The Villain's End Is Pregnancy - c34
“Ryan, how will you spend this heat cycle?”
“Heat cycle?”
Ryan, who repeated the Countess’s words verbatim, soon opened his mouth, saying “Ah…”.
‘Come to think of it, it’s around this time.’
Seriously. These days, he was so focused on this and that, he forgot the most important thing.
“Well.”
Judging from the fact that there were no preliminary symptoms such as fever, headache, or decreased condition including body aches, it seemed like it would take about 3 to 4 more days.
The period was ample, but the problem was that he had to attend Liam’s birthday party this coming weekend.
“Since there’s a party schedule in two days…”
Ryan, who was considering staying in the annex at the Count’s residence, blinked his eyes.
“There was a villa near the vineyard, right?”
“There is, but why all of a sudden?”
“Just because. For a change of pace. I thought maybe I could go on a short trip since it’s not far.”
The Countess opened her eyes wide at the unexpected words from Ryan, who loved lounging around at home the most.
On the other hand, Catherine raised the corners of her mouth as if she knew what he was thinking.
“Ryan, you can’t do that already.”
“Huh? Do what?”
“Hmm… I can pretend I don’t know if you want me to. But sleep separately.”
What is she talking about? Ryan kept looking at her with questioning eyes, but for some reason, she just smiled brightly as if she heard an interesting story.
“That’s right. You said you’re going to the Earl of Cedric’s house this week. Just in case, Ryan, pack some suppressants too. You probably won’t make a mistake, but you never know.”
“Yes, I will.”
After that, the conversation shifted to trivial topics. Things like Ryan playing with a cat at the palace, what the Countess and Catherine did, or how adorably foolish Catherine’s husband acted yesterday.
Although he occasionally got embarrassing questions from Catherine about whether anything else happened with the prince or what they’ll do when they meet tomorrow, Ryan fortunately brushed it off as no big deal.
And as he told Hendrick, he not only didn’t go to the palace until the weekend but had no intention of taking a single step out of the Count’s residence.
However, that didn’t mean he spent time every day rolling in bed, going out to the balcony to read a book in the sun, or just drinking tea.
In his own way, Ryan pondered how to deepen the relationship between Hendrick and Julian, and sent a letter to Philip.
He planned to pick up the item he ordered before leaving for the suburbs if it was ready.
“It’s done? Then I should stop by Philip to check before going to the party venue.”
Good news was delivered to Philip. So on the day of the party, Ryan ventured out immediately after having lunch.
When his family asked why he was leaving so early, he made an excuse that he had another appointment. But for some reason, everyone was grinning playfully without asking who he was meeting.
“Anyway, everyone treats me too much like a child.”
Even if you include my past life, I’m over forty years old. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m that mature or experienced.
“Young Master, we’ve arrived.”
The carriage stopped, and the coachman’s voice was heard from outside. Ryan opened the door himself and came out.
He went up the stairs placed outside the two-story building.
Knock. Knock.
As soon as he knocked on the door, a voice telling him to come in was heard from inside.
“Hello, Sir Ryan.”
Philip, who was sitting at the workbench, sprang up from his seat and bowed his waist.
“Yeah. Hi, Philip. The item I ordered?”
Ryan, who gave a brief answer, approached him right away and brought up his business. His gaze had already gone to the things laid out on the workbench.
Thick metal, pungent chemicals, dirty rags, crumpled papers, neatly placed carving knives and brushes, an opened inkwell.
“It’s this.”
Just then, something was seen in Philip’s hand.
“Oh…”
“It turned out well, right?”
Ryan only moved his chin and carefully examined the metal plate. It was indeed worthy of boasting about. The engraved letters were neat and clear.
“Now, after applying ink with a brush like this.”
Philip, as if he had already done it several times, skillfully dipped the brush in ink and stained the surface of the metal plate.
Soon, he brought it to the paper laid out on one side of the workbench, pressed it down firmly, and lifted it, and the letters were clearly printed.
“Look. It comes out well as you said, right?”
“It does.”
Ryan promptly took the brush and metal plate from Philip. He tried stamping it the way he did and used other methods to do various experiments on the paper.
“Then it would be possible to detach and use them one by one, right?”
“Pardon? One by one?”
Philip, who didn’t understand what he meant right away, tilted his head. Ryan carefully explained his thoughts for him.
“Ah… Certainly, if you do that, you can combine and write various letters, so it would be much more efficient. But then why didn’t you use that method from the beginning?”
