The Fruit of Immorality - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: The Fruit (Part 6)

However, the most important thing was the child born from his legitimate marriage, sealed through holy vows. Not a mere bastard, but the rightful heir to continue the Clasis family lineage.

Beatrice, the one who would give birth to such a precious heir, had to be protected. Charles decided to keep his mistress, who was carrying his illegitimate child, far away from the estate to avoid causing any unnecessary concerns for Beatrice.

He planned to provide her with a comfortable life in a remote estate, fulfilling his responsibilities toward her without allowing her to interfere with his proper family. With that decision in mind, he left the mansion to inform the mistress of his plan.

But during his journey, while riding in a carriage, Charles was suddenly ambushed and kidnapped by unknown assailants.

Bound tightly and gagged, he could do nothing to reveal his identity, nor could he negotiate or plead with his captors. They didn’t speak to him at all; they simply stuffed him into a sack and transported him to an unknown destination.

Breathing heavily in the darkness, Charles struggled to think of a way to escape his predicament.

Eventually, with the sound of creaking hinges, the sack was removed, and the blindfold was taken off his eyes, pulling him out of his panicked thoughts.

“Mmmph! Mmph!”

Despite the gag, his hands and feet remained tied. He couldn’t see who was behind him, though he could sense a presence nearby.

Charles struggled as much as he could, but his only reward was pain whenever he hit the hard walls around him. His body throbbed painfully, and he realized he was starting to bruise. Defeated, Charles slumped down and stared blankly into the dim void in front of him.

He was trapped in a cramped space with a low ceiling and barely enough room to move. Where was he, and what were the kidnappers after?

Suddenly, he noticed a faint light. There was a small hole in the dark wall he had been staring at.

“Mmmph!”

Wriggling his way closer, Charles pressed his face to the hole. When he finally saw what lay beyond it, he was struck with shock.

Familiar walls. A familiar bed. A familiar room.

This was the marital bedroom he shared with Beatrice.

“Mmph! Mmmph!”

Charles’s eyes widened in disbelief. He had been kidnapped and trapped inside his own mansion!

His heart raced as panic gripped him. His breaths came in short, gasping bursts. But the worst was yet to come.

“Ahh, Aless! Ahh, yes!”

“Bea, my sweet Bea.”

There, in his own mansion, in his own bed… his wife and his brother were entangled in an obscene display of passion.

Through bloodshot eyes, Charles watched the debauchery unfold through the small hole. The sight of the two traitors burned itself into his memory.

Veins bulged on his forehead, and the fury building within him became palpable. He wanted to storm out of his prison, destroy the scene before him, and kill the two adulterers with his bare hands.

They had deceived me all this time. How dare they…! How dare they…!

Charles’s blazing gaze turned to Beatrice, who moaned joyfully beneath Alessandro.

“Ahh, Aless! Ah, yes, good, so good!”

The face she wore, the expressions of pleasure and happiness, were foreign to him. Had she ever shown him such a face before? Had she ever looked so blissfully content, so utterly radiant…?

The fact that she had never shown him this beautiful, tender side of herself but had revealed it to his brother filled Charles with an icy bitterness.

The fire that burned within him wasn’t just anger now; it was mixed with seething jealousy.

Charles, the man who had always taken her for granted, now found himself watching in disbelief as the woman he had once assumed was entirely his bloomed like a flower under another man.

His fingers trembled violently. He wanted to run out and tear the two apart, to kick Alessandro off of Beatrice and wipe away the filthy seed that had been spilled inside her.

But that wasn’t the only thing he wanted to destroy. He wanted to erase the dirty fruit of their betrayal growing in her belly. He wanted to erase every trace of Alessandro from her heart.

Yet, bound so tightly that his limbs had gone numb, there was nothing Charles could do. He was forced to watch as his brother took his wife, spilling his seed deep inside her, only for Beatrice to collapse in exhaustion, while Alessandro lovingly cradled her afterward.

Charles’s vision blurred with rage, so much so that he didn’t even notice when Alessandro approached him, opening the secret door between the bedroom and the small hidden room where Charles was being held.

“Did you enjoy the show, brother?”

Charles’s blood boiled at Alessandro’s shamelessness.

“Mmph! Mmmph!”

“Oh dear, I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

“Mmmph! Mmph!”

Charles’s muffled screams were filled with curses, but Alessandro, arms crossed, simply tilted his head, unbothered. His gaze, looking down at his bound brother, showed no guilt or remorse for having committed adultery with his sister-in-law.

On the contrary, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

“I wanted to keep Bea’s trembling moans for myself, but as a final gift to you, brother, I decided to share them. Isn’t she lovely?”

“……”

“Or maybe it’s just my eyes that find her so beautiful. Perhaps it’s because she’s carrying my child?”

