Chapter 137
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 137
A faint smile played on Barkas’s lips. He reached into the pouch and pulled out another strawberry.
“Here.”
Thalia looked up at him with glistening eyes and parted her lips once more. Barkas carefully tucked the fruit inside.
The strawberry was too large to swallow whole. As she bit into it, the juice overflowed, staining her lips. Barkas wiped the stray drop away with his thumb, his gaze darkening as he watched her. Feeling a sudden flush of embarrassment, she lowered her eyes and swallowed.
“You should have one, too. They’re actually quite good.”
“I brought these for Your Highness,” Barkas said calmly, pressing the remaining half of the fruit against her lips. “I want you to eat them all.”
Thalia gazed up at his handsome, composed face for a moment before obediently opening her mouth. Barkas busily ferried the red fruits to her. Even though she savored each one to make the flavor last, the six large strawberries vanished in an instant.
As she looked down at the empty pouch with a lingering sense of regret, Barkas rose from the bed.
“Please wait a moment. I will go find more.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m full now.”
She hurriedly caught hold of him as he reached for his coat. The sun would be setting soon. She couldn’t have the Ruler of the East running across the land to find fruit that didn’t even grow in this season.
Thalia pulled on his forearm with a firm hand.
“This is plenty. Don’t make such a fuss over nothing.”
“A fuss?”
He gave her a bewildered look. Did he truly have no awareness of how unusual his behavior was?
Thalia let out a short sigh.
“What else do you call scouring the land for strawberries in the dead of winter if not a fuss?”
Barkas tilted his head as if he couldn’t grasp her point.
“Why is it a fuss to provide for one’s wife? Even beasts do as much.”
Thalia looked up at him, momentarily speechless. He seemed to genuinely believe that.
He probably would have acted the same way even if he had married someone else, she thought. Feeling her lighthearted mood suddenly sink, she narrowed her eyes.
“Anyway, just sit down. Even if you bring more, I’m too full to eat them.”
“The maids will be bringing citron pie soon. Please, at least eat some of that.”
The voice echoing near her ear made her heart melt once again. She blamed it on the pregnancy. Her fluctuating emotions and the way she kept craving foods she used to ignore—it was all because of the life growing inside her.
“...I’ll only eat one piece.”
A tiny smile brushed Barkas’s lips once more. She stared at it blankly until a feeling she couldn’t quite bear washed over her, prompting her to turn her gaze toward the window.
Before long, the maids arrived with a tray carrying steaming pie and a traditional Eastern drink.
While they set the table, Barkas—now changed into fresh clothes—scooped her up, blanket and all, and settled her in front of the fireplace. He began to feed her small bites of the hot pie, which was filled with thinly sliced citron, honey, cinnamon, and nuts.
Thalia, opening her mouth out of habit, caught the eye of a wide-eyed maid and flushed red. Unlike Barkas, she at least possessed the sense to know that a grown woman being fed like an infant was undignified.
“Tell them all to leave. They’re in the way.”
As if only just noticing the maids’ presence, Barkas gave a sharp nod toward the door.
“That will be all. You may leave.”
The frozen maids scrambled out of the room. Barkas picked up the fork again as if nothing had happened and brought a piece of pie to her lips.
Do you really think this isn’t making a fuss? Thalia glared at him in protest, but she opened her mouth anyway, yielding to him.
Barkas insisted on making her eat an entire large slice. Then, he even fed her pickled apricots he had found from God-knows-where. It felt like the first time she had eaten this much since her days with House Taren.
“Does your stomach hurt?”
Having fed her so greedily, he asked with belated concern, gently rubbing the area below her ribs. Thalia shook her head slightly.
“I’m fine.”
“...I heard you were examined by the Priest today. Did he have anything particular to say?”
Thalia, who had been basking in a rare sense of fullness, felt her body tense. When she first heard the news of her pregnancy, she had been curious about Barkas’s reaction. But now that he was right in front of her, she found it hard to speak.
After hesitating for a long while, Thalia murmured awkwardly.
“...Nothing much. He just said to eat well and rest.”
“...”
“I’m tired. I’m going to sleep now.”
She avoided his gaze and tried to wiggle under the covers, but the arm wrapped around her back tightened. Thalia stole a glance upward. Barkas was watching her intently, his eyes narrowed.
“Do you really have nothing to tell me?”
Thalia swallowed hard.
“...Nothing.”
“You do.”
His voice carried weight. Thalia’s eyes flared. The head maid said she wouldn’t say a word until I spoke, but did she end up confessing everything? Avoiding his eyes, which seemed to see right through her, she snapped back crossly.
“Tell you what? You already know anyway.”
“What is it that I am supposed to know?”
“Don’t play innocent! You heard everything. Isn’t that why you’re asking?”
“If I knew, why would I go through the trouble of asking?” he countered calmly.
Thalia glared at him suspiciously.
“...You really didn’t hear anything?”
“I did not.”
Her suspicion slowly ebbed at his unwavering answer. Perhaps the head maid had simply hinted that she had something to say.
Thalia licked her dry lips. Barkas brushed the hair back from her forehead and urged her gently.
“So, please tell me. What did the Priest say?”
“Well, you see... I’ve been sleepy and lethargic lately, right?”
Her voice cracked pathetically. Thalia swallowed and studied his expression.
The light from the fireplace cast warm shadows over his cool features. Seeing that gentle expression, the strange fear that had been flickering in a corner of her heart melted away.
“He said... it’s because I’m carrying a child.”
He didn’t move a muscle, simply looking down at her in silence. But Thalia saw the silver flecks in his blue eyes shimmering like waves.
He let out a sigh that seemed to rise from the depths of his lungs and leaned his head against her shoulder. At the same time, a large, veined hand covered her abdomen. The hand, which had always seemed so powerful, now rested over her belly with incredible care.
“...I suppose I must take even better care of you from now on.”
His breath, sounding like the low purr of a large cat, tickled her earlobe.
For some reason, Thalia felt like she might cry, so she bit her lip. It was only after a long while that she managed to speak in a composed voice.
“That’s right. You must serve me with the utmost devotion from now on.”
“I shall do so.”
Despite his blunt reply, the hand stroking her belly was incredibly soft.
Suddenly, she remembered when she first met him. In a moment when the whole world felt bitingly cold, this hand had wrapped around her with warmth.
The memory of that day, which sometimes felt like a curse, didn’t hurt quite as much in this moment.
She curled into his embrace, burying her cheek against the steady thrum of his broad chest.