The swollen walls were drenched in slippery liquid.

The organ embedded in the center below seemed bent as if it could spring out at any moment due to the angle. Each time he took a deep breath, the organ pulsated and the opening expanded as if it was alive and breathing in unison.

The viscous, thick, off-white liquid gathered, escaping through the gap and slowly tracing down the dark pillar.

Winston whispered into Grace’s ear as she groaned, unable to endure the barbaric sight.

“This flows into your womb, meeting yours, creating our child. No matter what you think about it, it’s fascinating.”

It was an excited voice filled with anticipation.

“Imagine it. A child resembling me calling you ‘mom’.”

Her face contorted even more.

“Don’t like it? You at least like my face.”

As the mirror that was aimed toward their private parts lifted, it reflected their faces. She gritted her teeth the moment her eyes landed on his face, doing cruel acts masked with an air of sophistication.

“That won’t happen. I’ll kill it right before your child calls me mom.”

“Your mother spared you, but you’re going too far.”

Responding to her cruel words, the man countered with even more cruel words.

“Aack! Shut up, please!”

Eventually, unable to bear the emotional pain, Grace screamed.

“Shh, it’s okay.”

Winston, treating her like a child, whispered as he looked in the mirror.

“A child resembling you and me… I’m looking forward to it.”

When the man smiled broadly in the mirror, Grace shuddered. It was worlds apart from a father’s excited smile about the anticipated child.

“Aren’t you curious, darling?”

It was a smile resembling that of a mad scientist conducting a terrible experiment, creating a creature that would incur the wrath of God.

“What happens when you mix fire and ice?”

* * *

Thunk.

The door closed.

Congratulations.

The doctor’s disappearing words echoed through the room like a lingering afterimage.

To some, it was the resonance left by the explosion, while to others, it was the lingering echo of the church bells. Tears welled up in the eyes of the woman who sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly into the air.

Leon looked down silently at the pale face and then knelt down. It was the first time in his life he knelt in front of someone.

However, it didn’t imply submission.

Rather, he was the conqueror.

Leon buried his face in the woman’s abdomen as the laughter that couldn’t be suppressed burst out repeatedly from the lightly closed lips.

His child was here.

He had put her on an eternal leash that she could never escape from.

And one more thing…

In the sanctuary where the next heir of the Blanchard ‘dynasty’ would be born, his seed, the dirty monarchy pig, was sown. Forcibly breaking into a forbidden place and boating it as conquest now seemed ridiculous.

The exhilaration of entering an unauthorized place was overwhelming.

It felt like his heart would burst.

At the same time, he became curious about the face of James Blanchard Jr. If this woman told him that she was carrying his child, Leon was very much looking forward to seeing what expression he would make.

No.

From the beginning, this woman belonged to him. That filthy rat had just briefly intervened without knowing his place. It was merely the damn cult brainwashing his woman and taking her away.

Leon took a deep breath, exhaling exhilaration in his breath, and declared.

“You are mine.”

A phrase he had uttered countless times, but it had never become an absolute truth even once. Now, he firmly believed that it would become an unchanging truth.

“Forever.”

A tepid droplet fell onto his face that was buried in the woman’s lower abdomen. As he raised his head, he faced her pale face wet with tears.

Why are you crying? Wasn’t this what you wanted with that bastard? What’s the problem with doing it with me? You said you liked me. You should be smiling because you have the child of the man you like?

However, instead of mockery, only laughter erupted from Leon’s mouth. The woman bit her lips, glaring at him as if she would kill him, then closed her eyes tightly.

As the tears that had been held back overflowed through her eyelids, he grabbed her face.

The tears, born of extreme emotions, were as hot as blood. The woman wiped the tears that flowed endlessly across her cheek and pushed him away.

Slap.

Even after being slapped, the man laughed like a madman. He even turned his head and offered the other cheek.

Slap.

No matter how hard she hit him, the man only found it amusing.

Grace couldn’t laugh even though her hand hurt so much. No matter how much she hurt him, the seed of disaster planted in her body would not disappear. In the end, she buried her face in the hand that struck the man.

Leon, with a numb cheek, asked her as he buried his face in her lower abdomen.

