When I Took Back My Beloved Child Who Had Been Taken From Me, My Husband's Obsessive Love Began. Why? - Episode 40

Lucienne was bewildered by Craig’s behavior since yesterday and couldn’t keep up with either her mind or her heart.

Even so, Craig’s words made me realize how insensitive I had been.

Craig had been feared by those around him since childhood because of his excessively strong magical power.

If even Lucienne, his childhood friend and wife, starts keeping her distance from Craig, he will be completely isolated.

Lucienne thought so, but soon remembered Claudine.

“Claudine… you said there was nothing between you and Claudine, but she admires you. And you, without caring about me—”

“Whoever Claudine admires, it doesn’t matter. I like you.”

Lucienne’s eyes widened at Craig’s sudden confession.

I thought I might have misheard, but I don’t have the courage to ask again.

As if reading Lucienne’s thoughts, Craig tightly grasped Lucienne’s hand and repeated himself.

“I like you—Lucienne. Probably, since we were children…”

“Well, but, Claudine…”

“I’ll say it again, Claudine has nothing to do with it. No, to be precise, I liked listening to Claudine’s stories. That’s because I got to hear a lot of your stories while I was in mourning.”

“My…?”

“Oh. When I heard that you intended to mourn for three years, I felt sorry for your parents but was disappointed. At that time, I still didn’t understand why you felt that way, and I was looking forward to hearing about Lucie’s condition from Claudine. When I heard that you had been mourning all the time and that you had started to laugh because you cursed your inability to visit casually, I can’t tell you how relieved I was. And from Claudine’s stories, I believed that you

Lucienne was surprised by the story about Claudine told by Craig.

She was certainly kind while Lucienne was in mourning, but they weren’t that close.

On the contrary, she joyfully recounted how she had a great time with Craig at the palace, and Lucienne felt envious.

“When your mourning period ended and you came to the palace, I was quite pleased.”

“…It didn’t seem that way.”

“Yeah, our first meeting wasn’t very pleasant. Even after that, I was looking forward to hearing your stories, but due to the awkwardness of our first encounter and a bit of rebelliousness—no, it was more the pretentious attitude typical of youth—I couldn’t interact with you honestly. So even when we met again, my pride wouldn’t allow me to show my joy.”

“Even so, you spent all your time with Claudine. You were by her side with a smile I had never seen before…”

Lucienne bit her lip as the jealousy from back then resurfaced, and she ended up speaking words of resentment.

I feel like it’s too late now, but I’m the same way.

Seeing Craig smile at Claudine’s story, I was just jealous and ran away without even trying to join the conversation.

That cowardly feeling is still firmly ingrained in Lucienne’s heart.

I realized that my feelings were more of doubt than joy towards Craig’s sudden confession, and that the guilt was overwhelming.

Since the recent magical surge of Leoldo, Craig has been trying to somehow reach out to Lucienne.

Surely, while Lucienne was bedridden, Craig was tormented by regret after Aman informed him of the hardships during and after the pregnancy.

That thought turned into conviction with Craig’s continued words.

“I heard about how difficult it was for you during your pregnancy… no, I heard that you might have been in life-threatening danger.”

“Did Aman talk about that much?”

Even though I asked Aman, who has done so much for me, to keep it a secret, I can’t help but feel frustrated.

As expected, Craig feels a sense of guilt along with gratitude.

And thinking that he must be desperately trying to improve his relationship with Lucienne for Leoldo’s sake, the inflated hope begins to deflate.

However, before such thoughts could take hold, Craig revealed a shocking fact.

“I haven’t heard anything about Lucienne’s pregnancy from Aman. It was Leoldo who told me.”

“Huh? No, huh? Leoldo?”

Unable to keep up with the understanding, Lucienne gave a vague response.

I thought it might be a joke, but Craig’s face was serious.

Lucienne had been continuously surprised and, in an attempt to calm her overwhelming agitation, took a deep breath.

