#106
For the first time in a long while, Enrique bathed in his own tub and had a sweet sleep in his own bed. Resting in the palace made the war feel like a distant dream.
After a full day of rest, Enrique was about to head straight to the meeting room when he was stopped by a royal decree. His father had ordered him to rest in his quarters for at least another month.
He was somewhat dissatisfied but had no choice. He knew his father was very concerned about his health. Even if he didn’t attend the meetings, he would still be informed. With Monta now lacking the resources to deal with Shamier due to defending against the invasion, it was time to set aside worries about Shamier’s defense. In fact, all Monta troops that had gathered at Shamier’s border had withdrawn.
Now that he had regained some strength and was starting to feel bored, Enrique naturally summoned his friends. Julian and Kisha came running as if they had been waiting. Enrique hugged each of his friends who were struggling to speak, celebrating their reunion. They only relaxed after Enrique patted their backs firmly.
“When I heard that Francia Castle was surrounded by Monta troops just as your due date was approaching, I was scared to death,” Kisha said.
“Really. Kisha’s lips turned blue and her whole body was shaking when she heard the news,” Julian added.
“You’re talking as if you weren’t the same?” Kisha retorted.
“I was better than you, idiot,” Julian replied.
Julian and Kisha bickered. Watching them made Enrique feel like everything had returned to normal.
Pol brought in drinks and desserts. Enrique picked up milk heavily sweetened with honey to replenish his strength. Kisha took wine, and Julian…
“What are you drinking?” Enrique asked.
“Hmm?” Julian made a sullen sound at Enrique’s question.
It was their first meeting since returning, and Julian, who was expected to drink alcohol as usual, was holding a non-alcoholic beverage like Enrique. After staring at Julian for a moment, Enrique lowered his gaze as a thought struck him. Come to think of it, Julian’s clothes looked a bit loose.
“Don’t tell me you’re…” Enrique spoke with wide eyes.
Julian smiled awkwardly. “Yeah, I’m pregnant.”
It was a bombshell statement. Enrique looked at Kisha with surprised eyes. Kisha nodded with a smile.
“Viscount Jares has been away at war all this time, but surely not right before…” Enrique trailed off.
“Yeah. Since he’d be gone for a while if he went to war, and I’d have to spend my heat alone…” Julian explained with a mischievous smile.
Enrique nodded understandingly. It seemed Viscount Jares didn’t want Julian to spend his heat with another beta. Julian clearly didn’t want another man either. So to ensure nothing would happen while they were apart, they had conceived a child before he left for war.
“Congratulations, Julian. Why didn’t you tell me earlier? If it was before deployment, you must be… about five months along now,” Enrique said, staring at Julian’s belly.
Julian grinned. “You were at war, how could I tell you? I was planning to tell you when I saw you. After I arrived, I was waiting to see when you’d notice.”
Enrique smiled in return and then shifted his gaze to Kisha. “What about you?”
Kisha waved her hands. “Oh no, not me. My child just turned one, it’s too soon for a second.”
“True. There’s no need to rush for a second child,” Enrique agreed.
“Yeah. I was a bit worried, but my heat hasn’t come yet. But I’m getting anxious as it’s about time for it to start again,” Kisha said with a somewhat gloomy face.
Enrique clicked his tongue softly. It would never be easy to spend a night with another man during heat while one’s husband was at war. But forcibly trying to spend heat alone could be dangerous and might lead to accidents.
“But you’ve found someone, right?” Enrique asked to be sure.
Kisha hesitated for a moment before nodding. Relieved, Enrique didn’t press further.
“Come to think of it, isn’t the Prince’s strategy remarkable? He got Enrique pregnant and immediately started a war. From my perspective, it seems like he calculated his moves to avoid leaving Enrique alone during heat,” Julian said, narrowing his eyes.
Kisha nodded in agreement while sipping her wine. Enrique also concurred, raising his eyebrows slightly as he took a sip of warm milk.
“Anyway, your days of wild partying are over now too,” Enrique said, changing the subject to Julian.
