"Cressida..."

I gasped when I heard his voice. That can't be, I must be imagining things, there is no way that he's here...

"Wife..."

But this time, I'm sure that it is not me imagining things anymore.

Slowly, I turn around. And there he is, my ex-husband, and the father of the child that I'm carrying inside me.

"W-What is the Duke doing here?" I tried not to tremble but it's no use. I don't know his purpose, he might have come to kill me when he found out that I was pregnant?

"No, you should go back to the Empire, this is not somewhere you should be. And please tell those men to unsheathe their swords---"

"Let's go home..."

My eyes widened the moment he said those words.

"What?"

"Let's go home... Cressida, everyone has been looking for you. Your sister has given birth and she wanted you to come back too."

I shook my head.

"No, I can not go back... I am of commoner status right now. I am nothing but a shame when I come back to the Empire."

"Says who? If anyone dared to insult you, in the name of Bizeviron, I will gladly cut their tongue off."

I tightly closed my eyes "Please go now, Your Grace..."

No one dared to speak. I also noticed that no one was around us anymore. I panicked when Mrs. Guila and Mr. Arya were nowhere to be seen.

I was about to look for them when Regan spoke.

"How could I leave you here when you're carrying my child..."

I looked at him and saw that he was staring at my belly. Unconsciously, I wrapped my hands around it and turn sideways.

"This is not Your Grace's child. This child is mine alone the moment I passed my letter of approval to the temple."

I can see how his hands bleed because of how tight his grip is.

"What should I do to make you come back home?" I raised my eyebrow at him. I heave a sigh before looking at him.

"There is nothing you can do. I am already a commoner and you should mind yourself because you're a noble. I am also no longer your wife."

He stepped forward, it caught me off guard so I started to step backward. But he was so quick that I didn't notice that he was already holding my wrist.

"I'm taking you home..."

My heart thumped so hard in my chest. Before I knew it, Regan stepped away the moment something struck him and a white barrier surrounded me.

I saw that the hand that held my wrist was badly injured.

"I-I didn't mean to do it---"

"It's not you. It's because of the contract..."

The contract? Does he mean the contract papers that we agreed on?

Third, if ever I bear a child which is impossible. Promise me that you will never meddle with our lives, by that time both of us are already divorced anyways.

That's right, I included that in my conditions on the contract...

"Now, I am being protected by the contract that we have agreed on. It's better if you go---"

I dropped my cape, as I stared at Regan. He's forcing his way inside of the barrier, his arms are being struck by something from the barrier.

"Stop it! You're getting hurt!"

"If getting hurt is the way to have you again... I'd gladly hurt myself." He continued advancing even though it does nothing but harm his arms.

"I told you that I will never go---"

"Please..."

His arms are now bleeding, if this continues, his arms would break at any moment...

"Please forgive me already... Please come back with me, please I'm begging you wife..."

A small wave force came from the barrier that it made Regan stumble backward. He lost his balance and that made him lie on the ground.

"Regan!"

I quickly ran to his side to check if he was okay. Scanning his body, it seems like his arms are in a terrible state.

"W-What should we do, you're injured." I panicked, wondering how I'll leave him here to get some help.

"Don't cry..."

He said as he raise his hand to touch my face, he wipes the tears on my face, and then he gently smiled at me.

"Can... Can you come back with me? Calix missed you so much already. He was always crying. I'm afraid that he'll no longer be the child that we used to know."

Calix... I promised to be a good mother to him...

"You know that I can't."

"You can, I never passed the contract Cressida. All these months it was in my office drawer, the temple has been looking for it to validate our divorce contract but I refused."

What? But...

"So the letter you sent was invalid without our contract papers. You were never stripped off of your title and you're never demoted into a commoner..."

He sits up and he held my hands in his.

"You're still my wife... Cressida Ophelia Bizeviron."

I was in a daze, but then I noticed his face getting closer to mine. It was inevitable that I'd also like to do this with him.

I closed my eyes as I let his lips meet mine. A tear escaped from my left eye as I feel my heart thumping so loudly in my chest.

It's like the time in the greenhouse when he sucked my finger. I knew that everything will change if my heart beat the wrong way.

We exchange kisses for quite a while when I broke from the kiss because of the lack of air. Instead of moving away from me, he went for the crook of my neck, and then he rests there.

I flinched when I felt him touching my belly, gently rubbing it.

"I never thought that I'd have two when I was just looking for one." He muttered.

"Maybe this little one is the reason why I don't want to stop looking for you when I kept convincing myself to let you go."

"The first time I saw you after 5 and a half months, I don't know what to feel. And then when I saw that you're heavy with my child, my heart ached. I asked myself if I was a man, how could I let my wife and child suffer like this."

I felt wet on my neck, Regan is crying.

"How can you be so sure that this is your child and not someone else's?"

"I can see my divine power inside you. The child bears similar mana to mine, so it's mine."

I sighed.

"Where is the barrier that keeps you away from me?"

"It broke off the moment you thought that you can't bear to see me hurting because of that barrier."

I sighed again.

"Ah!" I slightly yelp.

Regan got alarmed and looked at me.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, it's just the baby kicked."

This is the first time that Derrick kicked inside of me, he was usually quiet the whole months that I carried him.

"Where?"

I held his hands and put them on top of the place where Derrick kicked. We waited for a while and then the child kicked again earning a little yelp from me.

"Oh stop, it hurts," I said.

Looking at his hands on top of my belly, I noticed that his almost broken arms are healed.

"They healed."

He looked at his arms and smiled "Yeah, I used divine power."

I sighed and tried to get up, He helped me and supported my waist. I almost stumbled back when I felt dizzy all of a sudden.

"Are you okay?" Regan worriedly asked.

"No, it's time for me to sleep that's why I'm drowsy and dizzy."

He crouched before scooping me in his embrace. "Sleep." Although I don't want to, my eyes gave away.

The last thing that I heard before drifting to sleep was Regan's words...

"Thank you for coming back, I love you, My Wife..."

April 11, 2022