Fu'er slumped on the floor, looking at the two people in the room. Her hand could not help but touch her belly, "I'm pregnant..." She murmured, "You said I'm pregnant..." She looked at the housekeeper, then at Cesare. "I'm pregnant..." Then she lowered her head and looked at her flat belly.

  Cesare hugged Fu'er, "Oh my God..." He excitedly put his face against the girl's cold cheek and reached out to cover her hand, "Oh my God... Fu'er." He was like every young man who knew for the first time that he was going to be a father. He was happy in his heart, but he didn't know what to do. He looked at the girl in his arms carefully, but was afraid that his brute force would destroy that fragile life.

  "Fu'er..." It was the housekeeper who spoke. Her eyes were full of sadness and dejection. She squatted down tremblingly, "My child, this child... is not a blessed child. Listen to your mother, he... cannot stay in this world."

  "Mom..." Qu Fuer looked at the housekeeper blankly, and then she heard Cesare arguing with the housekeeper and begging for mercy. She saw the proud man begging his mother in such a humble manner. He said that it was his child, the life he had been looking forward to so much.

  "But Fu'er must not be exposed to the world, Duke Lorenzo. You have too many political enemies, and what you are going to do in the future is too dangerous." The housekeeper looked at the two young people. Their immature and resolute expressions were so enviable... The past was vivid in her mind, and she found that she might really be old. She couldn't even remember the bright expressions and the desirable love in her youth. "I can't give Fu'er to you. Even if this child is born into this world one day, you can't recognize him, otherwise he and Fu'er will inevitably become your weaknesses, and your enemies, those future enemies, will all point all their spearheads at Fu'er and that child. Even so, will you still choose his birth?"

  Cesare nodded, "But they will also become my armor." He said, holding Fur's hand tightly.

  "And you, Fu'er, do you know how much disaster you and your child will bring to him?" The old woman sighed and looked at Qu Fu'er. What did this silly girl know? "He may lose everything he has now, even his life, because of you and this child. Do you not care about this?"

  Qu Fuer was horrified by these words. She looked at the housekeeper. How could she have thought of the benefits and harms involved? She was too young. Even though she had lived in a place like Quewu where all kinds of people mixed together, she had not experienced those dirty things. The housekeeper only hoped that she would not be involved in the vortex of power and politics. She was not Yin Ge. Yin Ge knew how to protect herself in such a dirty environment, and even knew how to fight back when she was hurt. But Fuer, her Fuer... she was too kind.

  Qu Fuer began to waver. She was terrified by the unknown world that the housekeeper had mentioned. She turned to look at Cesare, but the man held her in his arms and said, "It's okay, Fuer. Believe me, nothing like that will happen."

  ——Is there anything wrong with having a child with the woman you love? He questioned the old woman, but saw her dejected figure.

  "Yes, you are right." She said tremblingly, "But some things in this world are not right just because they are right. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many things that confuse right and wrong." The old woman stared at the two young men with her cloudy eyes. "If you want to give birth to this child, Duke Lorenzo, you must promise me that you will never see her again from now on."

  "Mom!" Fuer stepped forward and held the old woman's hand. "Mom, there is another way, right?"

  "There is no other way." The old woman said in a stern voice, "You have chosen a path that cannot be seen in the light. Only you can endure this kind of pain."

  Fu'er turned around and wanted Cesare to plead with her, but she saw Cesare sitting there with a thoughtful expression. She was uneasy, afraid that he would make such a decisive decision. "Cesare..." She called the man in a low voice.

  "I am a very greedy person." Cesare suddenly said, "I can neither give up my current career and status for her, nor can I give up her and the child in her belly for power and glory." He stared at the old woman's turbid eyes, "I agree with you, maybe putting her in the quilt now is the safest way, but I can't never see her again." He gently kissed Fu'er's forehead, as if to comfort the panicked girl.

  "I don't care who you are, what you've encountered, what you've experienced, but those things won't work with me." Cesare said slowly, word by word. "Fu'er, don't worry, just give birth to this child." He saw the worry on the girl's face and suddenly smiled, "What are you afraid of? I'm Cesare who slayed the dragon, and you've come all the way from Mingxia to Elima. Who are you worried about? Are you worried about your own determination?"

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  The housekeeper sighed and shook her head. She looked at Qu Fuer's face and seemed to see Jasmine from the past. And Cesare...could he be the Pesaro of the past?

  Duke Fumer woke up very early. He didn't know why, but he always felt a little unwell these past two days. Maybe it was because of his old age, or maybe it was because of long-term alcoholism that caused his body to be overdrawn prematurely.

