Spring in My Grasp - Chapter 67

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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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(67) A Cruel Price

“That day, I became certain.”
“….”
“The person who was with me that night….”
She exhaled sharply.
“It was him.”
Rowan pressed her temples.
“He’s this child’s father.”
Maribel lowered her head.
‘Good heavens.’
Rowan sighed inwardly. One crisis resolved, another erupted in its place. She had yearned for a peaceful, stable existence, yet entanglement with Alexis meant events exploded like fireworks in endless succession. The moment one ordeal concluded, another detonated without fail.
Rowan recalled the countless beauties who had appeared at the East Annex when she was confined there, each claiming to be Alexis’s woman. She had believed he at least refrained from such indiscretions outside those walls. Yet here stood undeniable evidence to the contrary.
“Ah….”
A breath escaped her unbidden. The fragile, innocent figure of Maribel seated before her only deepened the suffocation in her chest. Rowan squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. If what she said were true… if it truly were….
“I understand for now.”
Rowan spoke.
“Alexis isn’t at the castle at the moment. He’s gone on a military campaign.”
Maribel nodded.
“We’ll discuss this matter together when he returns. I’ve heard the general outline, so please leave for today. As for the child….”
Rowan’s gaze fell upon the child.
“What is your name?”
The child opened his mouth at Rowan’s question.
“Lionel, ma’am.”
“Lionel… a fine name indeed.”
Rowan offered a strained smile in response. Once the audience with mother and child concluded, she summoned the Butler the moment she stepped from the Reception Room. He approached hastily, his complexion pallid since earlier.
“They appear to have traveled from quite a distance.”
Rowan said.
“Find out where they’re staying and arrange for the Butler to relocate them somewhere safer and less conspicuous. The child….”
She paused briefly.
“The child is too distinctive. If people notice them, rumors will spread.”
“Understood, but my lady….”
The Butler spoke cautiously, gauging her expression.
“Do you truly believe that woman’s words….”
Rowan’s eyes darkened at his question.
“It’s something that needs verification, but honestly….”
Rowan placed her hands on her hips and released a deep, weary sigh.
“To be honest, Alexis did live a dissolute life.”
“No… no. My master may have once associated with such circles, but he was never a philanderer when it came to women.”
“How am I supposed to believe that? And how are you vouching for it?”
Given the gravity of the matter, Rowan’s tone cut through the air with sharp precision. The Butler clamped his mouth shut like a man who had swallowed honey.
“And look at the child’s appearance. Are silver hair and violet eyes really that common?”
“That is…”
Even the Butler couldn’t bring himself to deny it outright and trailed off.
“When Alexis arrives, we’ll see about this, but truly…”
Rowan shook her head.
“There’s never a moment of peace.”
***
After this ordeal, the Butler hastily sent a letter to Alexis, who was away on campaign. The long-planned subjugation operation concluded in the blink of an eye. Upon finishing the campaign, Alexis abandoned all ceremony and came rushing headlong into Valerian Castle.
Before the castle gate had even fully opened, his horse stopped. Alexis practically leaped from the saddle and strode directly into the castle.
“Rowan!”
His voice rang out with desperate urgency.
“Rowan!”
His voice cut through the corridors. The servants bowed their heads in surprise.
“My lord.”
“Where is she?”
Alexis was breathing heavily, like a man who had lost something precious.
“She is currently in Leonius’s room.”
Before the Butler could finish speaking, Alexis was already moving. The door to Leonius’s room burst open moments later.
“Hm?”
Rowan, who had been playing with the child and toys, looked up. Eloze and Lea, who were also in the room, startled and gazed up at Alexis.
“Alexis?”
Her expression was no different than usual.
“I heard your return from the campaign would be delayed this time.”
Rowan’s words trailed off as she observed Alexis’s face—his breathing was labored, his eyes bloodshot.
“Are you alright?”
He asked first. Rowan blinked for a moment. Understanding what he was asking, she quietly rose to her feet and led him toward the marital bedroom.
