When I Took Back My Beloved Child Who Had Been Taken From Me, My Husband's Obsessive Love Began. Why? - Episode 30

Upon hearing the report that Lucienne had regained consciousness, Craig felt a great sense of relief.

If it were up to me, I would go see you right now and apologize for what happened a few days ago, and more importantly, for everything that has happened until now, but considering Lucienne’s condition, I will hold back.

As a result, I had time to remember and reconsider various things from the past.

Since Craig had lost control of his magical powers as a child, both his tutor and Dr. Harry had taught him how to suppress his emotions, emphasizing that it was important both as a ruler and as someone with great magical power.

For Craig, who originally had a limited range of emotions, it wasn’t that difficult.

(……no, that’s not it. It should have been there when I was young.)

The sorrow of being rejected by my mother, the sorrow of being despised by my father, and the anger of being feared and isolated by others due to my uncontrolled magical powers.

And it was when I was venting those emotions on the flowers in the courtyard that I met Lucienne.

Lucienne scolded Craig for trampling the flowers.

With her small body, she looked up at Craig, her big eyes filled with anger, trying to convince him that it was very wrong to bully the innocent and defenseless flowers.

And then, saying “What about saying sorry?”, she asked Craig to apologize to the plants.

Until now, no one—neither the teachers, nor the surrounding adults, nor of course his parents—had ever said such a thing, and Craig stood there, dumbfounded and speechless.

Later that night, Craig, recalling his encounter with Lucienne, chuckled to himself in bed, surprised once again by the sound of his own laughter.

From then on, looking forward to meeting Lucienne, I made it a point to spend time in the courtyard on the days when Marchioness Arment came to the palace.

Even though I thought that fun and joy were things that had nothing to do with me, when I spend time with Lucienne, I can experience both.

As always, he didn’t show his emotions in front of others, but it was undoubtedly Lucienne who taught Craig about joy and happiness.

The day-to-day life ended when Lucienne’s parents passed away…

The news of the passing of the late Marquess and Marchioness Arment caused a great commotion even within the imperial palace.

Aurelia, who was close to the marchioness, fainted upon hearing the news.

Originally, it was unthinkable for an empress to attend the funeral of a subordinate, but Aurelia attended it herself without appointing a representative.

Furthermore, Crown Prince Craig, for the first time in his life, went to Aurelia—he asked his mother and was allowed to attend the funeral.

For Craig, he only vaguely remembers the Marquess and Marchioness of Arment, but he does remember that they were kind.

However, the reason I wanted to attend the funeral was not to mourn the marquis and marchioness, but because I was worried about Lucienne.

On that day, seeing Lucienne, who always smiled, cry for the first time, Craig was shocked and strongly felt that he had to protect her.

Even so, all I could do was hold that small hand.

Craig, who was said to possess an unprecedentedly powerful magical force and was expected to have a promising future, realized painfully how powerless he truly was.

Since then, Craig has seriously committed himself to both his studies and the practice of magic techniques, which he had previously only done half-heartedly.

I desperately tried to gain strength so that I would never again be tormented by that sense of helplessness.

Then, I started to notice various things I had never been interested in before.

First of all, because my father, Emperor Bertrand, is indifferent to politics, the domestic and foreign policies are being handled by his vassals.

Perhaps due to that, control was lost, and little by little, the national power was declining.

When Craig tried to embark on those reforms, the biggest obstacle was his father, Bertrand.

Rather than abandoning national politics, Bertrand seemed to be enjoying himself by getting in Craig’s way.

There were times when I thought about completely abandoning all my duties as the crown prince.

Both my father and mother are living their lives the way they want.

Or, I thought about freely unleashing the magic raging within Craig and becoming the person everyone is so afraid of.

At that time, Claudine appeared as one of the candidates for the queen.

Craig quickly realized that Claudine herself did not possess significant magical power, but she was brought to the palace as a candidate for the empress because of her status and the potential for her magical power to increase in the future.

