5
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I struggled to lift my head. “Equal wife? Child? Valerius, do you even have a heart? The child is dead! Killed by his own father!” My breath came in ragged gasps as I screamed my accusation.
Valerius’s brow furrowed with annoyance. “What nonsense are you spouting now? It wasn’t enough for you to kill Leah, now you curse your own child? Lyra, I think you’ve gone mad!”
I gave a hollow, dead–hearted laugh. “You dare to speak of the child? What right do you have? Do you know he was a fully formed baby? Because of your selfish desires, he was denied the chance to even enter this world! Valerius, when you dream at night, are you not afraid that he will come back to haunt you?”
My roar echoed in the room. Valerius froze, releasing Elara in disbelief as he came towards me. “How could that be? He was eight months along!”
I laughed coldly and threw back the covers, revealing my now–flat stomach. The child could not be saved. When the midwife had pulled his lifeless form from my body, he was bruised and purple.
Just as Valerius’s trembling hand was about to touch my stomach, Elara cried out.
“My lord, I can hide it no longer! The reason I left yesterday was because I walked in on my lady and her lover, in the middle of the day! Even the child… the child was lost during their tryst! If I hadn’t run, she would have killed me!”
“Think, my lord! Why did Leah die? And what kind of man would my lady shield with her own life? It is clear: the child was already gone, and she is deliberately blaming you to make you feel guilty!”
Her words exploded in Valerius’s mind. He stumbled back, a look of dawning, twisted realization on his face. “Yes… Elara is right. You haven’t let me touch you since you became pregnant. It’s because you already had a lover!”
I laughed, a raw, bitter sound, fueled by the absurdity of his self–deception. “Today was the day of the Royal Hunt. I lost our child because I took a blade meant for the King. And you? Where were you, when you were supposed to be protecting him?”
“If you hadn’t gone chasing after Elara, our child would not be dead!” I wiped at my tears, my voice shaking with emotion. “Do you understand? Our son was so close to being born safely.”
But Valerius didn’t believe me. His eyes filled with a murderous rage. He drew the thin, supple sword from his belt and pressed it to my throat.
“The King? That was no King! That was your lover! You shameless pair, carrying on your filthy affair in broad daylight! Do you take me for a fool?”
“Tell me where your lover is, or I will sell you to a brothel! We’ll see how sharp your tongue is then!”
“As for him, I will find him. And I will cut him into a thousand pieces!”
The cold steel bit into my neck. The blo
Chapter 2
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The cold steel bit into my neck. The blood that trickled out was warm, but it could not warm my frozen heart.
Suddenly, the sound of heavy, deliberate footsteps approached.
“Insolence! Lord Valerius, I am the ‘unforgivable lover‘ you speak of. Are you going to cut me into a thousand
pieces?”
