Chapter 48
When she looked back reflexively, Richard was standing there. Holding a bouquet of roses in full bloom in his arms.
Richard, who was approaching Elisha, held out the bouquet of flowers to her.
“Congratulations on becoming a mom, Elisha.”
“Ah…”
“I’m still clumsy, but I’ll try my best to be a good dad.”
Elisha blinked blankly as she looked at Richard who spoke awkwardly with an awkward expression.
She didn’t expect him to organize such an event.
‘Still, he must feel responsible for his own child.’
Anyway, she was relieved to think that the child would not be hated by his father. At the same time, there was hope.
The hope that even if we do not love each other as a man and woman, we will be able to live like any other ordinary family like close friends and family.
“Thank you.”
Elisha smiled and took the bouquet from Richard.
Fortunately, the scent of flowers didn’t feel disgusting. Rather, it had a relaxing effect.
Richard, who was examining Elisha’s expression, brought up a topic.
“And a dad and mom said that sleeping together is good for the baby, so starting today, we’re going to sleep together.”
“Ah… ye, yeah. Let’s do that.”
She had never heard of it, but it was a pretty plausible story.
Elisha reluctantly accepted his offer.
“You must be tired, let’s go to sleep.”
Richard led Elisha to bed.
Elisha gulped at the awkwardness.
“Awkward…”
Sleeping with him as an adult is hard to get used to no matter how many nights she experiences.
But even if it was awkward, she couldn’t stop him from saying that he was going to act like a dad.
Elisha was concerned about lying on the bed first.
But Richard didn’t lie down and stayed there. He fixed his gaze on her belly.
Noticing the meaning of that gaze, Elisha asked.
“Do you want to touch it?”
Richard hesitated for a moment before carefully placing his hand on Elisha’s stomach. But it wasn’t where the baby was.
“The baby is here.”
Elisha took his hand and lowered it a little. His big, warm hand covered her belly.
The hand was trembling without being able to touch it properly. His brow was also slightly frowned as if he was focused.
As if afraid of adding too much strength in his hand. As if he was trying to feel the presence of a still insignificant child.
Elisha suppressed her laughter when she saw him like that.
“It’s still very small, so you won’t feel much.”
At Elisha’s words, Richard immediately raised his hand. He was afraid that the baby might go wrong because he couldn’t control his energy properly.
Instead, he greeted the child in the womb.
“Welcome to the world, baby. See you soon in good health.”
Then he kissed Elisha’s belly lightly.
Elisha was startled by his sudden touch. It was because of the sudden memory of the night that she became pregnant.
The moment her eyes met with Richard’s red eyes looking up at her, her heart sank.
In the darkened room, his handsome face illuminated with the soft light of the glow-stone was breathtakingly beautiful.
If she kept looking at that face, she felt like she was going to be possessed. Just like that night.
“I’m tired. I’m going to bed now.”
Elisha hurriedly avoided his gaze and lay down on the bed.
Soon after, Richard lay down next to her. And he gently hugged Elisha, who was lying with her back on him.
Elisha was startled by that.
“Ri, Richard?”
“It’s dangerous if you fall out of bed like before.”
“I’m sleeping peacefully now…?”
Elisha objected, but Richard didn’t respond.
‘Did he fall asleep?’
But she couldn’t look back. If he was awake, she wasn’t confident enough to meet those breath-taking eyes from before at this distance.
Elisha gave up getting out of his arms and closed her eyes.
But when one sense was shut off, the other senses came alive and everything felt so good.
The body temperature that touched her body, the hot breath that touched her nape.
It was as if the cells all over her body were paying attention to him.
Every time his breath tickled the nape of her neck, her heart fluttered uncontrollably. To the extent that she was afraid that he would hear the sound.
‘I won’t be able to sleep like this!’
However, contrary to her thoughts, the body that had been tormented by the journey quickly fell into darkness.
Elisha, who was tossing and turning in her sleep, instinctively searched for warmth and dug into Richard’s arms.
Richard looked at Elisha and hugged her.
Strangely, he was nervous to hold her in his arms.
‘…If your belly is full, you won’t be able to run anymore.’
He succumbed to his thoughts without realizing it.
It was a trashy idea. But he still wanted to have her by his side.
Richard carefully placed his hand on Elisha’s belly again.
It was the precious child who would make her stay by his side for a little longer.
‘I don’t… hate it as I thought.’
It was an unexpected child, but it wasn’t as repulsive as he had vaguely thought.
Rather, it was surprising and curious that a life resembling both of them was growing in her small and delicate body.
‘Because it’s Elisha’s child.’
As he was thinking about the child, he suddenly felt a stinging pain in his back.
