So the Duchess Disappeared

49. Birth Control Pills

There was a moment of silence at Shilard’s words. Then, once again, it was Shilard who broke the silence.

“Daddy? Da-dy!”

He cheerfully called his father and left Psyche’s arms to run towards Clint this time. It seemed he genuinely considered Clint as his father.

Defenseless Clint unintentionally embraced Shilard with both arms as he came charging towards him.

“Da-dy!”

Shilard happily wiggled his arms in his father’s embrace.

Interestingly, even Clint’s ears seemed to turn red.

Unable to hold back, Psyche burst into laughter. The fact that a man like Clint, who had no hesitation in killing people as a staunch duke, was unsure of what to do with a few words from Shilard was amusing to her.

“Shily, that’s not okay. Come here.”

Psyche tried to suppress her laughter as she spoke, seeing Clint holding Shilard with a bewildered expression.

Holding Shilard, Clint looked awkward and overwhelmed, and Psyche couldn’t help but smile.

Shilard trotted over to Psyche and hugged her tightly.

“Does our little one listen well? How about we all sleep here tonight?”

Ignoring Clint, who was standing stiffly, Psyche climbed onto the bed, lifted the blanket, and patted the bed. Shilard’s face noticeably brightened when he got into the bed.

As Shilard lay down inside the bed, looking up, he spoke loudly.

“Daddy too, come!”

“…”

With that, an awkward gaze exchanged between Clint and Psyche. Without saying a word, both of their faces quickly turned red.

“Well, then I’ll come tomorrow… I’ll be going…”

“Where are you going? Daddy! Da-dy!”

When Clint tried to sneak away, Shilard started calling out to him loudly.

He seemed ready to cry if Clint didn’t come to the bed immediately.

“Daddy! Da-dy!”

Continuously waving his hands, Shilard began calling Clint, and Psyche, with a straightforward remark, said, “Hurry up, or he might start crying.”

“…”

Without a word, Clint approached with awkward movements.

In fact, he didn’t like Shilard.

When she thought about it, it was a natural reaction. After all, who would be pleased when someone else’s son came out?

It was a complete blunder, but he couldn’t help disliking it.

However, the child was innocent.

“Gyah! Da-dy!”

As Clint approached, Shilard rejoiced, waving both hands in the air.

“Here, here!”

Shilard imitated Psyche’s previous actions. It was an invitation for Clint to lie down beside him.

“…”

Clint seemed to be deeply troubled.

“What are you doing? Lie down, he said.”

“…”

Psyche had never seen Clint look so awkward.

The man who could say anything in front of the emperor was now struggling to speak. It was quite a sight.

And Clint had no choice but to lie down beside Shilard, who was demanding it.

That night, the three of them had to sleep in the same bed.

❖ ❖ ❖

When they woke up in the morning, Clint was already gone.

The bed was now occupied only by Psyche and Shilard.

She hadn’t expected him to stay until morning, but if he did, that would be another problem in itself.

After taking a short nap, Psyche woke up with a plan in mind.

“I need to get contraceptives quickly.”

She wanted to safely obtain contraceptives without catching Clint’s attention through a path that wouldn’t reveal her intentions.

However, this wasn’t Alister Territory, and furthermore, it wasn’t a realm directly controlled by him. Avoiding his gaze in such a place was not an easy task.

“Hmm.”

It was originally impossible to go through a doctor or a servant in this case.

“Ah!”

Then, she suddenly remembered that tiny amounts of mugwort leaves and other herbs could be used as a contraceptive.

“It may cause dizziness, but it’s not severe, so it should be fine.”

Since it wasn’t a genuine way to make contraceptives and it was an unofficial method known among women in Alister Territory, it seemed there was no need to worry about getting caught.

The problem was…

“Where can I quickly get mugwort leaves?”

As she muttered to herself, she suddenly remembered the mugwort leaves that Rachel had brought as a gift to the Duke earlier.

“Where did I put that? I received it and put it somewhere.”

Since managing gifts like that entering the castle was the responsibility of the Duke’s wife, Psyche strained her memory to recall where she had placed the mugwort leaves.

“Alright, let’s go buy some herbs then.”

Smart.

Just as she got up from the bed and put on her robe, a knock came simultaneously with the opening of the door.

It was none other than Clint who revealed himself.

And following him was one more person, whom Psyche recognized immediately with joy.

