Chapter 4.

‘Have I been eating too much lately? Is that why my stomach is showing? But what can I do when I’m craving food so badly?’

Death was beckoning right in front of her, yet her stomach was mercilessly hungry.

‘That’s how much I want to live. It’s survival instinct. But I should control myself a bit.’

Or not? With the risk of being discovered at any moment, perhaps it would be better to gain more weight to buy time…

“You’ve stopped again.”

“Pardon?”

Bellian’s voice snapped her back to reality.

“This won’t do. I’ll just have to do it myself.”

Bellian personally scooped food with the fork and tried to put it in her mouth.

“Ah, open.”

Shuvien cried out in a voice that sounded like it might crack.

“No! I can eat by myself!”

“You said you’d eat but you’re not eating.”

“Wait. I was just taking a short break. Now I’ll really eat continuously. I’ll eat without stopping!”

Why does he keep trying to feed me!

Is he really trying to fatten me up?

But Bellian spoke with a rather serious expression.

“I show mercy only once. There won’t be a second time.”

Is there any need to say such a thing so menacingly!

But Bellian showed no signs of backing down.

‘Right. Because he’s the Emperor. Even this kind of unreasonableness is law.’

Finally, she barely opened her trembling lips and accepted the food he gave her.

Only then did Bellian smile with satisfaction.

“That’s right. You eat well. Look forward to more.”

He slowly traced her lips with his finger.

She flinched at that momentary movement, but Bellian calmly licked his finger.

“Since you will give me what I so desperately want, I will also give you everything you want. When you come to the imperial palace, the Empress’s palace will be yours, so fill it completely with yourself.”

A cold command lay beneath his gentle voice.

Her throat bobbed involuntarily in this sweat-inducing situation.

“Now, this too. Ah!”

‘How long do I have to endure this torture!’

At that moment, after briefly checking the sky, Bellian spoke with a gloomy expression and a sigh.

“I must return for today.”

Shuvien’s expression brightened unmistakably at these welcome words.

‘Not just today, please don’t come anymore!’

“Um, Your Majesty. You look extremely busy, so you really don’t need to come here on purpose. It’s still in the early stages, so you don’t need to worry about me. Hahahaha.”

Bellian stared at Shuvien’s awkward smile and muttered briefly.

“I can’t let you disappear again in the blink of an eye.”

“Disappear? I won’t.”

“You already disappeared once.”

“T-that……”

It was a one-night stand, so of course. If I had known we would meet again like this, I would never have spent the night together!

“Don’t disappear.”

Her spine stiffened at the chilling words that suddenly penetrated.

“Y-Your Majesty?”

Bellian’s pitch-black eyes bore into her persistently as if they would devour her at any moment.

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? My mercy comes only once. If you disappear and get caught like before, I’ll do things my way.”

His eyes, devoid of any humor, fell on her like a blade.

“For giving birth, legs aren’t really necessary, are they?”

What is this madman saying? What does he plan to do with my legs?

“I-I think they are necessary?”

What kind of crazy response was that! Was that all you could come up with? Huh?

But Bellian raised the corner of his mouth at her honest answer.

“I suppose so. I don’t want to hurt you if possible.”

He reached out one last time, pretending to be affectionate, and gently stroked her hair.

But she wouldn’t fall for that fake affection anymore.

Affection, my as$.

All his actions were just a poisoned chalice!

“I really must go now.”

As Bellian rose from his seat, he suddenly staggered and grabbed the table.

“Your Majesty?”

Shuvien was flustered by the unexpected situation. But Bellian quickly tried to distance himself from her with a hardened expression.

However, Shuvien instinctively grabbed his wrist and checked his pulse.

“Heart rate seems normal……”

Bellian, whose wrist was suddenly grabbed, flinched violently and pushed Shuvien away with frightening force.

“What are you doing!”

Only then did Shuvien realize her mistake and rolled her eyes.

‘Ah, I messed up. This person shouldn’t be touched when he’s sick.’

To hide his fatal weakness, his incurable disease, he never showed his vulnerable side to others, but in fact, there was an even more dangerous secret.

A dangerous secret that could really get her killed.

‘I almost died just now. Because of this dedicated professional spirit!’

She had briefly worked in the EM (Emergency Medicine) department during her internship, and it came out as a habit.

“I asked what you did.”

At Bellian’s chilling voice, Shuvien wondered how to change the subject, then just spoke honestly.

“I listened to Your Majesty’s heartbeat. I thought you might be very tired.”

At this unexpected statement, Bellian looked puzzled.

“Heartbeat? You just held my hand. You can hear it from that? Are you a mage?”

As Bellian’s voice grew increasingly sharp, Shuvien quickly shook her head.

“No! Magic? It’s nothing that grand. Excuse me for a moment.”

Shuvien carefully took Bellian’s wrist again and placed her fingers where she could feel his pulse.

He should have pushed her away immediately, but when the warm touch met his wrist, he involuntarily swallowed his stiffened breath.

“You can indirectly feel the heartbeat from this area. It’s transmitted through blood vessels, but the details are complicated. Anyway, through the heart rate, you can tell a patient’s condition……”

“Patient?”

“Ah, is it ‘sick person’ here? I mean, someone who’s ill. You can somewhat gauge how sick they are.”

