He couldn’t say that he confessed to her when she was in a coma, thinking she probably wouldn’t hear it.

It was probably a word he would spill out as if pouring out a secret from the mundane world. Like a priest who reveals worldly secrets, Hershis had to keep his mouth shut.
Now that I think about it, all the contexts are interconnected.

Riz believed that this man, too, would have come to know about her pregnancy through the observant Rosa, so she didn’t doubt it.

“I’m sorry for keeping it a secret.”

She said, bowing deeply.

Although she wanted to say it with her own words, she felt sorry for letting others convey it.

“I didn’t say that to hear such words.”

Hershis spoke with an affectionate voice.

“If anyone needs to apologize, it should be me. I didn’t notice it until now, even though there were signs several times.”

“No need to say that. I didn’t know myself, the owner of the body.”

Silence fell between the two for a moment.

During that time, they looked up at the night sky again, but unlike before, the constellations didn’t catch their eyes at all.

“Herr.”

The one who broke the silence was Riz.

“I have something to tell you.”

Hershis shifted his gaze from the night sky.

“Say it. Anything.”

“I… didn’t want something like a child.”

Hershis stared at her steadily without any wavering. Riz continued her words.

“I’ve always thought about forming a family, so I thought I wanted a child. But it seems that wasn’t the case.”

“…”

“When people become pregnant, they say maternal instincts surge. Honestly, it’s not true for me. The thought of the child’s existence doesn’t feel sweet. I keep feeling like the child is an obstacle. What if I had found out a little later, or after becoming a bit more stable… the child keeps feeling like a hindrance.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, gently decorating her neatly made-up face. Riz confessed to him what she had asked herself countless times since learning about her pregnancy but couldn’t find an answer to.

“Do… do I even have the qualifications to become a mother? I grew up only seeing my mother as a mother. Can someone like me be a good mother? What if the child dislikes me?”

Hershis wrapped his hands around Riz’s cheeks and wiped away her tears with his fingertips. Then, he spoke in a low voice.

“I also lost my parents when I was seven and didn’t know how to become a good parent.”

“…”

“The stepfather I trusted and followed like a parent didn’t even love me. So, I don’t know how to give love to my own flesh and blood, whether it’s just enough to feed them good food and dress them well.”

Hershis spoke calmly.

“But I thought like this. I thought that when I become a parent, I want to be the good father I had hoped for during my childhood. Definitely.”

“What kind of father did you think of as a good father?”

Riz asked with a slightly clearer vision.

Then, Hershis answered with a faint smile.

“A father who doesn’t leave early.”

A father who doesn’t leave the child alone in a world full of pretense and hypocrisy.
A father who cannot comfortably fall asleep even for a short ten minutes, who must tense up at the slightest sound, and a life that squeezes his own breath to the limit while watching everyone with suspicious eyes – such a life is not what the father wants to pass on to his child.

The father that Hershis earnestly wished for was precisely such a father.

“So, Riz, trust and rely on me. I will never die early like my father. I will live until my child grows up, gets married, gives birth, and inherits the throne.”

“…”

Riz’s vision was becoming hazy again.

It was strange.

This man would surely know nothing, yet how could he so accurately soothe her anxieties? After marriage, the anxiety that had been filling her chest consistently seemed to dilute in an instant.

Even though nothing had been resolved, she felt relieved.

If this man, who wouldn’t even break small promises, said he would keep his word, then he would undoubtedly do so. Regardless of fate waiting for his downfall, he would definitely keep his word.

“You must absolutely keep the promise.”

Riz placed his hand on her abdomen, reminding him of the commitment once more.

“You must keep it until this child grows up.”

“Absolutely.”

Hershis stated with certainty.

‘Yes, that’s enough.’

Looking into his sparkling pupils, Riz made a pledge.

‘You protect the child, and I’ll protect you.’

As if to engrave that commitment, Hershis’s lips descended onto Riz’s forehead and gently pressed.

Tears that flowed down from the cheek lingered briefly on the tip of the chin, vividly feeling their fall, Riz earnestly wished.

‘Please, let me protect this person. Please.’