Ch.56Successor (2)

“Ugh… really…”

About an hour later, Chloe, having finally ended her squabble with her brother, walks down the hallway complaining about being teased.

Of course, while her mouth is complaining, her expression shows nothing but a blissful smile.

“…”

Even those complaints soon vanish like mist.

That’s because Chloe is gazing at her left hand, at the ring on her left ring finger.

Forgetting to speak, Chloe’s eyes become enchanted as she carefully examines the ring.

Her brother had told her before that a ring on the left ring finger symbolizes a marriage relationship.

She hadn’t known about this cultural practice before, but if her brother said so, it must be true. He had never been wrong.

“Hee, heehee… heeheeheehee…”

Ugh… I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t make such vulgar laughing sounds… but the more I look at the ring, the more my lips keep curling upward.

Whether this ring exists or not, the relationship between my brother and me will never change, but having tangible proof makes me feel so good.

Well… I guess it’s okay to smile. This is the corridor leading to the luxury bathroom, where there’s hardly anyone around, and it’s evening when everyone has finished work. There shouldn’t be anyone here.

No, actually, it would be strange not to be happy after receiving something like this.

“Hehee… heheeeee—”

*Clank—!*

“—eep!?”

Just as Chloe was about to indulge in her joy through self-hypnosis, the sound of a door interrupts her.

Startled, Chloe flinches and stands at attention, accidentally biting her tongue in the process.

Chloe bit her tongue rather hard and is in considerable pain, but since someone is clearly present, she can’t show any sign of discomfort.

Only a scream of “Aaaah…” remains trapped in her mouth, unable to escape her lips.

“Ugh… oww…”

“…What are you doing?”

Ines, the person who opened the bathroom door, looks with bewilderment at Chloe, whose lips are trembling and shoulders are shaking. Chloe, not wanting to show weakness to Ines—the only person she considers a rival—tries even harder to endure the pain.

“N-nothing… at aww…”

Trying to act nonchalant, Chloe stretches out her hand and forces her bitten, painful tongue to move and speak. Naturally, her pronunciation is off.

“…”

Chloe’s efforts backfire.

With her pronunciation slurred like a child’s, Chloe doesn’t look composed at all—just cute—and seeing this, Ines’s expression moves beyond bewilderment to disgust.

An ordinary man would have found Chloe extremely adorable, but Ines is a woman, and moreover, she and Chloe are on very bad terms. Ines simply cannot view Chloe’s childish behavior in a positive light.

“Are you joking—huh?”

Ines, who was about to snap at Chloe, notices something sparkling on Chloe’s outstretched hand and closes her mouth.

She had no choice but to close it. The ring on Chloe’s left ring finger looked similar to the one on her own left ring finger.

“…What’s that ring?”

“Ow… thith? What ith it? Hehe…”

Chloe, still in pain, realizes that Ines has noticed her ring and forces a smile despite her aching tongue.

Chloe makes a fist with her left hand and extends it forward to highlight the ring, while Ines squints at it.

“…The gold, silver, and that gem—the materials are exactly the same.”

Ines immediately grasps the meaning of Chloe’s ring.

Though not identical, the design is similar, the materials are exactly the same, and the position—the left ring finger—is the same.

“Isn’t it beautiful? Brother gave it to me.”

“Hmmmm…”

Ines’s eyes instantly fill with murderous intent. But that intent is not directed at Chloe.

‘If Chloe received that ring… haaa…’

According to her husband, that ring symbolizes a marriage relationship.

Does that mean that after me, he intends to treat Chloe as a “legitimate wife” too?

How… how can there be two legitimate wives? Obviously, I should be the only legitimate wife, and she should be a concubine. That’s why I let her live, isn’t it?

‘Husband… I’ll need to teach you a lesson.’

Of course, society will still view me as the legitimate wife, but it’s still unpleasant.

I’ll have to punish him a little later.

If I hadn’t realized this… I might have done something to Chloe beyond just feeling upset. That would have been bad.

*Stroke—*

“…?”

Ines strokes her lower abdomen to calm her anger, and Chloe stares at her strange behavior with confusion.

According to my plan, based on what I know of her character, she should be going crazy and throwing a fit… This is beyond strange—it’s bizarre.

