Lucia

(1)

The Queen gave birth to a baby girl. Hugo heard of the princess’ birth while he was with the King. When Kwiz heard that a princess was born, he was greatly delighted.

“Hahaha! A princess?”

It was not a fake mask; Kwiz was truly delighted. Hugo had heard the King say in passing, several times, that he wanted a baby girl. Hugo just let it pass since it wasn’t any of his concern but seeing Kwiz’s vivid delight made him feel strange. Kwiz already had three sons, so Hugo didn’t know why having one more child was making him so excited.

“Gong, isn’t it time to hear news from you too?”[1]

“…Not yet.”

“Think about it, a daughter that resembles the Duchess whom you treasure so much. Well, this King has to go see the Princess. A princess, huh. It’s a princess.”

The King cancelled the rest of his afternoon schedule, so Hugo was on the way home, earlier than usual. Inside of the carriage, Hugo gave a long sigh. News of the princess’ birth would soon reach his wife.

The sight of his wife being unable to take her gaze off the Queen protruding stomach still floated in his mind.

[If someone knowing your secret will bring you pain, you don’t need to tell anyone.]

Looking back on it, she showed unconditional understanding. She didn’t ask for the exact reason why Hugo didn’t want a child, she just accepted it.

[…But the secret could cause you pain.]

[If that happens, I’ll cling to you for answers.][2]

His wife lied. No matter how much pain his secret caused her, she was the type to swallow it down alone, and never cling to him for an answer.

‘I have to…tell her.’

When he got home, his wife was out. The tea party she said that she would be attending today was not yet over. After asking Jerome to notify him when his wife returned, he went into his office. Not long after, he heard that his wife had returned and went out to meet her.

“How come you’re here?”

Lucia was happy as if she had received an unexpected gift. She smiled brightly and nestled into his arms.

“Was the tea party fun?”

“It was a little enjoyable.”

Hugo wrapped an arm around her waist and they engaged in light banter as they went up to the second floor.

“Why are you back early today?”

Lucia entered the receiving room, following his lead, and sat down on the sofa.

“You will hear the news soon. A princess was born.”

“Oh my, that’s great. Princess Katherine mentioned quite a few times that she wanted the baby to be a girl.”

And every time, Lucia answered Katherine with, ‘it will be a beautiful princess.’ Katherine thought she was just saying it out of courtesy, but Lucia already knew that a princess would be born.

“His Majesty was also happy.”

Hugo grew quiet and the conversation went dead momentarily. Seeing him this way, Lucia could feel that there was something difficult for him to get out, and a worry emerged in her mind.

“Nothing happened to Damian, right?” (Lucia)

“…Why Damian, all of a sudden?” (Hugo)

“I think because we were talking about a newborn baby, my mind went to Damian.”

“The boy is fine. Nothing will happen to him.”

“It’s alright if he’s fine. Why do you get skittish when I bring Damian up?”

“What? Skittish?”

“You’re the child’s father, don’t try to fight a battle of nerves with your son.”[3]

“I’m not fighting a battle of nerves…Sigh. Yes, yes. I’m sorry that I’m small-minded.”

Lucia laughed, cupped his face with both hands and gave him a light peck on the lips.

“It’s fine even if you’re small-minded. I love you.”

“…Shouldn’t you tell me I’m not small-minded?”

“Actually, there’re sometimes when your small-mindedness…”

Lucia paused, sending him a strange gaze and seeing his sour face, she burst into laughter.

“…I think you’ve changed.”

“What?”

The more time passed, the more Hugo was drawn to her. For a while, he gazed at his wife as she tilted her head at him.

No matter how one looked at it, his wife was smaller and weaker than him. However, on the contrary, he was in the weaker position and the one playing to his wife’s mood. But the biggest problem was that, it didn’t feel bad at all.

Hugo brought his head forward and gave her a short kiss. Her eyes widened into circles and her eyes curved beautifully as she smiled. Her smiling visage was so pretty that he couldn’t help but kiss her a few more times.

Even as they talked about the newly born princess, his wife looked to be in a good mood. Her bright smile was the opposite of his worries and made his cheer up.

“Speaking of a baby.” (Hugo)

“The newborn princess?” (Lucia)

“No. Our baby.” (Hugo)

Lucia doubted her ears. She could not believe the expression, ‘our baby’ came from his mouth. Her heart thumped loudly. Lucia swallowed a nervous breath; her expression was glassy as if it would crack at the slightest touch.

“I told you a long time ago, that I have a secret I cannot tell anyone.” (Hugo)

“…Yes.” (Lucia)

“I still can’t tell you everything about it. But I think you should know some of it.”

And then Hugo went silent. It was Lucia’s first time seeing him finding it hard to say something. Lucia was about to say, ‘You don’t have to say it’. And at that moment, he opened his mouth and began to speak in solemn tone.

“I cannot give you a child. The Taran family is a cursed family.”

Translator’s Corner:

[1] As explained before, get/hear news is about pregnancy.

[2] I previously translated this as I’ll turn to you. In a way, they mean the same thing but this fits better, context wise.

[3] AKA, psychological warfare.