“This isn’t something to discuss in front of the child.”
“Rowan, it wasn’t me.”
The moment they entered the bedroom, Alexis spoke urgently.
“It wasn’t me. I swear it wasn’t.”
Rowan let out an exasperated sigh, crossed her arms, and faced him directly.
“Go see for yourself. Find out if it was or wasn’t.”
“No, I’m telling you it wasn’t.”
Alexis shook his head roughly.
“How can you be so certain?”
There was a subtle edge to Rowan’s voice. Alexis gripped her shoulders with both hands.
“I’ve never lived that way.”
Alexis’s voice carried absolute conviction. I studied him with eyes that mingled belief and suspicion in equal measure.
“I drank with friends and gambled, but I never went around rolling in bed with women!”
In that moment, Alexis felt both sorrowful and wronged. The weight of my suspicious gaze pressed against his chest like a suffocating hand.
“Honestly, how many beautiful women have shown up at the East Annex claiming to be your lover?”
Ugh, he should have straightened out his conduct long ago. That’s why this mess happened. I clicked my tongue inwardly.
“That was just… them being present when I was drinking. You know that!”
Alexis’s eyes burned with intensity.
“The only woman I’ve ever held is you!”
In that instant, silence flooded the room.
Early in our marriage, he had held me in his arms and said those very words—that he would hold only me for the rest of his life. My face flushed with embarrassment. His own face was equally flushed with heat.
“Still, I need to make sure of this.”
I spoke.
“It’s possible something happened when you were drunk and couldn’t remember… and that woman said the same thing, after all.”
“Am I insane? So drunk I can’t remember holding a woman?”
Alexis was thrashing about so violently that I found it difficult to press him further.
“What exactly did she say when she came?”
After some time had passed, Alexis calmed down and slumped into a chair, asking the question. Yet his voice still carried an edge of anger.
“That you’re the child’s father, basically.”
His jaw clenched hard.
“Even if something like that really happened, it’s in the past, so I’m not going to blame you for it.”
Fearing he might feel abandoned, I approached him and placed my hand on his shoulder. The fury in Alexis’s eyes dissolved in an instant. He grasped my hand and brought it to his lips.
“I should have lived properly.”
Alexis’s voice rang low and hollow.
“If I’d known I would meet you like this.”
“….”
With nothing left to say, I simply stood silently beside him.
“But I really didn’t go around holding women. I didn’t live as recklessly as all that. Believe me on this, Rowan.”
At his pleading words, I nodded.
“If you say it like that, then… well.”
Alexis pulled me close and buried his face against my shoulder.
“I need to find out what scheme this really is.”
His blue-violet eyes gleamed with sinister intent.
“For now, I’ve had her sent somewhere inconspicuous, away from prying eyes.”
“Well done.”
Still, I opened my mouth with lingering doubt.
“But it really… could actually be true, so please verify it.”
Watching me, still not entirely trusting him, Alexis had to suppress his sorrow. What could he do? Having squandered his days in such debauchery, earning her complete trust was a luxury he could not afford. This was the harsh price the world demanded.
***
They had acted with deliberate caution to verify this matter discreetly. Yet somehow, rumors had already spread throughout the Capital with alarming speed. Whispers of Alexis’s illegitimate son were circulating everywhere.
At first, Rowan wondered if Maribel had taken the child into the City, inadvertently sparking such gossip. But the rumors were far too detailed for that to be the case.
The tale claimed that during Alexis’s days as the dissolute second son of the Glister Earl Family, he had seduced a chaste woman and fathered a child with her. Moreover, the rumors insisted the boy bore such a striking resemblance to Alexis that he could be nothing but his legitimate heir.
“This is absurd!”
Lea cried out in exasperation.
“Such rumors could never have originated from our Castle! The child visited only once, and far fewer people witnessed it than this gossip suggests! And no one knows the details being spread now! This is a calculated rumor!”

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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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