I Married the Mad Duke Who Killed My Husband - Chapter 104

That day marked the beginning of my morning sickness hell.

I thought I just had to be careful when swallowing, thought it would only affect certain foods, and tried to comfort the shocked Cassion, but now after a week… nothing had improved.

“Urgh, this is so frustrating.”

Now, I’m getting morning sickness without eating or smelling anything. And Cassion isn’t by my side.

I hit the pillow in anger, but since I’d barely eaten anything, it didn’t even make a sound. These days, I was getting nauseous not just from drinking water but even from gargling.

“Cassion…”

But more painful than my sore throat and stomach was thinking about Cassion.

That night, I had planned to go straight back to the bedroom to apologize and explain the situation. But after seeing me skip not just breakfast but two meals in a row, Cassion, looking pale, filled the room with all sorts of items and left, telling me to rest well, completely catching me off guard.

That was the beginning of my solitary confinement. To think I haven’t been able to see him properly for a week over something like this.

“This won’t do. Pi- blegh, Pia!”

According to the physician, morning sickness might not subside until the middle or late stages of pregnancy. While I can’t do anything about that, shouldn’t resolving things with Cassion be something I can handle?

I called for Pia while retching at the air I’d inhaled to shout, and she burst through the door with a bucket, sliding over and extending her arm.

“Not that. There’s nothing left to throw up…”

“I heard you retching. You’ve been throwing up just stomach acid for days now. You’ve lost too much weight in such a short time.”

“But I’m still pretty, right?”

“That you are.”

I managed a smile despite feeling unwell, and Pia played along. However, her unusually serious face seemed unable to hide her concern for me.

“Call Cassion for me.”

It’s been a week since I’ve seen him, and I’m a bit embarrassed about looking so haggard. But it should be fine since neither my beauty nor Cassion’s love for me has changed.

***

“Asilia…”

…Is it really fine?

Cassion entered with a tense look, but upon seeing me, he approached with an expression as if the world had fallen apart. I felt awkward as he quickly came closer, his trembling hands hovering over my face.

“My goodness, Asil. It’s been a week. Just a week, and yet…”

“Just a week, you say.”

Trying to smile playfully, I pulled out a chair from the small tea table in the bedroom. Instead of tea, there were only two glasses of plain water, and the problem was that my hand trembled excessively as I tried to pull out the chair.

“It’s been a week since I’ve seen you. Sit down first.”

Cassion sat down as told, but he couldn’t take his eyes off me. I took his hand, which was wandering in the air, and placed it on my cheek.

“Didn’t you want to see me?”

“How can you even ask that? But I thought I would be a disturbance while you were resting. I thought that by enduring, holding back, you would be more comfortable…”

“I’ve lost some weight, right?”

“Some? Ha. Asil.”

“It’s because I couldn’t take my medicine on time.”

As I approached first, Cassion’s trembling hand gradually began to stroke my face and hair. But his expression changed completely at the mention of not being able to take medicine.

“Medicine? Why couldn’t you take it? I should call the physician right away…”

“That’s not it.”

“Then why? Don’t tell me. If it’s because you’re worried it might harm the baby, Asil.”

“Ah, come to think of it, I need to clear up that misunderstanding and apologize, but let me say the urgent thing first. The medicine I couldn’t take is called ‘Cassion’.”

Cassion’s voice lowered a bit more, perhaps thinking he might provoke a reaction from me, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of backing down. But that’s not what I’m trying to say. I continued, feigning innocence.

“The best medicine for morning sickness is a husband’s love and concern. But I haven’t even seen the face of that medicine for a week. I’ve been sleeping alone. There was no one to coax me into taking just one bite.”

Of course, there were plenty of servants, and they relayed messages to Cassion in real-time, and I know Cassion was watching me from some unseen corner. But as I looked up at him, pretending not to know while rubbing my cheek against his hand, I saw his dazed face for the first time in a while.

“My symptoms will only get worse as time goes on, so shouldn’t I start living with my medicine from now on?”

