Chapter 141
It was a subtle change in her appearance, but since she was so slender, he could clearly notice the slightest protuberance.
He slipped his hand inside her wool coat and slowly caressed the area below her belly button until he reached her pelvic bone, beneath her fine silk underwear. Through the thin fabric, he felt the texture of her skin, which was notably tauter than before.
It was strange; her flat belly was beginning to form a subtle curve. He stayed there touching it over and over again, until the woman, who was sitting curled up on his knees, squirmed in discomfort.
He looked at her with concern.
"Did I hurt you in some way?"
"No, it's not that…" Talia murmured bashfully with flushed cheeks, lowering her gaze in embarrassment.
They had slept together almost every day before they found out about the pregnancy. Varkas did not understand the reason for her shame, but seeing that she felt uncomfortable due to her body's reaction, he adjusted his posture and held her close against him.
"It will calm down over time. Pay no attention to it."
"How can I not pay attention to it?" She stared at him, feeling a great sense of frustration.
Did she know that every time she arched her eyebrows like that, her face, which was already provocative on its own, became even more tempting?
He tried to suppress the desire to devour her tightly pressed lips, but the woman continued speaking:
"I heard that a man feels very uncomfortable when he is in that state. That… they say he feels pain if he does not get relief for a long time…"
"Who told you that?"
Her shoulders shrugged. Seeing her reaction, he realized that his voice had dropped so low that it sounded like a threat. Since he had no intention of scaring her, he consciously modulated his tone:
"Who has told you something like that?"
"I don't know. I just heard it somewhere a long time ago," she murmured with evident confusion.
It was not difficult for him to guess the source of that information. No doubt, she must have heard it from one of the men at the parties held regularly at the Empress's palace. The faces of the subjects who used to stick to her and court her quickly passed through his mind.
"Do not worry about the state of my body."
"But… won't it hurt if you leave it like that?"
"It won't hurt," he assured, staring at her while anger accumulated on his forehead.
He would have liked to silence those lips that repeated data someone else had taught her and torture them until they swelled. He suppressed that violent impulse and murmured in a calm voice, "I don't know who let out such nonsense, but erase it from your memory. All of that is just cheap tricks to win women's pity."
"…Are you really sure you don't feel bad?"
"It doesn't bother me in the slightest," he said with total coldness and without blinking.
The woman seemed convinced after casting a skeptical look at him, and rested her head on his chest. Varkas exhaled with difficulty and feigned calmness again, as he cautiously caressed the back of her rounded head.
She did not need to worry about any minor discomfort of his body. Despite the fact that she was gaining good weight thanks to eating better since the pregnancy, her body was still small and fragile. Had the healers not insisted that she must have absolute rest? He did not want to burden her with any worries.
"I am more worried about Her Highness the Princess's condition than mine. Do you feel any discomfort?"
"No. There is nothing different from before, except that I get sleepy and hungry very quickly." She tilted her head and touched her belly.
He contemplated her for an instant and then carefully held her soft cheek. Varkas noticed more changes than she did herself: a slight elevation in her body temperature, her skin tinged with a pale pink, a deeper scent in her body, and increasingly defined curves…
"Are you really alright?"
He let out a heavy sigh. He felt he would lose control over himself if he continued to hold her tightly in his arms.
"I must leave now, visitors have arrived. Stay in the room and rest, do not go out."
When he gently lowered her to his side and stood up, she followed him with a gaze full of bewilderment.
"Are you going out like that?"
He took the tonka hanging on the wall and spoke in a somewhat sharp tone:
"I will take care of it, so stop worrying about my appearance."
Her face flushed a crimson shade.
"I'm only worrying about you so you don't embarrass yourself!"
Varkas, who had already covered his body with his loose coat, looked back at her with troubled eyes. Even her appearance while breathing heavily, with her chest rising and falling, was provocative to him, which caused him some frustration. He brushed his hair roughly, leaned toward her, and spoke to her as if giving advice:
"The most important thing right now is Her Highness the Princess's health. Please do not worry about absolutely anything else."
"…There is no need to treat me like a meek terminally ill patient. Marysine said my condition is better than we expected."
"Just because she says 'better than we expected' does not mean we should become completely complacent," he sentenced in a strict tone, and then gently moved away the strands of hair falling over her forehead.
Now, she already accepted his touches as something natural. Seeing her eyes —which before always looked at him with suspicion— relaxed by lethargy, ignited a pang of heat that started at his waist and climbed up to the back of his neck. He felt his determination to act with solemnity crumble in a single second, and pressed his lips against hers.
It was an act bordering on self-punishment, but he could no longer contain himself. Varkas was kissing her sweetly when he heard a knock at the door. He raised his head and the head butler's voice immediately filtered through:
"Your Excellency, the guests are asking when they will be able to meet with you, what should I reply to them?"
"Tell them I will be right there."