Since she hadn’t sensed anyone around just moments ago, Rudina was so startled by the sudden voice that she dropped the basket she was holding.

“Ah!”

“Careful.”

But before the basket could hit the ground, James snatched it up. Not a single cookie or pie had spilled out of the basket.

“James?”

Rudina tilted her head far back and asked the man who was looking down at her with a gentle smile. Though it hadn’t even been a month since she last saw him, he seemed to have grown much taller in that time.

“Rudina.”

James’s whispering voice was as sweet as a song. Though he had a pretty face before, now with his features becoming more defined and masculine, he had become so handsome that people would turn to look as he passed by.

Moreover, being a head taller than the other knights, he naturally drew attention.

“Did you come to see me?”

“Huh? …Oh. Eat that.”

Rudina belatedly realized she had been staring too intently at James and answered with a start.

“What am I, a child?”

Though James grumbled, the smile never left his face as he peered into the basket. Finding that familiar smile on James, who had grown so much he felt unfamiliar, Rudina felt a bit more at ease.

“Well, you are a child! You were only this tall just last year.”

Rudina teased, pointing near her shoulder. The smile quickly disappeared from James’s face.

His gaze, which had been excitedly peering into the basket, slowly moved to stare intently at Rudina’s face.

“Do you really think that?”

James’s voice trembled slightly as he asked. Somehow it felt like he might cry if she said yes. Though Rudina was flustered, she somehow couldn’t say no.

“O-Of course. You’re a child.”

James dropped the basket he was holding. Then he stepped closer to Rudina. As someone much taller and bigger than her suddenly approached, Rudina startled and stepped back until her back hit a nearby tree.

James didn’t stop approaching, and after bending down until he was at eye level with Rudina, he stretched his arm against the tree trunk. In the blink of an eye, Rudina was trapped between James’s arms.

“…Why?”

“I’m a child?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Even though I’m this big?”

“But you’re still only t-twelve years old.”

Watching Rudina stammer, James grinned.

“Rudina.”

“Yes?”

“Werewolves don’t age at the same rate as humans.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’m already past the age of finding a mate.”

“M-Mate?”

“Yes. My wife. And what I want to eat…”

James’s gaze slowly moved to Rudina’s slightly parted lips.

“Isn’t cookies or pie, Rudina.”

* * *

Bubble bubble.

The sound of boiling water could be heard constantly from the laboratory bench. Glass jars filled with medicinal herbs lined the shelves that covered one wall.

“This has to succeed this time.”

Desperation filled Crot’s eyes as he looked at the experimental equipment. Cold sweat from anxiety and tension beaded on his forehead and nose.

The liquid that had been bubbling for a while suddenly became viscous, and thick air bubbles popped heavily on the liquid’s surface with plop sounds.

“Please don’t solidify, please don’t solidify.”

This was already the ninety-seventh attempt. He had slowly conducted experiments combining medications in various ways, varying the fire intensity, water amount, and even the laboratory temperature.

Though he hoped this would be the last attempt, each try had ended in failure, and every time, Crot struggled not to lose heart.

Contrary to Crot’s desperate wishes, the viscous boiling liquid’s surface began to harden like a scab forming.

“Hah…”

Another failure. He had hoped it might succeed since it maintained its liquid state longer than usual. Crot’s limbs went limp.

“It’s okay, still three more tries until a hundred. Let’s just keep going until then.”

Of course, he had no intention of stopping after a hundred tries, but if he didn’t set short-term goals, it would feel too overwhelming and make him want to give up.

Just as Crot jumped up from his seat, took a deep breath, and put on thick gloves.

The stiffly hardened liquid cracked like a dry cookie, and the liquid underneath the thick surface began to simmer again.

“It worked!”

Crot clenched his fist and cheered. This medicine, made by boiling various herbs together with the Wisdom Herb and winter fruit, along with Golden Bloom root, was the Credion Empire’s first antibiotic.

Though Golden Bloom root was a difficult and expensive ingredient to obtain, only a tiny amount was needed, so the material cost wasn’t too high.

* * *

As Stella entered a stable period in her pregnancy, there was a flood of opinions from officials that a celebration should be held.

Even without that, congratulatory gifts were pouring into the imperial palace daily from various nobles of the empire as well as from other countries.

“I can’t even open the gifts anymore.”

At first, Stella had been excited to open the gifts herself, but when they started pouring in beyond what she could handle, she soon threw up her hands.

So it was changed to a system where the gifts would be opened and their contents briefly summarized for review. Of course, the person receiving these reports was not Stella but Kai.

“Don’t worry about anything and just look at the nice things and rest comfortably.”

“But we should send thank you letters to those who sent gifts.”

“Don’t worry about that either. I’ll take care of it.”

Kai gently stroked Stella’s cheek. As her belly started showing slightly, her lost appetite returned and she began eating a bit more.

Any food that Stella mentioned even in passing would appear on the table before the day was over.

“We’re planning to hold a celebration.”

Since Stella had already heard about the pregnancy celebration, she just quietly nodded.

