When she woke up from her long sleep, Pristin realized that she had completely overslept.
‘…That’s to be expected.’
She soon accepted it. She had been so exhausted the night before and had fallen asleep so late. It was an expected outcome.
Pristin stared blankly ahead for a long time. To be precise, at Jerald’s bare chest. After holding her close through the night, he had remained in this position.
At first, it had been somewhat uncomfortable, but she had quickly drifted into sleep, forgetting the discomfort. Pristin thought her body felt a bit stiff and blinked her eyes open.
It seemed Jerald was still asleep. How could she get out of this?
“Your Majesty.”
She called Jerald in a quiet voice. There was no answer.
It seemed like he was still sleeping. Given the brightness in the room, the sun must have been high in the sky, yet he was still asleep…? The question quickly subsided as she remembered the events of the night before. It was fully understandable.
Pristin carefully tried to loosen Jerald’s arms that were wrapped around her.
“Ah…!”
But just at that moment, Jerald suddenly pulled Pristin closer and hugged her tightly.
Startled by the sudden situation, Pristin let out a soft gasp. As she looked at Jerald with a bewildered expression, his eyes slowly opened.
It was then that Pristin realized he had woken up long before her and opened her mouth.
“If you’re awake, you should have woken me.”
“I just woke up.”
It didn’t seem like a lie; his eyes were still sleepy. He appeared less awake than she was. Pristin narrowed her eyes slightly.
“Then how did you notice?”
“Just. It felt like my arms were missing something suddenly.”
“You noticed that unconsciously?”
“Of course. How could I not know who I’m holding?”
“…You’re incorrigible.”
It was a genuine tone of admiration. He was indeed very perceptive.
“Let’s get up now.”
“Already?”
“What do you mean already?”
Pristin replied with bewilderment.
“It’s this bright even though we slept with the curtain closed. Can you guess how much we overslept?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure.”
“Are you going to be a spoiled child?”
“Let’s sleep a little longer.”
At the same time, Jerald hugged Pristin tighter.
‘No matter how you look at it, this isn’t the strength of someone who just woke up.’
She began to doubt whether his earlier response was the truth. Unfortunately, she had no way of knowing.
“I don’t even have a meeting this morning.”
“That’s why you came here last night.”
“Opportunities like this don’t come around often,”
Jerald whispered, kissing the bridge of Pristin’s nose.
“If I push myself too hard and exercise first thing in the morning after last night, I’ll end up with a bad back.”
Pristin knew well enough that this was just a bit of exaggeration. There was no way someone as healthy as Jerald would suffer from such a thing. But the sentiment of how cute he was overtook her rational thoughts.
Pristin smiled as if she couldn’t help it.
“How long are you going to sleep?”
“Let’s stay like this a little longer.”
“…All right.”
Pristin answered readily and slowly closed her eyes. Though he said “a little longer,” she didn’t really believe it would be just that. She might even fall asleep again. Fortunately, everyone was quick-witted and no one entered her bedroom first.
“It’s nice.”
The sincerity was felt in the murmur of only two syllables. Pristin smiled and muttered honestly,
“I like it, too.”
The peaceful morning passed slowly. Since it had been quite a while since she had such a moment, the thought that it would be okay to be lazy today began to gradually take over Pristin’s mind.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
“So we decided to go on our honeymoon later.”
Later in the day, Pristin visited Noah’s imperial palace to tell Christine what had been decided last night. After Noah’s birth, Christine moved to the imperial palace as a lady-in-waiting.
Christine opened her mouth with a smile on her face.
“Wow, that’s wonderful, Your Majesty. Where are you going?”
“The details are undecided. But I think we’ll go somewhere close.”
Being too far was impossible for Jerald, but not only that, it was also too burdensome for Pristin.
“So I think I’ll have to leave Noah at the imperial palace for about three days.”
“Don’t worry about that. You have me. Thirteen days, not three, is fine.”
“Whew, thirteen days is too much.”
Pristin smiled and waved her hands.
“Just three days. I’ll miss Noah, too, so no.”
“If His Majesty had heard that, he would have been a little disappointed.”
“But I can’t help it. Isn’t it cruel not to see such a sweet child for so long?”
Pristin asked, her eyes full of love as she stared at the child in his cradle, his eyes wide open and staring at the mobile on the ceiling.
Noah was a very cute child, as Pristin said. Of course, babies at that age are generally cute, but being the child of Pristin and Jerald, Noah was undoubtedly precious.
Pristin murmured with a happy smile on her mouth,
“How can he be so well-behaved and cute? I think he’s a genius.”