“How?”

“If you ask so deeply, there’s too much to explain.”

Damn. Should I not have mentioned it?

Don’t they treat illnesses this way here? It didn’t seem like they had surgical techniques.

“No. I’m asking how you know this.”

“I-I read it in a book.”

“A book? Can you practice medicine?”

“Not well, just a little?”

“Fascinating. So you’re saying my condition is fine?”

“At least your heart rate seems normal.”

As Shuvien tried to remove her hand from him to quickly end the topic, Bellian grabbed it again.

“Your Majesty?”

“Listen properly once more.”

“Pardon?”

“How does my heartbeat sound?”

A playful glint passed through his eyes.

Shuvien swallowed hard at his expression.

‘He doesn’t believe me. That’s unfair. Do you know how much bloody effort I put into enduring my internship and residency in the surgical wasteland!’

Feeling competitive, though it was nothing special, she took Bellian’s wrist and very seriously checked his pulse.

He swallowed his heavy breath slowly as the warm touch landed on his wrist again, staring intently at her.

Through her golden hair that had gently fallen, her black eyes were completely focused on him.

Bellian quite liked that sight.

And her gaze reminded him of that night.

‘Like the dark night. It resembles that night.’

It resembled that hot night when he couldn’t escape, as if enchanted.

Suddenly, Shuvien raised her head and stared at Bellian.

“Heart rate 90 beats, normal.”

“What?”

“It’s beating well. Oh, wait. Why is it suddenly getting faster……”

At that moment, Bellian roughly removed Shuvien’s hand.

“So you really can hear it. But don’t cross the line.”

“Pardon?”

“If you don’t want to die, don’t touch my body carelessly from now on.”

He turned away with a hardened expression.

Left alone, Shuvien wore a dumbfounded expression.

“What’s his problem? He asked me himself, so why is he acting like that? Is being Emperor everything? Yes, it is everything. My life is in his hands right now. Damn. But still.”

Shuvien stared at the hand that had touched his wrist.

“Just now, why did it suddenly speed up? Could it be because of that incurable disease setting?”

Fortunately, Bellian didn’t appear at the count’s house after that.

But since the engagement hadn’t been broken off, the wedding preparations were proceeding smoothly for some, while others were reluctantly going along with it.

She thought about finding Corel even now to switch places, but no matter how much she searched, that damn Corel was nowhere to be found.

“Is only your freedom precious? What about my freedom? My life? We’re all going to die at this rate! All of us!”

Even while wailing, her fingers were continuously picking up the premium white bread from the imperial pâtissier that Bellian had provided.

“It tastes good even in this situation. Why is this bread so soft? It looks like ordinary white bread.”

That’s how it was. As mentioned before, she wasn’t eating reluctantly.

She was just crying while eating delicious food.

Even though he didn’t visit, he sent the highest quality food endlessly every day.

Thanks to this, Count Mondri was grinning from ear to ear.

He said the Emperor had already acknowledged Shuvien as Empress and was ensuring she could only eat imperial palace food.

“Actually, it’s not even meant for me to eat.”

Shuvien moved her body around in front of the mirror with a slightly troubled expression.

Although her figure wasn’t clearly visible due to the voluminous dress, she could still feel it a little.

“I think I’ve gained some weight.”

She couldn’t forget the incident when he touched her stomach last time.

“Let’s stop eating. No matter how much I need to eat to live, this has gone beyond eating to survive.”

Eating like this was making her drowsy too!

She unconsciously stroked her stomach.

“Stop eating as if there’s really a Teunsil in here!”

At that moment, there was a knock followed by a maid’s voice.

“Miss, may I come in?”

She immediately composed her expression and spoke.

“You may come in.”

The maid brought in a very large basket.

“What’s that? Don’t tell me His Majesty sent more food?”

“Hehe, it’s not what you’re expecting. Since you’ll be going to the imperial palace soon, which fragrance would you prefer?”

She swallowed a heavy sigh at the mention of the imperial palace.

It was getting closer and closer.

Like a death sentence!

The maid took out dozens of expensive fragrances from the basket.

“This one has a refreshing orange scent, and this one is extracted from Merorel flowers, which is very rare. I think this one would suit you too, and this one as well……”

“I don’t care which one, just choose whatever you—mmph!”

“Miss?”

Suddenly, the scent of the fragrances floating in the air penetrated her nose disgustingly.

‘What is this? Why is this scent so strong?’

“Are you alright, Miss?”

“Um. Could you put that away? The scent is too strong—ugh!”

“Miss!”

Unable to contain her disgust, she rushed to the bathroom and vomited.

The maid followed her and patted her back with a pale expression.

“Are you alright? Should I call a healer?”

“No, no. The fragrance was just too strong……”

“Did you eat something bad? Are you having indigestion?”

“That’s impossible. I have an iron stomach that could handle expired food during night shifts.”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Hahaha! This body is naturally weak, so I often get dizzy. That’s all it is.”

What’s happening suddenly? Is this really Shuvien’s chronic dizziness? But it’s exactly like being pregnant…… Wait a minute.

Shuvien began counting dates with a horrified expression.

“So, I. No, this body’s me-menstrual period was when……”

……Could I really be pregnant?