‘Is this also a dream?’
Roxiana vaguely thought.
‘Yes, this must be a dream too.’
If it wasn’t a dream, there’s no way Floyd and herself would be tangled up on the same bed. There’s no way he, who always got angry at the sight of Roxiana, would be holding her so tenderly and firmly.
Roxiana slowly blinked her eyes and examined his face. His skin was flawless and beautiful, with features perfectly placed.
‘Like a sculpture.’
She had heard there were many women aiming for the lord of Torkan.
−”What’s so good about that bastard child… Just because he can handle some monsters, everyone’s gone crazy. Such vulgar creatures.”
She recalled Lucas muttering once, frowning in disgust when the topic of Torkan came up. Back then, Roxiana thought the women aiming for Torkan’s lord just wanted a strong protector, but seeing this face, it seemed that wasn’t the only reason they desired this man.
He, quietly closing his eyes, was not undeserving of the evaluation as the jewel of the southern country. A precious black pearl. Obsidian. Black diamond. Something like that.
Roxiana admired his face, not even realizing that she had developed the leisure to evaluate a man’s face. Then she was startled when a sigh-like breath flowed between his lips, touching her lips.
She thought it was a dream, but the breath touching her lips felt extremely vivid.
‘Was it not a dream?’
The moment she realized this, her body tensed. Sensing the slight movement, he opened his eyes abruptly.
Ash-gray eyes very close by. Roxiana stared at his eyes, like a cloudy sky, unable to even breathe.
His eyelids blinked slowly. After closing and opening his eyes a couple of times, he slowly moved his pupils this time. The piercing, intense gaze scrutinized Roxiana’s face before stopping at her eyes.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Ah…”
It was the first time being in a man’s arms on a bed, and the first time falling asleep and waking up in those arms. She didn’t know how to react in this unfamiliar situation.
Roxiana made a short sound like a sigh or a moan and closed her mouth. He stared at her for a moment, then chuckled and left the bed. Fortunately, he was properly dressed.
Standing beside the bed, running both hands through his hair, he looked like a stretching tiger.
“Thanks to the princess, I also got to sleep in a soft bed after a long time.”
So, why? Why did you and I sleep in the same bed?
There was much she wanted to ask, but her lips wouldn’t open due to bewilderment. While she was moving her lips slightly, he picked up a water bottle from the bedside table and gulped it down.
Roxiana looked up at him in bewilderment as he drank water straight from the bottle without manners. Feeling her gaze, Floyd removed the bottle from his mouth with an ‘oops!’ expression and asked.
“Would you like some?”
Roxiana raised her upper body to sit up and shook her head slightly. Floyd nodded lightly and drank water again. Watching his Adam’s apple move, she realized she was observing him too intently and averted her gaze.
Only then did the bleak scenery of this place come into view.
A room with no curtains and no sofa. A desolate room that seemed made to confine someone. The walls had burn marks, and the steel chair had no cushion. The only soft thing in this room was the blanket covering the bed.
“Where is this…?”
“My room. My bedroom.”
“Your Highness’s bedroom?”
Roxiana was appalled. Although she had woken up here with him, she never imagined this would be his bedroom.
“Yes. Isn’t it splendid?”
“Ah…”
Seeing Roxiana speechless, unable to answer, he grinned.
“Usually there isn’t even that blanket, but thanks to the princess, I slept with a blanket.”
“Thanks to me? Surely Your Highness could use a blanket anytime you command.”
“I could use one, sure. If only it wouldn’t burn up. I’m so grateful that at least the clothes I’m wearing don’t burn.”
Listening to his words that seemed to mock his own situation, Roxiana recalled being suddenly engulfed in flames on the ship.
“Does fire break out? From your body?”
“Yes. Do you know something about it?”
Roxiana closed her mouth and lowered her gaze.
“It’s a strange thing. There’s a mad entity inside me, causing trouble at all times, giving me quite a headache. Especially when I get angry, uncontrollable flames surge, sometimes causing terrible damage to people around.”
Having emptied the water bottle, he put it down and sat heavily on the edge of the bed.
“But strangely, when the princess is beside me, that thing stays quiet.”
“…”
“What could this be? And what are you, princess?”
“…”
“Yesterday, the princess collapsed in the treatment room. You emitted such cold from your body that frost formed on my clothes. Just like how I emit flames. I felt coldness for the first time in a very long while.”
