6
625words
The original Devereux-Davis marriage alliance had secured my elder brother Arthur a promising future. But now Davis was ruined.
They desperately needed a new powerful connection. The Devereuxs had other children, but I was the daughter.
So I was sacrificed, again.
They thought disobedience could be corrected with a lesson to make me behave.
After all, it had always worked before.
But this time, they'd kicked a steel plate.
I didn't care about public opinion of me, but I couldn't tolerate vicious slander aimed at my unborn child.
A woman might seem weak, but motherhood makes her strong.
Within a day, the malicious gossip vanished from the capital. The instigator, Lord Devereux, found himself behind bars.
The Devereuxs exhausted all connections trying to free him, eventually turning to me.
"Maya, I don't care what you have to do. Get your father out! Or I'll accuse you of unfilial conduct!"
Seeing my brother Arthur hiding behind Lady Devereux, I felt deep disgust.
A useless parasite who only sucked the lifeblood of the women in his family—what hope was there?
Unfortunately, the Devereuxs were blind to it.
After a moment's thought, I agreed.
"Fine. But I have one condition."
"You will leave the capital and retire to the ancestral home. This is the last kindness I offer you for the sake of blood ties."
Seeing their displeasure, I added nonchalantly: "If you refuse... well, Father might just fall ill and pass away in prison."
I knew they would agree.
After all, the Devereux family without Lord Devereux was practically finished.
Finally, the pair slunk away.
Damien, seeing my exhaustion, insisted I stay in bed for days.
I didn't even see the Devereuxs off when they left the capital.
All that lying around made me feel useless.
My belly grew larger, Damien grew busier, and Albert became my constant companion.
As tensions thickened in the capital, worry gnawed at me.
"Is Damien truly alright?"
Albert wrapped an arm around my shoulders, gently stroking my swollen belly, answering earnestly: "He's fine. Everything is prepared; we're just waiting for the fish to bite."
A sudden noise startled me awake. I found Albert by the window.
"What's happening outside?"
He came over, tucking my blanket securely: "Nothing. Sleep peacefully. I'm watching over you."
I grabbed his arm urgently, gritting my teeth against a sharp pain: "No... I think... I'm going into labor."
He scrambled frantically to fetch the midwife.
Giving birth without anesthesia was sheer agony. I felt like every bone was shattering.
Hearing "mother and children are safe," I finally succumbed to exhaustion.
I woke to find Damien and Albert each holding a baby by my bedside.
I blinked: "Two?"
"Yes. A boy and a girl."
Seeing Damien cradling the infant with unexpected tenderness, a stark contrast to his usual self, was surreal.
After much debate, the two men settled the naming rights by drawing lots.
Logical, yet undeniably absurd.
The day before my confinement ended, Damien suddenly proposed. Albert, a step too slow, looked ready to chew nails.
I refused.
Finally free of one cage, I had no desire to enter another.
Besides, accepting one meant rejecting the other unfairly. Bigamy wasn't appealing either.
The master balancer re-emerged.
Seeing his profound disappointment, I countered: "Isn't this arrangement fine?"
"We're together when it suits us, apart when it doesn't. Why insist on binding ourselves?"
Both looked at me like scorned lovers: "So we remain nameless forever?"
I threw up my hands in surrender: "But there's only one of me!"
Their brief alliance shattered instantly.
Cleverly, I tossed the problem back to them.
Watching them play with the babies, I mused they both had surprising daddy potential.