“……!”

Charles’s body trembled violently, almost as if he were having a seizure.

He wanted to tear out Alessandro’s tongue. But in his current state, there was nothing he could do. All he could do was listen to his brother’s vile words.

“You really are blind, brother. You had Bea right next to you, yet you wandered around outside, playing meaningless games. Thanks to you, it was easy for me to get what I wanted…”

Alessandro’s hand stroked his chin as he looked down at Charles with contempt. Charles trembled with humiliation.

Alessandro gave him a faint smile. “You know, I envied you, brother. You had such a beautiful woman as your wife, someone so precious and sweet that just holding her would make me feel content. I was envious—so envious that I couldn’t stand it.”

“……”

“When I was younger, I wondered why I hadn’t been born earlier. If I had come into this world sooner, I might have claimed Bea for myself. But instead, all I could do was watch.”

“……”

“I hated seeing her only have eyes for another man, yet I envied and resented you for treating her like a mere pebble on the roadside. I tossed and turned every night, wanting her but knowing I couldn’t have her.”

Alessandro murmured softly, but Charles glared at him with wide eyes. Alessandro, however, didn’t stop.

“When you sent me to the military academy, I was actually relieved. They say that out of sight, out of mind, right? But…”

Alessandro let out a bitter, hollow laugh before he continued, “Even when my life was hanging by a thread, all I could see was Bea’s face. That’s when I realized it—running away blindly wasn’t going to solve anything. To quench the desire that burns me and the thirst that kills me…”

“……”

“I have to have her.”

His eyes flashed with a strange heat, something far beyond Charles’s comprehension.

“Mmph!”

Alessandro pressed down on his struggling brother’s head and whispered, “I’m going to fulfill Bea’s wish. Actually, it’s my wish too.”

“Mmph! Mmmph!”

Charles shook his head desperately. He knew exactly what wish Alessandro was referring to. There was only one possibility.

Looking down at his terrified brother, Alessandro’s eyes glinted with amusement. “If you were gone, brother, we’d all be so much happier.”

“Mmmph! Mmmph!”

Tears streamed down Charles’s face. Though his anger toward his brother remained, the fear was overwhelming.

Alessandro’s chilling gaze held neither sympathy nor hesitation. He really intended to erase Charles from the world.

“Mmmph! Mmmph!”

Charles wept, silently begging for his life. His desperate sobs were muffled by the gag, but the urgency was clear.

Alessandro smirked. “As I said earlier, I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

Even though he understood perfectly, he pretended otherwise.

Reaching out, Alessandro’s large hand wrapped around Charles’s throat. His grip tightened.

“Kugh! Kugh!”

As the pressure on his neck increased, Charles’s strength began to fade. His eyes rolled back, and his limbs, which had been trembling in fear, grew still.

With a soft exhale, Alessandro released his grip. Charles’s limp body collapsed to the side.

“Goodbye, brother.”

Alessandro gave a brief farewell. Charles, having lost consciousness, would never wake again.

***

Beatrice woke up, lifting her heavy body from the bed. The sheets felt fresh against her skin, and her body beneath the blankets felt clean. She recalled collapsing during their lovemaking last night, pinned beneath Alessandro as she moaned helplessly. If she had fallen asleep like that, both her body and the bed would have been a mess.

The fact that everything was tidy suggested that Alessandro had taken care of everything while she slept. Though she was glad not to feel the unpleasant stickiness of dried sweat and fluids, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of loneliness as she rose alone from the large bed. Staring at the empty space beside her for a moment, Beatrice quickly composed herself and called for the butler.

It seemed the butler had been expecting her call, as he entered the room shortly after. Beatrice noticed his awkwardly averted gaze and asked calmly, “Where is Charles?”

“Master…,” the butler trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. Beatrice understood the situation immediately.

Charles hadn’t returned to the mansion last night.

A bitter smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. So, he stayed out overnight again. Was he sleeping beside that woman right now? Had he soothed her the way Beatrice had been with Alessandro? Perhaps Charles had done with that woman exactly what she had done with Alessandro last night.

Had he comforted her after their passionate encounter? Had he told her he would bring her to the mansion, ready to throw Beatrice out at any moment?

As these unsettling thoughts churned within her, Beatrice was suddenly interrupted.

“Ma-Madam!”

A servant rushed into the room without knocking, his face flushed red. Both Beatrice and the butler turned to him with disapproving looks. Yet, despite their glares, the servant didn’t apologize by bowing but instead wore an expression of sheer panic.

“What is the meaning of this—” the butler began to scold him, but the servant cut him off.

“There’s urgent news I must deliver!”

The butler was about to scold him, but the servant was quicker.

“The master…!”