After tea time, Chilila returned to the main palace, her face sullen.
Finally alone, I took out the diary tucked away in the corner of my desk and opened it.
No matter how much I fiddled with it, a new entry never appeared, but I couldn’t give up.
With the tenacity that defined me, I flipped to the second page and touched the embossed pattern with my fingertip.
‘𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳.’
This time, letters began to surface as soon as my finger made contact.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝟏𝟔, 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡, 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐚𝐲.
It finally appeared!
My heart pounded.
With nervous eyes, I quickly read the second entry.
𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬.
𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠’𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐧𝐨, 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐯𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲.
𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞.
Just reading this far, Callisteon’s shallow scheme was obvious, and I couldn’t help but sigh.
‘𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯?’
Either way, it was typical of Callisteon, but I wasn’t sure if his intentions had worked.
If anything, the diary’s owner seemed furious.
She had always known that he would not respect her as a member of the Imperial Family, but she was so humiliated and ashamed that she could not lift her head.
After all, it is impossible for a noblewoman who has just turned twenty to have a body as strong as that of a Sword Master!
I waited for a while, but nothing more appeared, as if the diary entry ended there.
‘𝘗𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘯.’
Thinking back to the letter mentioning ‘𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳’, it seemed he had gone through a lot of trouble to win Louise’s heart.
He might not have won her love in the end, but at least he seemed to have gained her friendship……
‘𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯.’
I carefully flipped through the notebook, which had only revealed two pages so far, to the very last page.
Considering that each page had an embossed pattern, I wasn’t sure when more diary entries would appear.
‘𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯?’
If they appeared every other day like this, it would take years for this notebook to be filled.
‘𝘕𝘰, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.’
Only two pages had been revealed so far.
With luck, another entry might appear tomorrow.
‘𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳.’
That way, I would definitely be able to find the father of my child by the time the baby was born.
I pondered further about the magic of the diary.
‘𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦?’
Even if he hadn’t, I had a feeling he could help me access the remaining entries.
‘𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦?’
Unsure, I put the diary back in its place.
I needed to gather more information first.
🔹🔹🔹
I woke up at dawn the next day.
My curiosity about the diary had apparently overcome even the drowsiness of an expectant mother in her first trimester.
‘𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘺.’
I hurried to my desk and took out the hidden notebook.
With trembling hands, I opened the cover and placed my finger on the embossed pattern.
And indeed…
‘𝘎𝘢𝘴𝘱, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨!’
Another diary entry began to emerge.
I took a deep breath to calm my pounding heart and began to read.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝟏𝟔, 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡, 𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐚𝐲.
𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.
𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.
𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝.
“𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐦━𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐏, 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚━𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐏! 𝐅𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢━𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐏! 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞?!”
𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥.
“𝐑𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫.”
𝐀𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐫…… 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.
Having two potential baby daddies appear in the diary at the same time was exciting, but it was a bit much to handle first thing in the morning.
‘𝘙𝘦𝘯…… 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶?’
Suddenly, I felt nauseous and reached for the medicine box.
As I took my medicine and grabbed a jar of candy, I sighed at the label.
‘𝘈 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘶𝘭……’
Still, having the diary entries was definitely better than not having them.
Otherwise, I would have been completely fooled by Ren’s cute puppy-dog act.