She noticed after all.
Though I hadn't expected to hide it from a brilliant Magical Scholar like Rose for long.
"…Hah."
I let out a heavy sigh and turned my head away.
Rose smiled at what was essentially my agreement.
"The physician said energy drops during early pregnancy, but I've been so energetic lately I can't even sleep. When I'm beside you, my mana fills up to the point where it feels hot."
"Rose, I—"
Tak.
Rose grabbed my chin and forced me to look at her. They were slender fingers, yet I couldn't resist.
"Why did you hide it? Did you think I'd resent you? Or that I'd hate the baby?"
"…Both."
"You fool."
Rose suddenly laughed out loud. But woven into her laughter was a pleasant tremor.
"Dane."
Rose climbed onto my lap and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck.
As if binding me so I couldn't escape.
"You suffering because of me, acting like a madman trying to save me… Honestly, it felt quite nice."
"What?"
Rose laughed while keeping me trapped in her embrace.
"Your guilt, your obsession—they all belong to me. So why are you enjoying them all by yourself, leaving me out?"
"……."
I stared at Rose for a moment, at a loss for words.
A smile both brilliant, like that of a victor, and forlorn, like that of a loser, was directed at me.
"Don't hide things from me anymore. This is about what's happening to my body, and about our child."
"Understood."
"And…."
Rose toyed with the Andersen bracelet encircling her wrist like a shackle.
"This bracelet, and the Magic Stone too, they're all nice, but…."
Then, the corners of Rose's lips curved upward in a soft smile.
"There's a faster and more certain method, you know."
"…Rose, that's—"
I swallowed a groan as I watched Rose's face shimmering with seduction.
"You know why I'm holding back."
Rose tightened the arms wrapped around my neck.
It felt like a collar tightening around me.
"Actually, I checked with the physician this morning. He said it's safe now."
The breath brushing my ear was hotter than usual.
"Dane."
Her voice trembled faintly, like a desperate plea—no, it was closer to an intoxicating allure.
"Our baby… wants your mana."
In that moment, the thread of reason I'd been barely holding onto snapped.
"Ah…!"
I pushed Rose down onto the sofa and kissed her immediately.
I devoured Rose's full lips and swept my tongue across the pink, moist flesh within. Our breaths mingled, and our breathing gradually grew ragged.
"Haa."
Without even realizing I'd become a bee falling into a honey jar,
I devoured the flower called Rose, which had bloomed so fully—frantically, and without guilt.
"Huu…."
Through our pressed chests, I could feel each other's hearts pounding fiercely.
Before I knew it, my hands had instinctively begun to lift Rose's dress.
"-!"
In that moment, my last shred of conscience stopped my hands.
It was the worry of whether this was really okay, and whether it might adversely affect Rose's body.
"Dane."
Rose, having read the hesitation on my face, let out a short laugh.
"Fill me completely."
Eyes that sought to monopolize everything I was.
"-!"
Everything after that was a blur.
Because I had lunged like a beast, holding Rose's waist as if to break it, devouring her.
"Ah…!"
Amidst Rose's faint moans, I pushed my mana into her, as if engraving my mark deep within her.
Until our mana blended together so thoroughly we could no longer tell whose was whose.
And the next day.
"…Your Grace. Was this truly the work of the master of Schmaichel?"
The physician's voice carried a mix of deep sighs and rebuke.
The physician clicked her tongue as she looked at the reddish bruises on Rose's neck.
"If I'd known you would be this rough, I wouldn't have told you it was safe."
Normally I would have brazened it out, but today I couldn't.
"…My apologies. It was my failing."
I turned my head away, avoiding the physician's reproachful gaze.
The memory of driving into Rose like a beast last night was vivid. I couldn't excuse it as hunger—I was too pathetic, having lost my reason to Rose's seduction and gone wild.
"…Mm."
Rose, sitting on the bed, bit her lip to stifle a smile. Then she quietly pulled my hand toward her.
"I enjoyed it, though…."
"Madam!"
Seeing that, the physician grabbed the back of her neck in exasperation.
"Are you serious? You know who I'm doing all this for, don't you!"
"Mm… I apologize."
At Rose's apology, the physician's sullen face softened slightly. But she didn't let her guard down, and issued her orders in a firm voice.
"Three days from now. No—a week. Your Grace is not to come anywhere near Madam."
"A week? That's too…."
"Given that Your Grace's self-restraint has proven thinner than paper, there's nothing I can do. This is for Madam's stability."