  The young woman on the bed was still asleep. She was a girl with black hair, perhaps of oriental descent, and her features were not too similar to those of the Elima people.

  The Duchess in the next room was still asleep. Marit of the Hazaro family was no longer young. She was thin and slender when she was young, but she looked a little thin after getting older. The Duke had three sons with her. After giving birth to the third son, Franco, she never had any sexual intercourse with the Duke again.

  The Duke didn't seem to care. This was probably a secret too common in the upper class. Apart from the old man in the Hasaro family who was a henpecked husband, which Duke would care about his wife's feelings? Their relationship was more like a working relationship. They held each other's arms and pretended to be affectionate on some necessary occasions, but when they returned home, they were tired of each other's paleness and indifference after removing their makeup.

  She no longer cared about the women he kept. She only hoped that they were virgins and would not be infected with any dishonorable diseases for the family. The Duke brought back one black-haired woman after another. Mariette knew that this was the childish complex of his youth, but what could she do? He was no longer young, and alcoholism destroyed his body. Those girls could no longer conceive for him, and the family would eventually be inherited by her son.

  The Duke looked at the young woman next to him. He used his hands to rub her young and plump body. Her immature and naive expression reminded him of the mistake he made when he was young.

  The young girl was awakened, pouting and saying some cute words, but the Duke was a little tired of this kind of coquettishness. He quickly rode on the girl's body and covered her face with a sheet.

  Only at this time did he feel that he was still young. The girl's wide-open legs and pink pussy seemed to bring him back to the vigorous and energetic age of his twenties.

  He heard the girl's sweet moans, but another voice lingered in his mind, a laughter as sweet as a silver bell.

  ——She was clearly a lowly slave girl, but in the short summer in Elima, she plucked flowers from the yard and pinned them to her ears, humming songs from the East while hanging the white sheets in the Duke's house. She told him that her name was Jasmine, the name of a flower——

  He was still old, and he ejaculated after just a few strokes. The girl's pretended orgasm and the dryness in her vagina made him feel bored.

  The memory flashed back, and he timidly pulled open the white bed sheet, but the face there did not overlap with the one in his memory at all. The Duke slowly withdrew from his body. He sat dejectedly on the bed and looked out the window at the courtyard of the Fumer family. If she was still alive, she would be about the same age as him. He had ruined his body over the years, and because he was good at calculating, his hair was already gray, while she might still have thick black hair. There might not be many people in the world who could still think of her, the Duke thought, or the girl eating flowers in the garden, only existed in his memory.

  If he forgets her one day, I'm afraid there will be no one in this world who can remember her best time.

  Kahn was already waiting for him in the living room. Today was the day Kahn was leaving for the East. When Duke Fumel heard that his son's future wife was also named Jasmine, he smiled knowingly.

  His son did not look much like him, but inherited Mariette's features. They all said that sons would look more like their mothers, while daughters would look more like their fathers. He did not care. Anyway, Mariette had given birth to three sons for him, and he had fulfilled his obligation to continue the Fumel family's lineage.

  He patted Kahn's shoulder, and then Vic, Franva and their mother also came. The three brothers had a relatively harmonious relationship. Kahn's departure made Vic and Franva somewhat sad. And the turbulent East - the emperor of the East wrote a letter to the Pope a few days ago. He tactfully expressed the hope that after the marriage between the two countries, they could use Elima's power to help Mingxia suppress the recent and insignificant rebel forces.

  The Pope told the news to Duke Fumer and instructed him that Kahn should obtain more intelligence and information for Elima during this trip.

  Kahn is an excellent man. He is courageous and responsible, just as good as Cesare Lorenzo. However, the Duke looked at Kahn and felt that he lacked Cesare's ruthlessness. Perhaps going to the East would be an opportunity to let his son see more.

  "Brother, you must come back safely." Vic said.

  As for his second son, Vic Fumel, he was a ruthless young man, but he lacked the sense of responsibility to be the backbone of the family. Duke Fumel thought that he knew too well the strengths and weaknesses of his children.

  "Take good care of father and mother, and I will return with honor." Kahn said, hugging his two younger brothers. "Franva, you also have to stay with father and work hard and study hard, understand?"

  "Yes, brother," said Fran?oise.

  But Franco is still a child... the Duke thought to himself, and he finally hugged his eldest son, "Remember what I told you." He said again in his son's ear.

  "Yes, father."

  "It's a long journey, be careful." The Duke told his son seriously.

  Marie also hugged her eldest son, with a somewhat sad look on her face. The Duke knew that she had been brooding over this matter.

  A woman's kindness, he thought, but he did not show contempt for anyone in front of his family.