Underwater

Chapter 9: The Confirmation

Reina's body felt heavy. She looked up at the canopy as her vision swam.

"My head..." she murmured quietly as she rolled onto her side, groaning softly.

I should have taken more breaks yesterday... Leth had told her to take a break for lunch, but she had put it off, as usual. Despite Leth's pestering, it was almost dinnertime when Reina finally consumed some food. It was that proposal. Reina was consumed by it. Even right then, while her head hurt, she couldn't wait to get back to it.

"What's wrong?" her husband asked from beside her, lightly touching her shoulder.

Reina could see from the light creeping into the room that dawn had only just broken. The night of the Moon Migration ball, he had joined her in her room as usual. Except, unlike the nights before, he didn't leave when she asked for him to stop. He stayed and fell asleep next to her. He hadn't left until the next morning, when her rising out of bed had woken him up.

Since then, he would stay to sleep in her bed like before, but he usually left before she woke up.

She looked up at his face for a few moments as her stomach gurgled uncomfortably. And then she turned her head to the side of the bed and vomited. Reina looked at the floating regurgitate in horror. She didn't even eat that much, so why was there so much food coming out of her?

Luckily, Delwyn had fully woken up when she started puking. The vomit was promptly whisked away by his magic, into the bathroom where it would be disposed of.

"Wife, what's wrong?" He pulled her into his arms as she rubbed at her mouth with the back of her fist. He pressed a large hand to her forehead. "Are you ill?"

"No, I feel better now that it's out." Even her headache had cleared slightly.

"Should I call a physician?"

"Yeah, probably. My period didn't come, after all." It should have come a week ago, but Reina's period occasionally came late so she hadn't been sure.

The body supporting hers tensed up. "What?"

"I'm probably pregnant," she continued nonchalantly. He stared at her. She wasn't sure why he looked so shocked. Wasn't this what he wanted?

"I-I'll call for the..." He trailed off as he shifted under her, leaving the bed and heading for the door. He seemed a bit unsteady on his legs.

"Your highness, you're still naked."

His hand was on the handle when she voiced out the reminder. He froze, then returned to the side of the bed, where his clothes were strewn. He donned them one by one, slowly.

"Are you okay, your majesty?"

"Yes," he answered curtly. He returned to the door and spoke to the guards as Reina reached for her clothes. The skirt was caught on the back of the chair, but her top was by the bed. Her husband enjoyed the fact that her clothes were two separate pieces far too much. On more than one occasion, he wouldn't even bother pulling the top off. It was simply pulled above her breasts so he could fondle her fleshy globes.

He retrieved her skirt for her on his way back from the door, even managing to find her panties that had been hidden from view underneath the chair.

"Do you know any appraisal spells for pregnancy?" he asked as she pulled her panties up over her legs.

"No..." Any spells to do with pregnancy were hard to develop and harder to cast, because it involved experimenting and practicing on pregnant women. Such magic was particularly finnicky, as you didn't want to hurt the vulnerable fetus with magic.