Chapter 144
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 144
As winter deepened, her belly grew heavy and prominent.
The change, which had once felt like a wondrous and proud novelty, soon transformed into a grueling trial. As the baby grew, the physical toll on her body became nearly unbearable.
With a low groan, Thalia shifted her weight, her spine feeling as though it might snap under the strain. No matter how she positioned herself, there was no escaping the agony.
“Would you like to try turning this way, Your Highness? I will massage your back for you.”
Marisen, watching her suffer with a look of pity, made the cautious suggestion.
Thalia nodded immediately. Usually, she loathed being touched, but she was in no position to be picky.
“Could you lift your legs just a little? It will be more comfortable if I tuck a cushion between them.”
“Like this...?”
As Thalia slightly raised her knees, the woman slid a pillow between them.
Thalia let out a long, shaky breath. It didn’t do much for the ache in her back, but the tingling sensation running down her legs seemed to ease.
“Please tell me if it hurts.”
Leaning over the bed, Marisen began to press firmly against Thalia’s lower back, applying just the right amount of pressure. Thalia let out a long groan and stretched her stiff legs.
Lowering her hands, the woman carefully examined Thalia’s cramped muscles. “How is the pain in your legs?”
“Why even ask? It hurts terribly, of course.”
“If it is truly difficult to bear, shall I burn a little sleep herb for you?”
Thalia narrowed her eyes, staring intently at the woman’s face. That calm expression held nothing but genuine concern.
“Does it... harm the baby?”
“Since you have entered a stable period, it shouldn’t be a major problem.”
Thalia looked down at her belly with conflicted eyes. She desperately wanted to escape the pain, even for a moment, but she was terrified of any ill effects on the child.
As she agonized over the choice, Tiuran, who had been poking at the logs in the fireplace, suddenly interjected.
“It is best to avoid medicine if possible. It hasn’t been accurately determined what kind of effect sleep herb has on a fetus.”
Marisen glared at her, looking offended. “Do you truly believe I would prescribe anything harmful to Her Highness? I have given painkillers to expectant mothers before, and there has never been an issue.”
“But there are always exceptional circumstances—”
“Enough.”
Thalia cut through their bickering with a single word. She was in no mood to tolerate the subtle power struggle between the two women.
“Even if I use the medicine, the pain will only return when I wake. I will endure it.”
“But you cannot even sleep properly. If you collapse from exhaustion...”
“I said it is enough! If you are going to nag, then leave.”
Thalia pushed the woman’s hands away and pulled the duvet over her head. She didn’t have the energy left for a useless scuffle.
As her swollen uterus pressed against the nerves of her twisted pelvis, her aching legs tingled miserably, and cramps seized her calves with increasing frequency. The stabbing pain in her back grew worse by the day. The realization that she had to endure this until summer made her feel utterly hopeless.
Thalia lightly pressed her hands against her bulging lower belly.
She felt a faint movement beneath the taut skin. The resentment she had begun to feel toward the baby melted away in an instant. Still, she planned to complain at least a little once the child was born.
It hurts so much because of you. But I am enduring it all. So, when you arrive, you must listen to me. You must love me more than anyone else in the whole world—because I am going to do the same for you.
Lost in those thoughts, she eventually drifted off to sleep.
Feeling a hand stroking her forehead, Thalia opened her eyes. Seeing Barkas’s shadowed face looking down at her, she pushed herself up into a sitting position.
“When did you get here?”
“I have just returned from my official duties. Please, lie back down.”
“No. My back hurts from lying down all day.”
Pushing away the hand that tried to guide her back to the pillows, she leaned against the headboard and took a slow look at him.
Dressed in a russet doublet with the elaborate embroidery characteristic of the East and black leather boots, he looked every bit the dignified and elegant nobleman.
“Was there an event?” Thalia asked suspiciously, scanning his outfit, which was more formal than usual.
Barkas calmly replied as he began to unbutton his doublet. “I merely attended a meeting of the Noble Alliance.”
“Meetings have been frequent lately. Did something happen?”
“Nothing is wrong. More importantly, why did you move rooms?” Barkas suddenly changed the subject, a hint of dissatisfaction coloring his voice.
Thalia wrapped her arms around her knees and awkwardly lowered her gaze. “Because of me, you cannot sleep either. I think it is better if we use separate rooms until I give birth.”
“Throw away such useless considerations.”
Barkas spoke sharply and leaned over the bed. Realizing he was about to pick her up, Thalia retreated to the corner of the mattress.
“I am doing it because it is more comfortable for me!”
His eyes narrowed. Staring down at her, Barkas countered in a cool voice as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Did you not once say it was uncomfortable if I wasn’t by your side to attend to you?”
“That was then... it is different now.”
“What is different?”
Thalia looked at Barkas’s strong, beautiful silhouette against the light before lowering her gaze to her own body, wrapped in a thin nightgown. Her breasts had grown heavy, and her belly felt as bloated as a toad’s.
Her skeletal, thin frame had been unsightly enough, but this body, swollen as if it were about to burst, felt even more hideous. Aside from the joy of the baby, she felt wretched seeing herself look neither elegant like Aila nor sensual like Senevia.
She pulled the duvet up over her shoulders, her voice laced with irritation. “It didn’t hurt like this back then.”
“Which is all the more reason I should be by your side to take care of you.”
Barkas, a furrow forming between his brows, reached for her again. Startled, Thalia twisted away, but before she could escape, his long arms wrapped around her.
Pulled onto his lap in an instant, Thalia hurriedly tugged her skirt down to her toes. However, Barkas’s attention was focused solely on her back. Gently rubbing the muscles near her spine with his firm palms, he frowned at the miserable expression on her face.
“Does it truly hurt that much?”
Thalia glared at him with tearful eyes. This man wouldn’t understand her heart—how she didn’t want him to see her ruined body—not even a little bit.
She knew it was a foolish emotion. Yet, since she was nine years old, Thalia had wanted to be the most beautiful person in the world to him. The reality of failing that was devastating.
“Yes, it hurts enough to die.”
Instead of confessing the truth, Thalia vented her temper. “It is so unfair. Why am I the only one in pain? I wish you hurt at least half as much as I do.”
“...If that is the case, you should keep me close to torment me. Why try to use separate rooms?” Barkas whispered coaxingly, his hands never stopping their work on her back.
Her heart was about to soften at his gentle voice, but the moment his hand moved down toward her swollen belly, she quickly pulled her knees up and curled into a ball.
“No. Don’t touch it.”
“Why not?”
The face of the man who had been patiently soothing her grew sharp. His patience had finally reached its limit. Taking a long breath, Barkas asked in a much lower voice, “It is my child. Why won’t you even let me touch you lately?”
“It is not your child.”
His face froze ice-cold at the words she spat out like a tantrum. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat in fear, but Thalia continued with feigned composure.
“Until it comes out into the world, it is entirely my child. Since I am the one enduring this pain to carry it, it is only fair that I have the exclusive rights.”
At her words, which were nothing short of stubborn nonsense, the furrow between Barkas’s brows deepened.