Tell Me To Regret, Don’t Tempt Me - Chapter 19
Chapter 19
“Are you still unwilling to get engaged to me?”
Vivian’s heaving chest settled down only after she took a deep breath. However, her heart continued to race uncontrollably.
“We were talking about Aitor and the Teria, and suddenly you bring up engagement…”
The cabin surrounded by woods was dark. The only light came from the roaring log fire in the fireplace.
For a moment, Louis seemed to shine brighter than the midday sun. Vivian thought so, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away from him.
“Hmm… So you still don’t want to get engaged to me.”
Louis muttered lowly, crossing his arms and looking at Vivian with a proud expression.
“You’re the one who said you didn’t want to get engaged to me, Louis.”
“I did.”
“Why do you suddenly want to get engaged to me?”
“Want to?”
Louis stared out of the cabin’s small window. Even though it was daytime, it was dark outside. Nights came quickly here, and mornings came slowly. It wasn’t far from the palace, but it felt like a completely different world.
“Rather than wanting to, it’s more like I have to.”
Louis said, still looking out the window.
Vivian felt like Louis had just thrown cold water on her. The strange fervor she had attached to reason seemed to evaporate with a hiss.
“You’re telling me that even if you don’t like me because I’m ugly, you have to marry me because it’s your duty.”
“You’re half right and half wrong.”
Louis picked up the teapot on the table. He poured tea into the old but clean teacup beside it. After taking a sip, Louis put it down and turned his back calmly.
“It’s true that it’s the Crown Prince’s duty, but the part about you being unattractive is wrong, Vivian.”
Vivian was angry.
Does he mean he doesn’t like me? If he doesn’t like me, why is he asking me to be engaged to him?
Seeing Vivian’s defiant gaze, Louis chuckled.
“I think I have a rough idea of what you’re thinking, but that’s not it.”
Taking a small breath, Louis slowly picked out the words in his head that would convince Vivian.
“Firstly, you’re not as plain as the rumors suggest. I think I’ve told you that before….. The rumors circulating in society tend to be exaggerated, and I’m almost ashamed of myself for being so naive as to believe them.”
Louis didn’t look embarrassed at all. Vivian wanted to point that out.
He shrugged his shoulders and continued.
“And, you’re intelligent. You’re someone who’s smart and knows how to think. There aren’t as many people like that as you might think.”
“Are you saying it’s okay to get engaged to someone ugly as long as they’re smart?”
“Don’t twist my words, Vivian.”
Louis’s brow furrowed at Vivian’s pointed words. But soon, he was composed again.
“Seeing you stand in front of Aitor at the circus made me think a lot. There’s something in you that I don’t have. It was a bit reckless, but…”
Vivian narrowed her eyes. She had no idea what this handsome crown prince was trying to say.
“I’m complimenting you, you know?”
Seeing Vivian, still wary like a puffed-up cat, Louis chuckled. When Louis laughed, Vivian tensed up.
Louis slipped his hand into his pocket and leaned in close to her.
At that moment, Vivian realized her weakness.
She was vulnerable to handsome people. She wanted to bury her head in her hands and scream at why she had to realize it now, but she couldn’t move a muscle with Louis so close.
It was a situation where her vulnerability was blatantly exposed. It felt like standing in front of an enemy on the battlefield without a single weapon or armor to protect herself. The chances of winning were zero.
Louis’s face probed Vivian’s weaknesses with pinpoint precision.
“I think those qualities you have that I lack would suit the position of the Crown Princess, even the Empress, very well.”
Vivian swallowed hard at Louis’s words.
“It’s a little awkward for me to say this, but I’m the most eligible bachelor in the Empire.”
Louis said without a hint of embarrassment in his tone as he uttered those words. It was impossible to refute Louis’s confident words, partly because they were true. Even though he was only 12 years old, he was indeed the most eligible bachelor in the Empire.
“I don’t understand why you dislike the engagement. Ah, but I no longer believe what you said about me being unattractive. I’ve confirmed the truth.”
Was Louis always this audacious?
Vivian wanted to vehemently deny but her lips only trembled, unable to speak the words aloud. Vivian cursed herself for just realizing her own weakness.
“So? Have you still not changed your mind?”
Louis pressed Vivian again.
“I… “
“Your Highness!”
Vivian’s voice was cut off by Raiden’s sudden burst into the room.
“Don’t you know how to knock?”
Louis glared at him, but Raiden, panting heavily as if he had run all the way, waved his hand and shook his head.
“That’s not the issue right now! It seems the Teria is about to give birth!”
At Raiden’s words, Vivian jumped up from her seat.
***
*Crawl. Krrrr. Whoo.*
The three of them rushed to the small stable right behind the cabin. They had moved all the horses for the pregnant Teria and made space for her to rest there.
As they entered the stable, they could hear the Teria’s labored breathing.
