“I had them blend and freeze a few of your favorite fruits. Keeping something cold in your mouth should help a little.”

It was a kind of care she had never received even from her own mother, Luise. The tears came rushing out despite Mrs. Lien’s efforts to wipe them away. Adeline swallowed them back as best she could and smiled.

“Thank you, Mrs. Lien. Truly… so much.”

Mrs. Lien had always been a considerate person, but lately she had been staying especially close to Adeline’s side, attending to every small thing one by one. It seemed to be because Kailen’s child was precious to her.

She was already grateful enough that a child had come to her at all, yet she found herself with more and more reasons to be thankful to the baby growing inside her.

My little one, because of you, your mother is happy beyond what she deserves…

* * *

As the weeks of pregnancy accumulated, the baby’s movements became clearly perceptible.

Each time a signal came from inside her belly, faint but unmistakably alive, Adeline would rest her hand there and stand still for a long while. That single small movement was enough to fill her chest so full it nearly stole her breath. Each day was happy. Truly it was.

And yet, strangely, that happiness always sat side by side with anxiety.

The greater the joy grew, the more it seemed like the possibility of it all collapsing grew with it.

Whenever Kailen was out of sight even for a moment, her heart would not easily settle.

Even knowing he had gone into a meeting, even knowing he was away on a brief business trip, Adeline grew restless for no reason she could name. She knew nothing would happen, yet her mind ran on endlessly with senseless imaginings.

〈Congratulations.〉

That day, when she had told him about the baby, his face would sometimes surface and overlap in her mind.

He had said the words of congratulation, but his expression had looked hollow somehow. When she recalled that face, there were moments when it seemed like he might vanish one day without a word.

He was, without question, a gentle person.

When he took her hand, when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, he was always careful.

But there were times, every so often, when he showed an inexplicably cold look in his eyes. In those moments, Adeline could not bring herself to ask why, and instead let her imagination expand the meaning of that look on its own.

No. It is just my imagination.

Telling herself that, Adeline would occasionally seek counsel from Dr. Lemon or the attending physician who was always nearby.

〈Depressive symptoms and anxiety often accompany pregnancy. Please try to avoid overly negative thoughts and make an effort to think of pleasant things as much as possible.〉

She nodded at their advice, but it was not as easy as it sounded.

The causeless anxiety visited her the way morning sickness did, and it would not easily leave. Every few days she dreamed of losing the baby, and on those days, even after waking, her heart would pound so hard it nearly choked her. She had to sit with her arms wrapped tightly around her belly for a long while before she could calm down.

Perhaps that was why.

Adeline found herself increasingly wanting to move somewhere closer to Kailen.

Anywhere would do, as long as she was with her husband.

She wanted to start fresh somewhere entirely different, somewhere other than Varsen.

When she sat in a daze like that, she would call up the cities of various countries in her mind, one by one.

Aurelia, with its gentle, soft-falling sunlight, would surely put her at ease.

Frenon, where the Belliche main office was located, was not a bad choice either. It was where his family was.

There were more than five or six Belliche branch offices established across various countries, so she thought it might be possible to choose one of them and move there for a while.

But she soon shook her head at herself.

‘There is no way that would work.’

It was a sudden, unreasonable, and far too personal request.

Then if moving was too difficult, if it truly could not be done, she at least wanted to go on a trip for a little while.

Even just a few months would be enough.

Until the baby was born.

By then, she thought, it would be alright to return to Varsen.

Thinking it through that way, a small compromise took shape inside her.

Adeline let out a quiet breath, the way someone does when they have reached a decision.

Let me try asking to go on a trip, even if only for a few months.

Something like that, surely he would agree to.

And so, Adeline quietly finished making her careful resolution on her own.

And today, too, Adeline spent the day sitting by the window of the residence.

The garden spread out wide before her, peaceful as always. The neatly trimmed lawn, the orderly walking paths, the sunlight breaking apart over the surface of the fountain. Looking at this place alone, it felt like nothing in the world was wrong.

And yet, very faintly.

From somewhere, the chants of a protest drifted in on the wind. The individual words were not clear, but the sharp emotion carried in those voices was unmistakable.

Adeline looked down for a moment at the teacup in her hand. The gentle ripples on the surface refused to settle.

As the hour of Kailen’s return drew near, Tanya knocked quietly and stepped into the room.

Adeline sat before the mirror and obediently let her hair be tended to.

“Your belly has grown quite a bit now, Madam.”

Adeline looked at her own reflection in the mirror and smiled softly.

It truly had. There was a weight now that she had not felt before.

“Yes, hasn’t it?”

Her hand rose naturally to rest on her belly.

“…I still find it so, so incredible. I wonder whether it will be a boy or a girl.”

“Whether a daughter or a son, a child of the master and madam is sure to be beautiful, so you have nothing to worry about.”

“Oh, Tanya.”

She said it that way, but she did not feel displeased.

Her hair had come out especially nicely braided today. The face looking back at her from the mirror seemed a little more settled. Adeline hoped this feeling would last.

When she greeted Kailen in that neat, composed state, she naturally accepted his steadying hand and walked with him toward the room.

Because she had said she had something to tell him.

When the door closed, a stillness different from the outside settled over the room.

Kailen loosened his necktie and asked.

“What is this sudden thing you have to say?”

Adeline hesitated for a moment.

It was a sentence she had repeated in her mind countless times before bringing herself to say it, but now that she was facing his eyes, it would not come out easily.

“Well… I know you are busy.”

She steadied her breath and continued.

“Could we… leave Varsen, even just for a little while?”

Kailen looked up from unbuttoning his shirt.

His eyebrows rose almost imperceptibly.

“Your belly is going to get even bigger soon. Where would you go.”

It was the reaction she had expected, but her heart sank all the same.

Adeline added quickly.

“I know it is an unreasonable request. But we never even got to go on a honeymoon. The mood everywhere has been so unsettling lately… and I keep feeling down for no reason.”

She paused briefly, then let out what was truly on her mind.

“Being here makes me keep feeling anxious.”

Kailen said nothing.

That silence only made Adeline more anxious.

“If you are worried about work, we could go to one of the other branch offices. Oh, Frenon would be nice. Mother is there too.”

“And what about my seat in parliament?”

Those words stopped Adeline cold.

Only then did her mind begin to turn rapidly.

The republic had just been established, and the parliament was on the verge of being founded.

Elections were about to begin.

She had known in her head that he was party leader, that this was a politically critical moment, but only then did she realize she had been deliberately pushing it aside in her heart.

Adeline was flustered.

She had not truly grasped, until now, the fact that he had been hoping to become one of the inaugural members of parliament.

Because Kailen was running such large-scale business operations, she had assumed on her own that his greater ambitions lay in business rather than politics.

“Was that… something you truly wanted to do?”

Adeline’s voice had dropped low.

Somehow, the Kailen before her felt a little distant.

“I didn’t know. But if it isn’t something you absolutely have to do… can’t you step away from it? You are already busy enough with just the business.”

Kailen turned his head away for a moment.

With his shirt buttons still not fully done up, he stopped his hands and looked toward the window.

“That is difficult…”

It was a short answer. But Adeline could feel the weight held in those few words. That his mind was already leaning one way, that there was almost no room left to persuade him.

“If you truly have your heart set on it, you could resign from the party leadership for now… and come back and run again in the next election. You would win without question even then.”

At that, Kailen looked at her.

She thought he might at least consider it for a moment. But he shook his head right away.

“Not now. Someone who can barely move around has no business going anywhere.”

Those words cut like a blade.

They took the shape of concern, but to Adeline’s ears, they sounded like a firm line being drawn.