Children not born from the womb of the Grand Duke Consort, the official spouse of the Grand Duke, cannot become heirs to the Grand Duke.

In other words, even if a dominant alpha child is born, if it’s not born from Valentin, the child cannot become a Grand Duke when they grow up, and it would be difficult for them to carry out their duties as a traditional naval commander.

Having finally understood the Emperor’s inner thoughts about worrying over the loss of military power, Valentin had been thinking a lot since then. He only now realized why the Emperor had been so happy about their marriage and pregnancy from the beginning, after learning about the traditions of Dales and understanding the Grand Ducal family in detail.

Valentin raised his eyes and scanned Reynard’s gaunt face again. The prominent cheekbones and brow bones due to weight loss looked pitiful. To see him so heartbroken and distressed over losing the child…. It broke Valentin’s heart to see how precious their baby in his womb had been to him.

‘Well…. He was so attentive throughout the pregnancy.’

Recalling how he constantly massaged his belly and was excessively worried about pregnant Valentin getting hurt, it was a natural reaction.

He couldn’t remember what Reynard had answered to the Emperor’s unreasonable demand at the palace then.

Reynard emptied the half-full wine glass and put it down roughly.

“Everything the Emperor said is sophistry.”

He spat out with a turbulent aura, realizing that Valentin had overheard that incident.

“Separate? I can’t believe you would speak of our relationship like that after hearing such nonsense.”

Seeing him vehemently deny the very word “separate” while shaking his head, Valentin felt his heart grow even colder and calmer. Seeing that he didn’t believe his words, Valentin decided to reveal the thoughts he had quietly harbored while mourning their baby.

“…You can become a father again.”

“……”

“I can no longer have children. Since a renowned Kingsford Medical School professor said so, it’s probably certain. But if we separate…. If we divorce and you remarry, you can become a father again anytime…”

BANG!

Reynard slammed both fists on the table. The plates and glasses trembled.

“I don’t feel it’s worth listening anymore. I’ll say it again, everything the Emperor said is nonsense.”

He denied reality as if Valentin had been brainwashed by the Emperor.

“And I can’t believe that diagnosis either. Let’s see another doctor. We need to see a proper doctor, not such a quack.”

“No. I’ll decline that.”

It was a firm face and voice.

Valentin was tired of everything now. He no longer wanted to let various doctors examine and probe the intimate parts of his body. That was enough with the pregnancy period and childbirth. The most authoritative doctor in Heston had made that diagnosis. No matter how many specialists they changed, reality wouldn’t change. His husband was now avoiding and turning away from the difficult reality they faced, unable to bear it.

“…Anyway, someone like me didn’t suit this position from the beginning. Moreover, someone like me who couldn’t even protect the baby while wandering around recklessly while pregnant…”

Because of his husband raising his voice in excitement, Valentin was also blurting out things he shouldn’t say. The self-blame he had always done since losing their daughter…. His voice trembled as he dug up wounds.

Reynard grabbed Valentin’s arm as he lowered his eyes. His large hand had suddenly reached across the table.

“No, Valentin. It’s absolutely not your fault. Why are you thinking like that…? Did someone tell you that? That it’s your fault?”

Valentin slowly shook his head. No one dared to say such things to the Grand Duke Consort who had gone through such a big ordeal. He had only condemned himself.

“That’s ridiculous. Are you saying all pregnant women just lie down? That doesn’t make sense. Valentin, you were poisoned. Losing the child wasn’t your fault.”

It was the desperate voice of someone afraid that such thoughts might deepen and Valentin might blame himself.

“What…? Poison…?”

“We’re still investigating exactly how and to what extent you were poisoned. But your premature labor and Sharon being born poisoned was because of the criminal who pushed you. It was an accident. It absolutely wasn’t your fault. So please don’t think like that.”

Reynard’s face had turned deathly pale again.

‘I see…. To think I was constantly being poisoned without even knowing.’

It was shocking. He was stunned for a moment. However, such a fact couldn’t offset the conclusion already handed down to them.

Valentin already knew he had become a victim in the 3rd Prince’s power struggle. Having been warned so much, he had inwardly guessed who had attacked him. Though he hadn’t expected poisoning.

“Can’t you… give up on revenge?”

The reason he kept asking not to seek revenge was actually because he knew the target.

How easy is it to harm a royal, especially one likely to be the Emperor’s successor? It was a big enough matter to give up everything one had. Life was the same. Given who the opponent was, it would ultimately be a revenge that sacrifices life to take life. What would be left after that? In the end, only destruction would remain at the end of revenge.

So Valentin had no choice but to try to stop his love from walking into the flames himself.

Valentin wanted Reynard to live.

Mentioning divorce was in the same vein. It was done in hopes that Reynard and the Dennox name would not incur the Emperor’s wrath. It wasn’t decided for selfishness or his own comfort.