“Alexa!”

“Lady!”

As Psyche called her name, Alexa responded with a respectful greeting.

Alexa, seen after a few years, hadn’t changed a bit. She was known to possess excellent swordsmanship comparable to Alejandro among the few female knights in the Duke’s mansion.

Although Clint looked somewhat displeased when Psyche warmly greeted Alexa, he quickly composed his expression and intervened between them.

“We will probably be away from the castle for a few days. Since Alejandro is going with us, Alexa will take care of Lady during that time.”

“Ah.”

As Psyche looked at the two standing in front of her simultaneously, she remembered the past when she had quarreled with Alexa, who had been assigned to her.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“…”

The sight of Psyche quickly agreeing seemed somewhat unpleasant to Clint, who probably expected her to refuse.

Psyche’s swift acceptance might have conveyed subtle emotions that only she could feel due to her minimal changes in expression.

“Alexa, please take care.”

Psyche, who was even shaking hands, appeared relaxed.

Quietly, Clint opened his mouth.

“And on the night I return, I will come to Lady’s room.”

“…”

“…”

The meaning was so explicit that both Psyche and Alexa opened their mouths in astonishment.

“W-why would you say something like that? Have a safe journey.”

Psyche tried to act as if everything was normal, but her face looked flustered because she understood the intent behind his words.

Clint, who had only thought of it as “fulfilling the contract,” casually left the room with a nonchalant expression.

“Why would you say such things with that kind of face…”

Psyche muttered to herself, realizing a bit late that Alexa was present. She promptly closed her mouth.

Alexa smoothly changed the subject, “I am truly glad that my lady will return safely.”

“Haha, yeah…”

The feeling of returning to the Duke’s mansion, which she thought she wouldn’t come back to, was somewhat new.

But since everything was familiar, adapting was not as difficult as she had anticipated.

“It seems your relationship with His Highness has improved.”

“Well… it’s something like that.”

Psyche, who couldn’t explicitly say she was looking for another way, awkwardly smiled.

“By the way, I’d like to go out for some fresh air with Shilard. Can you join us?”

Thinking it wouldn’t hurt to go out for a while and buy the necessary herbs, Psyche suggested this.

“The weather is quite cold. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, let’s take a carriage and come back quickly. It’s not too far.”

“Understood. I’ll prepare.”

❖ ❖ ❖

The bustling marketplace was lively despite the cold weather.

And the most excited person was none other than Shilard.

He seemed to enjoy being with Psyche continuously.

“This place is fun!”

He kept uttering words, though no one could understand them. They were probably words expressing how much he liked it, how entertaining it was, and how Psyche was the best. Psyche, on the way back after buying the necessary herbs from the herbalist she knew, asked Shilard about something.

“Where should we use the mugwort leaves?”

“Dad?”

“Yeah, do you want to go to the castle?”

During a strange moment when Shilard was looking for Clint and making odd noises, Psyche, surprised, stopped.

Since the three of them sleeping together would create misunderstandings, especially if someone overheard.

“Shilard, um, can we be a bit quieter?”

“Why?”

Shilard asked curiously.

Psyche blushed unintentionally. Alexa, pretending not to hear, continued walking casually.

“I want to see my dad!”

“That dad…”

Psyche had a sudden headache.

‘That dad.’ What on earth did he mean? If Clint was Shilard’s dad, did that mean there were other dads as well? In the first place, Clint wasn’t Shilard’s real father.

Shilard seemed to be quite fond of Clint, which Psyche found rather embarrassing.

Psyche sneakily glanced at Alexa’s expression without realizing it.

There were already rumors circulating in the Duke’s mansion that the reason the Duchess fled from the Duke was because she gave birth to a child elsewhere.

Clint had dealt ruthlessly with employees spreading such rumors, but it was not an easy task to completely erase the growing gossip.

However, Alexa never asked about Shilard and, on the contrary, treated him with kindness.

Although she didn’t seem like a different person before and after, Psyche was secretly grateful for her consideration.

“Well, Shilard. If we’re not quiet, do you want to stay indoors?”

“Oh, I get it! I’ll be quiet.”

“Good boy.”

Thus, with Shilard, they turned their steps to return to the Duke’s mansion.

At that moment, Psyche’s eyes met with a familiar man.

She immediately recognized him—it was the Crown Prince.