The Price of Breaching the Contract - Chapter 27

Santia closed his mouth with a strangely loosened expression.

Yulania examined his expression once more, then calmly continued.

“I’ve already spoken with Joel. I’ll explain everything, so please talk to me calmly as well. Don’t try to hide anything.”

“Alright. Alright, just tell me.”

Perhaps he understood her unusually firm intention. He nodded, pressing a hand to his forehead.

Yulania paused to catch her breath, mentally organizing the story she had heard from Joel, and then chose her words carefully.

“To put it simply, the medicine had both contraceptive and sedative effects. It was made by brewing a rare flower called Aboli.”

Before she could finish speaking, Santia’s face contorted again. He rubbed his brow roughly and listened intently.

Yulania shared the story she had heard from Joel, step by step, without leaving anything out. Santia flinched and clenched his fists from time to time, but thankfully, he stayed in his place and listened until she finished speaking.

“So, first, we need to find out who bought that mountain, and then we need to find the connection to the devil. That’s what I came out here to investigate.”

Only then did she think of Angela. She had left in such a hurry that she hadn’t even said goodbye.

‘She has to be safe.’

She believed that there would be no further damage since the knights under Santia’s command remained. Yulania forced her thoughts back.

And she said in a voice that betrayed her undeniable fatigue.

“You and I need to cooperate to move forward.”

It was something she had desperately wanted until now, but it had been so difficult. Whether it was a matter related to the royal family, the devil, or the couple, it was all the same.

Contrary to what she expected, Santia fell into thought instead of immediately making some kind of complaint. He stared at her with an inscrutable expression.

Soon, Yulania brought up something that had been bothering her.

“The moment I heard about the private land, I thought of Father first. The medicine too, Father.”

Santia gestured that he was listening. Yulania needed a lot of courage to utter the one phrase that filled her head. She repeatedly lowered her eyes to the floor and then looked at her husband’s eyes, which were still unreadable.

And as his brow gradually furrowed, she gathered enough courage.

“Could it be because of Father, do you hate me too?”

Leaving aside his childhood, he was the king who used Santia as a shield against the devil. She was well aware that he had negative feelings about his royal father, whether he knew it or not.

“Who?”

At Santia’s low question, Yulania took a deep breath and said, looking him straight in the eye.

“You hate me, don’t you?”

“I do? Why?”

“Don’t tell me it’s not true. You hate even touching me.”

When he pretended not to know, Yulania felt drained and continued speaking. Unlike the great courage she had mustered, his reaction was not very strong.

“When?”

Rather, strangely, he looked genuinely puzzled. Yulania also felt strange and questioned him about things she hadn’t planned to.

“Isn’t it true that you loathe our wedding nights and that you’re now too disgusted to even greet me at the door?”

“What are you talking about? That’s not the issue. I’ve always—”

Santia was startled by the words that were about to come out and quickly closed his mouth. Yulania did not miss his suspicious reaction.

“What, you’re saying you loved me or something?”

“No, it’s more like.”

As expected, he immediately denied it. Yulania felt a bitter feeling inside and said.

“If you don’t hate me, then I understand even less.”

“How could I hate you? Absolutely not.”

Then Santia shook his head firmly.

He was a husband she couldn’t understand at all. It was as if there was no way he could hate her. An unavoidable sense of relief welled up from deep within her heart.

“Then act like it.”

Yulania stared at her husband for a long time, trying to figure out his intentions, but gave up and muttered. Then, she immediately asked a question that suddenly came to mind.

“Is there something wrong that I don’t know about?”

“No, there isn’t.”

Santia hesitated, moved his lips a couple of times, and then answered briefly.

In the silent stillness, only the sound of the fireplace burning filled the air. It was Yulania’s cautious voice that broke the silence again.

“I don’t know how to treat Father anymore. I thought he wanted an heir.”

She spoke, carefully watching Santia’s reaction. She felt guilty because it seemed like the royal father was doing it to make him conscious.

“Don’t think too deeply about it. It’s not too late to worry after we understand the exact situation. More importantly, how’s your body?”

“I’ve almost recovered.”

“That’s a relief.”

Yulania hesitated for a moment, looking at his reaction, but soon spoke as if she had made up her mind.

“I’ll start going to greet you in the morning again from tomorrow. If we’re a loving couple, it’s normal for you to take care of your wife who had a miscarriage. Not to avoid her.”

“…Alright. Don’t overdo it.”

Santia’s hand twitched. He seemed to want to say something for a moment, but in the end, he answered briefly.

Yulania forced the corners of her lips up and opened her mouth again.

“Are you okay? It must be hard for you too.”

“…”

As she had expected to some extent, Santia did not answer. Yulania looked down at her fingertips and fiddled with them, then said in an even more subdued voice.

“My heart, my body is fine, but my heart is so tired. It’s so hard to endure it alone.”

“I, am…”

Santia tried to say something in a trembling voice, but trailed off. His eyes were filled with many emotions. Seeing that, Yulania became even more certain. He was also the parent of the child. He was unpredictable, but he was definitely not a cold-hearted person by nature. There was no way he wouldn’t be tormented by losing his first child.

“It was, our child. Can’t we rely on each other at times like this?”

In the end, Yulania shed tears. Once she said it, the emotions she had been holding back poured out. The sadness doubled and consumed her when she thought that Santia might be feeling the same way.

Santia, who couldn’t find the words to say with a miserable face, placed his strong hand over her small hands gathered on the table.

A long time after losing their child, the couple finally held each other’s hands and offered comfort. As her husband’s warmth was conveyed, Yulania could no longer hold back the tears she had been suppressing. She sobbed and complained to her husband for the first time.

“Don’t be so aloof. Before rumors spread to the capital that you hate me.”

“Alright.”

A warm hand slowly stroked her slender hand.

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