“Lily! Lily… *sob* Lily, it’s okay.”
Aitor held the Teria’s head, which was dripping with sweat from pain, tightly in his arms as he cried.
“Where’s the vet?”
“He’s on his way. But Teria is getting agitated, so I’m not sure if he can get close to her.”
The Teria, with half-opened eyes, didn’t take her gaze off Aitor, who was holding her tightly despite the pain.
Vivian watched from a distance, her eyes burning.
“Teria dies after giving birth.”
She remembered what Louis had said to her when she was hiding behind the curtain at the back of the circus before he went to rescue the Teria.
Right now, Lily was giving birth. In other words, it meant she was facing death.
One of the reasons the Terias had become a rare creature was because of this. After giving birth, Terias would meet their end. While the average lifespan of males was similar to humans, females weren’t the same. If a Teria gives birth to female twins, it might prolong her life.
Why this happened was still unknown. Since a Teria was sensitive to magic, researchers at the Mage Tower had been constantly studying, but they had yet to uncover the reason why females die after giving birth.
It was sad, but nothing anyone here could do could prevent Lily’s death.
“Lily! It’s okay! It’ll be okay.”
With tears and snot covering his face, Aitor repeated words of comfort.
“The vet has arrived!”
The sound of hooves could be heard, followed by someone running in.
“I pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince.”
The vet who worked at the palace spotted Louis and greeted him respectfully.
“Have you seen a Teria before?”
The vet gulped at the sight of the Teria, cradled by a boy and writhing in the pain of childbirth.
“No, Your Highness. I haven’t seen one in this condition.”
“Can you assist in Teria’s childbirth?”
“I have experience with similar canine and wolf births, so I should be able to, but…”
The vet’s voice trailed off as he looked at the Teria with a worried expression.
“The Teria is a very sensitive creature. I’m not sure if I can do it, Your Highness.”
“Still, please do your best.”
“Yes, understood.”
Bowing to Louis, the vet approached the Teria. The Teria’s ears perked up at the sound of rustling straw.
*Krrrr!*
Teria, noticing the vet, bared her teeth and growled.
“Aitor, it’s the vet. They might be able to assist the Teria in childbirth. You need to calm Lily down.”
Through whimpering, Aitor understood Louis’s words and roughly wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
“Lily, it’s okay! There’s someone here to help your babies come out safely. Don’t worry.”
Despite Aitor’s words, the Teria remained cautious, but she didn’t bare her teeth or growl anymore. As the Teria calmed down a bit, the vet approached Lily slowly.
“The baby’s head is already showing. Just a little more, and the baby should come out.”
The vet, who had been intimidated by the Teria’s guardedness, couldn’t contain his excitement as it seemed the baby would be born soon. Teria was a rare creature, one that people might only encounter once in a lifetime. And to witness her giving birth was an extraordinary opportunity.
The vet quickly began to make the surroundings warm for the Teria. Placing a warming stone in the right position, he requested warm water and clean cloths from the imperial attendants.
“Vivian, you should go now.”
Since night came early in the forest, it was time for Vivian to leave the forest.
Vivian couldn’t take her eyes off Lily. Firmly shaking her head at Louis’s words, Vivian clasped her hands tightly together.
“I want to stay here.”
“You’re quite stubborn.”
Resigned to Vivian’s determination, Louis briefly stepped out of the stable. He gave an order to relay a message to the Empress’s palace that Vivian might be a little late. As he was about to re-enter the stable, he paused.
The Teria’s breathing became even more labored, and Aitor continued to sob. Those sounds made Louis stop in his tracks.
Aitor knew. When the baby is born, he would have to part with Lily.
“Even a farewell you’ve prepared for can be this painful to witness.”
The vague sadness was very different from actually seeing the moment of Aitor and Lily’s parting. He didn’t want to witness their sorrowful separation.
Overwhelmed by unfamiliar emotions, he wanted to turn back and return to the palace.
But then.
“It’s coming out. The baby is almost out.”
As Teria’s howl-like cries subsided, the veterinarian shouted. Louis rushed back into the stable.
The baby had been born.
Squirming in the blood and amniotic fluid, there was only one baby – a male. Carefully wrapping the baby in a cloth, the veterinarian approached the panting Lily.
“It’s healthy.”
As the vet brought the baby close to Lily’s face, her half-closed eyes opened. Tears began to fill her jewel-blue eyes.
*Sob* *sob* “Lily. Lily, congratulations. You have a baby.”
With all her might, Lily raised her head to look at the baby she had just given birth to. After licking her amniotic fluid-soaked fur a few times, Lily lowered her head weakly again, breathing heavily.
“Lily, don’t worry. I’ll take care of your baby. You don’t have to worry.”
As if understanding Aitor’s words, Lily slowly closed her eyes.