Her Highness's Second Life

Chapter 11 - The Uneasy Emperor

Yulien licked his finger, moving the paper he was reading to the bottom of the pile in his lap. He leaned his head on his free hand again, massaging his throbbing temple as he tried to keep his focus on the next report. The soft rustling of sheets made him look up just as Arina pushed herself into a sitting position. Getting to his feet, he threw the papers on the sofa and rushed to her side.

“Hey, hey, stop! What are you doing? Lie back down! The doctor said you should be resting!” he said, trying to hold back his panic as she turned her tired eyes toward him. It had already been a few days since she collapsed, but luckily the doctor had said that neither hers nor the baby’s life seemed to be in danger. There were no contractions either, so his advice was for her to rest and spend as much time in bed as possible.

“My back is killing me. I need to change position for a bit, at least,” she grunted, finally sitting up with her legs wide open to accommodate her belly. “What are you doing here? There are so many other things to do, you don’t have to babysit me while I sleep.”

“Watching you sleep calms me,” Yulien said, receiving a strange look in return. “Besides, your health and the baby’s cannot be delegated. So be quiet and enjoy the pampering.”

“Then please give me a message, Your Majesty,” Arina scoffed, rubbing her lower back. Yulien looked down at her frail frame, then back to her face.

“If that’s what you want,” he sighed, sliding behind her and pushing her hand away. Arina straightened immediately, giving him an even more incredulous look.

“I was jesting! Go do your work!” she protested, but he just smiled at her.

“Well, I was not. Besides, I’m done with my work for today,” he replied, catching her shoulder gently with one hand while his other one pressed at her lower back, rubbing it carefully. She glanced at the pile of papers he had discarded, but then her eyes fluttered closed and moaned, her head dropping down. Yulien smiled, adding a little more pressure to his touch.

“Has anything important happened while I was resting?” Arina asked, eyes locked on the other side of the room. There was no one in there but the two of them, so he could allow himself some freedom of speech. On the other hand, she was in a fragile state, and agitating her with his problems wasn’t something he wanted to do. “If you’re thinking of keeping me in the dark because I’m weak and need rest, I will punch you, Emperor or not. You can still talk to me, Yulien.”

Yulien smiled. He often forgot that while he did know her well enough to anticipate her thoughts and actions, the same applied to her.

“Nothing much,” he said in the end, lowering his voice. “Kassian is leaving tomorrow. Raena said that preparations for the festival are going according to schedule while the nobles are still nagging me about that Star serial killer who still hasn’t been apprehended. He has claimed another victim just last night.” Arina tensed, but she still nodded for him to continue. “It was Baron Tabatha—they found him in the brothel he frequents. The girl he had been with was strangled and left in the corner, but the typical markings the killer leaves were only put on the baron.”

Arina let out a ragged sigh.

“As if we don’t have enough to deal with, there had to be a serial killer. Have the guards found any clue about the perpetrator?” she asked, waving for him to stop. “That’s enough. I feel much better.” Yulien pulled his hands away even though she didn’t look to be in any less discomfort. “Well?”

“No, they have not,” he answered, getting up from the bed. He stepped toward the cupboard where a pitcher with water stood and poured a cup, bringing it to her. He had his taster try it earlier, so it had to be safe to drink.

“Wasn’t Baron Tabatha one of your supporters? Didn’t he get more land in Craidal in return for lowering the prices of his wheat and rice crops he sold to the crown?” she asked and Yulien raised an eyebrow, surprised she remembered such tiny details even he hadn’t recalled yet.

“That’s right. But I don’t think there is a connection.” He took the cup back after she emptied it. “In any case, the killer is definitely after noblemen—all his victims so far have been males from noble houses. Luckily, he seemed to be focused on the lower-class nobility, so until he strikes someone important, we have a bit of room to breathe.” He put the cup on the nightstand, crossing his arms. “Don’t burden yourself with thinking about such things. Zariel is working with the Imperial Guards to catch the criminal, so I’m not too concerned. What worries me more is you pushing yourself too far. I cannot allow that. I will not allow that.”

“Yulien…” Arina sighed. “I’m not a child and I know my body better than…”

“Clearly not,” he said harsher than he intended and she pursed her lips in annoyance. “Postpone the party for Verena Mesalla. That’s not important right now.”

“Don’t be absurd!” Arina frowned, anger flashing in her eyes. “I can’t do that! Not only will I lose face, but more rumors will spread about how I want all His Majesty’s love for myself and I treat his concubines like dirt. It will be even harder for me to handle them if they all unite against me.”

“I don’t care,” Yulien said calmly, ignoring the rising anger in her eyes. “I won’t have you fainting again. The Imperial doctor prescribed bed rest, so you’re staying in bed and that’s my final word.”

