“Ugh…”

“Are you awake?” Iz Efreni jolted up in surprise at the voice coming from her side. James was next to her. A shocked expression on her face, she asked him, “Sir? How did this happen…”

“Oh dear.” He appeared to be at a loss as he answered her. “Can it be that you do not remember what happened yesterday?”

“Yes? What does that mean…”

“My Lady, yesterday, to me…” He hesitated and continued to speak to the end. “Did you not come on to me yesterday?”

“I… I did?” When she heard those words for the first time in her life, Iz was tongue-tied.

-Forced myself? I did? On this man? Oh my goodness!-

At James’ words, Iz felt so ashamed that she wanted to die. But this was not the end of it. Her shame came to a head after she realized she was naked, along with James, who was also unclothed. She closed her eyes tightly. Iz took notice of their less than proper state, and caught on intuitively. She had, so yesterday… “Yesterday, then, with the Young Sir…”

“You had whispered to me, to not leave. To please embrace you instead.”

“I did…”

Iz made a vague expression on her face. She was ruined. She had completely disregarded how, just yesterday, Lady Anderson had emphasized the importance of a lady’s virtue! Iz looked ready to burst into tears as she asked again, “I really did something like that?”

“My Lady, if you keep asking me…” James spoke in an awkward voice. “Does it not sound like I committed a crime of violating you?”

“Ah, no. I do not think you, Sir, did that. Just that I…”

“It is all my fault. I should not have brought over to you a cocktail yesterday…” When he spoke in a guilty voice, and made a down face, Iz quickly denied it. “Ah, no, Sir. It is not something that you did wrong.”

“But if I had known my Lady would respond like this… I would never… to the Lady…” He hesitated and finished his sentence. “I would never have held you.”

“…”

So now, there had already been an act between her and him that only a married couple was permitted to do. Realizing that, Iz looked defeated. The incident had already occurred, and now she had to deal with this situation somehow. She asked, “Do you have something you expect from me, Sir?”

“I could not. How dare I expect something for last night from a Lady of a Marquis family? I am not a male prostitute.” His voice was so cold as he said this, and Iz shrank without her knowledge. But after a moment, he comforted her with a friendly voice, “Do not worry too much, my Lady. I will keep last night’s incident as a secret.”

“But…!”

“I cannot ruin my Lady’s future due to someone like me. Yesterday’s event was just a moment of our play.”

“…”

“Forget all about it, my Lady. Last night, and me as well.” James’ resolute words made Iz unable to say anything back. He stared intently at her being at a loss for words, and after a while laughed brightly, and placed a small kiss on her forehead.

“You will be embarrassed, so I will be taking my leave now.” With that said, James quickly put on his clothes. Iz just stared at him in a daze with just a white blanket over her bare body. When he was finally finished getting ready, he left these last words for her. “You do not have to feel guilty. You do not even have to worry about it.”

“Sir…”

“I will be the only one to remember. My Lady’s kiss, my Lady’s touch, and my Lady’s breath… all of it.”

“…”

Embarrassment washed over her like a high tide, and Izu was not able to say anything back. James glanced at her for a moment, and then left casually. Iz was left alone to sit there for a long time with a blank expression on her face.

—–

-And then I became pregnant…-

After recalling the past, Duchess Efreni had a serious expression on her face. She had later become pregnant, and so she had no choice but to marry him. There had been a lot of talk about the sudden marriage, and there had been some gossip that they had a premarital pregnancy. Because that was actually true, the Duchess of Efreni could not enter the social world for a while for her shame.

Anyway, she had wanted him, and chose him, so that was why she had been embraced by him. He must have accepted her seduction because he had the same thoughts. So, naturally she thought the baby in her stomach was a fruit of their love. Duchess Efreni shed all of her bitterness with that thought.

The baby was a boy, and was born fated to become the head of the Efreni family. After the death of her father, James Headwick naturally became the next head of the Efreni family as her husband, and abandoned his family name to take on the Efreni name. She had lived well so far. Of course, there had been trials, such as when he had brought in a mistress, but she had consistently believed that she had led a good life.

However, with one letter of unknown origin, all the justification and pride that had kept her intact for the past twenty years had vanished. She had not spent the night with him because she wanted him, but because she had been exploited by him. It was rape, not love, and manipulation, not destiny. Duchess Efreni realized all this and let out a laugh of defeat. At the very end of the letter, this phrase was written.

‘Duchess Efreni pitifully believed that the Duke’s cocktail contained a potion of love. In fact, it contained aphrodisiacs and sleeping pills. It was a seed that would drive her into misery.

So she was very foolish. At that time, she could not be compared to her current self as she was so pure, beautiful, and young. But she is no longer young, beautiful, or pure. So the choice had to be changed.’