Yelena wiggled her toes underneath the covers as she unconsciously stared at her husband’s lips. She was flooded with a belated sense of bashfulness.

But the bashfulness was brief. The happiness that filled her heart to the brim left no room for any other feeling, chasing the bashfulness away.

The couple was holding hands, the tips of their fingers intertwined with their palms face down.

Yelena glanced down at their hands for a second and then spoke.

“And what about you? What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about how fortunate I am.”

“Fortunate?”

“How fortunate I am that you’re my wife.”

“…”

“I’m thinking about… how happy I truly am.”

Yelena’s eyes quivered.

All he had said was that he was happy.

But it was strange. Yelena’s chest ached and she bit the inside of her mouth to stop the tears welling up in her eyes.

It took a while for her emotions to settle down. A silence passed between the two.

Soon after, Yelena broke the silence.

“…You know.”

“Yes?”

“I have a question, but you have to answer honestly.”

“…Okay.”

“Completely honestly.”

Kaywhin, lying on his side, nodded. Yelena opened her mouth.

“Do you still… not want children?”

The thought secretly came to Yelena while they had been exchanging intense kisses in the other room. This was her chance to make her move on her husband. If she climbed on top of him and took off his clothing one-by-one, her husband probably wouldn’t reject her.

But in the end, Yelena could not bring those thoughts to fruition because she was now filled with desire.

They loved each other. Their souls connected. If they slept together, Yelena would conceive the future warrior without a doubt.

But…

‘…I hope he’d be happy.’

Yelena wished that her husband would be happy if he found out that Yelena was pregnant. Not pretend-happy for her sake, but genuinely happy and delighted… And she wished that he would welcome their child’s existence.

Because of that great desire she hadn’t even realized she felt, Yelena put her plan to jump Kaywhin’s bones on hold.

Because of that strong desire that she hadn’t even been aware of before, Yelena put off seducing her husband.

‘How funny.’

Humans were cunning by nature. Yelena had thought that it would be enough if she could conceive a child with Kaywhin by any means necessary. But now that she had the chance, she was greedy for Kaywhin’s happiness. It was a laughable matter.

‘It can’t be helped.’

It was also human nature to become greedy when in love.

While Yelena had those thoughts, Kaywhin remained silent before answering.

“…I’m not sure.”

He had taken a long time to answer. It was the result of his effort to answer as truthfully as possible, as Yelena requested.

Yelena looked up, making eye contact with Kaywhin. Her eyes crinkled as she smiled.

“You’ve made lots of progress.”

“Pardon?”

“Before, you firmly stated that you didn’t want children.”

“…I did.”

The change occurred in just a matter of months. Then, after a little more time passed, wouldn’t they be able to take the next step?

“I’ll wait for you.”

“…”

“Until you want to have a child with me.”

“If it’s your child…”

“It’s your child too.”

Yelena looked into her husband’s eyes.

“Not my child, our child. Don’t forget that.”

“…”

“Our child will be happy. I’ll wait until you become sure of that.”

Yelena took Kaywhin’s hand, firmly interlocking their fingers.

“You won’t keep me waiting too long, right?”

Kaywhin looked into his wife’s eyes like they were the most precious gems in the world.

“No, of course not,” he answered.

***

“So what you’re saying is, yesterday, I…”

“Deli and Manjoo, the kitchen staff…”

“I didn’t know that he’d slip and fall like tha… Ah, Madam!”

The maids, who had been chit-chatting as they walked down the corridor, laundry in tow, stopped to greet Yelena. Yelena was standing by the window, looking outside.

“Good morning, Madam.”

“Good morning.”

“Did you have a good rest?”

“Yes, incredibly so.”

Yelena smiled softly. The smile made the three maids’ hearts flutter.

“Are you going to do the laundry?” Yelena asked, looking at the piles of laundry that they were carrying.

The maids nodded vigorously.

“Very well, good luck then.”

“Thank you!”

The maids walked away from Yelena. Once they were far enough to be out of earshot, they started whispering.