The Villain's End Is Pregnancy - c85
The carriage carrying Ryan passed through the palace gates. Ryan inside couldn’t even comprehend how far he had come.
He just kept clenching and unclenching his hands anxiously over and over.
Where were they going?
‘Could I possibly be dragged to an underground dungeon or something?’
Or would he be meeting the king directly?
He wanted to look outside, but the drawn black curtain felt like a stern warning not to reveal himself to the outside, so he couldn’t bring himself to pull it aside.
“Get out.”
Finally the carriage stopped and the door opened as a cold voice was heard. Ryan took a long breath in and out, then emerged.
“How brazen of you, Ryan. Only now showing your face.”
But standing in front of him was a person he never expected.
“Liam?”
When Ryan widened his eyes in surprise and acknowledged him, Liam fired back.
“It would be best for you to truthfully report to His Majesty what evil deeds you’ve committed. That way at least your family won’t be harmed.”
That was a very difficult statement to understand.
“Evil deeds? Me?”
“What? Are you going to try to make excuses saying it’s not true?”
Liam’s face turned vicious as he interpreted Ryan’s reaction that way.
“To whom?”
“I knew this would happen!”
He genuinely didn’t know, but it seemed Liam misunderstood him even more. He waved his hands wildly and shouted.
“I know all about you being pregnant!”
Ryan’s eyes widened at the unexpected words. No, to be precise, he was surprised that someone other than Hendrick or his family found out.
“How dare you cling to the prince claiming the child you’re carrying from another man is his! How long did you think that lie would last?”
Liam’s words grumbling that it was preposterous didn’t fully register with Ryan.
‘He said others know about the pregnancy too?’
He quickly tried to think of who might know in his head. Besides his family and Hendrick, there was the family doctor, the court physician, and Hendrick’s faithful attendant, Peter.
Among them, there was no one who would leak that fact outside. No, that’s what he thought.
“You’d better prepare yourself, Ryan Fitzroy. You won’t be able to get away with it like last time.”
Just then, Liam’s mocking voice was heard again. Ryan got a hold of himself and looked at him.
“You’re talking nonsense, Liam Seiden. Pregnant? Me?”
“A-again trying to pretend it’s not true?”
Tension rose to the point his lower abdomen ached, but Ryan tried to appear calm. What was important now was to find out why Liam was saying such things.
He had a feeling it was deeply related to why he was summoned to the palace.
That’s why he deliberately brought up something that would agitate Liam even more.
“Alright, let’s say that’s true. But what does it matter to you whose child it is?”
“What did you say? I knew you were detestable, but you’re really shameless! You tried to deceive the prince into marrying you using the pregnancy as an excuse!”
As expected, Liam ranted and raved as if he was the one outraged. Ryan tilted his head, trying to provoke him further.
“Strange… I never said I was marrying Hendrick, nor did I mention I was carrying his child. So why are you saying that? Above all, do you have proof?”
He subtly hid his intentions in his words. Finally, Liam took the bait.
“Of course I do! Clear evidence! Do you think His Majesty would have summoned you without it!”
“Really? Did you present that to His Majesty?”
Only then did Liam seem to come to his senses and flinched, taking a step back. And he glared fiercely at Ryan.
“Ah, you don’t need to tell me. I get it.”
Just that expression and attitude seemed sufficient answer. Ryan deliberately met his gaze haughtily and passed by him.
“Last time, the prince helped you get away safely. It won’t go like that this time. You’d better prepare yourself, Ryan Fitzroy.”
Liam sneered right next to him. Ryan couldn’t just ignore it.
“The prince helped me back then?”
He subtly let it slip as if recalling that time, though he didn’t know what incident it was referring to. He thought Liam would blurt out the answer while getting worked up this time too, but apparently not.
Rather, as if getting angry anew thinking of that incident, he shouted furiously.
“Hmph, don’t expect such luck to happen again!”
Then he started running as if to seize Ryan.
‘When did Hendrick ever…?’
Ryan tried to think for a moment.
“What are you doing! Move at once if you don’t want to be dragged again.”
The envoy urged, cutting that off. Next to him stood a burly attendant who had appeared at some point.
