It's Too Late for Regrets - Chapter 5.7

He couldn’t understand why she was acting like she was backed into a corner. He had told the head chef to pay attention to Ines’s meals before leaving, yet she hadn’t gained any weight at all. After staring at Ines for a long while, Rayan finally recalled what she had said.

“I can’t stay here any longer because of Aunt Kyra…”

Was that why she even dared to talk about divorce half a year ago? Because of Aunt Kyra?

Rayan thought of his aunt’s face, which had clearly shown signs of illness over the past four months.

He already knew Kyra treated Ines harshly. But Kyra had only ever expressed it through disapproving looks and a cold tone—never anything more.

Rayan opened his mouth, planning to calm his wife, who was now trembling and pale before him.

“Alright. I understand how you feel.”

“…!”

Her blue eyes, brimming with tears, widened. Those tired, weary eyes—once full of resignation—suddenly filled with intense emotion.

Now she looks more human. Rayan thought, then added,

“I’ll speak to Aunt Kyra myself.”

“Really…?”

“Yes. So stop talking about leaving for the South.”

Ines couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. For a moment, she doubted her ears.

In the dozens of scenarios she had imagined, Rayan either brushed her off as rambling nonsense, told her she was too sick to think straight, or got so angry she couldn’t say another word.

Kyra was like Rayan’s biggest sore spot.

But she never expected him to respond so gently.

Rayan wasn’t someone who said things he didn’t mean or made promises he couldn’t keep just to please others.

Could it be that he actually believes me?

No. That can’t be. Her rational mind warned her coldly.

Hoping for anything from Rayan Eleanor was meaningless. She had learned that the hard way.

But still, just this once, she wanted him to be sincere. Because this wasn’t just about anything—it was about their son.

She would do anything for that.

Ines knew very well when she was most valuable to Rayan.

“…Thank you, Your Highness.”

She took a step closer to him, praying her hands wouldn’t tremble.

“Tonight.”

Her voice cracked. Despite trying to hold it in, tears finally streamed down her cheeks.

“Will you come tonight…?”

“…”

Rayan silently looked down at his wife.

What had he said that was so significant? Yet Ines had burst into tears.

His heart felt strange. The girl who had been barely twenty was now a woman, and had borne his child. Now, she stood before him with the face of a mother, crying.

Suddenly, something stirred near his chest. This wave of emotion felt a little different from before.

It throbbed in a way that resembled pain.

It wasn’t something he had ever felt—not even when he had forcefully dragged her back, afraid she would vanish from his sight.

Her pale hand rested on his arm.

“I don’t want to be alone.”

“….”

“You’ve been away for so long….”

Since that incident about a year ago, this was the first time Ines had approached him on her own like this.

She was still clumsy in her approach, still trembling faintly as if afraid.

And yet, he was still drawn to her.

“…You. Take the baby to the room.”

Rayan handed the baby to a maid who happened to be passing by. Ines, who had been quietly crying, looked up in surprise.

“Y-Your Highness, I should take the baby—”

Before the teardrops hanging on her lashes could fall, he kissed her.

It had been a long time since they had shared intimacy. The last piece of cloth on Ines’s body slipped off without resistance.

The sun hadn’t yet set. The slanting rays pushed through the half-drawn curtains.

A narrow strip of sunlight stretched across the bed and over the woman lying there.

Her body smelled faintly of milk, mixed with her natural scent. It wasn’t unpleasant.

The curve of her waist and hips under the rounded line of her chest was beautiful. Her grip on the sheets as she held back moans was as enchanting now as it was three years ago.

As Rayan buried himself in her scent, he paused.

Below her chest, her ribs were faintly visible.

Her body, arched like a bow, made the contours even clearer.

She seems to be getting thinner.

Had she not been taking care of herself since giving birth? He thought he should ask the royal physician to review her recent medical records.

His rough fingertips slid over her prominent bones.

“Hnngh…”

Ines let out a faint moan. Her body was so sensitive now that even the slightest touch overwhelmed her.

