Chapter 88………………………………………..
Arsène gagged no matter what kind of food smell he caught.
He couldn’t even drink water, saying it smelled fishy.
The only thing he could manage was apple juice.
Apple juice didn’t make him nauseous, and it went down easily.
“Arsène, are you okay?”
“…I’m fine.”
Arsène answered with a forced smile.
It was one thing to feel weak from not eating, but being unable to tolerate even the smell of food meant he couldn’t share meals with Evelina.
In the end, until his morning sickness settled, Evelina had no choice but to eat alone with Karina.
Evelina went to the dining room, and Arsène headed to his office.
Since he couldn’t even think about food, he figured he might as well work during that time.
“Haa…”
Arsène let out a deep sigh as he reviewed documents.
Noel, who had entered quietly, placed a glass of apple juice down and spoke.
“Your Grace, are you alright?”
“…Yes.”
After a pause, Arsène slowly nodded.
Without hesitation, he reached for the glass.
Then he drank it down in large gulps.
Seeing the cup empty in an instant, Noel said,
“I’ll bring more apple juice.”
“Alright.”
After Noel left, Arsène closed his eyes.
Suddenly, he found himself craving an extremely sweet dessert.
Just thinking about dessert made him hungry.
Normally, he didn’t even like sweets that much, so it was strange.
He tried to endure it, but the more he resisted, the stronger the craving became.
Just then, Noel returned carrying a large bottle of apple juice.
“Here is the apple juice.”
“Noel.”
“Yes?”
“Bring me an incredibly sweet dessert.”
At the sudden request, Noel’s eyes widened.
“Dessert, sir?”
“Yes. Something so sweet it makes your tongue sting. Any kind is fine.”
“Ah… understood.”
Noel hurried out of the office.
The fact that Arsène—who had only been drinking apple juice—finally wanted something to eat made Noel sprint to the kitchen as if his feet were on fire.
Before long, the news reached Evelina as well.
She personally carried a tray toward the office.
Noel insisted he would do it, but Evelina shook her head, saying it was fine.
Standing before the office door, she knocked.
“Come in.”
Hearing his voice, Evelina carefully opened the door.
Arsène, who had been reading documents, looked up—and his eyes widened when he saw her.
“Evelina, why did you come all the way here?”
“It wasn’t hard at all. I heard you finally wanted to eat something.”
Evelina giggled.
The tray was piled high with desserts, their sweet aroma filling the air.
Just looking at them made her tongue feel numb.
Arsène, unusually, swallowed hard at the sight.
Evelina quickly set the desserts on the table.
“Hurry and eat.”
“You should eat too, Evelina.”
“Okay.”
Arsène placed a fork into her hand.
Only after watching her take a bite of cake did he finally begin eating.
Arsène cleaned the tray completely.
It was as if he was making up for everything he hadn’t been able to eat.
Normally, one cake would’ve been his limit, but this was strange.
“The baby must like sweet things,” Evelina said.
“Perhaps.”
Arsène replied, looking away in embarrassment.
“Is there anything else you want to eat?”
“Not yet…”
“If you crave anything, tell me right away.”
“Yes.”
Somehow, their roles had reversed—but since Arsène was the one with morning sickness, it made sense.
“Evelina, are you okay?”
“Yes. The problem is that food goes down too easily.”
Maybe because Arsène was suffering in her place, Evelina had been eating very well.
“That’s a relief. I’ll take all the hardship, so please don’t get sick.”
“Okay… but I hope your morning sickness ends soon…”
She was worried because he’d lost weight after days of barely eating.
Evelina gently stroked his cheek.
His face had grown noticeably thinner.
Arsène covered her hand with his own.
“I’m strong. I’ll be fine.”
Still, he wanted to act a little spoiled.
He rubbed his face against her hand and smiled softly.
“I hope our child takes after you, Evelina.”
“I hope they take after you…”
Blue eyes like Arsène’s would be beautiful.
His eyes were so clear it felt like you could see straight through them.
“Whoever they resemble, I just hope they’re born healthy.”
“Me too.”
Evelina smiled faintly and stroked her stomach.
Before long, her belly would begin to show.
“Once you’re in the stable period, how about we travel together? Of course, after your morning sickness ends.”
