Spring in My Grasp - Chapter 55

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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(55) Blood of the Holy Knight

He did not smile. He did not rage. He simply looked down in silence.
“Blackmail?!”
It was Cedric who gasped first, even before the people of the Hartwood Marquis Family froze in place. What in the world was happening? Blackmail? Against the wife of a Holy Knight who had been granted the title of Marquis of Valerian Castle by the King himself? Against his own sister? Cedric’s eyes widened beyond measure.
“Do not contact my wife ever again.”
Alexis approached Layla and whispered in a low, growling voice.
“You will pay a price for this incident regardless, but if you contact my wife even once more, I cannot answer for what I might do.”
Those words were a sentence.
“And another thing.”
Alexis’s jaw clenched.
“If even a whisper of slander about Rowan leaks out, I will repay it tenfold.”
The Marquis’s lips trembled.
“W-what do you mean… a price?”
“Since I have severed ties with the Glister Family, the Hartwood Family is no exception.”
Alexis spoke. There was no longer even the courtesy of formal speech.
“The Baron’s Estate will need to work diligently from now on to find new business partners.”
Cedric cried out in panic.
“Why, why are you doing this to our family! Blackmail?! I knew nothing of this!”
Cedric, who had no desire whatsoever to protect his wife, clung to Alexis desperately, begging.
“Who could have known that you would dare blackmail the Marchioness of Valerian Castle, that you would do such a thing to my sister? Our family cannot live with such a sin!”
The Baron’s Estate’s business had already been declining lately. The Baron’s vigor was fading, and Cedric’s business acumen was utterly lacking. They were barely maintaining their current state thanks to the few long-standing business partners they still retained, but if Alexis so much as breathed, it could all crumble. Still, Cedric did not take the family’s affairs lightly, and now he pleaded with Alexis almost as if he were on his knees.
“Husband and wife are one.”
Yet Alexis did not budge. He ignored Cedric clinging to him and looked around at the people of the Hartwood Family. They were all frozen like wax.
“The same applies to all of you.”
He brushed off his sleeves as if no further explanation was necessary.
“From now on, do not approach Rowan again. I will explain things to Rowan myself.”
With those words, he turned and walked toward the door with heavy steps. No one could stop him. The moment the door shut with a bang, the mansion erupted into chaos.
“What in the world is this about?!”
“Explain yourself, Layla! What have you done!”
Leaving that clamor behind, Alexis had thus pronounced a severance from the Hartwood Marquis Family as well.
***
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
I asked. Alexis emerged from his reverie and turned his gentle gaze toward me.
“What you mentioned before.”
Alexis said.
“That you don’t feel particularly close to your family. Is that still true?”
“What? That’s nonsense.”
I let out a soft laugh.
“It’s not just a lack of affection. They’re practically enemies to me.”
“….”
Alexis studied me for a long moment.
“You won’t miss them later? You won’t regret it?”
He seemed troubled by the fact that I had spoken the words of severing ties with the Hartwood Marquis Family myself. Perhaps he worried he had intruded into my family affairs without right. But there was no other way. I was a peacemaker by nature. I despised unnecessary discord. Even my handling of Audrey proved that. So it fell to Alexis to take such decisive action.
“Regret? Never.”
I scoffed and waved my hand dismissively.
“I could live my whole life without contacting them. In fact, I don’t want to.”
This was the family that had forced marriage upon a daughter who had fled an arranged betrothal and attempted to end her life after her lover’s betrayal. And now with Layla’s blackmail and Lucien’s appearance—this was truly a enmity that would make even eternal enemies weep.
‘Come to think of it, there’s been no letter from Layla.’
Layla had left after explicitly instructing me to set a visiting date and send her a letter so she could bring Alexis on that day.
I pondered it for several days before deciding to stop worrying about it. I hadn’t wanted to tell Alexis about Lucien’s existence—after all, he wasn’t even my true beloved—but neither did I want to be drawn into her blackmail and drag Alexis into it as well.
If Layla sent a letter, I would simply discard it. Whether she sought out Alexis to gossip about Lucien or spread rumors through High Society to ruin my reputation, I resolved not to care.
These weren’t people I cherished, so what did it matter how much they slandered me?
I would protect the child within me and spend time with Alexis and good people here in this castle. He had told me I could do this, so I decided to trust my husband’s judgment once. The two of us locked eyes and shared a deep smile.
***
Not long after, news of my pregnancy eventually spread. My swelling belly could no longer be hidden, and once the servants noticed, it reached High Society as well.
Once the news was confirmed as true, people rejoiced. A child born of a Holy Knight’s bloodline had the potential to inherit the same sacred power. If another bearer of such power were born into this kingdom, it would be an incomparable blessing for the Royal Family and the kingdom’s people.
No matter how insistent Alexis was about leaving work on time, he could not refuse when grave matters threatened the kingdom. Thus he occasionally went on missions lasting several days. He swiftly resolved rebellions near the borders and subjugated monsters, eliminated bandit groups that plagued the kingdom’s people and targeted merchant caravans.
The villages swept through by the bandits bore horrific scars. Those who saw their homes destroyed wept.
Yet the moment he intervened, cracked walls began to mend and burn marks gradually faded. It was not perfect restoration, but the land transformed into a place where people could live again. Countless people injured and broken by the bandits were healed. Once he finished his work, he quietly returned to being the King’s Sword.
The kingdom’s people hailed the King as a sage ruler. With Alexis at his side, handling matters with such speed and certainty, the King publicly brought him to political conferences. The mere presence of Alexis beside the King prevented the great nobles from behaving carelessly in his presence.
As Alexis’s deeds continued, news of my pregnancy eventually reached the ears of the kingdom. The King rejoiced greatly and sent gifts to Valerian Castle. Those who saw the list of those gifts fell into shock.
The cradles and baby bedding woven directly by the Royal Weaving Chamber, bearing the Royal Family’s insignia, were all crafted from precious threads with blessing embroidery, and alongside them were silver utensils used by the Royal Family, jewelry-adorned ornaments, the finest fabrics, and countless other treasures. But what was most shocking was a separate gift the King bestowed upon the Marchioness Hartwood. To me, carrying the bloodline of a Holy Knight, he granted an ornate jewelry set and transferred one of the Royal Family’s villas entirely into my name.
With the Royal Family displaying such extraordinary respect and favor toward me, who had never even shown my face, no one in High Society dared speak carelessly of me anymore. To do so risked the King’s ears and the dimming of their house’s future. Moreover, the Grand Cathedral bestowed sacred relics and the High Priest himself offered prayers for Alexis’s descendants—a treatment rarely granted even to princesses and princes.
***
“Good day. I am Eloze of House Mabel.”
Hmm? I straightened from where I had been digging with a spade to plant seedlings, then turned around with one hand cradling my swollen belly. There stood a rather stern-looking elderly woman, who immediately bowed respectfully upon seeing me.
“I have come by His Majesty’s command to attend to the Marchioness of Valerian Castle.”
Only then did I realize—ah! The King’s gifts did not end there. He had personally selected and sent a nursemaid capable of caring for the Valerian Marquis Family’s child.
“Please, do rise.”
I helped Eloze to her feet.
“I had completely forgotten you were coming today. Truly, motherhood has made me terribly forgetful.”
I laughed warmly as I spoke.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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