The tears in her blue eyes made her irises appear to tremble.

She was thinner than when he last held her. And now, she struggled even more to handle him.

Still, she seemed to be trying to say something.

He caught her mumbling “Caesar” now and then—it seemed she was asking him to take care of their child.

Why is she so anxious? Rayan held back his instincts, trying not to move too harshly, and whispered gently,

“You just have to stay right where you are. Then everything will be fine.”

Ines looked up at him through teary eyes and gave a small nod.

The storm of pleasure didn’t pass for quite some time. The heat between their still-entwined bodies cooled only gradually.

The sunlight outside was slowly turning orange.

Ines, buried between dark blue blankets and large pillows, suddenly reached out to him.

Silver strands of hair slipped through her slender fingers.

“I’m… curious how you really feel about me.”

“….”

“I mean… I already know. But still.”

He didn’t ask what she thought she knew. To him, the meaning of Ines hadn’t changed—whether before or after marriage.

“I’m the one who’s curious. What are you thinking?”

“…Nothing in particular. Nothing at all.”

“You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?”

Ines didn’t deny it. Whether it was because she was too overwhelmed by the sensation that seemed to pull something from deep inside her, or because she just didn’t want to answer—he couldn’t tell.

She shivered slightly and began to clean herself.

He watched as she slowly wiped her body with the sheet, then picked up the dress on the floor.

Her hands were weak as she tried to put her legs through the dress, so he stopped her.

“What are you doing?”

“?”

Ines looked at him with puzzled eyes.

“I’m going back to my room.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why…? This is your bedroom, Your Highness. I should return.”

Only then did Rayan realize—Ines had never stayed in his bed. He always went to her. And whenever she came to him, she left right after.

So of course she thought to leave now.

But that stirring pain struck his chest again.

A thought he’d never had before crossed his mind.

So she’s going to walk back like that? With marks all over her neck, down the hallway where knights and maids are still walking around—before sunset? Alone?

That’s how it’s always been. So what?

No. Now that he was aware of it, it could no longer be “just how things were.”

Rayan pulled her back into the bed just as she was about to get up.

“!”

“Stay here. Unless you want the staff to see you like this.”

“It’s fine… I don’t mind. It’s not the first time.”

She muttered weakly, trapped once again in his arms.

“Caesar’s alone. I should go.”

“No one in this mansion would harm him. Don’t worry, just sleep here tonight.”

“But I…”

“Do I have to say it three times?”

When she kept insisting, his voice turned sharp. Ines flinched and then went silent. She buried her face in the pillow.

Seeing her like that left Rayan feeling strangely bitter.

He thought she would quietly stay by his side after giving birth—but now, all her attention seemed to be on the child.

He brushed away her dark hair that covered her face and kissed her pale cheek on impulse.

“….”

Ines’s breath trembled for a moment, then calmed again.

They exchanged no more words.

Even while holding her in his arms, she felt very far away.

…Is it just my imagination?

Even though he knew it was just a fear, Rayan understood where that uneasy feeling was coming from.

She had given birth to his child and was finally sleeping in his bed for the first time—but the words she once used to say to him didn’t come from her lips.

After forcing Ines to sleep in his bed, Rayan returned to his office.

His aide, Alveron, was waiting for him. Rayan, trying to calm the ache inside, gave his orders. He had been gone a while—there was work to do.

“Summon a priest. Also, reorganize and submit the list of servants Ines dismissed.”

Kyra had said she had been plagued by nightmares for two months straight.

Maybe something cursed had latched onto her. If the priest came to bless the place, it might help.

As he reviewed the list of servants Alveron brought, Rayan began investigating the names of those who had long served the Eleanor family faithfully.

“What happened in the mansion while I was away? What’s this about poisoned tea, and that Aunt Kyra and Ines fought?”

“Nothing happened in the mansion, Your Highness.”

“Then what about Ines’s claims? She’s not someone who makes things up.”

Rayan paused.

How do I know Ines isn’t someone who would lie?

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