138.

“Does it not hurt?”

I wasn’t mocking him; it was a sincere question born of concern. But my worry didn’t last long. Considering how swollen and ready to burst he appeared, yet unwilling to do anything about it, my pride began to feel bruised. The sight of him was so irritating that even my stomach started to ache.

When I raised my eyes, I found Norma staring back at me. His golden eyes were smoldering, unable to hide the heat within them.

Calmly, I took the fork from his hand and set the tray that had been resting on his thigh onto the side table. Then I grabbed both of his arms with my hands.

I gave a slight tug, and he toppled entirely into me. I lay back against the sheets, and he fell on top of me, pretending to resist. Even I had to admit, my move was impressively smooth.

When I flashed a sly smile at him, Norma furrowed his brow, looking both frustrated and unsure.

“Aisa, stop… if you keep this up, I won’t be able to hold back.”

“Then don’t.”

“You haven’t fully regained your weight yet…!”

“Norma.”

“Yes, Aisa.”

“I’m going to do it today. All the way.”

His face, already red to the neck, flushed even deeper as he let out a long breath that was somewhere between a sigh and a groan.

After a few seconds of visibly agonizing over his decision, he finally responded by gently capturing my lower lip between his. As if he wasn’t going to give in eventually. What a tease. I couldn’t help but chuckle softly, like some kind of deviant, as our lips met.

When our tongues naturally intertwined and the kiss deepened, he suddenly pulled away, rising up from the bed.

“Aisa, wait a moment. Something… feels off.”

“What’s wrong now? Are you seriously doing this again?”

I frowned slightly, thinking he might be playing coy again at this critical moment. But his expression was unusually serious.

“Since earlier… something strange…”

I couldn’t make sense of his behavior. He said “wait,” yet his hands were hastily lifting the hem of my skirt.

“Norma, wait a moment—”

Caught off guard, I instinctively reached down to stop his hand, which was boldly moving to lift my skirt further.

But the next moment, Norma froze. His gaze locked onto my exposed thigh, and the color drained from his face in an instant.

“Aisa, there’s blood on your leg…”

“Blood?”

Startled by his unexpected words, I frowned in confusion. Before I could grasp the situation, he carefully lowered the hem of my skirt and lifted me into his arms as if I weighed nothing.

“JAN—!!”

He bellowed for Jan with a voice so terrifying it sent shivers down my spine as he sprinted toward the door.

It was the first time I had ever seen him yell like that. For a moment, I thought the earth-shattering roar I had heard once before might have truly been his voice.

* * *

“It’s menstruation.”

Damn it. It was my first period in years.

Jan’s unusually cheerful voice must have been my imagination. He then lowered his head and began sniffing.

“…Sniff. I apologize, my Lord. I can’t stop these foolish tears…”

It was touching for him to cry over the fact that the lord he’d served for over ten years now had a body that functioned normally again, but I didn’t particularly appreciate it.

Jan, looking as though he were gazing at a benefactor, stared at Norma, who stood there in a daze. He muttered something about how it must be thanks to Norma continuously sharing his divine power and added that he hadn’t realized improvements were happening due to the contraceptive teas.

“This is a good thing, my Lord. A very good thing.”

Jan wiped away his tears with his fingers as he spoke. While generally calm, he could be as tiresome as Lady Stang when he got emotional.

“That’s enough. This is terribly embarrassing.”

“I must inform Lady Seymour of this joyous news immediately. I wonder where she is…”

I raised a hand, my face stiff with mortification, signaling for him to stop. But Jan, caught up in his excitement, was not so easily silenced. It wasn’t until I mentioned my stomach ache that he finally rushed off to the kitchen to prepare medicine.

“Aisa, does it hurt a lot?”

Norma, looking pale and distressed, knelt by the bedside and asked in a worried tone. It seemed he couldn’t handle even the slightest sign of discomfort from me. His overprotectiveness would likely worsen.

As I stared at him quietly, I pulled back the blanket and patted the space next to me. He hesitated but eventually climbed in beside me with exaggerated caution, his eyes darting to assess me the entire time.

“It doesn’t hurt that much, actually.”

To be honest, my stomach had ached briefly during our little tussle earlier. I hadn’t thought it could be due to menstruation.