Julian had been a regular at parties since they were young and was also known as a heavy drinker. But now that he was with child, it would be difficult to live as he used to.
“Well, I just have to endure until the baby is born. After that, I’ll leave the child with a wet nurse and party hard again,” Julian said nonchalantly.
Enrique couldn’t help but smile at how typical that response was of Julian.
The territories of Baron were surrendering one after another and being absorbed into Ruben. There was one territory that declared it would fight to the death, but it was completely crushed by Ruben’s army and its lord was beheaded. As the war situation unfolded like this, the remaining territories that had been delaying their decision while observing the situation all came forward to declare their surrender. There might be attempts to declare independence or restore royal authority in the future, but for now, the country called Baron had disappeared into the annals of history.
The allied forces of Ruben and Shamier were advancing fiercely into Monta, almost trampling it. They were conquering territories and castles one by one along the way, seemingly biting off Monta bit by bit. It was a quite different strategy from the conquest of Baron.
Naturally, Monta was fighting to the death. However, Monta, being a maritime power focused on sea trade, showed weakness in land battles. Especially against Ruben, a major military power. Monta was helplessly giving up its territory little by little.
“It seems they intend to bleed the King of Monta dry,” Pol added as he finished speaking.
Whether he was a spy in the meeting room or a messenger allowed by the King of Shamier to leak information, news coming through some channel was being relayed to Enrique almost in real-time through Pol.
The allied forces had reached near the capital of Monta. But instead of advancing directly to the capital, they changed course and were devouring the territories around the capital first. How must the King of Monta feel, sitting on his throne watching the areas around the capital being conquered one by one? As Pol said, his blood must be drying up.
‘There won’t be such an easy end for the King of Monta. I will personally end his life to vent your anger.’
Enrique recalled Anture’s words. The current movement of the allied forces must surely be Anture’s intention. He was undoubtedly planning to slowly bleed the King of Monta dry while pressuring the surroundings, and then behead him with his own hands.
Enrique narrowed his eyes. He too had asked Anture to give him the head of the King of Monta as a gift. It seemed Anture was determined to deliver that gift.
“Tell them to argue in the meeting. Say we should deploy all of Shamier’s troops gathered at our Monta border. That way, we can add to Shamier’s war achievements, giving us more say when we come to claim Monta’s territory later,” Enrique instructed.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Pol nodded.
Having heard everything about today’s meeting, Enrique, seated in his chair, gazed intently at the child in the cradle. The baby, who had been red and wrinkled and ugly right after birth, was now white and chubby. The features had become quite distinct, making the baby indescribably beautiful. Jet-black hair, black eyes, fair skin, and pretty features. Everything was just as he had wished. Enrique found the child who was the spitting image of Anture so fascinating that he could look at the baby for hours on end without getting bored.
“They say alphas usually don’t like children who look exactly like them,” Pol suddenly said.
Enrique looked at Pol, raising one eyebrow slightly.
“Our young master is also an alpha. They say the stronger the alpha, the more instinctively wary they feel when they see an alpha baby that looks just like them. Usually, this instinct fades as they spend time together, seeing and touching the baby often… But in the current situation with the war…” Pol spoke as if he found it regrettable.
“It doesn’t matter. After all, this child isn’t going to inherit Ruben, but is the crown prince who will inherit Shamier,” Enrique said lightly.
But he did feel a bit disappointed. When Anture had held the child just once, the sight of the father and son who looked so alike clinging together had been quite pleasing. Inwardly, Enrique hoped that their second child would resemble him more. If the child looked like him, Anture would probably invest more love and effort in raising the child as his successor.
“By the way, when will our young master get a name?” Pol lamented while shaking a rattle toy in front of the baby’s eyes. The baby flailed its arms, making silly “wah, wah” sounds.
The King of Shamier was spending all his spare time, except for meeting hours and important schedules, on naming the crown prince. It was said that papers full of names he had written down were flying around in the King’s office all the time he was there. It seemed he still hadn’t found a satisfactory name despite searching and searching.