“We must have that party and you know that! The balance of the harem depends on it since this is the first pregnant concubine and the way we treat her will set the precedent for the others, should they ever be with child!” she said with an equally calm expression, despite the storm in her eyes. “Not to mention, you cannot afford to alienate Duke Mesalla and humiliate his daughter…”

“Arina…” Yulien said, impatience sneaking into his voice. “I said…”

“I know what you said, and while I think you are wrong, I will not go against an Imperial order,” she said coldly. “What I am saying is that we must have that party as planned, without any delay or complications.” He continued to stare at her, wondering what she had in mind when she continued, “I’ll ask Raena to take over for me. She is an Imperial princess, and she is capable enough to pull it off in such a short time. And her status is higher than any of the concubines, so nobody would dare get in her way.”

“Do you think she will agree? She has enough on her plate already.” Yulien crossed his arms. “And she keeps refusing me when I ask for her help.”

“She will do it for me, so if you are fine with her, we proceed with the plan as it is,” Arina said, looking a little less angry than before. Yulien hesitated—he knew she was right and postponing the party was only going to harm him in the long run, but over the past few years, he learned that there were more important things than being perfect and breaking your back to please the right people. Especially when he had done so much already and they kept coming to him for more. Except maybe for Kassian and Raena, who seemed like they were constantly trying to escape their duties. “Yulien?”

“Yes, fine. Bring her here,” he sighed in defeat. Arina opened her mouth to say something when she suddenly groaned, her hand going to her belly. Panic gripped Yulien by the throat as he rushed to her side, reaching out in panic only for his hands to freeze midway. His eyes widened as he watched her belly move through the stretched fabric of the nightdress.

He looked up at Arina, who suddenly looked amused.

“Don’t worry, that’s entirely normal. Very uncomfortable, but normal.” She ran her hand over her belly again, her smile turning softer. “Now that I think about it, you didn’t get to see Elian do that. Do you want to feel it?”

Yulien hesitated, trying to push away the sense of guilt that came with her words. She watched him with so much excitement that he didn’t want to disappoint her. So when she took his hand and placed it on her stomach, he didn’t protest.

Something moved under his palm, pressing hard against the confines of Arina’s body, and Yulien gasped in shock. That had been some major kick, he could easily feel it. He looked at Arina, who gave him another warm smile.

“It sure is lively in there,” Yulien muttered as her belly visibly moved again.

“It’s a she, not an it,” Arina corrected him. “The doctor says that he is not sure of the gender yet, but something’s telling me it’s a girl.”

“A girl would be nice,” Yulien smiled, realizing too late that he had said that out loud. He looked up at his wife, studying the tired face and hollow cheeks, messy hair, and puffy skin. Despite all of that, the affection that overflowed from her eyes as she caressed her belly outshone them all.

He really was lucky to have her as a partner. He would have been lost in so many ways if she hadn’t agreed to the proposal he had made so long ago.

Yulien leaned over and kissed her, ignoring the way her eyes widened in surprise. He pulled back after a while, but she continued to stare as if expecting an explanation.

“What was that all of a sudden?” she asked in the end, her brows knitting together.

“What?” he laughed as a slight blush crept across her cheeks. “I can’t kiss my wife if I want to?” She rolled her eyes, looking away from him, and Yulien took the chance to get to his feet. “Are you hungry? I can have the maids bring you something.”

“It’s too late to eat. I’ll get indigestion,” she murmured, adjusting herself comfortably in her bed. “I think I’ll just go back to sleep. It’s past midnight already.”

“Alright.” Yulien nodded in approval, seating himself on his sofa and picking up the report. When he felt Arina’s eyes on him, he looked up. “Do you need something else?”

“Yes, for you to leave,” she grimaced. “Or are you planning on sleeping here?”

“Is that an invitation, my Empress?” Yulien chuckled. He hadn’t planned to sleep at all tonight. There was too much work to do and not enough time, but she didn’t need to know that.

“It is not, Your Majesty,” she replied in the same mocking tone. “You move too much in your sleep and you are too hot. I can barely sleep without those inconveniences as it is. Please find somewhere else to sleep.”

Yulien chuckled, shaking his head.

“Don’t worry, I’ll leave once you fall asleep,” he said, lowering his eyes back to the report. He heard the sheets rustle and shot her a glance to make sure she had laid down. She was lying to the side, staring through the window behind him.

“Is that a report about the treasury?” she asked. Yulien barely hid his surprise. She had been asleep this whole time, how could she know? It was not like it was marked in a special way. “Very few reports are that thick and that boring for you to struggle to read through them. How bad is it?”

“It’s… not great. All of my endeavors so far have failed, so if this trade relationship doesn’t work out, we might need to raise the taxes just so we can pay wages and keep the military and the clergy running.” Arina continued to watch him with a thoughtful expression. “Unless you have some idea on how to make a lot of money quickly?”

“I don’t,” she replied quietly, closing her eyes while a small smile crept to her lips. “But we both know somebody who does. Why don’t you speak to the woman who made herself rich all on her own in just a few years? If all fails, you can always ask her for a loan.”