Several months passed, and fortune struck the Shimizu residence: Hiroki was pregnant.

  When she gathered her concubines in the main hall to announce the news, the first immediate response was a complete, stunned silence.

  Then, like a dam breaking, all four Dyssian-born concubines surged forward, clustering around Hiroki with eager questions and excmations.

  "Is it truly so, my dy?"

  "With child? Are you certain?"

  "Who is the father? Yuzu, could it be you?"

  Hiroki chuckled at their enthusiasm, gently disentangling their grasping hands from her sleeves. Her gaze drifted past their excited faces to settle on the one figure who had not moved.

  "Misbah," Hiroki said, her voice softening. A warm smile curved her lips. "We have a child together."

  All eyes turned to the Cornaulian boy, who stood apart from others, utterly still, his whole body taut. Understanding rippled through the room—based on Hiroki’s moon time and frequent visits to his chambers these past months, there could be no one else but him.

  Misbah couldn’t move. For a second, his own name echoed strangely in his ears, as though it belonged to someone else entirely. Only after a long moment of silence did he become aware of their stares, waiting for a response. But when he opened his mouth to speak, no words would come out.

  At st, all he could muster was a strangled, “...Excuse me.”

  Without waiting for an answer, he spun around and fled the hall.

  Hiroki stared after him, taken aback. Before she could chase after him, the calm and proper Zichen pced a slender hand on her shoulder and stopped her. He regarded her gently. “My dy, please. You are with child now. You must not exert yourself.”

  She gnced at him, then back at the empty doorway through which Misbah had vanished.

  Later that evening, Hiroki found Misbah in his chambers.

  He sat facing the wall, his gaze fixed on some invisible point in the distance, seeing nothing. He did not acknowledge her arrival until she lowered herself beside him, close enough that their sleeves brushed.

  “I had two sons before,” he murmured distantly. “One was three. One was just born.”

  Hiroki’s heart clenched. The memory of Misbah’s past, of the war with Cornaul, struck her. Then, her eyes dimmed as she listened quietly.

  “The older one, Noor…” Misbah continued, his gaze still lost in the middle distance, “he had… difficulties. At his age, most children should be able to say a few words. And yet… he couldn’t. He would babble occasionally, cry rarely, but… never speak.”

  His lips thinned. “And the younger one… we named him Sana.” A soft, wistful chuckle escaped him. "Heavens, he was a heavy baby. I marvel that my wife carried him in her womb for nine months."

  He drew a deep breath, blinking rapidly. His gaze dropped to his p, where his fingers pleated and unpleated the silk of his sleeve.

  “A pity,” he muttered, trying his best to keep his tone steady, “that they were taken so soon.” He swallowed, his bottom lip quivering despite his efforts to still them. “...In the end, I never got to hear either of them call me Baba.”

  Hiroki's hands slowly curled into fists against the silk coverlet. Her heart throbbed at the hollow emptiness in his voice, at the way he held himself so rigidly, as though afraid that loosening his control for even a moment would shatter him completely. She wanted to say something—anything. But what could she possibly say when she herself was the source of his family’s demise?

  In the months they had spent together, his open hostility had finally softened. Something akin to affection, however small, had begun to bloom between them. She had been so drunk on its sweetness, so greedy for his returning warmth, that she had allowed herself to forget the foundation upon which their retionship was built.

  And now he bore a new child. A child conceived with the very woman who had ordered the destruction of his family.

  Misbah sniffled, keeping his face carefully still as he dabbed away the tears that threatened to spill. "My only regret," he said quietly, "is not being home with them when the Dyssian warriors came. I would trade anything to have died with them. To not be left out here alone, with nothing else to live for."

  Hiroki hesitated. Then, in a soft voice, she said, “Misbah.”

  He finally looked at her.

  She leaned slightly closer, searching his face. “Do you still wish to kill me?”

  He held her gaze, his expression unreadable. “Yes.”

  She didn’t respond, nor did she flinch.

  Then he broke away the eye contact first, dropping his gaze to her abdomen. “But… not now.” His hands clenched slightly. “...The child is innocent. I will let you live until you give birth.”

  Hiroki’s breath caught at that. Then, slowly, a small smile touched her lips.

  "Then let it be so."

  She reached for his hand, sandwiching it between her own, and gazed at him with an intensity that made his chest constrict. "When this child is born, if you still wish for me to die, I will not punish you for anything you do to me."

  Misbah’s eyes widened. Confusion, surprise, and something complicated tightened his expression. “...You promise?”

  “You have my word.”

  He searched her face for any trace of deception, any hint of a lie. Finding none, he finally nodded. “Very well. Then it shall be done.”

  Hiroki reached a hand out and gently tilted his chin upward, leaning in. When he didn’t move away, she pressed her lips against his. Their mouths slowly moved against each other, the dance all too familiar at this point.

  It didn’t take long before she was easing him onto his back, kissing a path down his throat and along his colrbone as her fingers worked at the ties of his robes. He gasped when her strong hand lightly grasped his chest, her fingers pinching and teasing his nipple.

  “Y-you…” he stammered as she continued her passionate exploration, her mouth hot against his throat as her hand fondled his chest. “You animal… y-you are with child right now. You should not be doing this.”

  She paused just long enough to smile down at him, drinking in the sight of his flushed face, his darkened eyes. "It is still early, little flower. Besides..." Her smile turned teasing, almost wicked. "If something happens to me, would it not make your task easier?"

  He bristled at her audacity. “You… shameless wo—ah!”

  His protest cut into a sharp gasp as she lowered her head and took his other peak into her mouth, suckling gently. His breath quickened, his toes curling against the sheets, and his hands fisted weakly in her dark hair.

  "How beautiful you are," Hiroki breathed, positioning herself above him and guiding him into her body. He gasped and gripped her thighs for stability, his head falling back against the pillow.

  He whimpered and looped his arms tightly around her neck as she began to move, each slow roll of her hips drawing helpless moans from his lips.

  "My flower. My beautiful flower," she whispered against his ear. "For you, I would give up my seat among the stars."

  pangmida