The Male Lead isn't Following the Script!
Chapter 120: Drunken Talk

Chapter 120: Drunken Talk

As the man turned to lead him away, Everett glanced back at the estate one last time. A pang of uncertainty shot through him, but he pushed it aside. He had made his choice, and there was no turning back now.

"Farewell, Duchess... And Adeline." For him, Dimitri was not worth mentioning. That boy had everything he wished for, he was no better than his father. He wanted power too. A power that no one can dare to question.

This was the right choice, he kept telling himself. The hooded man carefully led him deeper into the forest before they vanished completely.

Everything was slowly settling down after the trial ended. Adeline could finally feel a moment of peace. Now that her mission was over, she didn’t know if she should stay or leave.

Adeline wandered through the dimly lit halls of the mansion, the soft glow of the moon filtering through tall windows casting long shadows across the polished floors. Her steps echoed faintly as she made her way to the Duchess’s study.

She was going to ask her about the etiquette lessons and about the favour she hopefully gained. It might be insensitive to spring this on her at a time like this, but she didn’t have too much time left either.

Edward had already made a move and she must make preparations.

As she approached the heavy oak door, she noticed it was slightly open, which was odd. The Duchess would never do that. She was very particular about her private space.

Adeline was very curious! She would love to get a peek into the Duchess’s study! A study she used to keep locked from her ex-husband too!

But what happened next was completely unexpected! She had to rub her eyes just to confirm what she had just seen.

The Duchess, a paragon of grace and poise during the day, sat slumped at her desk, a glass of wine in one hand and an almost empty bottle beside her.

Her eyes were no longer cold and decisive, they were filled with gloom instead. She never showed weakness once throughout the entire ordeal. But now, she was completely vulnerable.

"Your Grace?" Adeline ventured cautiously, stepping inside.

The woman glanced up at her, her expression unreadable at first. Then she gestured vaguely with her glass. "Come in, child. No need to stand there gawking."

Adeline hesitated before closing the door behind her and stepping closer. "I didn’t mean to intrude. I just... I wanted to ask about my lessons."

The Duchess let out a laugh, the sound startling in its harshness. "Lessons. What good are these lessons? You worry too much, child." She took another sip from her glass, her movements slower than usual. "But what about the lessons life teaches us? The ones no one prepares you for?"

Adeline didn’t know how to respond, so she remained quiet, waiting for the Duchess to continue. And she did.

"Do you know why they call me barren?" the Duchess asked suddenly, her tone was lighter but there was a hint of bitterness and resentment within.

Adeline blinked, caught off guard. "Because... You can’t have children?" She spoke carefully. She didn’t want to hurt the Duchess, she knew that it was something many find hard to deal with.

The Duchess smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. "That’s what they think. That’s what I let them think. It’s easier that way. Imagine the scandal if they knew the truth."

Adeline’s curiosity was off the charts! "The truth?" She asked, but instantly regretted it. She didn’t want to pry and hurt the Duchess. She was already hurting from everything that had transpired.

The Duchess swirled the wine in her glass, staring into its depths as if it held the answers to questions she’d long avoided. "I didn’t want children. Never did. It wasn’t some tragedy of fate or cruel twist of nature... I simply made a choice."

Adeline’s eyes widened, "O- Oh, I see."

The Duchess nodded, her gaze distant. "Yes. But do you know how society would react if they knew? How dare a woman... Especially a Duchess... Not want children? It’s unthinkable. Unforgivable. So, I gave them a story they could accept. A barren Duchess is tragic but excusable. A selfish one? That’s a crime."

Adeline understood what she meant. That was... Exactly what happened to her. Her parents didn’t want her but because of societal pressure, they gave in and had a child.

Sometimes she wished she had never been born. She didn’t ask to be born, she didn’t mean to ruin their life... But they never let her forget that she was the cause of their misery.

Adeline sank into the chair opposite her. She was trying to understand her side, why do people not want children? Although she wasn’t her parents, she would love to know some of the reasons for the sake of closure. "But... Why didn’t you want children?"

The Duchess sighed deeply, setting her glass down and leaning back in her chair. "It’s not that I hated the idea. I just... I never felt it. That instinct, that pull to nurture and to create a life, spend your entire life caring for it..." She trailed off, lost in thought before she looked at Adeline again.

She continued, "It’s something so many women describe as natural, and inevitable. But for me, it wasn’t. I loved being a woman. I loved the beauty, the grace, the power that came with my role. But motherhood? It felt alien. Something that didn’t belong to me."

Adeline was slowly understanding the Duchess, yes, she was the epitome of femininity, people associate motherhood and nurturing qualities with femininity... But the Duchess didn’t want any of that, she felt like she didn’t fit in.

"I think I understand... Your Grace. At the end of the day, it is your choice, you shouldn’t worry." Adeline earnestly tried to make the Duchess feel better.

She heard a hiccup from the Duchess that made her flinch.

The Duchess gave a rueful smile. "Sometimes, I couldn’t help but feel... Guilty. I’m human, after all. Society whispers in your ear from the moment you’re born that motherhood is the pinnacle of womanhood. To reject it feels like rejecting your very nature. And then there’s the Duke..."

She sighed and picked up the bottle to drink whatever was left of it. Adeline wanted to stop her but she was too quick. Gulp after gulp, the bottle was soon empty. It fell on the desk making a sharp noise.

Because of the high quality, it didn’t immediately shatter on impact.

The Duchess stared into the shadows, her voice growing softer. "When I met him, he wasn’t the man you saw during the trial. He was kind. Gentle. Ambitious, yes, but with a heart. He loved me, or at least I thought he did. And I loved him. But as the years went by and we remained childless... I saw that love change. It turned into resentment, anger, desperation."

"Your Grace... A child wouldn’t have changed his true nature..." Adeline rushed to say, she knew exactly what she was thinking. A child cannot fix things! It certainly wouldn’t have fixed the relationship between her and her ex-husband!

The Duchess frowned and continued, "Do you think that if I had given him a child he wouldn’t have..."

"Done what he did?" Adeline completed her sentence.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.