The Mistress Runs Away

“stop stealing my translations and credit me properly” 

It was a beautiful, sunny day with not a cloud in the sky. The waves were calm, and the wind was refreshing. In the wide crystal clear lake, there was a single boat.

Rowena was alone with Killian on the wide boat. They had a variety of sandwiches, fruits, and fresh flowers.

To anyone who looked at them, they looked like lovers on a cozy date. It was a scene she had only dreamed of during her three years as his mistress.

Rowena wished she could see inside the head of the man who was paddling the oars in front of her, just like how she had seen him again in the falling old building.

It had been a month since she came to this place. It was funny how every night she tossed and turned in her sleep, breathlessly expecting the connecting door to open. Still, he never once came into the bedroom, let alone held her. And that wasn’t all. Every day, he would have lunch with her and ask her about her daily life.

When he had abandoned her so cruelly five years ago, she had never been able to understand him. Now, after he had forced her to come to the castle, she couldn’t fathom how he could act as a gentle lover.

“Rowena.”

Killian reached to her as she took a bite of her scone.

She closed her eyes at the sudden action before licking the crumbs from her mouth. Rowena turned her head to the side as her red tongue was revealed. Killian looked at her refusing to face him and suddenly said.

“I’ve got something for you when you get back inside.”

“A present? You’ve already given me enough…”

Frankly, It was more than enough; by this point, it was overflowing! She thought of all the luxurious things that Killian prepared when she did not even want them.

“I really don’t need it.”

“…….”

“If anything, I would rather meet with Damian more.”

Damian, Damian, Damian.

A name he would rather forget, but she keeps bringing it up to him again and again. He slowly closed and opened his eyes again and answered softly.

“I think I’ve given you enough freedom.”

“You only allowed me to see my child at certain times.”

“So?  Are you saying you want to stay with him all day? In my castle?”

The quiet sarcasm chilled the otherwise calm and peaceful atmosphere. Rowena spoke earnestly to Killian, who had revealed his true nature for the first time in a while. Her confident tone was somehow mixed with a plea.

“I’m grateful that you allowed me to spend some more time with him. But, my Duke. Damian is still very young. He needs to be taken care of by his mother.”

“There are two nannies, you know. There is also a maid on standby at all times.”

“No one cares for a baby more than a mother. The same goes for young children.”

“I have a different opinion.”

Rowena seemed to be talking to a wall, as no matter how much she tried to sound convincing, he wouldn’t bat an eye.

They were sitting facing each other, but it was as if they stood on parallel lines that would never meet, nor touch. If anything, she was the normal one; what wasn’t normal was the man in front of her.

This was the man who had abandoned her so cruelly five years ago, yet had come to see her as if nothing had happened. He suggested that she become his mistress again, throwing all sorts of insults at her, and now he suddenly wanted to be friends. But whenever she brought up her son, the man acted like a snake whose tail had been stepped on…

Rowena took a deep breath in utter frustration.

“He’s my everything.”

The hardest time, the most unbearable time.

He was the gift that made her days of wanting to die bearable. She held him in her womb for ten months and raised him for another five years.

She remembered the moment he first started crying, the moment he took his first steps, and when he called her “mom” for the first time.

Everything was extraordinary, and every moment was with happiness beyond belief.

“He’s my…”

As she spoke, her heart clenched at the feeling that came over her. Rowena covered her heated face with both hands. She tried to calm herself down, but something lingering in her chest began to well up.

Her eyes went completely dark, and she ran out of breath.

“Rowena.”

“…”

“Rowena.”

Killian extended his arm to Rowena, whose shoulders began to shudder.

Guilt, sadness, anger. Unlike her, who was swept away by every emotion, he sounded calm.

When she tried to shake him off, he brushed her ear with his thumb. Brought to you by your one and only The way he approaches her like this–it was a habit that surprisedleila her back when she initially became his mistress for the first time.

He was a man who did whatever she wanted but never said the words ‘I love you’ to her. But in times like this, she sometimes had the illusion that she was loved.

Rowena stiffened like a rabbit caught in a trap. He wrapped his hands around her neck and leaned back. She froze in place while his hands made their way around her waist.

“Calm down.”

Killian buried her face in his chest as he spoke softly. It was as if he was soothing a young child. He stroked her blond hair until her breathing stabilized.

After some time, she finally stopped trembling. Rowena had to face reality. Killian Devonshire was a man who, when confronted forcefully, would thoroughly destroy his opponent.

And if it took her to throw away her pride, she was willing to do so for the sake of protecting Damian. No, she had no dignity or pride to begin with, so she had to act smart.

“If I behave, the child… Will you allow me to see him more?”

“…”

He lifted her head slowly, and with a soft grip on her chin, Rowena relaxed a bit as she expected him to be more understanding towards her. 

Her eyelashes, covered in tears, flickered pitifully like a butterfly’s wings. Underneath the thin woman’s figure was a stern mother trying to protect her child. Wiping away the tears with his fingertips, Killian withdrew his hand.

“Let’s go back to the castle. I have a present waiting for you.”

It was a blunt rejection and a dismissive remark. Rowena bit her lower lip instead of responding.