At April’s expression, as if warning she wouldn’t let him off if he said more, Calsion chuckled and pressed his lips to the back of her hand.

“Fine, it’s all my fault.”

“So from now on, treat me well.”

“I’m treating you well even now.”

April instinctively nodded at his reply, then blinked and quickly shook her head. She cleared her throat and urged again,

“Hm! And also, the proposal—ahem!—do it properly.”

“Proposal?”

“We got married without one, didn’t we? When I worked at the flower shop, I saw so many people proposing to the ones they loved.”

As April smiled brightly, Calsion pressed his lips against her cheek. It was a light kiss that seemed to wash away all the loneliness between them.

“Was it fun?”

Though his question really meant ‘Was it fun without me?’, April, not realizing the deeper meaning, answered with a radiant smile.

“It was fun going outside.”

“You could just be free in my arms. I won’t interfere.”

Calsion’s answer came sullenly. His brows furrowed at April’s words that waking up in the palace was less enjoyable than being outside.

As if to soothe him, April whispered gently,

“But it was something I’d always dreamed of.”

“I need you.”

At Calsion’s firm words, April’s grip weakened. Naturally, he lowered his face and pulled her by the waist. Their upper bodies pressed together. April tried to lean back so her racing heartbeat wouldn’t be noticed, but she couldn’t escape his grasp.

“It was fun, but I felt a little… no, a lot empty.”

April whispered, her face turning red. Though her voice was soft, to Calsion’s ears it sounded louder than anything.

“Why?”

“Because you weren’t there.”

“Hearing you say you felt empty without me… that’s the best thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I thought about you every night.”

“Every night?”

“Even while I was at the flower shop.”

“Oh?”

Calsion’s hand, wrapped around her waist, began moving slowly. Stroking her slender waistline, he lowered his lips to her neck. His kiss, heavy with possessiveness, left marks along her pale skin, drawing a faint m*an from her.

The fine hairs on her nape bristled, and her toes curled on their own. As Calsion’s lips trailed lower, leaving darker marks across her chest, April did not resist but clung to him tighter. When she tugged at his shirt, the silk buttons scattered loose with a snap.

“I didn’t even pull that hard…!”

April looked distressed as if making excuses. Laughing, Calsion caught her hand and kissed her reddened lips. His tongue sensuously traced her lower lip, then slipped inside her mouth, exploring deeply. April gripped his shirt tight.

After thoroughly savoring her neat row of teeth, Calsion bit her lower lip lightly before pulling away. April’s breath escaped in a longing sigh, but he had something more urgent to tell her—something he had discovered while she lay unconscious.

“I have something to say.”

Calsion gently pulled April away from clinging to him. She blinked, startled, when he who had been so eager just moments ago suddenly kept his distance.

‘D-Does this mean he’s grown tired of me? No, it can’t be. He said he loved me…’

Seeing the panic plain on her face, Calsion’s expression slowly faded. Then a smile spread across his lips.

“What’s so funny!”

She grew annoyed seeing him laugh while interrupting something so good. April swallowed hard, staring at Calsion’s smiling face fixed solely on her. For some reason, her nerves tightened.

‘Surely he’s not about to say he loves someone else? That everything until now was a lie…?’

A storm of thoughts swept through her mind when Calsion finally opened his lips.

“Vi.”

“Oh, hurry up and say it already!”

“We’re going to have a family.”

“What nonsense….”

April couldn’t stop the words that slipped out. She quickly covered her mouth, but the words had already escaped.

Calsion froze on the spot. The soft atmosphere from just moments ago had completely vanished.

“Nonsense?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…!”

A sharp light flickered at the corners of Calsion’s eyes, his gaze slowly narrowing.

“You’re calling it nonsense when I say we have a family?”

“That’s not it. You just said it so suddenly, it startled me…!”

Before Calsion could speak, April hurriedly jumped in, trying to steer the conversation away.

“Anyway, what do you mean by that? A family?”

April widened her eyes as she asked again. In that moment, Calsion’s words began to take on a clear sense of reality.

“The High Priest said there’s a child. Right here.”

“…What?”

The spot Calsion pointed to was her belly. Lately, she had been feeling indigestion and bloating, but to think it wasn’t stress—it was because she was pregnant.

“That’s impossible. How could I…!”

April, mid-sentence, brought both hands to cover her mouth.

She was afraid Calsion would be disappointed if he found out she had been drinking tea meant to prevent pregnancy, so she swallowed back the words that nearly spilled out. But Calsion, having somehow understood anyway, asked,

“Are you wondering how you could be pregnant even after drinking tea that prevents it?”

“…You knew?”

“The High Priest told me. Women with divine power—such tea is useless for them.”

“What?”

“He said the divine power nullifies its effect, no matter how much of it you drink.”

“My goodness.”

She felt foolish for having believed she had prevented pregnancy all this time. Slowly blinking, April placed both hands over her belly. Somehow, as she touched it, she felt as though there was a strange resonance from within.

“April.”

“Karl.”

“We have a child. Aren’t you happy?”

April stared blankly at Calsion, and soon, a tear slipped from her eyes. That was the beginning.

“I’m happy… so happy… really…! Huuuh…”

Like a child, she burst into sobs, and Calsion stayed in the bedchamber comforting her. Outside, the servants and knights of the imperial palace, who had been waiting, heard April’s voice and celebrated her awakening.

***

Once April awoke, everything began to proceed smoothly. Calsion no longer insisted on refusing the throne.

Before ascending, he publicly executed the Empress and Walter. The execution was carried out two days after all the people of Duke Cephiron’s household had been wiped out. Walter resisted fiercely, saying he could not die like this, but the stones thrown by citizens—who knew the late Emperor had been poisoned—soon silenced him.

The execution was swift, and April only learned of it afterward. The reason given was that news so foul could not be told to someone carrying a precious imperial child.

Duke Bright, imprisoned, could not withstand the shock and lost his sanity. At first, people thought he was pretending in order to escape, but the High Priest confirmed that he had truly gone mad.

Because such a man could not be left in prison, Calsion changed his punishment to house arrest, and the Duchess cared for him. There was no need to trouble April with this news, so Calsion ordered silence, and the palace servants faithfully obeyed.

For April’s sake, Calsion was willing to do anything. One by one, he cut down the nobles who dared to speak of Duke Bright’s downfall as a reason to choose a new empress. Despite repeated warnings, they continued to pursue their selfish ambitions, and their miserable ends were the result.

That April was from the Bright family was no longer an issue. She was carrying imperial blood.

“Your Highness! No, that’s wrong. Now it’s Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Calsion hasn’t gone through the coronation yet, so it’s still fine to call me ‘Your Highness.’”

April gently answered Miloa, who kept fumbling over the title. Somehow, Miloa had already been chosen as the next head lady-in-waiting of the empress’s palace. No one could match her loyalty to April.

It was strange. Miloa devoted herself wholeheartedly to April. April knew it, but it wasn’t something she could easily ask aloud. How could she question her in front of everyone, asking why she was so loyal?

At last, when they finally had a chance to be alone, April placed her hand over her belly, which had not yet begun to swell, and asked the question she had always wanted to.

“But why do you follow me with such devotion?”

“Don’t you remember, Your Highness?”