When I Took Back My Beloved Child Who Had Been Taken From Me, My Husband's Obsessive Love Began. Why? - Episode 26

“To be honest, I’m not sure where to start… I’m also unsure if it’s alright to speak without Lady Lucienne’s permission.”

When Craig sat down on the sofa and gestured for Aman to sit across the table, Aman quietly took a seat.

Then, when Craig silently asked for an explanation, Aman hesitated but eventually spoke up.

However, it seems that Aman is still hesitating, quite literally.

Craig, who was not particularly talkative to begin with, waited quietly without rushing.

“Well then… I’ll talk about the previous Empress first. That way, I won’t be breaking my promise to Lady Lucienne.”

Craig’s eyes widened at the words Aman had uttered after much deliberation.

I never expected that the story of the former empress—my mother—would come up here.

However, Aman was also the personal physician of the previous empress, so it’s only natural.

“Indeed, you succeeded your father and became the personal physician to the late empress, didn’t you?”

“Yes. You are absolutely right.”

At that time, Craig would hear rumors about his mother but would dismiss them as bothersome without caring.

If I dig it out from the depths of my memory now, it seems that “the Empress found a new lover at her place of amusement” and “that person became her personal physician.” After that, she secluded herself in the detached palace.

“……When the late Empress appointed your father as her physician, was she already afflicted by illness?”

“That’s true, but there is another reason for having my father as my primary doctor.”

“What do you mean?”

“The former empress, just like His Majesty, heard the rumors about my father—rumors that there is a doctor who can cure ‘magic intoxication’—and came to visit him.”

“Well then…”

“That person foresaw that in the future, Your Majesty’s child would suffer from severe ‘magic intoxication,’ and promised to fully cooperate with my father’s research, asking to accompany him.”

Craig was left speechless by the story he just heard.

Craig was confused to learn that his mother, who he had always thought had no interest in him—indeed, even hated him—was actually acting for his future and for the sake of her child.

“My mother… must have hated me.”

“No, he was always worried. And he regretted it.”

“Regret?”

“Yes. Regarding that matter… I heard from Lucienne-sama that… well, it seems she has been regretting rejecting His Majesty when he was young all this time.”

“Such a thing…”

“Your Majesty, I hear you once lost control of your magic, is that true?”

“Ah, ah… Just like Leoldo earlier, but I was seven years old.”

Aman hesitated to tell the story he heard from Lucienne, but internally made excuses that it wasn’t Lucienne’s own story, and told it to Craig.

Lucienne hesitated to talk to Craig because Aurelia had told her to keep quiet about the illness and the risks of childbirth during pregnancy.

“Through my father’s research and my own research that followed, we have concluded that in order to alleviate the symptoms of ‘magic intoxication,’ we need the mother’s magic.”

“……Does needing the mother’s magic mean that the mother is consuming her magic?”

“You are absolutely right. Therefore, mothers of children with strong magical power tend to experience more health issues during their child’s growth period. By focusing on this point, we discovered that contact with the mother is necessary to stabilize magical power. In other words, children who are encouraged and comforted by their mothers holding their hands and hugging them when they are unwell tend to have milder symptoms of ‘magical power intoxication,’ even if they possess strong magical power.”

“Isn’t a father good enough?”

“As His Majesty has been stabilizing Your Highness’s magical disturbances, it is not entirely without effect. However, as expected, the mother’s magic is considerably more effective.”

Having heard that, Craig looked at Lucienne lying on the makeshift bed.

Lucienne is suffering now because she suppressed Leoldo’s magic rampage.

Instead, Lucienne is suffering from the loss of her magical power.

While on inspection, he felt anger at the report from the palace that Lucienne had contacted Leoldo, but at the same time, he was relieved that there was no report of Leoldo experiencing “magic intoxication.”

It was all because Lucienne was compensating by touching her own magical power to Leoldo.

But then, what did I do…? No, what have I been doing until now?

I was anxious upon hearing the news that Lucienne had returned to the imperial palace, but I continued my journey under the pretext of an inspection, determined to fulfill my purpose.

I know that can’t be helped.

However, out of frustration at being refused accompaniment by Dr. Lecter, he took Claudine and the others’ complaints seriously as soon as he returned to the palace and strongly reprimanded Lucienne.

Moreover, when Aman touched Lucienne, it caused an explosion of anger, leading to the rampage of Leoldo’s magical power.

If I had properly listened to Lucienne’s story…

Craig hadn’t heard about Lucienne in years.

In the past—before Lucienne’s parents died in the accident—I used to look forward to our lighthearted chats every time we met.

Since Lucienne became unavailable due to mourning her parents, I realized how much I cherished that time.

Therefore, I covered up the time I couldn’t meet Lucienne by meeting my cousin Claudine.

To be precise, I was looking forward to Claudine’s story about Lucienne and was eager to listen.

Claudine was a good storyteller, and since she amusingly talked about Lucienne’s various matters, they ended up spending considerably more time together than with the other marriage candidates.

Without considering how it would be perceived by those around me, I ended up pushing Lucienne away, who had just finished mourning.

Back then, Lucienne still hadn’t recovered from her parents’ death… So, I thought naively that if she was with her close friend Claudine, they would naturally spend time together…

Lucienne, whom I hadn’t seen in three years, had become completely subdued, and the lively chatter from the past was nowhere to be found.

Even so, he had come to prefer Lucienne over Claudine as a candidate for the crown princess.

Regarding Claudine, I sometimes thought that if I had a younger sister, it might be like this, but I have never thought of her as the opposite s3x.

Therefore, when Lucienne was chosen as the empress, I was quite pleased internally.

At that moment, Craig realized for the first time that he liked Lucienne.