"What happens now?" Loriel asked in confusion.

Elise didn't say anything. She just buried her head in his chest and cried silently. Loriel was astonished and for a moment didn't know what to do.

How to coax a crying woman? He was not good at this type of thing. The woman he loved almost never cried.

Emmelyn only cried once before him and it was then Loriel realized things had become too hard for her… so he offered to step in and help her.

But Emmelyn's situation back then was really, really dire, so Loriel understood why she broke down and cried.

However, this woman he married cried so many times for trivial reasons. So, Loriel didn't know when her tears were shed because things had become so hard for her, or if it was just her pregnancy hormones.

After his shirt was damp with her tears, he slowly wrapped his arms around her back and hugged her. He didn't know what to do with a crying wife, but he thought she would like him to hold her.

After several minutes, finally Elise's tears subsided, and her faint sobs were no longer heard. Loriel stepped back to look at her face. "Are you done crying?"

Elise nodded faintly.

"You should eat something," said Loriel. He took her hand and led her toward the small table where Horatio put the tray of food. Elise sat on the sofa and obediently took the plate of food and ate slowly.

She realized Loriel was right. No matter how awful the food tasted like, she had to eat something. Now she realized how hard it must have been for her mother when the queen of Myreen was pregnant with her.

Elise took after her mother in having a frail body. During her pregnancy, she had a really bad mood swing, her whole body felt sore, the food tasted horrible, and she couldn't sleep well. It was torture.

But.. she loved her baby and didn't mind going through hell and back for him.

Loriel watched Elise eat her food. As he looked at her side profile, he realized Elise had gotten thinner than the last time he saw her before he went to the battlefield.

Was she suffering because of her pregnancy? He was wondering.

His gaze went down to her abdomen. She had not shown a protruding tummy. It was still flat. How big was their baby inside her now? Would it be a boy… or a girl?

What would he want? He was asking himself.

Ah, it would be better to have a son, Loriel thought. A son could take over power from him. Loriel could retire when his son was of age to become the next king. There would be no power struggle if he had an heir.

But a daughter would be nice too. He remembered Emmelyn had a daughter and she was the most beautiful and cute little girl he had ever seen. That little girl could easily make even the most ferocious beast become weak and gentle toward her.

Loriel looked at his wife and thought Elise was much more beautiful than Emmelyn. If they had a daughter together, she would definitely look even cuter than Emmelyn's daughter.

Loriel had to pinch himself for thinking that. This was not a competition, wasn't it?

It's not a competition, but he was certain that he would have a more beautiful and cute daughter.

A faint smile unknowingly curved up on his face.

A daughter sounded good too.

Anything would do, as long as their baby was born healthy, he finally decided.

***

In the master bedroom of his penthouse, Loriel still couldn't sleep. His mind wandered to the past.

During his 15 centuries roaming the earth, he had seen so many things and experienced so many events. There was too much memory stored in his brain that it might soon exceed the capacity.

However, he always tried to keep thinking about the past and remember every single detail, so he wouldn't forget how his wife looked like, how she sounded like, and whatever happened between them,

With exercise, now all his memories about her became fresh and instilled in his heart permanently. He often thought back to them and reviewed the situation.

He had fifteen centuries to reflect on what happened and now Loriel felt stupid that he didn't immediately suspect that Elise was pregnant on the day she left.

Loriel should have recognized all the changes in her body. Elise looked glowing, like she did during her first pregnancy. Her breasts also grew slightly bigger. Her skin was softer and more supple.

And her mood became a mess. She cried so easily, like in her first pregnancy.

Gosh… how could he miss all the signs?

Maybe he was traumatized by the court physician's verdict after the miscarriage who said that Elise had become sterile. Loriel was afraid of feeling disappointed if he harbored any hope that she was expecting.

So, he brushed aside all his suspicions and set his mind to ignore those signs. His brain just immediately thought that it was impossible for them to have another child. So, even though all the pregnancy signs were there, he still missed them.

Gosh.. her mood swings. She cried so easily when she was pregnant. Now, Loriel could imagine how his seemingly innocent words could break her heart and triggered her yearlong resentment, that Elise finally decided to leave him.

Loriel cupped his face with two hands and cried silently in his bed.

He had vowed, on the day he found out that Elise went to the future, that he would make up for what happened between them. He promised himself, he would see all the signs.

He would be more attentive to Elise's feelings.

He would watch his words and be more considerate.

He would make her happy and he would always tell her how much he loved her.

He would tell her that he had loved her long before they consummated their marriage, he was just too dumb to realize it.

He would tell her, he finally knew Elise was his real first love.