Charlotte’s heart lightened up when she saw that she had successfully persuaded Roel to do her bidding. His vexed expression made her lips curl in glee. She slowly snuggled herself into his arms.
Her movements were gentle and careful in view of Roel’s poor health, but the sentiments behind her gesture were clear. Feeling her warmth, Roel caressed her hair.
Even though neither of them said a word, they seemed to be silently communicating their mood and thoughts to each other.
Lying in her lover’s arms, Charlotte thought about everything they had been through over the past few months, and she suddenly felt a lump in her throat. She opened her arms and tightly embraced him.
He responded by gently stroking her back.
Being targeted by the Six Calamities was the worst nightmare anyone could have—it was no different from receiving an advance notice from Death itself. There were moments when she felt so helpless she simply wanted everything to end. Yet, they managed to turn things around and achieve a different outcome with their combined efforts.
Their confrontation with Flooding Death was now a thing of the past, and the two of them were now out of danger. Still, the two of them had bottled up so many emotions over the past few months that they needed to vent.
Even thinking about the other possible outcomes was more than enough to frighten Charlotte. She started sobbing against Roel’s chest, and it took a while before she finally calmed down.
As she wiped the tears from her eyes, she abruptly dropped a bomb.
“Darling, let’s have a child.”
“Hm?”
Roel was so surprised by the sudden suggestion that he couldn’t react at all. He could only blink his eyes blankly as he tried to comprehend the situation.
Thinking that he didn’t hear her clearly, Charlotte repeated herself.
“Darling, let’s have a child.”
“No, I heard that the first time, but…”
Roel wasn’t sure how he should respond to her suggestion. He did hear about how the flux of emotions experienced in the wake of surviving a crisis would bring about a strong urge to bear offspring, but he wasn’t in a good condition for that, and neither was Charlotte.
Sensing his awkwardness, Charlotte stared at him for a moment before she finally grasped his thoughts, which made her face turn utterly red.
“I-I’m not saying that we should do it right now! We should at least wait till we’re in a better condition first!”
“Y-yeah, that’s what I was thinking too. I really don’t have any strength right now. Perhaps a few days later might be better…”
“Having the strength for t-that is one thing, but what’s more important is our health… Actually, I asked the doctors about it. They told me that we should both be in our best condition in order to bear a healthy child.”
“!”
Roel looked at Charlotte’s earnest expression and fell silent. It finally registered to him that she was truly serious about this.
This was not the first time she had expressed her interest to have a child, but that was in a dark period where she was already resigned to her fate and simply wanted to leave a child behind as a proof of her existence.
Things were different this time around. She truly wanted to bear the crystallization of their love.
Roel felt an incredible whirl of emotions within him. He stared at Charlotte with such heated eyes that it left her feeling embarrassed.
“Y-you also know that it won’t be easy for me to get pregnant. It might take longer than expected if we don’t start preparing now… Your father might also acknowledge me once we have a child,” Charlotte worriedly explained.
While it was fortunate that the two of them had safely overcome the crisis together, it didn’t change the fact that Roel had nearly lost his life trying to save her. There was no way Carter would be pleased learning about the matter.
Carter had never shown a favorable attitude toward her. She knew how much Roel cherished his family, which was why she wanted Carter’s acknowledgement. It would be a huge step backward if this incident worsened his impression of her.
However, things would be different if she were to bear Roel’s child.
It was a man’s duty to protect their expecting fiancée, even at the cost of their life. This held particularly true in the Ascart House, which had always been thin on offspring, and especially so with Roel being the only descendant in his generation.
Carter himself had no intention of having any more children, so he entrusted all hopes to Roel. Despite his disapproval of Charlotte, there was a good chance that he would immediately jump ships once she became pregnant with Roel’s child.
Roel also looked a little conflicted when he thought about how Carter might react to this matter.
Charlotte put her hands on her abdomen and worriedly remarked.
“Darling, the women of our Sorofya House have always had difficulties expecting, and I possess the Primordial High Elf Bloodline on top of that. It might end up taking us a long time…”
“Don’t worry about that. I told you before that Peytra would be helping us, didn’t I?” Roel replied before murmuring contemplatively under his breath, “… Our child, huh?”
He started frowning as if he had thought of something, which drew in Charlotte’s curious gaze. He hesitated for a brief moment before carrying on.
“Charlotte, there’s something I need to tell you.”