The physician left the room with a cold attitude.
"No meat dishes for His Grace for the time being—give him only greens and cold food!"
The physician's voice, ordering the servants, faded into the distance.
"……."
An awkward silence filled the bedroom.
'…I'm losing my mind.'
Unable to even bring myself to look at Rose, I sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed my face with dry hands.
That was when—
"Dane."
Rose pulled my hand and placed it on her stomach. Then she whispered something terribly sweet.
"Our baby liked it too, you know?"
"……."
"A whole week? The baby might forget your mana by then…."
Rose's eyes narrowed, emitting a seductive light.
"You won't lock the study door, will you?"
…This wasn't due to my weak self-restraint. It was because Rose was too beautiful and seductive.
And so I became the royal physician's worst nightmare.
**
Time passed, and the wedding day drew ever closer.
An unprecedented event that would host the king, the royal family, and hundreds of nobles required extensive preparation.
"Ah! Your Grace! I'll handle it mysel—what? You're saying to do as Madam wishes?"
Lucy balanced my demanding requirements with Rose's wishes.
"Madam seems to be getting tired. Shall we wrap up for now?"
Selma rigorously kept watch to ensure the royal tailors didn't overwork Rose.
"Wait! That's an ingredient for Madam's dish, so don't touch it."
Fabri cooperated with the royal chefs while maintaining perfect control over the kitchen.
"Um, would this work? Place the royal family here, and starting with Count Hollanda, like this…."
And there was a new face that had appeared at Schmaichel Castle.
"Right. That'll do."
Bill nodded.
"The seating arrangements for guests are crucial. Get the hierarchy wrong, and it could lead to feuds between families."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Casto carefully jotted down Bill's advice in the notebook he was holding.
He had been running the Arsil Orphanage on my behalf, executing my orders perfectly. Highly valuing Casto's abilities, I had entrusted him to Bill for training.
"Hey! The angle of your arm when pouring the tea is wrong, I said!"
Bill was quite hard on Casto. Though that in itself was a sign of acknowledging Casto's abilities.
It seemed likely that the baby soon to be born would know Casto as its butler.
"It's tomorrow now."
For the last time, Rose and I sat on the office sofa and reviewed the wedding details.
"How are you feeling?"
"Never better."
Rose gave me a quick kiss on the lips. Then she smiled with satisfaction.
"You fill me up every day, after all."
"Mm."
That was when a visitor arrived.
It was Helena—my shadow, who had once been Rose's closest handmaid and had set out to find a new life.
"Helena!"
Rose beamed and seated Helena on the opposite sofa.
Wearing a dress instead of a maid's uniform and carefully groomed, Helena was beautiful enough to pass for a noble.
But thanks to the sharp aura befitting a former assassin, she exuded a dangerous air that kept people at bay.
'Matthias would've thrown a fit if he'd seen this.'
I thought of him, likely bustling about with the knights to secure the castle's perimeter and interior.
"I've already heard the news. You reorganized the Arsil Orphanage into an information guild?"
Rose clasped Helena's hands and beamed.
"I handed them pens instead of daggers, and they're swinging them around like weapons."
Helena answered with a bright expression. That was what she said, but she looked proud of them.
"I learned to read and write first, so I'm teaching them. Maybe teaching is my calling?"
The day she left the castle.
I had sent Helena off with a small medallion bearing the seal of the Schmaichel Ducal household.
It meant that Schmaichel would always be behind her, and she could return whenever she wished.
"Thanks to my master, I realized that even I have options."
Helena murmured sentences, and it was unclear whether she was speaking to me or talking to herself.
"Doing something of my own accord, without anyone's orders… is really quite fun."
When she'd hit the apiary Joel was dealing with, Helena had memorized the characters themselves—despite being illiterate—to complete the mission.
If Helena, who was like that, could now read and write as well, the things she could accomplish would be limitless.
Whatever that path might be, Rose and I planned to support her and back her wholeheartedly.
"Now, and…."
Then Helena brought out a small box.
"My wedding gift. Open it, Madam."
Rose carefully opened the box.
Inside lay a small locket pendant, its faded silver engraved with intricate patterns.
"This… could it be?"
Rose's eyes widened, her pupils trembling. Watching her reaction, Helena smiled faintly.
"It's one of the heirlooms the Vikander family had auctioned off. I suppose you could call it my first official achievement as an information guild master."