“I can’t give up.”

Reynard muttered firmly.

Their reality doesn’t change. He can no longer have children, and Reynard is fully qualified to become a father in his life. Valentin swallowed dryly and continued to argue.

“…Everything has just returned to the beginning.”

Their daughter had already passed away, and they had merely returned from being parents of one child to being an alpha and omega again. There was no need to be forcibly bound anymore.

If he separated from Valentin, he would have no more reason for revenge. The justification becomes blurred.

So divorce was to protect Reynard’s life, to keep the Dennox name whole and honorable, to let him continue to prosper under the Emperor’s favor for a long time, to give him the chance to become a father again. It was for all of that. Valentin explained again.

“I’m saying it’s like we’ve returned to square one, Reynard.”

“Square one? What do you mean square one?”

“…Our marriage happened because of the child, didn’t it?”

It was the objective reality. Valentin deliberately avoided Reynard’s face, whose eyes had widened as much as they could.

“What? That’s nonsense. What are you saying? It wasn’t because of the child for me!”

A loud voice echoed through the space. Feeling the anger and bewilderment in his voice, Valentin thought he needed to give Reynard a more detailed explanation. Even if his words were lies rather than truth. If only they could each walk their own predetermined paths now.

The reality was that they were continuing to tear each other down. Their faces were becoming pain rather than joy to each other. Days of being careful with every word, afraid of hurting the other’s heart, unable to even look each other in the eye properly.

Days when they couldn’t even laugh properly. The guilt of wondering if they could face each other and smile like this after losing a child. They were destroying each other daily with pain and wounds.

Valentin stared at Reynard, who slightly furrowed his brow as if seeing a deep cut wound whenever he looked at Valentin, and had a look in his eyes as if enduring.

‘If facing each other is becoming pain instead…’

Maintaining this relationship where they couldn’t see anything because of the wounds would only lead both of them down a more difficult path. Reynard was the heir to the Grand Duke, and had a duty to bear legitimate children. There was no need to be harassed by the Emperor who was making a fuss about not keeping a useless Grand Duke Consort anymore.

There was no need to walk the path of destruction with revenge in his heart.

So if this could make him move towards the right direction in life.

It would be very painful right now, but as always, both he and Valentin could overcome it. They were already in the process of overcoming the hardest thing in life.

In the end, his will made him tell a lie.

“It was because of the child for me. I chose this marriage because of the baby.”

“……”

“Apart from loving you, I didn’t want to get married. There’s probably no one as ill-suited for the institution of marriage as me.”

It was like claiming a crumpled piece of paper, a meaningless longing for freedom that had already been neatly folded and sent flying like a paper airplane because of love. As if that passion for freedom and pre-marriage thoughts still filled Valentin’s body completely, despite having already abandoned it. He claimed the lie as if it had been boiling up after holding it in and now couldn’t be helped.

Thus he cleverly mixed past truth with the present.

‘He knows best what kind of thoughts I had…’

For Reynard, who already knew the old Valentin who wanted to live freely, it was an accurate keyword enough to make his heart sink.

“So let’s divorce and separate. And let’s each go our own way that we want.”

For a moment, silence flowed as if the world had stopped.

Thud!

At Valentin’s final declaration, Reynard stood up violently. Glasses on the table fell over and dishes shook again. Over that, Reynard threw down the white napkin and declared.

“Don’t say such nonsense. There is no divorce between us.”

With those final words, he strode out of the dining room. Even his back view was filled with fierce anger.

Valentin was left alone at the dining table, for the first time his husband had left him behind and gone first.

It wasn’t that his heart didn’t hurt, but it was something he had thought about and prepared for for a long time. Valentin also took the napkin from his neck and quietly put it down. Then he calmly cleaned up and stood up.

He let out a sigh that would now vanish futilely and headed for the opposite door.

Only desolation remained in the place the two had left.

The Way of the World

It was quiet.

Valentin sat quietly in the middle of the quiet, spacious studio, waiting for it to come.

He had been sitting in one place for days, waiting for the moment when the various tangled impressions and inspirations would come together harmoniously into one thing.

And finally, it came to the one who had been waiting eagerly.

Valentin jumped up and began sketching on a huge canvas that was taller than him and nearly 3m wide by 2m high. It was a rough sketch using his whole body.

A sketch like a giant rhythm of a thin, lean body. It was a great work that took place over several days.

He had said he wouldn’t take revenge on the people who had made them like this, but that only meant revenge in the usual sense.

He won’t directly harm anyone like others taking revenge. He won’t torture the other person or stab their body with a knife or point a gun at them. His mind remained unchanged that pushing the enemy off a cliff with his family’s or husband’s power and strength would only repeat the same thing.

Valentin intended to do only what he alone could do.