…


  Time ticked by.

  There were fewer major cities around as Diamond Rivière trailed further and further away from Rosa City. It was fortunate that the eastern plain was Rosa’s agriculture hub, so there were plenty of villages along the way.

  Roel and Charlotte found themselves with plenty of leisure time while waiting for the enemy to bite onto their hook. Despite knowing that a decisive battle was around the corner, their nervousness and worries would melt away to the sweet interactions they shared.

  There was just one thing that pained Charlotte—Roel’s gradually ailing health.

  In order to maintain Charlotte’s health, he had to transfer his life force to her every single day. Even with the protection of the Primordial Earth Goddess, the massive loss in his life force inevitably resulted in the weakening of his body.

  He started to sleep longer hours, though the dominant cause was the fatigue he had accumulated over the past month. His weakening body also made him more prone to illnesses, such that he would get feverish from time to time.

  Whenever that happened, Charlotte would insist on taking care of him. As such occurrences became frequent, a new dynamic slowly surfaced between them.

  On a sofa in the tea room, Charlotte gazed down on Roel, who was lying with his head resting on her lap. With a serious expression on her face, she placed a hand on his forehead and the other on hers to compare their body temperature.

  Several seconds later, she revealed the result for the day.

  “It’s still warm. My apologies, darling, but I’ll be the one taking care of you today.”


  “…”


  With her chest puffed out and her lips curled upward, Charlotte proudly declared the outcome. She triumphantly squeezed Roel’s cheek, not hiding her glee at all.

  On the other hand, Roel stared at her with doubtful eyes.

  With the two of them falling into poor health, Roel wasn’t in a good position to care for Charlotte anymore. However, the two of them were in their honeymoon phase and didn’t want to be away from each other. After some discussion, they decided that the one who was in a better condition would take on the caretaker role for the day whereas the other would be the patient.

  They even set some rules regarding the two roles: The patient had to abide by the caretaker’s arrangement and wasn’t allowed to be willful or talk back.

  The conditions were designed to force the patient to comply with the caretaker, making it somewhat like a punishment game.

  As a matter of fact, Roel had come up with these rules when he lost the ability to enforce his will on Charlotte. He was hoping to use the rules to force her to change out of her unhealthy eating habits. Who could have known that he would fall ill shortly after the rules came into force?

  Under normal circumstances, Roel should have been faring better than Charlotte considering how he was the one providing life force to her. Yet, the situation was contrary to what he had expected.

  A health examination by the Sorofyas’ medical team showed that his body had been in a severely depleted state, causing him to suffer a backlash when his life force abruptly declined. How could his body be fine when he was constantly getting injured and plagued by his abilities’ side effects?

  Charlotte had a rare angry outburst upon hearing the doctor’s analysis.

  “After all of the lecturing you’ve done, it turns out that you’re barely holding yourself together?”


  “That’s not it. I wasn’t aware of it either…”


  “How could you have been aware of it when you don’t pay attention to yourself, darling? That’s your greatest fault! You… You’re going to be my child’s father in the future! How can you be so negligent with your own health?!”


  “… I was wrong. Sorry.”


  Roel got a rare earful from Charlotte from having neglected his own health. He was still thinking of explaining himself, but the fearful edge in her voice eroded his will to protest. In the end, he could only obediently admit his mistake.

  It was from that day on that he was forced to obey Charlotte’s instructions.

  Charlotte took good care of him in the days to come, ensuring that he ate well and slept well. She relished in this reversal of roles, and she didn’t abuse her privilege too much.

  However, her patient wanted to end it as quickly as possible.

  While being able to be the caretaker had put Charlotte in a good mood, she was so devoted to her job that her resting time had become irregular. That was not something Roel could accept.

  Thus, he raised an objection as soon as he felt that he had recovered, which was what led up to the earlier temperature check. Unfortunately, Charlotte ruled that he had misjudged his condition.

  Roel felt indignant about the verdict, but Charlotte’s stern glare forced him to reflect on himself. He wondered if he had truly grown dull to the irregularities of his body. After all, a slight fever was nothing compared to the severe side effects of the Crown’s Stones.

  In the end, he reluctantly accepted the result and laid back down on Charlotte’s lap. The latter smiled delightfully at having secured her authority.

  “Darling, are you feeling cold?”


  “The temperature is good… and you’re warm,” replied Roel.

  Upon hearing those words, Charlotte pulled him closer and hugged him. She didn’t notice that her abrupt action had shocked him.

  After the passionate night they shared, the two of them had grown much more comfortable with each other, resulting in their usual interactions being bolder than before. Even so, Roel found having his head pressed against her slim tummy across a thin layer of cloth too stimulating. If he were to raise his line of sight by a little, he would be directly faced with her chests.

  He initially tried to endure it, but he eventually succumbed and kissed her tummy through the opening in her clothes. The sudden assault sent a shudder through Charlotte’s body.

  “D-darling?” Charlotte exclaimed out loud, drawing the attention of the maid by the doorway.

  “Sorry, I couldn’t hold it in.”


  Knowing that she wasn’t comfortable with public displays of affection, Roel quickly apologized for his earlier action.

  “What are you thinking? We’re in front of others…”


  “I think my brain has gone haywire over the last few days. I keep thinking about our future child.”


  “!”


  That evoked Charlotte’s memories about the conversations they had on the bed after their couple exercise, but a moment later, her face sank.

  “Darling, actually… it came two days ago while I was taking care of you.”


  “… I see.”


  “I wasn’t able to get pregnant even though we’re already trying so hard. I’m sorry,” Charlotte said dejectedly, feeling apologetic about her constitution.

  Roel looked at her for a moment before abruptly sitting upward to seal her lips, completely throwing her off her pace.

  “!”


  It was such an unexpected attack that Charlotte momentarily forgot about her unhappiness. Roel made use of this opportunity to slip in his thoughts.

  “Charlotte, you seem to have misunderstood something. Having a child is proof that our relationship has come to fruition; it isn’t the goal. To me, you’re the most important one of all.”


  “Darling…”


  “You shouldn’t forget that we have Peytra’s blessing too. There’s no need to rush things. Rather, it would be problematic if you succeeded now,” Roel said as his expression slowly turned grim.

  Charlotte’s eyes turned sharp.

  “Darling, do you mean that the curse…”


  “Yes, it has been growing stronger. I felt its aura while you were sleeping.”


  Roel caressed Charlotte’s cheeks as he recalled the incident several nights ago.

  Charlotte hadn’t felt anything as she was fast asleep, but the curse had abruptly intensified at a scale like never before, heaping tremendous stress on him. The ancient monster realized he was the one sustaining Charlotte and chose to focus its efforts on him. The Crown’s Stones sensed its aggression and retaliated, summoning chilling frost and a pale yellow wind.

  That very moment that the forces clashed, Roel felt something glare at him.

  That confrontation also played a part in the deterioration of his condition, but he wasn’t angry about it at all. On the contrary, he viewed it as a good sign.

  “That attack was likely to be the strongest one it is currently able to deal out remotely. If that had failed, there’s only one last option left if it wishes to kill us.”


  “You’re saying…”


  “It’ll show itself soon.

  Recalling the raging killing intent directed toward him that night, Roel spoke with certainty.

  Almost as if in response to his prediction, on the distant horizon, a pitch-black tide began to billow.