[Side Story 1] If only I could be sick instead (1)

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Roardnes had been busy lately.

He would wake up at dawn and finish a vigorous 3-hour workout before Adriene woke up.

He would immediately go to the food warehouse and personally supervise the selection of ingredients from various places.

"Isn't the mental work Vincent's responsibility?"

"This is the most physically demanding job, so shut up and do it, Neil."

Neil had to move early in the morning, all because he had a master who was unnecessarily diligent.

Complaints poured out of his mouth as he breathed, but his hands, accustomed to excessive work, poked at everything with a long silver needle. Although he yawned lazily, the reason for his obedience was simple.

If it had been for His Highness Roardnes, who had recently been promoted from Crown Prince to Crown Prince, he would have easily slipped away, but it was different when it came to Her Highness the Crown Princess and their grandchild.

"Yes, well. It's for Her Highness the Crown Princess."

Neil glanced at Roardnes, whose full attention was on Her Highness the Crown Princess, and subtly said everything he wanted to say.

It was an impudent remark that he couldn't say anything even if he was hit on the back of his head, but Roardnes was so focused on his own work that he didn't care about Neil. Luckily.

After diligently poking the silver needle and even supervising the chef, Roardnes returned to the Crown Princess's palace with a late breakfast.

"Roan?"

"Are you awake already?"

Roardnes shook off the chill from his body, stood in front of the fireplace for a moment, and went to Adriene.

Naturally, he picked her up and carried her to the dining table where breakfast was set, and skillfully served her.

Eight months had passed since Adriene's pregnancy. Her belly was unusually large for eight months.

Even though the doctor said there was no health problem, Roardnes was worried. Her body was healthier than before, but she was pregnant before her weak body had recovered.

He felt guilty and suffered as if it were his own problem whenever Adriene struggled with her swollen belly.

"Roan, you eat too."

"After you finish."

Adriene had already passed the period when she had severe morning sickness. She had a few foods she didn't like, but it wasn't as bad as everyone had worried about before.

But after Adriene's morning sickness period passed, Roardnes' appetite had dropped drastically.

He did intense exercise every day and mechanically chewed meat, but it was just a diet to maintain his body. He also stopped eating desserts that he used to enjoy with Adriene and only ate the same amount of food as her.

"If only you could be pregnant, Roan."

"I wish I could."

After finishing the tomato soup and half of the mandarin salad, Roardnes tore off a piece of steaming wheat bread and held it up to Adriene's nose.

Adriene just opened her mouth and took the bread.

Roardnes' lips, which had been hardened with worry, slowly relaxed.

"I'm happiest when you eat like a baby bird like this. It's so cute to see you with your hands tied up, just taking whatever I give you. I'm actually trying so hard not to kiss you every time you chew because it's so cute, you know?"

"Yeah." (I know.)

He says that every day.

Adriene, whose cheeks were puffed up from eating too much bread, mumbled a reply, and Roardnes frowned as if he was in pain.

"Do you know? When I see something really cute, I want to destroy it. I want to crush it. I want to knead it. I get that kind of impulse. It's not that I'm weird, everyone has that feeling once in a while. I have that feeling every day."

"Uh-oh." (I know that too.)

Adriene clicked her tongue inwardly, thinking that she was so dazed that she couldn't even recognize that he said the same thing every morning when he fed her breakfast.

She swallowed the food in her mouth with a gulp of fresh milk.

"But Roan."

Roardnes, who had come up to her and naturally licked the milk off the corner of her mouth, smiled contentedly.

"Yes?"

"Aren't you going to work?"

The news of Adriene's pregnancy was kept as secret as possible until it was revealed a few months ago.

It was because she could no longer hide her unusually swollen belly. She managed to hold on for a while thanks to Madame Lebléa who skillfully made dresses that didn't look like maternity clothes, but it was the limit.

And the Emperor, who had been confined to the imperial palace since the news of his daughter-in-law's pregnancy, appeared for the first time.

When they visited the imperial palace for the first time after their marriage, his beard, which had grown wildly like a savage, had disappeared.

The Emperor, who had been lying down listlessly after holding another solemn funeral for Empress Retina, acted as if he had changed into a different person at the news of his daughter-in-law's pregnancy.

Without missing the opportunity, Roardnes pushed all the tasks assigned to him back to his father.

And without any regrets, he became her 'servant' for several months.

"Isn't taking care of you your job?"

"I mean your real job."

Adriene was worried about that. She was worried that rumors like, "The former playboy Crown Prince has finally met his match," or "He's completely under his wife's thumb" would spread.

"Rien. I'm just diligently carrying out my priorities right now."

"The Emperor is getting very weak. Your older brother was a bastard, but he worked hard."