It was a very slight pain compared to what he had felt before, but he was concerned because it had been repeated several times.
Richard rose quietly and approached the mirror.
He pulled down his loose pajamas and looked at his left side, where he felt the pain, but nothing stood out.
‘I’ll have to ask Agail.’
Since it wasn’t a visible wound externally, he thought that it would be different from a normal wound.
He heard that Agail had acquired a lot of knowledge from the Tower of Truth, so maybe he would know.
‘Besides, is it just me, or the pain is getting worse every time Elisha is not around?’
Then, he heard Elisha tossing and turning.
“Nnng…”
Upon hearing the sound, Richard went straight back to Elisha. And he fell asleep with her in his arms.
Morning sunlight was streaming through the window.
Elisha, who had been wandering around in her dream, tightly embraced the pillow placed nearby. The pillow was big and hard, so it was difficult to hold it, but it was cozy and had a nice scent.
‘By the way… which pillow is bigger than me? Besides, is it… breathing?’
Elisha, who was asleep, suddenly remembered something and opened her eyes.
‘Hyuk.’
She barely swallowed the scream that was about to come out.
Not surprisingly, it wasn’t a pillow she was hugging, it was Richard.
He was sleeping soundly, hugging Elisha. He was having a bad dream, with his handsome brow frowned slightly.
‘Your sleeping face is so handsome.’
Even if he was lying on his side, his face was slanted, and instead of making him look ugly, his slightly disheveled black hair added to the languid atmosphere making it feel like a masterpiece.
‘If you see this face every morning, you can’t do it without prenatal education.’
[e/n: I’m not sure what she means by prenatal education, probs has something to do with him being so hot it’s making her stressed or something lol]
However, objectively, the face is not suitable for prenatal education.
Because he was closer to a devilish figure who would take even your soul from you if you looked at him, instead of a handsome angelic man who gave peace to your heart.
‘Well, Hanes would look like his father in the first place, so he doesn’t need prenatal care.’
As Elisha looked at his features as if appreciating a statue, his tightly closed eyelids opened, revealing his red eyes.
Elisha, who made eye contact with him, stopped breathing unknowingly as if she had been caught doing something wrong.
There was a moment of silence between the two.
Elisha struggled to calm her startled heart and opened her mouth one beat later.
“Did… did you sleep well?”
“Good morning.”
Richard looked at Elisha’s forehead as he greeted her in the morning, then unfurrowed his brow and got up. He hurriedly pulled on a robe.
Even before Elisha could ask what was wrong, the door opened and Anne came in.
“Did you call for me?”
“Call the doctor right away. Elisha seems to have a fever.”
At Richard’s words, Anne’s expression became serious. It was because she had a memory of suffering more than anyone else due to Elisha’s high fever.
But Elisha, the one involved, dissuaded Anne.
“No, Anne! It’s just the usual fever.”
Anne finally understood Elisha’s words and sighed with relief.
But Richard’s expression grew stiffer.
“The usual slight fever?”
“In the early days of pregnancy, everyone has it.”
Richard realized only after hearing Elisha’s words.
As the heir of the family, he had learned how to make a child, but he had never learned how the body of a pregnant woman changes.
That’s why he felt sorry for Elisha.
‘I’m gonna go to the library right now and look for a pregnancy book.’
Anne, who had been listening to their conversation, asked.
“Would you like me to bring your meal to your room?”
“Yes, please.”
“Along with mine.”
Anne bowed briefly and left the room.
Richard, who was staring at Elisha’s belly, seemed to remember something and knelt down next to the bed, kissed her belly, and whispered.
“Good morning.”
It was a morning greeting for the baby.
Elisha looked at Richard blankly.
‘It feels… weird.’
Every time he kissed her belly, she realized that he was the father of the child and that they had become a real ‘family’.
At the same time, her heart felt warm.
She knew he’s just fulfilling his responsibilities to the child, still, the fact that the family was fully established gave her great stability.
“Madam, I’m coming in.”
After a while, Anne brought breakfast.
Elisha’s diet was complete without bread, and although sandwiches were added to Richard’s diet, there were basically no strong-smelling foods.
“Thank you, Anne.”
Elisha stabbed the salad with a fork and put it in her mouth. The cool and fresh salad was well received amidst the roaring of her stomach.
But then, Richard, who was about to eat a sandwich, wrinkled his forehead and covered his mouth.
Elisha looked at Richard with puzzled eyes.
“Richard?”
“Uugg…”
He couldn’t eat the sandwich and ran out of the bedroom.
Elisha and Anne were just gazing in bewilderment at the door he left through in a rush.
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