In the meantime, Craig will wait quietly.

“Your Majesty, please do sit down. It’s difficult to talk like this.”

If it’s a story involving Leoldo, Lucienne can’t hold back either.

In Lucienne’s unprecedented tone, Craig finally stood up and returned to his seat.

Just that was enough to make Lucienne feel a little relieved.

It’s not so much because he’s the emperor, but rather because being so close to Craig makes me inevitably nervous.

(It’s strange, considering I’ve been blessed with Leoldo…)

Thinking that way, Lucienne realized that she had calmed down quite a bit.

Craig is staring intently at Lucienne.

I don’t know exactly what she’s thinking, but it seems she noticed that Lucienne has calmed down.

Taking a deep breath, he began to continue from where he left off.

“I was surprised too, but while you were bedridden Leoldo talked to me. Not only is Leoldo’s magical power strong, but he’s also quite intelligent. To be honest, it’s to the point where it worries me.”

“Yes, I think so too. More childlike… No, perhaps saying ‘childlike’ is my imposition, but still, I want them to spend more time freely now. They can study later, but I hope they can gain a lot of experiences through little play and new discoveries in nature.”

Seeing Lucienne suddenly become talkative when it came to Leoldo, Craig couldn’t help but smile wryly.

With that smile, Lucienne comes to her senses.

“Sorry. I talked too much.”

“No, that’s not true. I want to hear more about what you have to say, whether it’s about Leoldo or something else. But for now, we should properly talk about Leoldo.”

“……Yes”

Lucienne felt embarrassed, but she was also happy that Craig had said once again, “I want to listen to you.”

I want to laugh at how simple-minded I am, but right now, it’s an important conversation about Leoldo.

“Sorry for digressing, but does Leoldo have memories of being in my womb? Not only memories, but also an understanding of that time?”

“Ah. I couldn’t believe it either, but Leoldo said, ‘I tried my best not to take your magic away.’ It seems he also heard Aman saying that it would be better to give up on Leoldo.”

“Such a thing…”

“However, it seems that you thought it was only natural, or even that you wanted it that way. But you refused. You wanted them to prioritize the child in your womb over yourself. And Aman desperately helped you. I don’t know how much I should thank Aman… Yet, out of jealousy, I ended up being cold to her as well.”

“Huh…?”

Lucienne, who had been listening to what Leoldo said through Craig, almost missed it for a moment.

However, Craig called Aman “she.”

To the surprised Lucienne, Craig raised the corners of his lips in a self-deprecating manner.

“Because I was so aggressive towards Aman, she realized I was jealous and told me her gender. She had been pretending to be a man so that she wouldn’t be criticized by society for being a woman doctor.”

“Up to that point…”

“Aman probably didn’t trust me. It was to clear up the misunderstanding about you. Leoldo probably spoke to make me correct my unreasonable attitude towards you. That’s all—I’m so foolish that everyone has to reveal their secrets.”

At Craig’s words, Lucienne silently shook her head in denial.

If you say it’s foolish, then Lucienne is the biggest fool of all.

I didn’t even have the courage to confess my feelings for Craig, I was just jealous of Claudine, and I was just waiting to be chosen. Even after getting married, I was still passive and didn’t take any initiative.

Even when I was pregnant with Leoldo, I was so overwhelmed by my own suffering and endurance that I never even considered the possibility of Craig being hurt when he learned the truth.

On the contrary, even Leoldo was getting hurt.

It was all to protect my foolish pride.

“I… I believe in Your Majesty—no, I believe in Craig.”

“Lucienne…?”

“I… I was afraid of getting hurt, so I couldn’t trust Craig. It was also because of my foolish pride.”

When Lucienne honestly expressed her current feelings, Craig seemed bewildered.

I don’t even know where the feelings of “like” that I once suppressed and gave up on have gone.

Even so, Lucienne looked at Craig with a strong determination, resolved not to run away anymore and to honestly convey her feelings from now on.