Chapter 12: War

Once the preparations were done, I moved into the old house.

With just a glance you could tell that it had been renovated and decorated with utmost care.

After I moved, the Duke went to the border with his soldiers, in case war broke out.

Before the Duke left, he stood outside the palace gate waiting for me to let him in. But I didn’t.

I appreciated his attempt, but at the same time to me this man is the stranger who would make me a prisoner for the rest of my life.

And the person who would ruin my child’s life because of his family’s curse.

After that my days were quiet, I spent my time preparing for the baby’s arrival.

I read books and talked with the head maid who had given birth to six children.

My favorite activity of the day became reading the newspaper in the garden of the house.

It was the only way I could communicate with the outside world.

From the scandals of the nobles to what was trending in the capital

Everything I had ignored or taken for granted in the past seemed so attractive to me now.

Like the new blueberry pie that people would wait hours to get according to the news.

In the end I asked one of the maids to buy it for me on her weekly round.

But seeing the beautiful pie in front of me made me sad.

Because this would be the only way I could experience the outside world from now on.

The first three months of pregnancy were easy.

No vomiting, no cravings, it was as if my baby was treating me well already because he knew how difficult my situation was.

I also received letters from my brother saying he was going to join the war to earn money

Because he refused to use the money my family got from selling me.

He would write me letters whenever he got the chance asking how I was doing

But I couldn’t tell him the truth and make him even more anxious while he was dealing with the stress of his first war.

As for my family, at first I ignored their letters in anger.

But by the time my anger had subsided, their letters stopped as if they had forgotten about me.

Time passed and the war really broke out but to everyone’s surprise it was over in less than 100 days.

The newspaper said all the credit goes to the Duke of Barton.

They described him as a war hero who changed the scale of the battlefield and was the reason the war ended so quickly.

Because of the victory, a seven-day celebration was announced throughout the country.

Silver coins, food and drinks were distributed throughout the capital and there was a festival and a night market open during that time.

But again I couldn’t go.

On the second day of the festival, the Duke returned.

After seeing Camellia for a short while, he came and stood outside the gate again.

The maids begged me to let him in.

I still didn’t let him in the house, but I decided to open the gate to hear what he had to say.