SIDE STORY 02…………………………………
Enya’s belly grew more quickly than expected. At first, it was so large that she wondered if she might be carrying twins.
“Dale, our baby…!”
Enya said, cradling her belly with one hand and holding Dale’s with the other.
“It’s a healthy child,” Dale said quietly, nodding in agreement. Even to him, the size seemed extraordinary.
Since Enya became pregnant, Dale had been keeping careful, almost diary-like records. He was anxious that something might happen to her.
When Enya first told him she was pregnant, Dale had gone pale.
“Does it hurt much?”
His cautious attitude hadn’t changed. The baby seemed almost too large for Enya’s small frame to carry comfortably.
‘But I can’t call it a growth… she’d be mad.’
Dale carefully swallowed his critical thoughts about their child.
“Why are you always so tense?”
“…”
“It’s okay, Dale.”
Enya pulled his hand over her rounded belly and began rubbing it together with him. But Dale, rigid as stone, hardly moved his hand.
“…I’m afraid I might press too hard.”
Even as her pregnancy approached six months, Dale never relaxed. Not even around himself.
He treated Enya as if she were a fragile glass vessel that would shatter if handled incorrectly.
“If I hurt this child…”
“Excuse me?”
“Even if I accidentally press too hard out of joy…”
“What?”
“Or if I happen to fall toward your belly while standing nearby…”
“Nonsense! That won’t happen!”
Enya laughed at her husband’s growing paleness, clutching her belly and raising her voice.
“You mustn’t bend over like that!”
“Ha ha ha! But Dale, you’re so funny! Ah… ooh… it really tugs.”
“…!”
He laughed while bending his body but stiffened when he noticed even the slightest pain Enya felt.
“We need a physician—”
“No need. It just hurt for a moment.”
Enya wiped the tears that had collected from laughing and held Dale’s hand.
“Are you afraid that what you read in books, or imagined, might actually happen?”
“…I might have cruel tendencies, like others in the imperial family.”
“…”
Enya opened her round eyes wide and stared at Dale’s tense expression.
Dale had been a lonely man who had never truly known love. When he first heard he would have a child, the joy that enveloped him was almost like having the whole world—only for a brief moment before worry took over.
“I hope the child looks like you.”
Dale sat beside Enya and whispered sincerely.
“If the child is bright, strong, and loving like you, there will be nothing to worry about.”
“…”
“But if the child takes after me, I don’t know.”
Enya, hearing his confession, smiled faintly.
“You know what?”
Playfully, she pointed to a frame in the corner of the bedroom. It contained portraits of the Dukes of Lockhart, Enya’s family.
“Our child might not look like either of us. Sometimes they resemble distant relatives instead.”
“…”
“So, your worry is gone now?”
Dale’s eyes went wide at the unexpected answer, but he soon relaxed and smiled.
“I see.”
He brushed back his hair and kissed Enya’s cheek.
“If the child looks like Duke Lockhart, they could become a great emperor.”
“And if they look like my older brother?”
“That’s fine too.”
He kissed the nape of her neck, whispering. Between Dale and Enya, their private jokes became laughter that only they could share.
Even simple, ordinary words became a language of love between them.
Enya gazed intently into his eyes. In Dale’s golden, sparkling gaze flowed a deeper, nobler affection.
“Enya.”
“Yes?”
Dale called her name softly, cupping her cheek and jaw and whispering.
“This is confiscation.”
“Ah!”
Dale, somehow prepared, held a needle and thread in his hand.
“Using your charm to tempt me, but with another purpose—how cowardly!”
“What’s forbidden is forbidden.”
“When did you get so firm with me, Dale?”
His brief moment of faltering was met with a steadying resolve.
He squeezed his eyes shut, averting them from Enya’s gaze. There was no way to refuse her request while looking into the eyes of the wife he loved.
“I found out. The Empress is doing something extremely dangerous.”
Dale scrutinized what Enya had been secretly working on.
“It’s true…”
What Enya had been embroidering were various curses stitched into cloth.
“It’s not a curse—it’s embroidery.”
“…I didn’t think of it as a curse.”
Dale swallowed nervously. Enya, despite being pregnant, had been stitching diligently.
Her body, weakened from childhood hardships, was frailer than most pregnant women.
‘I was careful, so why…’
Dale had been shocked when he first learned of the pregnancy.
He had secretly asked Kashion to make an item that would prevent the pregnancy from succeeding. Kashion demanded an enormous sum, including hush money, for not revealing it to Empress Enya.
The ring made for the task had been effective. Enya hadn’t noticed.
‘…Or maybe she did notice.’
Dale tilted his head, recalling the past when Enya had once casually removed the ring from his hand.
It had been his birthday, and she had been unusually tender toward him. He hadn’t suspected it was intentional then—but now it seemed strange.
‘How could I suspect my wife? That’s insane.’
Dale shook his head. Enya could never have intentionally seduced him. That was impossible.
He glanced at her. Her eyes were pure, innocent, and beautiful.
‘Enya would never do that. My thoughts are absurd.’
He dismissed his dark suspicion.
After all, this was a miraculous pregnancy.
And most importantly, Enya was happy. Just the fact that she was carrying a child filled her with joy…
‘No.’
Dale’s heart hardened.
‘Nothing is more important than Enya.’
He would love their child, without doubt, giving all his care.
But if he had to prioritize, Enya would always come first.
And there would be only one child.
“Give it to me, Dale.”
“….”
Dale refused Enya’s assertive request.
“I heard you pricked your hand while embroidering. Enya, with your past skill…”
The room grew cold. Dale realized his misstep and corrected himself.
“Your handkerchief embroidery was excellent, of course, but you also bled quite a bit then. This time, there’s a child in your womb. I can’t let even a single drop of blood happen.”
“I’m making clothes for our child! Why are you like this?”
Dale knew Enya’s hobby was perfectly valid.
But he could not tell her the truth: the embroidery she spent a year on, compared to what a maid could do in a week, would be less suitable for the child.
By Dale’s standards, Enya’s effort wasn’t worth risking a single drop of blood.
“If even one drop of your blood falls, it pains me.”
“Is that even blood? Dale, you hurt yourself more often!”
“Giving my arm is better than letting a single drop of your blood fall.”
“Ugh.”
At that moment, someone finally gagged at the royal couple’s affectionate antics. Dale turned to look, and the attendants pointed at each other.
“It wasn’t me.”
