Provocation

As soon as the crown prince finished speaking, Clayton's face crumpled instantly.

A cold silence, as if cold water had been poured over them, lingered between the two.

Clayton quietly raised his head and looked at Alexion, who sat across from him.

The crooked edge of the man's lips was irritating. In truth, it wasn't just the smile that bothered him.

'Dahlia...'

To so carelessly utter the name of another man's wife.

It was against etiquette for an adult man to call a woman by her name.

Even if they were close friends since childhood, it was customary to use her surname in the presence of others.

Yet, this was not such a situation, and for a man destined to become the emperor of the empire to personally utter the name of a married woman was unthinkable.

Especially, so blatantly in front of me.

This was a blatant provocation.

Moreover, the crown prince knew that Dahlia was pregnant.

This fact was a top-secret matter known to only a few within the mansion.

'Is there a rat hiding in the mansion, or perhaps…?'

Clayton's gaze toward Alexion grew sharper.

The crown prince's attitude, as if testing whether Clayton knew about Dahlia's pregnancy, churned his stomach.

Clayton suppressed his anger, reminding himself that the man before him was the crown prince.

Barely swallowing the nausea rising in his throat, he asked.

"How did you come to know that my wife is pregnant?"

At this, Alexion, who had been idly watching Clayton's face, shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, perhaps it's better for you to wonder why I called you here instead."

"..."

"The child Dahlia is carrying in her womb."

With a calm expression and a gentle voice.

"It seems that child might be mine."

Alexion dropped a bomb on Clayton.

Thud.

At that moment, Clayton's heart sank to the floor.

'My child…?'

The crown prince's final words, "my child," swirled in his head.

He struggled to maintain his composure.

He wanted to act as if nothing was wrong, but his rigidly hardened face refused to relax.

"..."

Clayton, frozen as if he'd forgotten how to breathe in the suffocating atmosphere, finally opened his lips.

"...You've taken the joke too far."

"It's not a joke."

And the crown prince continued, his trademark mischievous smile, as if he found the situation amusing.

"I have my reasons for thinking so."

As Alexion continued speaking, the blood flowing through Clayton's body began to grow cold.

"Are you implying, Your Highness, that you committed adultery with my wife?"

However, Alexion gave no reply to Clayton's words.

He merely kept smiling endlessly, as if the weight of his own words meant nothing to him.

The answer was as good as given.

* * *

Clayton's steps were rough as he left the crown prince's palace. His clenched fists were so tight they turned pale, with blood almost seeping out.

'It seems that child might be mine.'

The words he had heard from Alexion tightened around his throat.

To brazenly confess that the child's father might be himself, when he should be hiding it, could only mean one thing.

'The crown prince plans to take Dahlia….'

He intends to take her.

That's why he was boldly revealing that he had committed adultery with Dahlia.

'Once the child is born, it'll be clear who the father is.'

The crown prince had a reason for such confidence.

The children of the royal family have carried distinct physical traits for generations.

Radiant golden hair and flawless blue eyes.

While some people might have unusually bright hair, that was common enough. But the eyes were different.

Those of royal blood had unique eye colors during their childhood.

While generally blue, upon closer inspection, their eyes shone with a mysterious, jewel-like light.

This was a physical trait said to be inherited by royal children from their divine ancestry.

However, the gem-like glow only shone briefly during childhood and would naturally fade, leaving just the blue color as they grew older.

'If the child in Dahlia's womb is truly the crown prince's….'

The newborn would undoubtedly exhibit the royal family's traits.

And using that as leverage, Alexion would take Dahlia. If a child bearing the royal family's precious bloodline were born, even the emperor would ultimately side with the crown prince.

The moment he realized this, an ominous alarm rang in his head.

'I have to stop this.'

He couldn't allow Dahlia to be taken by the crown prince while he stood by helplessly. His growing anxiety quickened his pace.

'But how?'

Yet, the moment one question crossed his mind, his steps came to a sudden halt.

Standing alone in the middle of the corridor, Clayton's face turned pale.

If the crown prince joined forces with the emperor to take Dahlia, what could he do?

Rebellion? War? Assassination?

But what if something happened to Dahlia in the meantime? What if he lost his mind before that?

Anxiety and unsettling thoughts began to eat away at him. Clayton lowered his head and stared at the floor aimlessly.

As he bit his lips, Clayton lifted his head, having organized his thoughts in a short span. There was a way.

'Kill it before it's born.'

The child growing in Dahlia's womb could be killed before seeing the light of the world.

When it could hardly even be called a body. If he caused a miscarriage, there wouldn't be any issues.

After all, Alexion wouldn't be able to do anything until the child was born.

While Clayton was deep in thought, a familiar voice called out to him.

"Your Grace…!"

At the voice calling him, Clayton raised his head and saw a familiar figure.

It was Cadison.

"What are you doing here?"

Cadison, who was supposed to be watching Samantha, being at the royal palace filled him with a sense of foreboding once again.

"Well, it's just that…"

Clayton's brows furrowed at Cadison's hesitant tone.

"Speak."

"The maid is gone."

As expected, his ominous premonition had been correct.

The unexpected news caused Clayton's face to harden.

"...Gone?"

"...Yes. It seems someone broke through the secured window and entered the basement. My apologies. It's my fault."

In truth, he had thought that guarding the basement door alone would prevent the maid from escaping.

The window was too high and securely sealed for the short maid to open it. He hadn't considered that someone from outside might come to rescue her—a mistake on his part.

Clayton, staring at Cadison who bowed his head before him, asked.

"Do you know who took the maid?"

"Not yet… But it wasn't the lady. We've been keeping an eye on her since the maid was brought in, and there's been no unusual activity."

Then, was it the crown prince?

As it happened, the time the crown prince summoned him coincided suspiciously with Samantha's disappearance.

Wasn't that too coincidental to ignore?

'But there's no reason for him to go out of his way to take the maid….'

Unless it was to cover up Dahlia's pregnancy, there was no reason to take Samantha.

But hadn't the crown prince just boldly claimed that the child in Dahlia's womb was his? In that case…

'Is it a third party?'

For example…

A man's face suddenly flashed through Clayton's mind.

A man who was conspicuously close to Dahlia, hovering around her while concealing his true intentions.

"Lloyd."

A vivid red shadow clouded his vision.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the room Clayton had left, Alexion was finishing the tea he hadn't had the chance to drink. Beside him, his attendant Colony refilled the empty cup and asked.

"Are you truly fine with this?"

"With what?"

"The child of Duchess Seiyer. What if the child is killed before it's proven to be your Highness's?"

"That could happen."

It was a scenario Alexion had anticipated.

The Duke of Seiyer bore many similarities to him. If he didn't want to lose his wife, killing a child that might be his wouldn't be a difficult choice.

"But, you know."

Alexion set down his teacup and leaned back into the sofa as he replied to his attendant.

"That might be interesting in its own way, wouldn't it?"

"..."

At that response, Colony quietly closed his mouth. He had served the crown prince for over twenty years, but at times, Alexion seemed utterly devoid of emotion.

Even as a child, Alexion hadn't hesitated to kill small animals, unlike other children.

No, perhaps it was better to say he had enjoyed it.

There was undoubtedly something deeply twisted about him, but since he was destined to be the emperor of the empire, no one dared to rebuke him.

Recalling past incidents, Colony cautiously asked.

"But if that child truly is your Highness's…."

A sly grin.

But instead of answering, he simply took another sip of the steaming tea.