When You Started to Regret - Chapter 42

A heavy silence fell over the dining room.

Even Fernando, who had adopted a more forceful attitude than usual; Vanessa, who had been quietly observing Elaine’s reactions; and Turner, clearly taken aback by how differently things were unfolding from what he expected, none of them could speak. They simply swallowed the tension.

“…What?”

Fernando’s voice finally broke the silence, his face now pale.

“No, Elaine. A child? What are you talking about?”

“This isn’t a conversation we should be having here. Not with an outsider present.”

Elaine’s voice was composed, but it drew a clear line—one directed at Turner. Realizing what she meant, Turner let out a bitter laugh.

“So I was never supposed to be at this table.”

Rising from his seat, he cast a cold glare at Vanessa, whose expression had gone stiff.

“Why did you lie? You told me Elaine had agreed.”

“…”

He questioned her sharply, but Vanessa was in no state to respond. Turner turned back to Elaine, his smile laced with awkward resignation.

“I’m sorry, Elaine. And congratulations. To you, your child… and the child’s father.”

His gentle eyes, ones she had known since childhood, curved into a faint smile as he added softly:

“May you all be blessed.”

Then he turned and left the dining room without another word.

Fernando lowered his head, clutching at his temples. Elaine glanced at him and Vanessa with cool detachment.

“I never intended to reveal it like this. But you forced my hand—springing an engagement on me like that.”

They were the ones who had robbed her of the chance to treat Turner with the dignity he deserved.

“And please, don’t even suggest I terminate the pregnancy. The doctor said my body is unusually fragile. If I lose this child, I won’t have another chance.”

“The doctor…”

Fernando slowly lifted his head and stared at her lower abdomen as if trying to see the child himself.

“Bring the physician. I need to confirm it myself—”

“Of course. As many times as you like.”

Elaine nodded confidently.

The family doctor of House Aiola was quickly summoned. The tension in the room was suffocating as he examined her. Though the dining room was hardly the appropriate place for such a thing, the atmosphere was so oppressive that he dared not object.

“Well?” Fernando asked.

“Just a moment…”

The doctor furrowed his brow, sensing something unusual. He examined her again—and this time, his expression shifted to one of shock. He stood frozen, clearly unsure how to announce such a sensitive matter in front of everyone.

“This is… this is, well…”

His obvious panic and stammering only deepened Fernando’s dread.

“Just say it. I already know,” Elaine said flatly. “I’m pregnant, aren’t I?”

Her voice cut through the doctor’s hesitation.

“Y-Yes, my lady. There’s… the child is indeed…”

“You heard him.”

Elaine tilted her head slightly and looked at Fernando and Vanessa with proud defiance.

“Oh, my God…”

Vanessa brought a hand to her forehead and collapsed into her chair.

“But… Elaine, I can’t accept this. That man, as your partner? Oh, Elaine… What are we supposed to do…”

Fernando sounded on the verge of tears, choking on despair.

“There are only two choices,” Elaine said coldly. “Either acknowledge my relationship with him—or cast us both out of this house. But I will not get rid of this child. That is not up for discussion.”

Her gaze was merciless as it swept over the siblings frozen in fear and disarray.

Clutching his throbbing temples, Fernando slowly rose to his feet. When had Elaine—his one and only sister—grown so ruthless? He had always known how resolute she could be once her mind was made up. Was it his mistake to think he could bend her will?

“Dominic Cheshire… I need to speak to that man.”

There was no time left for regret. The Queen was set to make a public announcement about the engagement tomorrow. He needed to act now.

“Elaine is pregnant—with your child.”

The words dropped from the mouth of the man who stormed in unannounced. Dominic froze for a moment.

“You already knew?”

“Elaine… is carrying my child…?”

Even though this was all according to plan, it still felt strangely unreal.

“There’s no way she failed contraception by accident. Knowing her nature… they must’ve planned it from the start.”

As Fernando trembled with fury and despair, Dominic began to feel the weight of reality settling in.

Elaine—that foolish girl—had actually conceived his child. The seed he had sown had taken root, grown, and begun to bloom.

Inside that once-flat stomach… a child.

His child.