When Philip asked why he made him do the work in such a roundabout way, Ryan gave a short answer.
“I had to see if you could really do this or not.”
If you listen to it in a certain way, it’s quite a nasty thing to say, but perhaps because his tone was light and he said it as if it was really nothing, it didn’t feel that way.
“And what does it matter? I’ll pay for it anyway. You just need to do as I ask.”
No, maybe it’s because you can’t bear to say bad things to that gentle and cute face.
‘That’s a skill in itself.’
To Peter, who was tired of dealing with nobles who always listed their demands and thought they should be treated as a matter of course, Ryan was a bit of an unexpected person.
“I understand. Then I will let you know as soon as that is completed as well.”
“Yeah. I’ll take this with me.”
“This?”
“I have a use for it.”
Well, that’s why he commissioned it to be made in the first place.
“You could print it here though…”
Philip slightly expressed his opinion out of a bit of greed to see the finished product in person.
“I have some more things to figure out first. When that’s specifically decided, let’s look at it together.”
“Oh… Together?”
“Yeah. We should, right? You’re the creator.”
Philip’s eyes widened, not expecting Ryan to continue sharing the progress of this work with him.
“Even at the latest, the first test will be done within next week. So have the things I told you ready by then.”
“Yes, Sir Ryan. Trust me and wait.”
Ryan made a face like ‘why is he acting like this?’ at the answer that seemed full of energy, then patted his shoulder.
After that, he stamped the letters on the paper a few more times, discussed what to complement and how to make it in a different form, and only left Philip’s house when the party time was approaching.
“Where is this place?”
As Ryan rode the carriage again and moved to the address written on the invitation, he naturally assumed the destination was the Earl of Cedric’s residence.
But while he was dozing off, unable to resist his heavy eyelids, the carriage was running on a secluded road at the foot of a mountain.
‘Am I dreaming?’
Ryan, who hadn’t fully shaken off his sleepiness, rubbed his eyelids with his fists and looked outside again. However, there was still no light to be seen around.
Was he kidnapped while sleeping? It’s too intact for that? Or did Liam play a trick to prank him again?
This seemed more plausible, making him more tense.
‘It’s not like it happened only once or twice.’
Of course, Ryan didn’t forget to take revenge afterwards. First, he had to find out where he was going.
The carriage that had been running for a while finally stopped. But the outside was unexpectedly noisy.
“We’ve arrived.”
At the coachman’s words, Ryan came out with a frown. Then, he saw carriages lined up in front of a two-story building and people getting out of them.
They were all young nobles around his age.
“It must be a villa or something.”
Only then could Ryan guess where this place was. He couldn’t understand why they were holding a birthday party in such a remote place, but he thought it could be if you roughly call it a nobles’ eccentricity.
There are some among the nobility who enjoy hosting unusual parties.
“I shouldn’t have accepted the invitation.”
If he had known it was a place like this, he would have declined. Curiosity was the problem. As always, it would have been fine if he didn’t care.
It was because these days, Hendrick wasn’t meeting them at all, and he got an invitation during that time, so he became curious about the reason and ended up coming.
“I should have come with Hendrick instead.”
Then he remembered with a flash.
“Ah, stupid. I said let’s not see each other for a while.”
And yet, how could he completely forget that and be here…
‘I guess I’m the stupid one after all.’
Ryan, who lamented inwardly, turned around as it was. He didn’t really feel like it anyway. So it would be better to leave before running into Hendrick.
But in a short time, the carriage had disappeared. It probably went to the back of the building or to a separately prepared stable.
“Ha…”
Even if he tried to go back, he had to call a servant first and tell them to bring the carriage. Having no choice, he walked there, and the gatekeeper who was waiting politely greeted him.
“Welcome. May I see your invitation?”
Ryan was about to take out the invitation, but stopped. Since he wasn’t going to go inside anyway, he was about to tell him to call the carriage back.
“So I definitely heard what Derek said then. He said he spiked the drink with an extract from the Hidrian flower.”
“If it’s Hidrian, doesn’t it cause pheromone disruption and induce excitement?”
“That’s right.”
“Who did he give that to?”
“Well…”
A conversation that couldn’t be ignored was heard from inside. He couldn’t hear what was said after that, perhaps because they lowered their voices.
“Noble sir?”
To avoid encountering Hendrick, he had to go back. But if someone knows a secret that only Derek and he should know?
“Here. It’s the invitation. Will this do?”
Ryan, who made up his mind, showed the invitation to the gatekeeper and stepped inside.