The dull, layered pain, as though heavy stones were stacked on my abdomen, was something I hadn’t experienced in a long time. While it was good that my body was functioning properly again, the discomfort was far from welcome.

Above all, this was terrible timing. Just as we were about to finally break our two-month dry spell, disaster struck. It effectively extended our abstinence by force.

“Aisa, if it doesn’t make you uncomfortable… may I hold you from behind?”

I must have made a face without realizing it because Norma whispered, looking incredibly concerned.

“I’ve heard warmth can help.”

It was tempting. When I nodded and turned slightly, Norma smiled faintly and moved closer.

His large frame enveloped me perfectly, as if made to fit. Leaning against him, I let my body relax. His slow, gentle hand rubbing my lower abdomen felt soothing. Judging by the warmth radiating from his hand, he was using divine power again.

“Did you learn this from a book too?”

“Hmm, no. I saw my father do this for my mother.”

Ah, I see. Imagining that stern man doing something so tender was hard to believe yet oddly fitting.

A laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it. It was a bit rude, but as soon as I pictured his father’s somber expression, I couldn’t help it. My chuckles soon had Norma laughing along with me, his happiness tied so naturally to mine.

After laughing over something so trivial, I muttered absentmindedly, “It doesn’t hurt at all now.”

“That’s a relief. If you’re comfortable with it, I’d like to keep holding you like this.”

“Well, that might be a bit much…”

As we exchanged lighthearted banter, Norma’s tone suddenly became more excited.

“Aisa.”

He whispered, his voice carrying a hint of anticipation.

“They’ve arrived.”

Before I could ask what he meant, the sound of hurried footsteps and a commotion reached my ears.

I found myself smiling without realizing it, my eyes widening in surprise. I quickly turned to look at Norma, silently asking if it was what I thought. His soft smile answered me clearly.

At that moment, the bedroom doors burst open with a resounding crash.

For someone to dare open the lord’s bedroom doors without permission—there was only one person in the castle who could. I shot to my feet.

“Auntie!”

Archie had returned, his face tear-streaked just as it had been when he left the castle. Judging by his swollen eyes, he’d likely cried the entire journey back during the month and a half he’d been gone.

Before I realized it, I was already out of bed, running barefoot. Dignity and decorum didn’t matter in that moment.

If I could see him again, I had vowed to tell Norma I loved him. For Archie, I had decided simply to hold him tightly this time. When I returned from Tartaros alive, I’d raised my voice at him like a coward, and it had weighed on my heart ever since.

‘I’m so glad I can hold you again.’

Truly, I was. As I hugged Archie, who clung to my neck, sobbing, that thought filled my mind.

It was much later that I learned, while I’d been confined to the bedroom, Kano had been denied entry to see me after losing a silent power struggle with Norma.

How? Shocked, I looked at Norma, but all I got in return was an innocent expression, as if to ask, “What’s wrong?” For someone as fierce as Kano to be bested so easily… Norma’s jealousy and protective streak were no joke.

Perhaps it was payback for when Kano had tried to block Norma’s path during his earlier visits to McFoy.

‘Still, when did he manage to win everyone over like this?’

More than anything, keeping an old retainer like Kano from entering the castle couldn’t have been done without significant influence. I silently marveled at his skill, impressed despite myself.

Poor Kano. I would have to call him in secret to check on him and thank him for his efforts.

* * *

Erika’s secretary knocked on the lord and lady’s bedroom door again, her face filled with apprehension. Two maids had already failed to wake them, and now it was her third attempt.

‘Why is there no response? This really can’t be delayed. Today of all days…’

Just as she steeled herself to knock again, the door opened a crack, without so much as a sound. Startled, the secretary clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream.

Peeking out from behind the door was none other than the lord’s husband, radiating beauty even early in the morning. Faced with his sudden appearance, the secretary froze in place, her hand still covering her mouth.

“Shh. The Lord is still sleeping. I’ll wake her, so wait here a moment.”

With a languid smile and a soft voice, Norma spoke before disappearing back into the dimly lit room, still shrouded in the heavy curtains.

The secretary, still holding her hand over her mouth, nodded belatedly at the closed door. A few seconds later, she snapped out of it.

“This is no time for this! We really can’t afford to be late!”

Today was the wedding day of Erika Seymour, chief aide to the McFoy head, and Harry Forn, the commander of the McFoy Second Knights.