A child who might resemble her. A perfect child who might one day complete his long-awaited revenge.

Ah. What a beautiful beginning for such a dangerous little life.

“You used that innocent girl to get back at me? Was revenge really so important to you that you dragged Elaine into it?”

Fernando’s voice, raw with blame, snapped Dominic back into the present. He straightened his expression and met the other man’s eyes with a composed, elegant smile—even as his heart pounded wildly in his chest, threatening to burst through his ribs.

“Revenge? No, no. I only ever loved her. Truly and deeply.”

“Loved her?”

“It stings, Lord Fernando, that you speak so lightly of my feelings.”

Dominic replied with complete composure, even though his words cut deeper than he let on.

“I have always been sincere. When I made her pregnant. When I once loved Princess Vanessa. And…”

Suddenly, his black eyes flashed with a chilling gleam.

“…even when I put a hole through that bastard Edmund’s head.”

Fernando said nothing. He pressed the guilt he had carried for years deep into his throat. He had destroyed this man’s life with his own hands. At Vanessa’s request, he had done it flawlessly.

“There’s no need for guilt, Fernando. That boy should be grateful to us. We did it for him. He survived, didn’t he? He left Hermann as a free man, not a slave.”

A master need not feel guilt for what happens to a possession. The Dominic siblings, picked up from the ruins of the fallen Emilta Kingdom, had been nothing more than beautiful playthings for Edmund and Vanessa. For that lowly slave to have taken his master’s life—Fernando and Vanessa letting him live was, in their minds, an act of grace.

And yet… no matter how often he told himself that, Fernando couldn’t shake the sick feeling in his gut. Perhaps it was because Dominic’s eyes, wet with fury and grief that day, had carved themselves too deeply into his memory.

Even now, Fernando hesitated. Perhaps it would be better to marry Elaine off to a lesser noble—someone far below House Aiola, someone who couldn’t possibly harm her or oppose them. Someone who’d have no choice but to accept her, even knowing she carried another man’s child.

But no. Elaine would never agree to that. She had chosen to get pregnant just to escape the crown prince. If he pushed her any further, she might truly leave House Aiola for good.

And that—that—was the one outcome Fernando feared most.

Yet it was too late now to claim Dominic had approached Elaine with malicious intent. The proof of their bond was already growing inside her. He couldn’t let his only sister become an unwed mother. And—though he’d never admit it out loud—there was a small, desperate hope inside him.

That perhaps… perhaps… the child might one day be the one that he and Vanessa had long been denied.

“You’re telling me this was all out of love? That’s why you did this?”

“Of course. I love her—and everything that comes with her.”

How absurd. And yet, as Dominic said it, Fernando almost wanted to believe him. Almost.

Surely even a man who hates us this much wouldn’t destroy the woman carrying his own child. Elaine was innocent. She had only been thirteen back then… How could he possibly include her in his revenge?

So Fernando clung to that fragile hope, even if it was foolish.

“…Then we proceed with the engagement.”

That was all he could bring himself to say.

“We’ll need to arrange it quickly—before her belly starts to show.”

As if he had been waiting for it, Dominic’s lips curved into a slow, satisfied smile.

The engagement between Lady Elaine Aiola and Crown Prince Turner Herdian Vert was officially canceled. The Queen was furious—but there was no helping it. No prince could be wed to a woman carrying another man’s child.

Those who didn’t know the full story whispered theories and rumors, but none of them were even close to the truth.

Then, not long after, on the cusp of late summer—when the hills and fields were bursting with green—Elaine Aiola and Dominic Cheshire held their engagement ceremony.

Many of the most powerful and respected figures from the capital city of Sienne were invited. Yet, despite it being the union of the kingdom’s greatest heiress and the Queen’s most loyal subject, Her Majesty did not attend—making her displeasure unmistakably clear.

To everyone’s surprise, the one who represented the royal family at the event was none other than Turner Herdian Vert himself—the very man rumored to have been rejected by Lady Elaine.

“Elaine!”

The last time she had seen him, he’d worn a bitter smile as he offered her his blessings and walked away. Now, on that vibrant summer day, he approached with a smile full of brightness and warmth.

“Congratulations. Your great love has finally borne fruit.”

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