“Well, congratulations.”

“…What’s with you?”

Ines calmly, flatly offers congratulations to Chloe, who becomes even more confused.

This woman doesn’t have the character to congratulate me.

Moreover, there’s no one else around, so she has no reason to put on a fake act. She should be cursing me, not congratulating—huh?

‘Why is she touching her stomach…?’

Scanning Ines’s condition quickly with confused eyes, Chloe detects something strange.

Why is she touching her stomach? In all her observations of Ines, she had never seen her make such a gesture.

Above all, what’s most concerning is that expression.

She’s making an expression as if she’s not just an adult but someone freed from all negative emotions. No, rather than an adult, it’s more like a mother’s—wait, what?

“No… way…”

“Oh? You figured it out?”

Seeing Chloe’s expression instantly fill with despair, Ines smiles brightly like a blooming flower.

But Chloe feels no beauty in that sight at all.

“Well then, enjoy your bath. I have something important to tell our husband.”

“Ah, ah…”

Ines passes by Chloe, who moves stiffly like a wooden puppet.

Chloe can’t do anything.

She briefly considered striking Ines’s stomach hard right there, but what’s inside Ines’s stomach is half her brother’s too.

Chloe can only stare blankly at Ines’s back.

……….

“…”

Chloe sits dazed in the bathtub.

She’s not in the mood for a bath, but she’s forcing herself to wash because Jeanne’s words were too shocking.

“Haaaa…”

Well, she had expected Ines to get pregnant first.

After all, Ines had been intimate with her brother about three weeks before she had.

But… no matter how much she had anticipated it, the shock remains unchanged.

“What should I do now…”

I wish I could have given birth first.

Even if I lost the first time, I wanted to have the firstborn.

“Aaaahhhh…”

She simply can’t think of what to do.

Harm the child? Half of that child is her brother’s, so she couldn’t possibly do such a thing.

*Bubble bubble bubble—*

With her mind in turmoil, Chloe lowers herself until only her mouth is submerged in the bathwater.

Chloe’s sighs turn into bubbles that pop on the surface.

Water droplets splash into her eyes, but Chloe is so focused that she doesn’t even notice.

‘Today I received a ring from brother… it should be a happy day… why is this happen—’

*Flinch—*

‘—!?’

Chloe’s thoughts vanish instantly.

A feeling of nausea, like stomach acid reflux, overwhelms her, washing away all other thoughts.

“Urgh…!”

*Drip— drip—*

Chloe sticks her head out of the bathtub, opens her mouth, and dry heaves. Very thin saliva sprays from her mouth, dripping onto the floor.

“Wh-what’s going—”

*Flinch—*

“—urp…!”

Before Chloe can grasp the situation, she continues to dry heave. It’s extremely painful, as if her insides are being turned inside out.

No matter how much she dry heaves, only thin saliva comes out, with no actual contents.

“Haa… haaaa…”

*Drip— drip—*

About a minute later, when the dry heaving finally stops, Chloe slumps forward against the bathtub.

Thin saliva still drips from her mouth, which remains open, but Chloe can’t pay any attention to it. Her mind is dominated by speculation about why this is happening.

‘Did I… eat something bad? But I haven’t even eaten yet…’

She skipped dinner and came to bathe because someone said she smelled, so it can’t be that she ate something bad.

Is it because of too much stress? But this kind of nausea is something she’s never felt before.

What could it—

*Thump—*

“…Oh.”

As she continuously searches for a reason, Chloe suddenly recalls Ines’s image.

The image of Ines from just moments ago, looking at her triumphantly while stroking her lower abdomen.

Chloe’s trembling left hand moves toward her own lower abdomen.

*Stroke—*

“Ah, aah…”

As she strokes her lower abdomen, Chloe finally understands the reason for her nausea—not through reason, but through instinct.

The trembling that started in her hand spreads through her arm and shoulder, eventually reaching her entire body.

Her brain, flooded with endorphins, trembles with pleasurable sensations, and having found the reason for her dry heaving, Chloe is overcome with endless satisfaction.

There’s still a slight feeling of nausea, but pleasure, satisfaction, and happiness completely cover and eliminate that nausea.

Today is… truly a happy day.