“Only if you promise not to overdo it. If we go, you will do nothing.”
“Um…”
“Promise me.”
Arsène spoke seriously.
Evelina couldn’t answer right away.
They would be going with Karina, and she couldn’t simply do nothing.
“If you don’t promise, then we won’t travel at all.”
“…Alright.”
Reluctantly, Evelina nodded.
By then she would be stable, so a little movement should be fine.
Arsène was already thinking he should speak to Karina too, just to prevent Evelina from pushing herself.
He would never let her strain her body.
For a long while, Arsène rested his hand over Evelina’s still-flat belly.
Several weeks passed.
Evelina’s belly was now slowly, noticeably swelling.
Today was the day Anais came to examine her.
Normally Arsène was always present, but today he had gone to the imperial palace, so Evelina was alone.
Anais tilted her head in confusion during the examination.
Evelina asked anxiously,
“What is it? Is something wrong with the baby?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just… your belly seems much larger than most pregnant women’s.”
“Hmm… maybe the baby is just big?”
“That could be.”
Relieved there was no problem, Evelina smiled softly and stroked her stomach.
The important thing was that the baby was healthy.
Another piece of good news was that Arsène’s morning sickness had finally eased.
At first, he could only eat extremely sweet desserts, but later he even craved potato stew and ate that too.
Evelina had worried he would only eat sweets, so she was glad.
“So I’m in the stable period now, right?”
“Yes. And soon, you may even begin to feel the baby move.”
“Really?”
Evelina’s face brightened.
Anais packed her bag and said,
“Since you’ve entered the stable period, you may travel. But don’t forget to still be careful.”
“Okay, I understand.”
That evening, the whole family gathered together for the first time in a while.
Because Arsène no longer gagged at the sight of food.
While cutting her steak, Evelina spoke.
“Anais said I’ve entered the stable period. What if we go on the trip we postponed?”
“That sounds good. You haven’t been able to go outside even once since becoming pregnant, right? Arsène has been so overly cautious.”
Karina chuckled.
And it was true—Arsène acted as though Evelina would shatter if she even climbed stairs, carrying her himself.
Even while suffering from morning sickness, he never neglected caring for her.
Thanks to that, Evelina could count on one hand the number of times she had gone up or down stairs herself.
She was embarrassed by his overprotectiveness, but Arsène refused to budge.
Going outside was absolutely forbidden.
Of course, Evelina also knew she needed to be cautious early on, so she only took small walks to the greenhouse and back.
“The seaside isn’t far, so it seems perfect. Your belly has grown a lot—are you uncomfortable?”
“My back hurts a little, but I’m okay.”
She considered mentioning what Anais said about her belly being larger than normal, but it didn’t seem important.
“Then we should begin preparing. Since we’re going, how about we stay for three days?”
“I’d love that!”
Once her belly grew even larger, traveling would become difficult.
This might be her last trip.
After the baby was born, she would surely be unable to go out.
Evelina’s eyes sparkled.
“When should we leave?”
“As soon as possible. The baby grows quickly every day.”
After making plans, they decided to leave three days later.
Evelina had originally wanted to learn cooking and prepare meals herself before the trip, but pregnancy made that impossible.
Swallowing her disappointment, she decided she would do it next time.
Instead, Arsène would cook himself.
As he had promised before, they planned to fish together and stargaze at night.
Until the day before the trip, Evelina was practically bursting with excitement.
Berry was worried when she heard they wouldn’t bring any attendants.
“Are you really sure? It will be inconvenient if you don’t take even one servant…”
“It’s okay. I’ve always wanted the three of us to travel alone at least once. When we went to the Kingdom of Astina, it was just Arsène and me, but this feels different.”
“But still…”
“Berry, I’m not weak anymore. I know you’re worried because I’m pregnant, but I’ll be careful.”
“Ah… yes, understood! I guess I worried too much.”
Berry smiled awkwardly and nodded.
As Evelina said, she was strong.
She had more mana than even Leonard, and she was skilled enough to join monster subjugations.
And now, as a mother-to-be, she would naturally be cautious.
Berry admitted she had overreacted and diligently packed their luggage.
Finally, three days passed…
And the day of the trip arrived.
