My first impression of that knight was simple—he was a coward.
The extramarital child I was assigned to investigate belonged to a mother and child living in Marseize. In this country, an unmarried mother is obligated to identify the child’s father. Infidelity is not tolerated here.
Whether the father is married or unmarried determines which systems the child may qualify for, so the request came from the state’s intelligence agency. My first task was to investigate the mother.
Among the people judged to be close to her were former coworkers from the tavern where she worked, a regular customer, and a kingdom knight named Leon who visited from time to time. I placed surveillance magic on all three and began observing them.
The coworker and the regular were eliminated quickly.
Interviews around her former residence and their own accounts ruled them out. The mother, Chiara, appeared to be completely alone in the world, but she wasn’t the type to flirt with multiple men. Even after the child was born, the only man she remained connected to was Leon.
Leon normally lived in the royal capital. His wife’s name was Sheila.
Sheila was well known among adventurers in the capital. She wasn’t the kind of beauty that stunned at first glance, but she was bright, with an expression that made the air around her feel fresh. You could watch her forever without growing tired of it.
They had no children.
But one look at Sheila’s face made it clear—she wanted one.
They’d been married five years. If anything, it was already late to say “soon.” But her husband refused to stop going on expeditions for more than half the month, so timing was difficult.
Leon himself showed little enthusiasm. The reason became clear the moment I saw where he went after arriving in Marseize from the garrison.
“Chiara, Lilia, I’m home.”
“Leon! I missed you…! Lilia, Papa’s home!”
“Papa!? Really? Papa?”
Without hesitation, Leon went straight to the mother and child under surveillance and greeted them with “I’m home.”
That was the moment it became clear. Not merely an affair—this was almost certainly a case of an illegitimate child.
This country’s treatment of illegitimate children is harsh.
Several generations ago, a king kept a commoner mistress and nearly passed the throne to the child he had with her. The queen was furious.
The issue of noble mistresses has always plagued society. Not just the queen—countless noble households saw wives cast aside for mistresses and their children, stoking the rage of women everywhere.
As a result, the queen established a clear distinction: children born to mistresses would be labeled “illegitimate,” and the state would not guarantee their welfare.
Without that distinction, legitimate heirs could be cast into ambiguity.
This country provides educational subsidies to all, from nobles to commoners—but illegitimate children receive none.
Their education must be paid for entirely by their parents.
Yet mistresses are often nothing more than disposable lovers—fed sweet words and desire in the moment, then abandoned.
Few men truly took responsibility for the children born that way.
Meeting too late. A destined love. An affair.
No matter how beautifully one dresses it up, it’s nothing more than a relationship that sinks into flesh the moment they meet.
Men are satisfied once their desires are met.
A fleeting bond, fueled by the thrill of taboo.
Women, on the other hand, mistake that fleeting moment for eternity.
They believe shallow words, convince themselves they are loved more than the wife, cling to a temporary sense of superiority, and trust it like fools.
At first, they tell themselves it’s enough to be loved now. But as meetings repeat, they begin to want exclusivity. They want him to leave his wife. They beg—and are met with indifference.
Promises made in the moment are easily broken.
Once the body is taken, the man forgets.
Believing in such cruelty, turning away from their own wounds, women persist in rotten love until they are ruined.
The fate of abandoned mothers and their illegitimate children is grim.
Mothers who loved, trusted, and were betrayed lose the will to work and often spend their lives in shacks.
Children receive no proper education. They either grow violent or die young.
Unable to bear this, charitable noble organizations intervened, and today some limited support exists for illegitimate children.
Limited—because to lawful wives, a husband’s illegitimate child is an object of hatred.
Though the child bears no sin, they are living proof of it. Because the state publicly condemns illegitimacy, it cannot easily extend its hand.
After the laws were established, cases of infidelity-related births sharply declined. Improved contraceptives helped as well.
Still, among commoners, access to such medicine is not always possible, and extramarital children are sometimes born.
That is why the state investigates whether a child was born to an unmarried or divorced parent, or as the result of infidelity, before determining eligibility for aid.
Children born of infidelity are clearly categorized.
I am an agent acting on behalf of the intelligence service.
As an adventurer, I already knew Sheila by reputation—a top-tier supporter whispered about in the guild.
A woman in the capital, faithfully waiting for the return of a husband who was a prime suspect in an illegitimate child investigation.
A wife who never once suspected her husband had a hidden child.
She devoted herself to her knight husband without asking for anything in return.
The more I investigated her, the clearer it became—she gave everything she could, all for her husband.
Plenty of people would pay dearly for what she offered.
And yet, simply because he was her husband, he received it freely—and still had the nerve to say “I’m home” to another woman and child.
I couldn’t understand it.
But I couldn’t tell Sheila the truth.
Revealing intelligence gathered through a state mission for personal reasons would violate protocol.
Having to stay silent until then was unbearable.
Maybe it would have been better if Leon hadn’t been my investigation target at all.
Then an opportunity arose—Sheila accepted a quest that would take her near Marseize.
She was apparently joining a harem leader’s party. They would be staying in Marseize overnight.
I immediately asked the leader to let me join as well.
“To quest with the finest supporter and attacker—it’s an honor. I look forward to working with you.”
Leader Dilan welcomed me warmly, and I finally had contact with Sheila.
In person, she was just as I’d heard—bright, always supporting those around her.
When she cooked, stamina and mana recovered automatically, lasting throughout the quest.
During battle, she paralyzed monsters and showered us with buffs, making everything smoother.
Thanks to her, we finished earlier than planned and reached the inn well before nightfall.
And because the sun was still high, Sheila went out alone.
That was when she saw it.
That horrible scene.
I knew it was bad. I knew it would hurt her.
But I also thought—it was the right time.
She deserved to know who her husband truly was.
So the words spilled out. Words that tore at her wounds.
I wanted to explain calmly, but seeing her try to believe in her husband irritated me. My words grew sharp.
I was angry—at the husband who betrayed her, and at Sheila herself for still believing in him.
This had gone too far. I stepped outside to cool down, bought food since it was already dinner time, and returned—
To find Sheila unconscious.
I panicked, called a doctor, and administered emergency care.
That was when the doctor told me.
A new life was growing inside her.
And in that moment, I understood.
Leaving her husband would not be a simple choice.
Marital problems can look simple from the outside, yet be impossible to cut through when you’re inside them.
People ask, “Why don’t they just leave?”
That’s easy to say when you’re calm and uninvolved.
The people living it have their vision suddenly stolen, unable to move.
They struggle to understand thoughts that make no sense, and it’s natural to want to fix a relationship that was shattered without warning.
So I will respect Sheila’s decision.
If she chooses to leave, I’ll help gather proof of infidelity.
If she chooses not to, I’ll report the mother and child as illegitimate—without revealing Leon’s involvement.
That is the only thing I can do now.