Was this the fruit of love, or the fruit of hatred?

Either way, for him, who calculated everything in terms of profit and loss, the fruit was desirable no matter what its essence was.

Despite the fact that the shoulders of the two vibrated in sync, the sound that erupted from emotions standing at opposite poles created only a dissonance.

* * *

The thesis that he had vowed to finish today remained untouched throughout the afternoon.

“Rosie, you hang up first.”

The person sitting at the desk couldn’t let go of the phone all afternoon.

“Then, on three. One, two, three, hang up at the same time.”

Jerome hesitated, caressing the base of the pillar-shaped candlestick phone with his fingertips as if it were his lover, and asked.

“Is Rosie going to hang up?”

As the other started counting, he, who had been silently listening, burst into laughter.

“Why didn’t you hang up?”

At that moment, he was about to give a witty answer to the other person’s question of why he didn’t hang up.

Dull footsteps were heard outside the door.

Employees don’t make footsteps, especially with a thick carpet laid in the hallway. Yet, the person approaching his research lab seemed to make precise footstep sounds.

It was deliberate.

“I’m sorry. Looks like my brother has come. I’ll hang up first.”

Even if he knew the relationship between the two, there was no way his brother would feel betrayed. Nevertheless, that cunning guy would try to use it to his advantage, so it was a dangerous situation. Surely, he hasn’t figured it out already?

As he urgently hung up the phone, knocking on the door echoed through the research lab.

“What’s going on? Surprised to see you alive.”

Jerome mocked Leon, who had opened the door and entered. The man who had recently secluded himself like a hermit in the annex, rarely showing his face, had somehow made his way to his underground research lab.

“Surprising that you’re alive. Who’s to talk?”

Leon chuckled.

Even with leisurely steps, he quickly approached the desk.

“You’re turning yellow like fallen leaves.”

He teased Jerome, saying that he looked withered.

Did he not realize that he himself appeared the most withered? Jerome glanced up at his brother from behind the desk. Despite his imposing figure and military uniform, he still looked intimidating but also visibly exhausted.

Exhausted.

Of all things. Words that would be marked incorrect if written to Leon Winston. Nevertheless, the slightly thin face, sunken eyes, and other evidence supported the undeniable fact.

‘…What’s going on?’

Just a month ago, he seemed as cheerful as someone who had just received a promotion, but now he looked pale and tired. Observing closely, a habit of a scholar deeply ingrained in his body, his brother threw a bundle of papers he was carrying on his side into the middle of the desk.

“What’s this?”

“For the bookworm, I personally brought some new study materials.”

Jerome raised an eyebrow as he examined the documents handed to him. Titles like ‘Quarterly Financial Statements’ and ‘Overseas Investment Profit Report’ caught his attention, and his eyebrows furrowed even more.

The documents contained all the financial information of the Winston family.

“You seem to enjoy studying. A topic to pass off your work, I suppose.”

“My work? It’s Winston’s name behind mine, so saying such things is shameless.”

“Shameless indeed, that’s what Winston means.”

Without responding to his teasing, his brother sighed with annoyance. This wasn’t the Leon Winston from a month ago, who would hold on relentlessly until he won.

“Well, if I get married and become independent, this family’s fortune will practically be yours, won’t it? That’s the fate of the second son.”

In response to Jerome’s remark, Leon replied with a snort.

Doing something like marrying the Grand Lady? Moreover, that b*stard would probably need to divert his attention to another woman. There wouldn’t be a woman who would consider him a man other than the boring bookworm of a woman.

“Jerome Winston, how long are you going to shamelessly entertain yourself with the family’s money?”

When his research and running a media company were derogatorily referred to as entertainment, Jerome’s complexion turned fierce, perhaps offended.

“Unfair? Then, find a job that makes money.”

As the nature of the media inherently resulted in significantly lower profits compared to other investments or businesses, the younger brother’s face was noticeably reddened.

“Then, at least do something that helps the family if you can’t do that.”

“I always do things that help the family.”

Easy target.

There was never a time when he didn’t take the bait.

Leon, swallowing his sneer, finally brought up the second purpose for coming down to the underground.

__