Ch#137
A faint smile brushed Barkas’s lips. With a soft rustle, he pulled out another strawberry.
“Open up.”
Talia, looking up at him with tear-rimmed eyes, parted her lips again. Barkas carefully slid the strawberry inside.
The fruit was a bit too large to swallow at once; as she bit halfway through, the overflowing juice stained her lips. Barkas wiped it away with his thumb, his gaze deepening as it lingered on her moving lips. Feeling strangely embarrassed, she lowered her eyes and swallowed.
“You should try one too. They’re actually quite good.”
“I brought them for you, Your Grace.”
Barkas spoke calmly, bringing the remaining piece of fruit back to her lips.
“Please, eat them all.”
Talia looked up at his handsome, composed face for a moment before obediently opening her mouth. Barkas busied himself delivering the red fruit to her. Even though she kept the strawberries in her mouth for a long time to savor the flavor and chewed slowly, the six large berries vanished in an instant.
As she licked her lips with a look of lingering regret, Barkas rose from the bed.
“Wait just a moment. I will go find more.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m full now.”
She hurriedly grabbed the man who looked ready to snatch up his coat and head outside immediately. The sun would be setting soon. She couldn’t have the ruler of the East running around everywhere trying to find fruit that didn’t even grow in this season.
Talia tugged on his forearm with a firm hand.
“This is plenty, so don’t make a fuss for no reason.”
“A fuss?”
He gave her a bewildered look. Was he truly unaware of how unusual his behavior was?
Talia let out a short sigh.
“Ransacking the region to find strawberries in the middle of winter—if that’s not making a fuss, what is?”
Barkas tilted his head to the side as if he couldn’t understand her point.
“Why is it a fuss to find food for one’s wife? Even mere beasts do as much; it is only natural.”
Talia looked up at him, speechless. He seemed to genuinely believe that.
He probably would have done the same even if he’d married a woman other than me. Feeling the light, fluttering mood in her chest settle heavily, she narrowed her eyes.
“Anyway, just sit down. Even if you bring more, I’m too full to eat them.”
“The maids will be bringing freshly baked citron pie soon. Please, at least have a piece of that.”
Her heart melted once again at the voice echoing near her head. She blamed it on the pregnancy. Her fluctuating emotions, her constant craving for foods she used to ignore—it was all because of the life growing inside her.
“……I’ll only eat one slice.”
A minute trace of a smile brushed Barkas’s lips again. She stared at it blankly until a feeling she couldn’t quite bear washed over her, forcing her to turn her gaze toward the window.
Before long, the maids arrived carrying trays with steaming pie and a traditional Eastern drink.
While they set the table, Barkas—who had stepped away to change clothes—returned and scooped her up, blankets and all, to sit before the fireplace. He then began to cut the hot pie, filled with thinly sliced citron, honey, cinnamon, and nuts, into small pieces to feed her.
Talia, habitually opening her mouth, caught the eye of a wide-eyed maid and flushed red. Unlike Barkas, she at least possessed the sense to know that a grown adult being fed like an infant was undignified.
“Everyone out. You’re in the way.”
As if only just noticing the maids’ presence, he gave a sharp nod toward the door.
“That will be all. You may leave.”
The frozen maids filed out of the room all at once. Barkas, acting as if nothing had happened, lifted the fork and brought the pie to her lips again.
You really don’t think this is making a fuss? Talia glared at him as if to protest, but she opened her mouth in reluctant surrender.
Barkas insisted on making her eat an entire large slice of pie. Then, he fed her some preserved apricots he had found from God-knows-where. It felt like the first time she had eaten this much since her days with the Taren family.
“Does your stomach hurt?”
Having fed her so greedily, he asked with belated concern, gently rubbing her midriff. Talia shook her head slightly.
“I’m fine.”
“……I heard you were examined by the priest today. Did he say anything in particular?”
Soaked in a rare sense of fullness, Talia felt her body tense slightly. When she first heard the news of her pregnancy, she had been curious about Barkas’s reaction. But now that he was right in front of her, she found it hard to speak.
After a long hesitation, Talia muttered in an awkward voice.
“……He didn’t say much. Just that I should eat well and rest for a while.”
“…….”
“I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.”
As she avoided his gaze and shifted her body under the covers, she felt the arm wrapped around her back tighten. Talia stole a glance upward. Barkas was watching her intently with narrowed eyes.
“Is there really nothing you wish to tell me?”
Talia swallowed hard.
“……Nothing.”
“There is.”
His voice carried weight. Talia’s eyes flared. The Head Maid said she’d keep quiet until I was ready to talk, but did she end up telling him everything? Avoiding his eyes, which seemed to see right through her, she snapped crossly.
“Tell you what? You already know anyway.”
“What is it that I am supposed to know?”
“Don’t play innocent! You heard everything. Isn’t that why you’re asking?”
“If I knew, why would I go through the trouble of asking?”
Barkas countered in a calm tone. Talia glared at him suspiciously.
“……You really haven’t heard anything?”
“I have not.”
His unwavering answer caused her suspicion to slowly subside. Perhaps the Head Maid had simply hinted that she had something to say.
Talia licked her dry lips.
Barkas brushed the hair from her forehead and urged her gently.
“So please, tell me. What did the priest say?”
“Well, I mean…… you know how I’ve been sleepy and lethargic lately.”
Her voice cracked pathetically. Talia gathered her saliva and swallowed, then studied his expression.
The light from the fireplace cast warm shadows over his cool features. Seeing that gentle appearance, the strange fear that had been flickering in a corner of her heart melted away in an instant.
“It’s…… he said it’s because there’s a child in my womb.”
He didn’t move a muscle, simply looking down at her in silence. But Talia could see the silver fragments within his blue irises shimmering like ripples on water.
He let out a sigh that seemed to surge from deep within his chest and leaned his head against her shoulder. At the same time, a large, vein-ridged hand covered her abdomen. The hand that had always seemed so delicate now completely covered her stomach.
“……I shall have to take even better care of you from now on.”
His breath, like the purr of a large cat, tickled her earlobe.
For some reason, she felt like she might cry, so she bit her lip. It was only after a long moment that she managed to find a composed voice.
“Yes. You must treat me with the utmost devotion from now on.”
“I will do so.”
Contrary to his answer, which was calm to the point of being blunt, the hand stroking her stomach was infinitely soft and careful.
Suddenly, she remembered the first time she met him. In that moment when the whole world felt chillingly cold, this hand had wrapped around her with warmth.
The memory of that day, which had sometimes felt like a curse, didn’t hurt quite as much in this moment.
She curled up in his arms and buried her cheek against his broad, pounding chest.
