia leaves, it meant her pregnancy was fabricated. However, if the pregnancy was real, she should be showing signs of poisoning by now.

It was a Catch-22 situation. Whichever she admitted to, one of the facts had to be false.

“I almost doubted Clint’s purity because of you,” Psyche said mockingly.

“If this was your plan, then it’s a success. I lost the baby. Is that what you wanted? Did you think my husband would come back if I lost our child?”

“W-what are you talking about?”

Rachel’s unyielding expression was beginning to crack.

“My husband and I were originally supposed to have a strategic marriage. Is that right, Rachel?”

Rachel just stared at Psyche, and this time the prince intervened.

“You better answer straight, Rachel.”

He had a very perplexed expression.

When he intervened, Rachel reluctantly nodded and started babbling.

“Yes, that’s right. We’re in love! I’m pregnant with his child!”

The audacity was beyond belief.

“Rachel.”

The prince’s voice took on a threatening tone.

“What are you saying? Are you claiming you’re carrying the Duke’s illegitimate child? Do you even realize what that means?”

Rachel’s mouth sealed when the prince confronted her.

Psyche hadn’t believed her words anyway.

“If you’re truly pregnant, you’ll soon miscarry, particularly in the early stages. Moreover, the toxicity of begonia leaves would be unbearable for you.”

She immediately continued.

“The Duke is sensitive to his successor.”

That night when Rachel had audaciously confronted Psyche, that was what she had said. She was now turning Rachel’s own words against her.

“Thanks to you, the Duke’s child has disappeared. What will happen next?”

A faint smile crossed Psyche’s face for a moment and then disappeared. She wasn’t on the Duke’s side, but he was that kind of man. Like he had done to her, he wouldn’t let Rachel go if he found out she’d lost his only potential heir.

It was a warning.

Rachel added one final statement.

“You shouldn’t expect my husband to leave you alone, even if you had a child.”

Knock, knock, knock.

Along with the sound of someone knocking on the door, the voice of the butler came from outside.

“Duke Valentine has arrived at the reception room. Where should I take him?”

Upon hearing that, Psyche rose from her seat and said slowly,

“Tell my husband yourself, Rachel. Let him know it’s because of me that you lost the child. Do you understand?”

Psyche gently touched Rachel’s cheek.

And then she turned away gracefully.

She had to leave the palace before the Duke arrived.

There was no more reason to desire a marriage without a child.

Regardless of whether the Duke was still pure and had a clean relationship with Rachel, Psyche believed that he would never return to her due to the responsibility she felt for losing the child. She wouldn’t be forgiven and wouldn’t be accepted again, as he was that kind of man.

She had envisioned a future living with the child, but living alone wouldn’t be so bad.

Psyche intended to leave without saying farewell to the prince.

That’s when Rachel’s voice, which had just come to mind behind Psyche, flew toward her.

“Your Highness, what about the contract with me?”

Psyche’s steps abruptly came to a halt.