His family (8)
TW: internalized ableism
He sighed deeply and looked back at Ivan. “Ivan.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Bring Her Highness to Cadis Castle. She’ll be leaving early tomorrow, so get ready.”
“I’ll take your orders…”
“What in the world is that command?!” Ingrid shouted again. She paused as she tried to narrow the distance toward Vlad. It was an instant.
Lily, who was frozen outside this bloody storm, looked at Ingrid. Ingrid’s face was filled with a clear fear. She looked at her husband, again.
His eyes were red. The bright red eyes that seemed to soak up blood after killing something.
Vlad spoke very slowly, “Go when I order now, Your Highness.”
“….”
“Don’t forget that the only reason you can leave now alive is thanks to the child you wanted to kill as soon as you gave birth. I am not afraid of war with anyone.”
The whole air was heavy, as if trapped in bricks. There was only one person moving his body, Vlad. He turned to Lily.
“Come here too, Lily.”
It was still gloomy, but the tone was quite different from when he was dealing with the princess. Lily nodded hastily and moved. As she took a couple of steps towards her husband, she suddenly looked back at her Ingrid.
Ingrid kept her mouth shut, breathing like an angry dog. She seemed to be angered by her helplessness.
A lot of… it must have been hard.
Even so, he was a child born after being in her stomach for ten months. She wanted to kill her own child with her own hands. Despite her cruel nature, or any human being’s, there was no way that a woman would be able to do that without reservations. At least Lily thought so.
Ingrid made a popping sound through her lips to see if her feelings for Lily had been conveyed. She groaned without realizing it. “If it wasn’t for your husband, it wouldn’t have been this hard, you commoner.”
Lily looked like she was about to get hiccups. She didn’t know if she was serious or if she was trying to come up with an excuse because she didn’t want to admit that she had been used.
“Everything has been messed up by your husband’s useless fuss. It is said that such people are gathered in the territory. Was it even meant to bear their sins of being hated by God alone?” Ingrid snorted.
Lily’s eyes, which had stopped between Vlad and her, wandered frantically through the air.
“Then. Do you mean that you will carry the sins of my son on your back and fall into hell, Vladislav de Winter?”
“A sin.” Vlad sighed through his teeth. Something that he had been putting up with eventually spilled over the dam that had burst. His low voice swelled like molten iron, “What sin does the child have, other than that he was born, Your Highness?”
Lily paused. Anger could not be easily heard in his voice. A loophole in an iron mask-like expression.
Was he like Ingrid, who forcibly took everyone who came, and eventually incurred tragedy?
Her chest shriveled like a wrinkled piece of paper.
Yes, she shouldn’t have met with Princess Ingrid. If so, he wouldn’t have had to look at her like that.
What he posed was, apparently, a question that could not be answered no matter what he did now. There was no one left on this earth who could give the answer.
Time passed. She accelerated and walked over to Vlad. She stood between Ingrid and her husband. “Vlad. Let’s go now. Come back and talk.”
“Then should I have raised him in the Imperial Palace? I know exactly what will happen to me! Even if I die and remain in history, he will be my fault forever. He was born with such a body! And how would that child live? He would have been more miserable living, Vladislav de Winter. Just like you!” Ingrid raised her index finger and pointed directly at Vlad.
Lily stopped abruptly.
“Commoner. It seems that your husband is sympathizing with my child. Isn’t this so fun? Don’t look at me like you do to your mother, Duke. I will surely seize the throne so that my children may enjoy the light. Unlike your beastly mother.”
At this moment, Ingrid had only one purpose. She had to defeat Vlad now.
“My children will not be like that. Just like you, who grew up surrounded by misfortunes from the moment they were born and ended up being completely ruined. Even if you had gathered things similar to my palace in the whole territory to give you a handful of comfort, you are nothing!”
“Please stop it!” Lily raised her voice.
Even the princess looked at her, startled by her unprecedented shout.
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