For approximately the following month, I was put into each of the thirty sets in rotation, morning and night.
When at last that endless journey came to its end, we arrived home at the ducal manor.
“My lady.”
“E—Emily… save me… the ‘hunter’—my husband—he—’hh’—”
“I beg your pardon?”
The moment I was released from my husband’s arms, I collapsed into Emily’s and lost consciousness.
* * *
“Poor dear. Did you see the color of her face? White as a sheet. My heart breaks for her.”
“Kael, that merciless creature. He’s left his own wife half-dead. A little restraint is called for. How much could he possibly have put that sweet, tiny girl through…”
“He said a month and came back after two. I cannot imagine what our daughter-in-law endured.”
“Apparently he dismissed all the villa staff as well—Hugo mentioned it. No wonder we didn’t receive a single letter. He’s my own son and I find him too calculating by far.”
“Someone might think he bore a grudge against his wife and was torturing her for revenge. I can only hope he at least fed her properly in between. Her face looks quite—”
“And meanwhile, ‘he’ is practically luminous. Did you notice how much better his build has gotten? Infuriating.”
The former Duke and Duchess were engaged in a thorough and unsparing review of their eldest son’s conduct, when a clear, innocent voice cut through them both.
“Mama, Mama!”
Kayrin—still the pure soul of a ten-year-old—came running in with a flushed face.
“Something is wrong with my sister-in-law! She’s still asleep! Why has she been sleeping for two whole days? Is she ill? Should we call the physician?”
Katherine, who had already seen Ivelina’s face—exhausted nearly to the point of collapse—had already sent for the physician.
The physician’s assessment was as follows:
‘Perfectly normal. She appears to be suffering from severe accumulated fatigue and prolonged sleep deprivation. A few days of complete rest and she will recover quickly.’
So Kael had been keeping his wife awake at all hours, tormenting her day and night without mercy.
“What on earth has gotten into him lately—how has he managed to get even ‘worse’?”
“Hm? What’s gotten worse about my brother?”
The topic was approaching dangerous waters.
“Nothing, never mind. Your sister-in-law just needs a few days’ proper rest and she’ll be fine. Now off with you—your lessons are about to begin.”
“Yes, ma’am. Please tell me when she wakes up.”
“I will.”
* * *
I came back fully to myself on the third day after our return to the Hardeion Duchy.
“Still tired… still sleepy… Emily.”
“It was quite a long journey, my lady. It would be strange if you weren’t tired. You’ve always been on the delicate side.”
Emily held the glass of water directly to my lips, since I was still lying limp and splayed.
‘Sip.’
My lips trembled faintly. I mustered the last reserves of whatever strength remained and managed to drink.
“Where is my husband?”
“He was here until just a little while ago. He went to his study and asked me to take over.”
“I see. Is he all right? He must have some travel fatigue too, and he’s been attending to me—”
“He looked perfectly fine, my lady.”
“I see. Insufferable.”
Insufferable. Genuinely insufferable.
* * *
One month after that.
These days, I slept like a newborn—all day, every day.
Whether it was lingering fatigue from the journey or something else, the tiredness refused to lift.
I would wake to find myself in my husband’s arms, and fall back asleep in his arms without ever fully leaving them.
Today was no different. When I opened my eyes, I was already cradled against him, and he was in the middle of going through his paperwork.
He patted my hip gently and murmured:
“Sleep a little longer.”
“Why am I so sleepy? I feel like I slept all of yesterday too.”
I rubbed at the corners of my eyes—they always felt ticklish these days—and yawned softly. Then I tucked my face back into his chest.
He turned a page with one hand and kept the other moving in slow, soothing circles against my back. Warmth spread through me in waves, and the sleepiness came rolling back.
I fought to keep my eyelids up.
“This won’t do. Kael, I’ll go to the bedroom and sleep there. You’re working—I don’t want to be in the way.”
He pressed a light kiss to my forehead.
“Stay here. I’d rather see your face while I work.”
I shook my head.
“You’re so busy. I shouldn’t be bothering you. I’ll just close my eyes for a bit in there.”
“All right, then. I’ll take you.”