But Cassion’s dazed expression lasted only a moment. He hugged me tightly, unable to even call my name, but unfortunately…

“Urgh.”

Just as I felt his scent, which always gave me a sense of stability, I started to retch. No, not now. It was the perfect timing for reconciliation!

“…Hic.”

I tried hard to hold it in, not wanting to ruin the mood, but his large hand that was holding me tightly began to rub my back. I could feel my tense body relaxing with his hand slowly caressing me with warmth and his scent gradually becoming familiar.

“You don’t have to hold it in, Asil. Just throw up if you need to. I was so foolish. To leave you alone when you were suffering like this.”

“….”

“That’s right. Whether you throw up on me or hit me, I won’t let go. I’m sorry. I promise I won’t do this again.”

I looked up at him with just my eyes peeking out, afraid that if I opened my mouth, the nausea that was barely subsiding would surge again. He must have sensed my distress. With a regretful expression, he kept rubbing my back and led me to sit on the bed.

“I don’t want to lie down…”

“How about this?”

“Yes. This is good.”

I felt like lying down would make this sensation, which felt like motion sickness even though it wasn’t, more vivid. And not wanting to leave Cassion’s embrace after so long, I clung to him, and he quickly adjusted his position.

To think that a war hero would be acting as a chair, with a soft pillow tucked into his side and embracing a person with his whole body. A chuckle escapes me.

“Are you feeling a bit better now? Should I call for water?”

“Let’s stay like this for a little longer.”

Seeing my smile, Cassion also slightly softened his worried expression and began to massage my cold hands with the hand that wasn’t supporting my lower back. Whether it was because of poor circulation or recent swelling, his massage made my fingertips tingle pleasantly.

“See? I told you a husband is the best medicine for morning sickness.”

“You’re right. I brought the medicine too late. It’s all my fault, Asil.”

“Now that you know, you need to stick with me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

“I will. I’ll send a letter to the Imperial Palace too. I should be able to be excused for a while. No, it might be good to go down to the territory we were granted last time. Will it be difficult for you to ride in a carriage?”

Oh, come to think of it, going down to the territory would be really nice.

The territory we were granted is not too far from the city center in terms of distance, but I heard it has a green and quiet landscape. I heard it’s not a very developed or wealthy place with few residents, but that made it seem even more comfortable to stay and govern, and I liked it even before seeing it.

“Is the castle not fully built yet?”

“They said it’s in the final stages, so if we hire more workers, it could be completed before the end of this month.”

Cassion quickly answered as I showed interest in going down. It seems that His Highness the Crown Prince has been wanting Cassion’s help lately as his duties as the Crown Prince have increased, but who cares? I need to live with my special medicine. I didn’t like how they were using Cassion, anyway.

“Then let’s go down as soon as it’s completed. The distance isn’t too far, so I’ll try to endure the journey if my medicine sticks close to me.”

“I’ll have them prepare. But if it’s too hard for you at any point, don’t hold back, Asil.”

I thought he might leave me to give orders to the servants, but Cassion rang the bell to call a servant and butler, and along with a few instructions, he requested warm water. I closed my eyes and felt the vibrations that seemed like a large instrument resonating every time he spoke, leaning against his body.

“Why the water?”

“Your body seems too cold and stiff, so I wanted to wipe you down… If you don’t want to.”

“No, I’d like that.”

I’ve been too weak lately to wash properly. Besides, I liked how Cassion had been massaging my hands, so I quickly accepted, cutting him off mid-sentence. Cassion, who had been watching me cautiously, smiled. Now, his smile looked as unrestrained as before.

Of course, when the not-quite-bath started, I retched again at the smell of the steaming water, but this time neither I nor Cassion was flustered, and we were able to get through it.

“I need to eat up my special medicine.”

As we bickered playfully, with me biting his nose wrapped in a soft towel, I thought that pregnancy might be manageable if it’s like this. Little did I know what was to come.