Even If It Means to Break - Chapter 30 - 7. Gradually

“Goodness. I suppose it was so delicious you lost your senses.”

The man, still gripping her b****t tightly, lightly licked the milky fluid that seeped between his fingers. He dragged his lips over her areola, then spoke abruptly.

“But tell me, Hill. Do you know this?”

“Hah… know what…?”

“Your b*****s… they’ve gotten bigger.”

“Huh…?”

At his unexpected words, she opened her eyes halfway. He rubbed her flesh as if measuring it.

“I used to be able to hold them almost completely in one hand. Now, I’m just a little short.”

He spread his palm wide and covered her b****t fully. As he said, where her b****t had once nearly fit, about one finger’s width now spilled past his grasp.

“Come to think of it…”

They say b*****s grow when a woman conceives.

The thought slipped out like an aside and her heart dropped. Hill’s eyes flew open.

Seeing her reaction, the man lowered his gaze and stroked her lower abdomen. Hill forcibly held her breath and tightened her belly. It was already flat enough that there was hardly anything to pinch, but she was terrified that even the slightest swell might make his suspicion real.

After rubbing her stomach a few more times, as though taking her pulse, the man straightened up.

Then he ordered for Andouche to be summoned.

Soon, Andouche entered and bowed deeply before him. At the king’s command, she began to report in detail everything she had observed while attending to Hill.

Hill had suffered severe nausea until recently. Her appetite had increased of late. She especially favored sour fruits. She slept more than before…

Facts Hill had vaguely noticed but desperately ignored now fell from another’s mouth, and her heart began to pound wildly. Chewing down on her lip, she felt as though she were rotting from the inside.

The report ended with the statement that she had not menstruated for three full months.

The man stroked his chin, thoughtful.

“Pregnant?”

“The likelihood is very high, Your Majesty. Still, to be cautious, perhaps it would be wise to use the birip tree fruit…”

Without much deliberation, the man nodded and ordered the fruit prepared at once. Hill, anxiously clutching the blanket, tried to speak. But the bright smile he turned on her robbed her of words.

“It seems you’re finally carrying my child.”

“……”

“We’ll know for sure once we use the birip fruit.”

A short while later, Andouche returned carrying several of the fruits. At the sight of the fruit used to confirm pregnancy, Hill felt dizzy. When she swayed where she sat, the man caught her firmly, as though he’d expected it. Leaning close to her trembling lips, he whispered softly,

“There’s no need to be so afraid, Hill.”

“……”

“Even if I am your enemy, it’s still a human child you’re bearing. You’ve already shared your body with a real beast. What great thing is there in giving birth to a human child?”

Casually delivering those cruel words, he brought the birip fruit to her. Hill couldn’t refuse.

He pushed the long fruit deep inside her and waited for a moment before withdrawing it. Andouche examined the fruit in her hand and exclaimed, her voice tinged with excitement,

“This blue color—congratulations, Your Majesty! Tana has conceived!”

The words ‘congratulations’ and ‘conceived’ rang sharply in her ears.

The birip fruit, now stained blue, seemed to sneer at her. Her stomach churned, and then everything she saw began to waver and bend like heat haze.

A sudden wave of dizziness overtook her, and Hill collapsed.

7. Gradually

Even after her pregnancy was confirmed, her daily life changed very little.

Aside from a few additional foods said to be good for nourishment and the fetus, nothing was different. She still received the man every night, and she still curled up in a room without a single window.

“…Is it really all right to just leave me like this?”

One day, still lingering in the afterglow of s*x, Hill suddenly asked. Avoiding the man’s questioning gaze, she muttered,

“The one watching me, I mean. When they’re not around…”

What if I try to get rid of it?

As her voice grew smaller, the man reached out. Startled, she flinched—but his hand only brushed her cheek gently.

Tucking aside the strand of hair clinging to her face, he whispered in a tender voice,

“If you want to get rid of it, that’s fine too, Hill.”

The hand sliding down her cheek caught her chin gently.

“We can always make another.”

“……”

When her slightly furrowed eyes trembled, he let out a short laugh in amusement. He kissed her cheek, her forehead, beneath her ear, and said,

“Whether you stir your insides with a long rod, take medicine, or harm yourself—wouldn’t a few drops of my blood heal it all?”

“……”

“As long as you don’t die, Hill, what does it matter if that child miscarries? We can make as many as we like.”

It would just be hard on you again, having to endure my seed being poured inside you once more.

The gentleness of his words concealed a veiled threat. As if sharing a secret, he stroked her lower belly that was now ever so slightly swollen and murmured,

“If you’re going to induce a miscarriage, it’s better to do it quickly.”

If the child grows too large and spills out in human form, wouldn’t that leave a deep wound on your delicate heart?

The man’s calm talk of the child’s death was chilling. Cradled in his arms, Hill shuddered as though seized by a sudden chill.