Episode 69: The Birth and Death of Karl

Even if she was an unwanted woman. Even if the child she gave birth to was from the woman who killed my child. Was it only natural to find one’s own blood beautiful? What had I been expecting? The last strand of faith I had left began to shatter.

As I bowed my head, rubbing the floor absentmindedly, Alec slowly opened his mouth.

“I heard you had something to say to me.”

Did she call Aelec here because she had something to say? I lifted my head and glanced at the door. Valerie looked wounded by Alec’s words.

“He is Your Majesty’s eldest son. Were you not curious? Did you not want to see the child?”

Valerie extended the swaddled infant toward him. Alec looked at her with frustration before furrowing his brow irritably.

“Eldest son, huh…”

“The First Prince may be Your Majesty’s eldest in name, but he cannot fulfill the role of an heir. In reality…”

“You are mistaken, Valerie.”

Alec twisted his lips into a crooked smile. It was a razor-sharp grin.

“I have only one son. He is both my first and last. Loras is my only child.”

“……”

“Besides, let’s be clear. This child is not even your firstborn, is he?”

“Your Majesty.”

“Karl. Have you forgotten him? It hasn’t even been that many years since you killed him with your own hands. Have you already forgotten?”

Karl? Who was Karl? Lara looked at them in confusion. But Alec seemed to know exactly who he was referring to. He let out a low, mocking laugh. Valerie turned pale as a sheet, trembling violently. The fear on her face was unmistakable.

“That child was an accident.”

“What was? His death? Or his birth?”

Valerie did not answer. Alec laughed cruelly, as if he were gutting her with his words.

“Please, don’t bring up that child…”

“And yet you so easily expose and spread others’ weaknesses.”

Alec smirked, curling his lips mockingly. Valerie’s face hardened before she whispered.

“All I want is for Your Majesty to love this child. That is my only wish. Just for today… please, let’s only talk about that. I beg you. The child was just born… Your Majesty is my husband and the father of this child…”

Tears welled up in Valerie’s eyes as she pleaded desperately. The cruel smile on Alec’s face slowly began to distort.

His gaze shifted from the child to Valerie, and his facial muscles twisted as though he were suppressing disgust.

“Do you have any idea how repulsive it was to see this thing inside you?”

“Your Majesty.”

“As it grew, just like a swelling of vengeance. As it grew bigger with each passing month. As it caught my wife’s eye. Every time you used it as a weapon to torment and deceive me and my wife, I wanted to crush it underfoot until it was unrecognizable.”

With each word Alec uttered, Valerie’s face drained of color. He looked down at her as if she were truly loathsome.

“I never once stopped wishing for the blood to pour from between your legs.”

“Your Majesty. The child has done nothing wrong.”

Tears trembled in Valerie’s voice, though it was unclear if she was truly crying or if she was simply overwhelmed.

“And yet, you killed my child.”

“That was my father’s decision. I wanted to stop it, but—”

“Silence!”

Alec roared.

“It’s true, truly! Your Majesty, I—”

“You wretched, despicable woman. Do you know why I do not consider you human?”

“Your Majesty.”

“You commit heinous acts without hesitation to get what you want, yet you pretend to be noble. You wash your hands clean of the filth and shift all the blame onto others. You do not care in the slightest about the fate of those who serve you. You knew how your handmaid would die.”

“……”

“And now, you push your sins onto your father as well?”

“Your Majesty. You misunderstand. I am not that cruel. The only reason I did not seek leniency for Emma was that she acted alone. She deserved to die.”

Valerie clutched the infant’s swaddle tightly, as if shielding him, as she wept.

“I never harmed the First Empress. I swear it. It’s all a misunderstanding. Your Majesty, you are blinded by your love for her, listening only to her words and agreeing with her misguided beliefs…”

A sharp slap echoed through the room. Valerie’s face snapped to the side. Lara flinched in shock.

Alec looked like he would seize Valerie by the hair and throw her to the ground at any moment. He had struck her without holding back, and her cheek immediately burned red.

Would she be alright? It was surprising her eardrum hadn’t burst from the sheer force of it.

Lara felt a chill run down her spine. The atmosphere in the bedroom was suffocating.

“I have promised nothing to your son. Don’t be mistaken.”

“……”

“Know your place. Never mention Rose again.”

“……”

“I know exactly how vile and repugnant you are. Just as you and your father see my wife and child as mere pawns, so too are you and your child nothing but pieces on a board to me. Your child will never guarantee your survival.”

Alec’s voice was cold and sharp, each syllable laced with barbs.

Valerie, trembling and on the verge of tears, bit her lip as she tried to contain herself. But despite having just given birth, Alec did not hesitate to hurl cruel words at her.

“I will never love you. I will never be a father to your child. And you are not my wife. Do not call me your husband. I have never been your husband, not even for a moment.”

At Alec’s cold declaration, Valerie’s teary eyes twitched. Her flushed lips trembled, and her face contorted with resentment.

“If you place any foolish hopes in me and repeat your past wickedness, know that your child will be the first to pay the price.”

Alec muttered. Valerie bit her lip, glaring at him, before finally speaking in a low voice.

“…You say you will not guarantee my child anything? Then what will you do? The First Empress can no longer bear children, Your Majesty. All she has left is a ruined womb and a foolish son. Will you place that boy above my child as heir?”

She smirked, the familiar sneer returning to her pale face. Alec’s face twisted into something monstrous.

“Or will you embrace Gladys instead?”

A sharp laugh slipped from her lips. She met Alec’s furious glare without fear.

“Shall I prepare the aphrodisiac for you this time, just like when you spent the night with me? Ah, I should also give Gladys a handkerchief—she’ll be weeping as she moves her hips, just like I did.”

Valerie’s face twisted, her sneer fading. Thinking back on that night, she found she could not laugh. Her eyes gleamed with venom.

Lara swallowed dryly.

“But you can’t, can you?”

Valerie’s face smoothed into a taunting smile once more.

“You love the First Empress. You wouldn’t want to hurt her anymore. You wouldn’t want to be apart from her. That’s why you thought of this child as the last one, didn’t you? You spent the night with me, thinking it would be the last time you strayed.”

Valerie’s words were sharp and precise. The venom in her voice echoed throughout the chamber.

Lara turned to look at Alec. His face was blank, devoid of emotion, like that of a corpse.