My cousin Lucienne was already one of the strongest in magic among women, and my uncle, the late Marquess Arment, was also powerful in magic.

At first, Craig looked for Lucienne’s resemblance in Claudine.

Neither the face nor the figure looked similar to Craig, but the bright and lively way of talking reminded him of Lucienne.

Furthermore, since Lucienne, who was in mourning at the mansion, would tell stories, I naturally ended up spending more time with Claudine.

Lucienne is still mourning the death of her parents, crying every day.

Recently, I’ve been feeling a bit better and have started talking again.

Every morning, I scatter food in the garden and watch the little birds come.

Stray cats started coming to hunt the little birds, and Lucienne chased them away with a broom.

In the end, Lucienne said she wanted to take in and keep the stray cat.

A stray cat gave birth to five kittens, and the two of us are helping the mother cat.

The kittens’ mischief was so bad that we had to give them up for adoption, so I’m very sad.

When I hear Lucienne’s stories about spending time in the mansion, my face naturally breaks into a smile.

It seems that His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince has a special regard for the Marquess Arment’s daughter.

When you spend time with the Marquess Arment’s daughter, even that iron-faced person can’t help but smile.

Hearing such rumors within the palace, Craig realized for the first time that he had been laughing.

In fact, it was enjoyable to listen to Claudine’s stories, and since I had no particular feelings for the former Marquise de Arment, Lucienne, I left such rumors unaddressed.

As for the candidates for the empress, it didn’t matter until Lucienne returned to the palace; there were more pressing matters to attend to.

For a while, I had begun to think that everything about national politics was unimportant, but for Lucienne to smile at Craig again, I felt it was necessary.

However, there were parts of Lucienne’s story that I didn’t like, even though I had been looking forward to it so much.

Recently, Lucienne has been secretly exchanging letters with the Empress.

Hearing that story, Craig furrowed his brows, and Claudine continued to murmur.

“When I ask, ‘What kind of things are you talking about in your letters?’ they just dodge the question and don’t give me an answer.”

Even though Lucienne should know about the discord between him and his mother, Craig found it amusing.

Moreover, since Claudine had complained several times about the secret letters, there was no doubt that Lucienne was frequently exchanging letters with Aurelia.

Therefore, even though three years of mourning had passed, Lucienne had returned to the palace, and they had finally reunited after a long time, Craig couldn’t even manage to greet her properly.

Lucienne, perhaps feeling intimidated by Craig, didn’t talk to him as she used to.

I can’t hear that bright, cheerful voice or listen to the trivial conversations anymore.

Craig didn’t know how to spend time with Lucienne like they used to, and as the days passed mercilessly, he felt lost.

Even so, there was a certainty that Lucienne would surely be chosen as the empress.

I knew that the temple would have no reason not to choose Lucienne, who had stronger magical power than any of the other candidates.

When not only Lucienne but also Claudine remained as final candidates, I didn’t find it particularly strange.

Claudine understood that although her magical power was weaker than the other candidates, it was probably left for Lucienne.

But, is that really the case…?

Suddenly bringing his consciousness from the past to the present, Craig felt a sense of discomfort now.

I can’t believe that temple, which is so strongly rooted in the supremacy of magic and male chauvinism, would go out of its way to consider Lucienne’s feelings.

Even after marrying Lucienne, there were constant rumors in society that he would take Claudine as his concubine, but the temple had been recommending another woman as his concubine until the birth of Leoldo, not Claudine.

Of course, this is a top-secret matter, known only to Craig and the upper echelons of the temple.

In short, the temple was not worth considering the feelings of Craig or Lucienne, and even Claude was not in their thoughts.

That being said, putting pressure on the temple is…

Thinking that far, Craig remembered his father’s face with a malicious grin.

The only one who could probably put pressure on the temple is my father, Bertrand, but even leaving Claudine as a final candidate wouldn’t be harassment.

It was obvious that the temple would never yield to Bertrand’s pressure in the final selection.

Craig, still holding onto that question, reluctantly decided to return to his duties.