“What do being well-behaved and cute have to do with being a genius?”
“He’s not crying to trouble the adults, so he must be.”
“Oh, that’s quite a leap.”
“Auntie seems a bit harsh on her nephew, don’t you think?”
“It’s not being harsh; it’s about maintaining objective eyes.”
But soon Christine conceded with a nod.
“Well, since he takes after both of you, I believe he’ll be smart too.”
“Honestly, I don’t care whether Noah is a genius or not.”
Pristin shrugged her shoulders as she spoke.
“I wanted a lot of things before I had him, but now I only want one thing: for him to grow up healthy.”
“How does it feel to be a mother? I’m not even married yet, so I can’t imagine.”
“The process is painful, but the end is so good that it makes it all worth it? I never thought I liked kids that much, but then I had one, and it changed my mind.”
Pristin glanced at Christine and said,
“You should marry soon, you’re almost of age.”
“Oh, Your Majesty. I’m not even twenty yet.”
“You’re already a lady-in-waiting for the prince. I’m not rushing you, I just want you to meet a good man and start a family.”
“In that case, I’d like an introduction.”
“Really? I’ll make a list of your prospective grooms starting tomorrow?”
“Oh, no. I’m just joking. You’re always so proactive.”
Christine shook her head and dissuaded Pristin.
“For now, focus only on your honeymoon with His Majesty. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon.”
“That sounds really romantic when you put it that way. All right.”
“Wah! Wah!”
Then suddenly Noah began to cry. Both Pristin and Christine reflexively rose up. Pristin ran to Noah first and held the baby in her arms.
Childcare was mostly left to the wet nurses and maids, but the way Pristin held Noah looked like she’d been carrying small babies for years.
As she cradled him in her arms, she cooed softly,
“My Noah, what’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”
“It’s milk time now. I’ll get the nanny.”
“No, I’ll feed him.”
“Your Majesty herself? But that’s against the law…”
“It doesn’t look right. So secretly.”
Pristin narrowed her eyes, and Christine was forced to nod. Christine didn’t understand it but Pristin kept wanting to milk Crown Prince Noah directly from the moment she gave birth.
It was a rare occurrence, even in the noble family, and against court protocol, so it was rarely practiced. Christine looked at Pristin, who was skillfully breastfeeding her baby, and said in a surprised voice,
“Normally you wouldn’t do such a thing. Your Majesty is unusual.”
“I’ve always found it strange to leave the feeding to a wet nurse. It’s so cruel that you can’t breastfeed your child yourself.”
Pristin looked at Noah in her arms, smiling.
“It feels so good to see him like this. It’s like we’re connected, like in the womb.”
“That’s a good analogy.”
Eventually, Pristin finished feeding Noah and patted him on the back to burp him before laying him back down in his bassinet.
“I’d better get going. Take care of Noah for me, Christine.”
“Don’t worry, and enjoy your trip.”
“Thank you.”
After exchanging affectionate kisses, the sisters parted ways, and Pristin left the imperial palace.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
The itinerary was arranged quickly.
A week later seemed a bit soon, but Jerald insisted that the time was the only time he had available.
Of course, Pristin knew there was a little exaggeration, but she figured that’s how fast he wanted to go, so she let it slide. The week passed by all too quickly, and finally the date of the trip arrived.
“What is our destination today, Your Majesty?”
Pristin was excited, and so was Jerald, as she asked him in a curious voice. Jerald had kept the location of their honeymoon a closely guarded secret for security reasons.
‘But keeping it from me, the person involved, seems a bit much.’
Jerald had kept the location a secret even from her, fearing that knowing beforehand would diminish the surprise. He really did love secrets. As expected, he responded with the same beautiful smile.
“It’s a secret, Empress.”
“Just how special is the place you’re taking me to?”
“Oh, I hope you don’t get your hopes up too high.”
“Why? Is it not a great place?”
“No. I just don’t want you to be disappointed if your expectations are too high.”
“I won’t be disappointed.”
Pristin squeezed Jerald’s hand as he sat next to her, locking eyes with him.
“I don’t mind the backyard of the palace as long as I go with Your Majesty.”
Jerald looked touched at that, and kissed her out of nowhere.
While Pristin opened her eyes wide in bewilderment, Jerald pulled away and smiled brightly. Still in a dazed voice, Pristin asked,
“What was that just now…?”
“Just because you’re pretty,”
Jerald replied casually, then ordered the people outside, his voice deadly serious.
“Let’s get going.”
It was finally the beginning of a belated honeymoon.