“You just need to make a brief appearance and then go back to rest. No need to overdo it.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Stella answered while resting her head on Kai’s shoulder. Kai wrapped one arm around Stella’s shoulders as she leaned against him and tenderly kissed her forehead.

His wife always had a warm, sweet scent. Since she hadn’t worn perfume after her sense of smell became sensitive due to pregnancy, it wasn’t perfume.

Kai’s lips soon moved to Stella’s nape.

“…Kai.”

As his lips that had been on her nape began nibbling at her collarbone, Stella gently discouraged him.

“Just a moment, just a little more.”

At Kai’s pleading, Stella quietly embraced him, who was much bigger than her. Though he wasn’t sick, she could feel the heat radiating from Kai’s body.

“Ah…, this is really driving me crazy.”

It had been over three months since they had literally just held hands while sleeping, having no choice due to the doctor’s orders for absolute rest.

Though Kai considered himself to have very strong self-control, there were sometimes days when he couldn’t control himself to the point of feeling dizzy.

Stella always had a scent like wildflowers, or fresh fruit. Since it wasn’t an artificial fragrance, he never tired of smelling it all day.

Having Stella in his arms made him feel like he possessed the whole world.

When her smooth skin touched his body, his heart would pound so hard it might burst, and when he buried himself in her warm, intimate embrace, he felt so ecstatic he could forget who he was.

Though he wanted Stella more desperately than ever, Kai kissed her cheek once more before separating her from his body.

Though it was very brief, red flowers had bloomed wherever Kai’s lips had lingered.

“Stay still for a moment.”

Kai quickly got up and took out the ointment he had kept in the drawer. It was a Wisdom Herb ointment that Crot had spent a full month day and night making.

Crot’s Wisdom Herb ointment, which neutralized its characteristic bitter scent and added herbs good for the skin, sold out as soon as it was made. Of course, Kai was the first person who could get his hands on the ointment.

The ointment specially made for Stella was contained in a silver case. Stella’s name was embedded in diamonds on the lid of the medicine case that was smaller than a palm.

Crot regularly came to the palace and diligently refilled several such cases he had made.

“Let’s apply this.”

“I’m not hurt anywhere.”

Stella, who was still unaware of the state of her neck, answered with a puzzled expression.

“I know. But let’s apply it anyway.”

Kai scooped up some ointment with a small silver spoon and gently spread it on Stella’s reddened skin. Only then realizing that marks had formed where Kai had kissed, Stella glared at Kai, clearly thinking him naughty.

“Don’t look at me like that. If you provoke me, it might not end with just marks this time.”

“I’m fine now though.”

“What?”

Kai, who had been carefully spreading the ointment on Stella’s nape and collarbone, asked with wide eyes. His face quickly filled with expectation as he blinked at Stella.

“Not ending with just marks… I’d like that too.”

At Stella’s words spoken with a slightly reddened face, Kai’s lips curved into a circle.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Really really?”

“Yes, really really.”

“No taking it back.”

“I love you.”

At Stella’s sudden confession, Kai finally let go of the thread of reason he had been barely holding onto.

“I love you too.”

“I know.”

Kai lifted Stella, who had been sitting in the rocking chair, into his arms. Though she had gotten heavier since becoming pregnant, she still felt as light as a feather to Kai.

“I’ll be careful.”

“Okay.”

Demonstrating his words through action, Kai carefully laid Stella on the bed. Stella lying there looking up at him was more beautiful and lovely than anything else in this world.

“Hold me.”

Stella reached out and wrapped her arms around Kai’s neck.

Kai held Stella with the delicate care one would use for the most fragile glass artwork in the world. Though he couldn’t hold her as greedily as he wanted, just this made Kai feel like the happiest man in the whole world.

* * *

“Melissa! What is all this?”

Eschlian raised her voice at her daughter who came in following the servants carrying large boxes into the house one after another.

“This? These are things I’ll take when I go to the imperial palace tomorrow. Gifts for Her Majesty the Empress.”

“All of this?”

“I didn’t know baby things were so small. Look at this! Isn’t it just so cute?”

Melissa showed her mother a small shoe that hadn’t been put in the gift box yet and smiled brightly. The shoe, smaller than a palm, had a light pink lace ribbon and jingling gold bells attached.

“What if you bought those shoes and His Highness the Prince is born?”

“I thought of that so I bought these too, don’t worry.”

Melissa showed off baby blue shoes with a bright smile.

‘What should I do with her?’

Eschlian, who had been worried her daughter might do something strange thinking the emperor had been taken from her, hadn’t expected Melissa to act like this, so her current behavior was just bewildering.

“Melissa, you’ve already filled a whole room with gift boxes. Stop buying now. The imperial family will surely prepare well enough.”

“But how can it be the same as what I buy? I’m going to be the most wonderful godmother in the world.”

“G-Godmother?”

“Yes! Stella’s baby’s godmother! Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps from happiness.”

Melissa hugged the baby shoes she had bought tightly to her chest and smiled brightly. Eschlian, who had been quietly watching Melissa, shook her head in resignation and turned away.

Given Melissa’s personality of having to see things through once she set her mind on something, there was no point in trying to stop her.