She didn’t know such a thing had happened. Perhaps that was why the water spirits and Undine had worried, saying Roxiana might die.
“I brought you here in my arms and tried to do something, but flames formed on my hands. I couldn’t do this or that, afraid you might get hurt by these flames, but do you know what happened?”
She didn’t know, but she could guess.
“These mad flames flowed into your body as if trying to save you. I even heard the voice of the mad entity that hadn’t spoken to me since our first meeting. I had to save you, so I lay down holding you and fell asleep, but well. That’s not the important issue.”
He leaned his upper body forward, bringing his face close to Roxiana’s.
“What on earth is this? Do you know what this mad entity inside me is, princess?”
In the past, she would never have spoken. Mother had said this ability and their existence must be hidden. She had said if this ability became known, assassins sent by the Great Temple would target her life.
But now it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter if the Great Temple learned of this ability and assassins came to target this neck.
“It’s not a mad entity. You’re not cursed either, Your Highness.”
“Then what is it?”
“A spirit.”
“What?”
“It’s a spirit, that thing.”
Floyd’s thick eyebrows twitched. He seemed to be contemplating whether to laugh, be dumbfounded, or get angry at her for mentioning such a blasphemous entity.
Roxiana lowered her eyes and explained calmly.
“It was water spirits that helped me treat the patients. And the entity inside Your Highness must be a fire spirit. I don’t know how a spirit could stay inside Your Highness’s body for so long, but that’s probably what it is.”
“A spirit.”
Floyd uttered the name of a long-forgotten entity with an unpleasant expression. It felt surreal even as he said it, it was so absurd.
“You say it’s a spirit.”
“Yes.”
“Spirits exist.”
“They do.”
“Not an evil spirit.”
“Not an evil spirit.”
Floyd tapped his thigh with his index finger, lost in thought.
Long ago, when the temple and empire joined hands to exterminate spirit sorcerers, spirits were defined as evil spirits that beguiled people. Evil spirits that seemed to help humans, luring them away from God’s embrace. Evil spirits that created rifts.
Of course, there might still be those who believe in and worship spirits somewhere, but at least no one openly believed in spirits.
“Spirits.”
Floyd put the unbelievable and unfamiliar name in his mouth again, then stared at Roxiana, who was still lowering her gaze.
“Are you certain? That this is a spirit?”
Roxiana raised her eyes. She hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Would it be alright if I place my hand on you for a moment, Your Highness?”
When Floyd nodded, she reached out her hand. Her palm touched Floyd’s chest. Floyd stared at her hand moving on his chest as if playing an instrument.
It felt strange, the ticklish feeling in his chest.
“I don’t hear anything.”
Roxiana said as she finally removed her hand. Her slightly furrowed brow, as if troubled, was refreshing, and Floyd couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Usually it chatters to the point of annoyance.”
“The spirit chatters?”
“Yes. You said you heard its voice too, Your Highness.”
“I did. Twice in my entire life. No matter what the hell… Pardon me. No matter what I do, this thing has never responded.”
At first, when she suspected there was a fire spirit inside Floyd, she thought he might be a spirit sorcerer too. But the spirits chattered.
−That man is not a spirit sorcerer, Roti.
−That man is just a toy. Poor fellow.
−Poor guy. Of all things…
The spirits gave information, but it wasn’t precise information.
‘A toy? Whose, exactly?’
But even the talkative spirits didn’t answer that question.
Roxiana considered whether to tell Floyd the information she had just heard, then gave up. This man probably wouldn’t want to hear that he was someone’s ‘toy’.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I don’t know much either.”
“There’s no need to be sorry. Whatever this is, it won’t change anything from now. However, it would be better not to spread around that the princess uses spirit power. The knight commanders are trustworthy fellows, so let’s only tell them.”
“Yes, do as you wish, Your Highness.”
Floyd’s eyebrow twitched at the self-deprecating response. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it and shook his head as he stood up.
“Now, return to the Lily Palace and rest, princess. This place must be uncomfortable.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be away from the Grand Duke’s palace for a while due to the subjugation. If you need anything, tell the head servant.”
Roxiana raised her head abruptly.
“Are you going on a subjugation?”
“We need to catch the monster polluting the water. It’s quick and clever, so it might take some time.”
“Then please take me with you.”
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
