WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Malfoid

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Fragments of Thorns and a Cradle ◈

Chapter 21

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Content Warning: domestic abuse; physical violence; threats of violence.

Lucrezia watched her husband.

Nothing had happened that should have made him this angry. As far as she knew, Agnes had not opened her legs to anyone but Randolph. A few bouquets and wreaths were only proof of the love Agnes felt.

"I'll kill him. I'll flay him alive and pull out his guts..."

"Stop."

Randolph turned from the crushed blue flowers, his breathing harsh.

His eyes were murderous as they met Lucrezia's.

They were not the eyes of a husband looking at his wife. Nor were they the eyes of a man looking at a woman.

Lucrezia was used to those eyes.

Even when Randolph took her in his arms, he never looked at her as a woman. That was why she had not been a woman to him even that night.

But she had never been hurt by it.

She had not married him because she wanted to be desired by him. If he had felt romantic affection for her, it would have made her far more uncomfortable. She might have reconsidered the marriage entirely.

Despite having a lover, Lucrezia could not bear the baseless love of a man she did not love.

So it did not matter.

That night, Randolph had needed to conceive a child in her womb, so he had forced his body to comply. He had entered her because he had needed to finish the act.

But that event seemed to have been terribly painful for Agnes.

Lucrezia could not understand Agnes.

Apart from not understanding Randolph, Agnes was also incomprehensible to her. Troublesome and inconvenient.

Yet San Arzok could only function properly if Agnes remained. Agnes held Randolph's reins.

Only Agnes could bring the mad Randolph back to normal.

At least until Endymion was old enough to lead the family, Agnes had to remain here.

After that...

Once Endymion had grown up, Lucrezia did not care what happened. Whether Agnes remained tied to Randolph or vanished wherever her feet took her had nothing to do with Lucrezia.

Still, Agnes was pitiable.

Not understanding her did not mean Lucrezia did not feel sorry for her. Agnes was gentle, soft, and did not know malice. There were few people like that in the world.

Lucrezia had known from their first meeting that Agnes was a pitiable child.

Agnes felt affection and admiration for Lucrezia, but also jealousy. Lucrezia knew that.

Agnes had suffered endlessly over what she could not possess, then seemed to stabilize after having a child.

If Randolph had been a better person, if he had possessed even an ordinary human character, Agnes might have been happy.

Then perhaps none of them would have been unhappy.

Lucrezia thought of Agnes's dead child.

It was sad that he had died. But Endymion had to come first, and that was natural.

Regardless of Randolph favoring Endymion over Agnes's child, he had no choice but to devote himself to Endymion's illness. Lucian's death was tragic, but Agnes needed to understand that the legitimate heir would be prioritized.

But...

"This fucking..."

Randolph shook as he breathed harshly.

Randolph believed Agnes's heart had completely left him after Lucian died.

Lucrezia saw it differently.

She believed their relationship began failing when Randolph married her.

And she believed that happened because Randolph had made Agnes forget her place.

"What have you been hovering around to say?"

His question was as cold as frost.

Lucrezia did not look startled.

"I'm upset about the furniture you destroyed. My father gave all of it as wedding gifts."

"Ha."

Randolph laughed as though stunned.

"Come to your senses, Randolph."

"Shut up and get out. Go suck that Turkis bastard's cock."

He sneered.

"Ah. Maybe you cannot do it with your mouth now that you have a child in your belly."

Lucrezia's brow twitched.

Randolph laughed, his shoulders shaking.

Lucrezia bit her lip hard to avoid rising to the bait.

For all that he was like this, Randolph had even found her a villa where she could rest comfortably during her pregnancy. He had said that if she did not wish to stay, she could return to her family home to give birth.

He was helping her avoid gossip and public attention.

The child would not be raised in San Arzok, but at least would not be neglected like Agnes's child. The unborn child had a father more reliable and caring than the marquess. Lucrezia loved the child too, so it would grow up in much greater comfort and affection than Agnes's child had.

"Get out."

A chill passed through her as though a bitter wind had blown.

"...Do not forget that Agnes is pregnant."

"Do not talk about my woman. I never gave you permission."

Randolph shook his head.

Lucrezia turned away.

Being insulted was not the issue. He was too mad for reason to reach him.

Randolph looked away from the woman leaving his study.

Betrayal hurt too much.

He could not believe that something he had only seen in dreams had happened in reality.

How could Agnes love another man?

How far had she gone with him? He was only a gardener. Could she have been charmed by such a man and smiled in a way Randolph had never seen?

He could not breathe.

His chest hurt as though it were burning. He clutched beneath his breastbone and screamed.

Had he ever been so furious? Had he ever raged so wildly?

"Hah... hah..."

His knees buckled, and he braced himself against the floor.

His business was not failing. He had not suffered a crushing defeat in war. On the contrary, the family enterprise was rising exactly as planned.

Yet this was only about a female slave.

"It is difficult to say she has betrayed you. As for whether she has given her heart... there are still things that must be confirmed."

Were they speaking of her body?

Because there was no evidence that she had slept with the gardener, he was supposed to let it go?

"Ha ha."

His face twisted.

The thought made him laugh. He wanted to drive a sword into the stomach of the man who called such words counsel.

"Bring Agnes to me."

He called to a servant outside the study.

The servant bowed deeply and left.

Randolph looked down at the back of his bloodied hand. It had been gouged raw, and it was still shaking.

Agnes was bound.

Whenever she turned or tried to rise, chains clinked around her neck.

She looked down at them and watched dawn break.

San Arzok was still quiet.

For reasons she did not know, Randolph had tied her to the bedpost like a dog and not returned.

Lucrezia remained as quiet as ever. The people of the castle looked away from all that happened to Agnes.

It was a day when it would not have been strange for her to die.

Creak.

Agnes listened to the bedroom door opening.

It was not Randolph.

She did not rise. Instead, she closed her eyes.

Soon, a small hand tapped her.

"Eat."

Agnes opened her eyes.

The young son of the marquess and Lucrezia stood before her.

Perhaps he knew that a pregnant woman had not been given anything all day. He held a small tray.

Her eyes went to it.

A wooden tray held a bowl of oatmeal and a few pieces of fruit.

"You are carrying a child."

Agnes looked at him.

The angelic child was blurred in the dim dawn light.

"Is it a girl?"

"I don't know."

Agnes shook her head.

The boy did not speak again. His eyes settled on the chain around her neck, like a dog's leash.

Agnes watched him.

He was small and cute now, but once he grew into a man with a thick body, strong enough to go to war like Randolph, he too would have a female slave.

When she did not obey, he would bind her to a bedpost like a dog. When she behaved well, he would kiss her and whisper that he loved her.

Until marriage, he would indulge in a passionate love affair as though it were the only love in the world. Then he would bring in a suitable wife, while the woman he had loved for one season rotted in a back room.

Like Agnes.

Yes. He would live exactly that sort of life.

Her eyes gradually hardened.

"My neck hurts. Could you untie this?"

"No."

"The child in my belly is suffering."

"Still no."

"Young master."

"You betrayed Father."

"I did not betray him."

"You are Father's woman. But you loved another man."

Heat rose to Agnes's face.

She pressed her lips together and glared at the child.

Endymion remained calm.

"Who I love is my own heart."

Endymion did not reply. He watched Agnes without emotion.

"Your father betrayed me too. He acted as though I were everything to him, then married your mother and had you. Do you know how much I cried when your father entered your mother's bridal chamber to make you?"

"..."

"I thought the sky had fallen."

My world held no one but your father. I did not want it to be that way, but my world was filled only with him.

Agnes's tears fell.

She lowered her head because she did not want him to see.

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