He let out a slow breath, lifted me into his arms, and pressed his lips to my forehead one more time, firmly.
The next thing I remembered was waking with the sky already darkened to blue outside the window.
“My lady—shall I begin preparing dinner?”
“Mm…”
The word ‘dinner’ brought with it, inexplicably, a vague heaviness in my stomach.
‘Did something I had for lunch not sit well?’
There was a kind of unsettled, bloated feeling.
Something tart and sweet would probably help settle it…
“Emily—do you think there might be any strawberries?”
“Pardon? Strawberries?”
“Mm. I don’t feel up to a proper meal—I just suddenly want strawberries.”
“Strawberries. All of a sudden.”
Emily fell quiet for a moment and gazed into the middle distance.
“Ah. Is that so.”
“Hmm? What did you say, Emily?”
“Nothing. Let me check the kitchen—there may be some newly brought in.”
“Thank you!”
‘Haaaah.’
I had only just woken up and already I was yawning again. I stretched and burrowed my face back into the pillow. The soft, enveloping give of it was extraordinary.
For three days I ate nothing but strawberries. Every time I opened my eyes, they were the first thing I thought of.
I neglected proper meals entirely in favor of working through every available strawberry in the ducal manor—until they were utterly depleted. Kael began sourcing and purchasing strawberries in bulk, selecting only the finest varieties with the highest sugar content.
He was buying them so frequently that a rumor began circulating that the Duke of Hardeion intended to single-handedly eradicate every strawberry in the empire.
Then, one morning, Kael issued a strawberry embargo.
‘”If you want strawberries, come to my study.”‘
He had threatened to keep all the strawberries in his study alone.
I resisted on principle—I refused to fall for his manipulation—but the craving was unbearable, and eventually I made my way to his study anyway.
I turned the handle and pushed the door open just enough to poke my head inside.
“…I’d like some strawberries.”
“Come in and you’ll get them.”
I went in immediately. But he still didn’t give me the strawberries.
“Strawberries…”
“Sit here and you’ll get them.”
He tilted his chin toward his knee.
I crossed to where he sat at his desk and settled promptly onto his lap.
A plate piled high with strawberries appeared directly in front of me.
I ate one. The taste was magnificent.
His calculating hands, however, kept moving over my stomach.
“Stop touching me! I’m eating!”
“Stay still and I’ll give you another plate.”
So I stayed still.
“You eat so enthusiastically.”
‘Nod nod.’
I bobbed my head as I held a strawberry between my fingers and chewed. The tart-sweet juice that spread through my mouth was so good it raised goosebumps.
“Is it good?”
“So good!”
I sat on my husband’s knee while he continued his work, and I did not leave until that plate was entirely empty.
* * *
For another week after that, Ivelina’s love affair with strawberries showed no signs of abating. She refused all proper meals, citing an unsettled stomach, and ate nothing else.
Kael sat at the edge of the bed and watched his wife, who lay sleeping peacefully in his arms, and patted her back in slow, rhythmic strokes.
‘Knock knock.’
“Your Grace. The physician is here.”
“Send him in.”
A medical consultation Ivelina knew nothing about was about to take place.
Emily, Kael, and Hugo stood quietly at the bedside while the physician took her pulse. Ivelina slept throughout.
Several minutes of examination passed.
Then the physician looked up with an expression of radiant, tearful joy.
“Good heavens. She is with child! Six—she is entering her sixth week!”
“Good heavens!”
“Good heavens.”
The physician, Hugo, and Emily each produced a response perfectly calibrated to their respective personalities.
The physician’s eyes grew damp. Hugo pressed both hands over his mouth. Emily was comparatively composed.
“Mm.”
Ivelina shifted in the bed—roused by the commotion despite her deep sleep. She rubbed her eyes and blinked slowly awake, then looked up at the people gathered around her and went still with wide, uncomprehending eyes.
Kael sat on the edge of the mattress and smoothed the hair back from her face.
“You’re pregnant.”
“…What? Who—’who’ is?”
She had been asleep thirty seconds ago. The sudden announcement made no immediate sense.
‘BANG.’
The bedroom door burst open as though it had been kicked.
* * *