Roardnes brought her a glass of mouthwash without saying a word.

"I will. Don't worry. I'm just so restless sitting in a chair after doing all the physical work. And it's true that it's difficult to work properly with you nearby."

The conversation was taking a strange turn.

Adriene rinsed her mouth and naturally snuggled into Roardnes' arms.

She looked up at him, emitting a subtle aura while he carried her and moved her back to the bed.

"I have more mouths to feed, Rien. I'm busy too. Feeding you, feeding our baby..."

"What do you mean by feeding..."

Before her back touched the still warm bed, two lips gently overlapped. Roardnes replied sweetly between their joined lips.

"The doctor said that now that it's a completely stable period, it's okay to have marital relations. No, it's actually good for our baby. As long as we control ourselves."

The arm she held onto to keep her balance felt overly strong and seemed larger than before.

It was natural since he had gotten up early and exercised diligently. Adriene involuntarily swallowed hard.

"We have to feed our baby with our father's love too."

Roardnes, who had briefly released his lips, whispered softly.

The tanned hands that had diligently and respectfully served her for the past few months dug into her white negligee.

A low sigh escaped from her mouth as his mouth persistently dug into her mouth, interrupting the conversation.

The warm hand that had been stroking her swollen, soft belly slowly moved up and grasped the soft flesh.

Inhaling the breath that was tangled and stirred up hot, Adriene, as always, entrusted herself to his hands.

****

Roardnes put on the decent clothes he had taken off and covered Adriene's body with a snow-white blanket.

Roardnes sat on the bed and looked down at his wife for a long time.

His large, warm hand caressed Adriene's sleeping cheek.

His long fingers traced her straight, prominent forehead, her small but well-defined nose, and her wet lips that had turned red from his kisses. He paused, his hand trembling slightly at her fluttering eyelashes, but it moved again when he realized she wasn't going to wake up and continued to sleep.

"Rien."

His wife was both lovely and unsettling in her silence.

As her due date approached, Roardnes couldn't help but feel anxious, unlike her face, which was filled with excitement.

While Adriene was napping, he had devoured all the books on pregnant women.

And the conclusion he reached from reading those books was different from his ignorant past.

While pregnancy was a blessing for a couple, was it the same for a woman?

Roardnes lowered his trembling hand and stroked the belly where his and Adriene's child slept.

Dozens of times a day, he would stroke her belly with his warm hand, and the life inside would kick her belly as if in response, going, "Thump, thump!"

A faint smile was on Roardnes' face, but his brows furrowed slightly at the moment he felt the movement.

"Mmm..."

Adriene stirred in her sleep, moaning softly as she felt the movement.

Roardnes recalled what he had read about women who had ruined their bodies and lost their lives during childbirth.

As with most books, the content was full of vague happiness about pregnancy and reverence for motherhood, but the short sentence, "The number of mothers who die during childbirth is undeniably high..." disturbed his mind.

His low, red eyes stared at his wife for a long time, who was so pitiful and lovely.

****

When she woke up from her nap, the position of the sun had changed.

"Are you awake, Your Highness?"

"Yes."

Yona, who had been carefully tidying the bedroom for fear of waking me up, came to me quickly and handed me a drink.

I moistened my scratchy throat and looked around.

"I was getting ready because I received a message from the Empress's palace."

"I'll be right out."

Yona took the empty glass and smiled brightly before leaving, and I found a single purple tulip on my bedside table. Under the canopy that Yona couldn't see, there was a short note.

[I'll go see Rossi. I hope you smile at the scent of the flowers when you wake up. - Your An]

Due to my approaching due date, it was difficult to even walk in the garden. Before that, Roardnes, who always took me for a walk in the garden, would pick flowers from the garden whenever he left and bring them to me, even taking care of them.

After I got pregnant, Roardnes strongly demanded to the Emperor that I should be compensated as a victim of the royal political struggle.

Although I was no longer qualified to be the Duke of Trovika as before, I received a portion of the Trovika territory and the Duke's mansion in the capital as compensation.

And I lent the Duke's mansion to Bliere and Rossi. Bliere was studying there to become a successor, and Rossi, at my request, was staying there to advise Ronta, where magical restrictions would soon be lifted.

Roardnes visited the Duke's mansion almost every day to seek advice from Rossi.

Sometimes he came back looking a little tired, wondering what he was doing.

I unconsciously ran my hand over the empty space beside me.

But my heart wasn't lonely.

Because I had been so close to Roardnes for nearly eight months, my heart was overflowing with love.

Just as he wished, I buried my nose in the tulip and smiled quietly.

Thump!

"Ah."

It was a fetal movement. The baby's vigorous kicks announced its presence.

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