Ch#141Ch#141
It was a subtle change on the surface, but because she was so lean, even the slightest expansion was clearly detectable.
He slid his hand inside her woolen surcoat, slowly tracing the line from her navel down to her pubic bone beneath her thin silk chemise. Through the delicate fabric, the sensation of her skin, tauter than before, felt even more vivid.
Fascinated by how her once-flat belly was beginning to curve, he continued to stroke her. Talia, who had been sitting curled up in his lap, shifted her hips uncomfortably.
He looked into her face with a concerned gaze.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No, it’s not that…. It’s just, down there….”
Her cheeks flushing a deep crimson, Talia stammered and awkwardly cast her eyes downward.
They had shared a bed almost every single night until they discovered her pregnancy. He couldn’t understand why she was being so awkward now, but sensing that his physical reaction made her uncomfortable, he adjusted his posture as he held her.
“It will settle down in time. Do not pay it any mind.”
“How can I not pay it any mind?”
She glared at him as if she were appalled.
He wondered if she knew that every time she arched her brows like that, her already alluring face became even more provocative.
Suppressing the urge to swallow her pouting lips, he listened as she continued to prattle on.
“I heard it’s quite painful for a man to be in that state. That… if it isn’t resolved for a long time, it can even cause physical pain….”
“Who told you that?”
The woman’s shoulders flinched. Only then did he realize his voice had dropped to a low, threatening growl.
Since he had no intention of scaring her, he consciously softened his tone.
“Who told you such a thing?”
“I don’t know. I just… heard it somewhere a long time ago.”
She stammered, visibly flustered.
It wasn’t difficult for him to guess where she had collected such information. She must have picked it up from some scoundrel while frequenting the banquets held regularly at the Empress Palace.
The faces of the men who used to cling to her and flirt incessantly flashed through his mind. As he was narrowing down the list of likely candidates, she hurriedly changed the subject.
“Anyway, isn’t it painful when your body gets like that?”
“…And if it is?”
Varkas spoke curtly.
“If I say it is painful, what do you intend to do about it?”
A look of bewilderment washed over her clear face.
Biting her lower lip nervously, she murmured in a tiny voice.
“I heard there are ways to… resolve it, even without having sex….”
“…….”
“Should I… show you how?”
Varkas felt a throb at the base of his skull and furrowed his brow.
His throat tightened with the urge to demand who had taught her such things. While he swallowed the harsh words rising to the tip of his tongue, a ticklish touch settled on his waist.
He watched with a heavy gaze as she hiked up his shirt.
As if she were afraid to actually touch him, her fingers hesitated for a long moment near his tensed abdomen before slinking inside his belt.
In that instant, it felt as if his blood were flowing backward. The mere sight of her long, delicate fingers—like exquisite works of art—fumbling to undo his belt sent his arousal to a dangerous level.
He quickly snatched her wrist.
“No.”
She startled and looked up at him. Her watery blue eyes and the flush around them were devastatingly erotic.
He squeezed his eyes shut, repeating to himself like a mantra that she was carrying a child.
“Do not worry about the state of my body.”
“But… won’t it hurt if you leave it like this?”
“It does not hurt.”
“I heard it’s bad for the body to keep holding it in….”
A vein pulsed in his forehead as he glared at her.
He wanted to seal those lips that were spouting knowledge provided by someone else and torment them until they were bruised. Barely managing to compose his violent impulses, he spoke in a calm voice.
“I do not know who whispered such nonsense to you, but erase it from your mind. It is nothing more than a cheap trick used to prey on a woman’s sympathy.”
“…Is it really not uncomfortable?”
“Not in the least.”
He lied with a perfectly composed face.
The woman sent him a suspicious look but soon seemed convinced, leaning her head against his chest.
Because she believed him completely and pressed her body close, his lower half was crushed firmly against her.
Varkas, struggling to steady his roughening breath, feigned composure and gently stroked the back of her rounded head.
There was no need for her to worry about the minor discomforts of his body.
Thanks to her eating better since the pregnancy, she was gaining a healthy amount of weight, but she was still small and fragile.
Hadn’t the healing sorcerers all insisted that she must remain under absolute rest? He did not want to place any burden on her whatsoever.
“I am more concerned about Your Highness’s condition than my own. Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”
“No. Other than being constantly sleepy and getting hungry quickly, nothing feels much different than before.”
She tilted her head and toyed with her belly. He watched her for a moment before carefully cupping her soft cheek.
He was sensing far more changes than she was. Her slightly elevated body temperature, the faint rosy tint to her skin, her deepened scent, and her more pronounced curves….
“Are you… are you really okay? Down there, it’s getting even more….”
He let out a heavy sigh. He felt that if he kept holding her, he would lose his self-control.
“Guests have arrived, so I must go back out. Do not go anywhere and rest in the room.”
As he carefully set her down beside him and stood up, her eyes followed him, filled with bewilderment.
“You’re going out like that?”
Her wide eyes slid down to his lower body.
Varkas grabbed the tunka hanging on the wall and spoke rather sharply.
“I will handle it myself, so stop concerning yourself with the affairs of my crotch.”
Her face turned a deep shade of violet.
“Who are you calling a pervert! I was just worried you’d make a fool of yourself!”
Varkas, having roughly covered himself with the loose coat, looked back at her with a troubled gaze.
Even the sight of her huffing with her chest heaving looked suggestive to him, which caused a flicker of irritation.
He ran a hand roughly through his hair and leaned down in front of her. Then, he spoke as if coaxing her.
“Your Highness’s health is the most important thing right now. I would prefer you not trouble your mind with anything else.”
“…You don’t have to treat me like I’m terminally ill. Marisen said I was in better shape than expected.”
“Better than expected does not mean you are entirely out of danger.”
He spoke somewhat stiffly and gently brushed away the hair falling over her forehead.
She now accepted his touch as a matter of course. Seeing her eyes, which used to be so guarded, now soft and languid, a tingling sensation burned from his waist up to the nape of his neck.
Feeling his resolve to behave like a gentleman crumble in an instant, he pressed his lips against hers.
It was an act bordering on self-harm, but he could no longer endure it.
Varkas, greedily sucking at the slick, damp flesh and her small tongue, only lifted his head when he heard a knock at the door. The Head Steward’s voice came through immediately.
“Your Excellency, the guests are asking when they might see you. What shall I tell them?”
“Tell them I will be there shortly.”
