Chapter 241
Come to think of it, he remembered that Sarubia hadn’t had her monthly cycle last month.
At that time, Rufus worried that something might be wrong with Sarubia’s body and consulted Doctor Dean, the personal physician of the Inferna Baronial House. After hearing Rufus’s explanation, Doctor Dean said it was probably because Sarubia’s body had been startled from moving around from place to place over the past few weeks.
‘She will probably start her monthly cycle again after getting enough rest. Please don’t worry too much.’
Doctor Dean said that and reassured Rufus.
After hearing that, he had relaxed for a while.
But.
Surely not.
While Rufus hesitated in disbelief, Sarubia pulled the bell cord. Soon, a maid bowed her head and entered Sarubia’s room.
“Please call for a doctor. A woman, and someone who can keep her mouth shut.”
Sarubia, who still wasn’t used to speaking down to maids, politely asked her.
Before long, a royal physician arrived.
After that, Rufus couldn’t remember how things unfolded.
The physician seemed slightly surprised after recognizing Sarubia, but she soon approached her with professional composure.
The two women seemed to exchange several words. Rufus couldn’t hear what they were saying at all. He simply watched the conversation between the two women as if he were observing characters inside a novel.
Everything felt unfamiliar, like a play unfolding on a stage.
Time passed with a faint scraping sensation, as if it were frozen ice. Every scene before his eyes wavered like frost creeping across a window at dawn. His mind slowed like a small fish trapped beneath a frozen lake.
Could it really be?
Is it true?
Is that unbelievable thing I am thinking truly happening?
He saw Sarubia gently stroking her lower abdomen. The physician examined her body using magic.
And finally, the single sentence that slipped from the physician’s lips.
“Congratulations.”
At that moment.
All the time that had been frozen instantly melted away.
Rufus’s eyes wavered as their focus faltered. Something seemed about to come out from between his slightly parted lips, yet no sound emerged.
His mind was in turmoil.
In that brief moment, countless questions flashed through Rufus’s thoughts.
Everything was unfamiliar. He didn’t know how to accept this situation, what expression he should make, or what action he should take.
He knew nothing.
But there was one thing he could be certain of.
Ah.
I am receiving love in return.
Life was short, and what one could accomplish was limited. That was why he had always thought that if he could form only one bond in his life, he wished that person to be Sarubia. So he blindly cast everything aside and ran toward her.
It was no different from a madman. Not even for a single moment had his entire body and heart ever turned away from her.
And now, at this very moment today.
I am receiving a great reward for that love.
This love that everyone pointed at, laughed at, mocked, and looked down upon has finally borne fruit.
All those moments when I loved you so desperately have piled up and created this miracle.
Ah.
I am living a life more fair than anyone else in this world.
At the same time, a thought suddenly surfaced in Rufus’s mind.
When he was young, Rufus couldn’t understand.
Why do people marry? Why would they do something so illogical? What does it feel like to live as husband and wife?
What does it feel like for two people, a man and a woman who differ in gender, birthdate, upbringing, and everything else imaginable, to live together as one?
When he was young, Rufus thought marriage would be extremely uncomfortable. Even he and Edel, who had lived under the same roof and eaten the same meals their entire lives as brothers, had once fought as if they might kill each other. If that was the case, how could he possibly live peacefully with a woman who had grown up in a different household and eaten different food all her life?
How could he share a cramped bed with such a woman, give up portions of the rest time he should enjoy for himself, and have the working hours he needed for concentration interrupted?
But now things were different.
If he could meet the Rufus of his childhood, there was something he would definitely want to tell him.
Of course, giving half of the bed he once used alone to someone else was inconvenient.
But it was alright.
If he could see her face the moment he opened his eyes each morning, that alone was enough.
Having someone suddenly intrude on the tea time he once enjoyed alone was inconvenient.
But it was alright.
If he could share that time with her while exchanging small conversations, that alone was enough.
Having someone standing beside him during the working hours he once spent alone was inconvenient.
But it was alright.
If every time fatigue suddenly overtook him and he closed his eyes, she was there behind him to wrap her arms around him, that alone was enough.
He loved the existence of the woman who shattered and invaded his narrow and insignificant little world without hesitation.
He liked being helplessly swayed by her faint smile.
He liked the way the boundary between ‘him’ and ‘her’ slowly collapsed.
The closer he became to her, the more he came to resemble her.
And the more he could love her without restraint.
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