The Hungry Tyrant’s Bedroom - Chapter 87

Night had already fallen, and the insects in the grass were singing loudly enough for the darkness to feel deep.

There was no time for the baby to be awake. And yet I had urged things along for this.

“Where is the Grand Duchess?”

“She must still be awake, but she ordered that all ladies-in-waiting and attendants be dismissed and that absolutely no one enter the room.”

“Why?”

“That I don’t know well.”

The head attendant tilted his head.

“Give it a while, then.

These days there are times when the Grand Duchess is alone like this occasionally.”

But even after the head attendant’s words, the Duke did not stop.

He walked steadily toward their shared bedchamber, where his wife should be.

Was she ill? Or perhaps she was alone studying.

Floria threw herself into whatever she did.

Her homeland Altomole and the Duchy of Chief shared a border, so their languages were similar.

Though the intonation was strange and the letters different, apart from some distinct words, communication transpired smoothly.

It wouldn’t be a great problem for Floria to live in Chief.

But she spent hours each day studying the script of Chief, and also practiced the intonation to be as close as possible to that of the people of Chief.

She made efforts so that the ladies‐in‐waiting or the attendants would not glimpse any of that.

Such comportment was like the movement of an elegant swan floating above the lake.

Thinking of Floria, narrowing her brow while studying unfamiliar Chief letters, letting out soft groans, tilting her head in puzzlement, a smile came across Aidan’s face.

Now only one door remained. If he just opened this door, there would be Floria.

The moment he opened the door to their bedchamber.

A faint glow from a lamp inside slipped through a small crack, and at the same time a groan of pain echoed.

“Ugh… Ughh.”

As Floria’s pained sound reached him, Aidan flung the door wide and entered.

And there, sitting in an armchair beside the bed, was Floria.

“Floria?”

The sight was utterly unfamiliar. His wife had her pale chest fully exposed, panting, and with one hand clutching at her b****t.

At his voice, Floria opened her eyes wide and looked at him.

“Ai… Dan.”

The moment she said his name, white milk flowed from Floria’s milky b****t.

The liquid soaked Aidan’s shoe.

Her pale flesh trembled.

In the book Floria had brought from Altomole there were also sections about how to give birth and raise a child.

That book described things in great detail. How to hold a newborn, how to feed milk to the baby and make it burp, even how to respond when the baby hiccups.

There was also a brief note about engorgement of the mother’s b*****s.

After giving birth, when the milk fills up, the b*****s can swell; the pain can be more than one might expect.

Added to that, if the engorgement becomes severe, there could be inflammation.

The book said it would be good if she, or a lady-in-waiting, or the husband would massage the b****t.

But that was all.

Though Floria had read the book carefully before giving birth, because of that she thought it not a big deal.

Compared to the long, long entries about childbirth, about b****t engorgement there was only a single page.

She’d thought, maybe it might hurt a bit.

What would it feel like for milk to come in? — she remembers tilting her head in wonder.

“How naive I must have been.”

Floria said, like a sigh.

“Her Grace the Grand Duchess seems to be producing a lot of milk.”

About a week after giving birth, when her b*****s—already full—were noticeably larger, Catherine the nurse said this.

But there was no problem. Klesia, who looked exactly like Aidan, had a strong appetite.

She always searched for her mother’s milk; even when they were swollen, she drank every drop.

But a few days ago, Klesia caught a mild cold.

Since early summer had come and things were warming, Floria thought it would be all right—but perhaps the nights in Sief were still too cold for the baby.

Floria stayed awake through the nights for fear something would happen to her newborn Grand Prince, but thankfully Klesia had a fever for about three days and then got better.

The issue was that her appetite had declined after the illness.

While sick, Klesia nursed only about half of what was normal, and fussed, and as a result Floria’s b*****s became painfully swollen.

Her n*****s, enlarged from nursing, became red, puffed, swollen, taut.