It seemed pondering over things with Hendrick would have to wait. If he delayed, the mood was such that the burly attendant would drag him away.
Ryan sighed and began to move, following the attendant. Now that he looked, the place he arrived at was the entrance to the central palace.
So naturally, he expected to meet the king.
“Please wait here.”
But his guess was nicely off the mark. The place the attendant led Ryan to was not the audience chamber, but a guest room.
“Here?”
Ryan quickly asked the attendant who was about to leave him behind. Was it his imagination? He felt the attendant’s gaze meeting his was somehow reproachful.
“It would be best to stay put quietly until you are sought.”
Judging by the chilly tone, it wasn’t a misunderstanding. The attendant disappeared without even untying Ryan’s hands that were tightly bound with rope. Only Ryan was left alone in a space with just a desk and a bed.
‘What’s this? Why isn’t he meeting me right away?’
That made him anxious in its own way. Unable to sit still with unease, he waited for the king’s summons.
But an hour passed, two hours went by. The day grew late and even after having dinner, there was no word about being sought.
“There was an order from His Majesty to spend the night here for now.”
To make matters worse, the attendant who appeared to warm the bedding uttered words that stunned Ryan like a bolt from the blue.
“Here?”
There was no answer to the doubtful question that came out from disbelief. Left alone after the attendant disappeared, Ryan paced the room all night.
His bound hands were uncomfortable, and his head was filled with all sorts of worries. Among them, what lingered in his mind were Liam’s words.
‘Could His Majesty also believe I used the pregnancy as an excuse to insist on marriage?’
If that was the case, it made sense that he immediately ordered to arrest me. On the other hand, the thought that Hendrick’s parents, of all people, might be misunderstanding me was very distressing.
But to reveal the truth now…
‘That in itself would be the crime of insulting royalty. Above all, would His Majesty or Hendrick even believe me?’
After all the lies he had told so far. Unable to do this or that, the sighs he let out piled up in layers in the room where he was left alone.
In that restless state, early the next morning, Ryan quickly followed the attendant who told him to come out.
Of course, he thought the person he would meet was the king. But the place the attendant led him to was a spacious hall. And inside waited numerous nobles.
“Ryan Fitzroy has arrived.”
“The culprit himself finally appears.”
“How can he make such a brazen face?”
As soon as they spotted Ryan, they began spewing various remarks as if they had been waiting.
“He takes after his father. Just because His Majesty favors him a bit, he acts arrogantly.”
“You’re right. Having grown up under such parents, of course he would try to impudently deceive the prince.”
Hearing the dizzying torrent of criticism, Ryan tried to grasp what on earth was going on.
Who were these nobles, and why was he dragged here?
The atmosphere felt like a courtroom before a trial. The nobles pressuring him and insulting his parents seemed like jurors.
Looking at them, Ryan suddenly realized this scene wasn’t unfamiliar.
‘Damn it, this development is exactly the same as in the original work!’
When the villainous Ryan failed to drive a wedge between Hendrick and Julian, he finally resorted to an extreme method.
Claiming he was pregnant with the prince’s child. Because of that, he gets completely branded as the wicked omega and rapidly falls into ruin afterwards.
‘Ah, seriously. If it was going to come to mind, it should have earlier!’
As evidence, the villainous Ryan cited the fact that at the coming-of-age party, Hendrick had become senseless and forced himself on him.
Hendrick, who had no memory of it at the time, couldn’t bring himself to deny it, so the situation spiraled into uncontrollable chaos. It only got resolved when it was revealed that what he drank then was illegally manufactured flower extract.
And to none other than the heir to the throne.
‘On top of that, strangely, there were rumors that the child’s real father was someone else.’
Later it was revealed to be the doing of a faction that disliked Ryan, but anyway.
Because of that, in the end, the villainous Ryan had to confess that he wasn’t actually pregnant. That was the only way he could save his life.
Surely it wouldn’t go that far… As creeping anxiety washed over him, Ryan was about to clench his fists.
“Everyone, be quiet.”
Just then, a solemn voice spread through the crowd. The nobles shut their mouths at once and bowed their heads in one direction.
Only then did Ryan notice the person seated above them. The king was sitting on a large chair, staring intently this way. The queen was by his side as well.