C102 (END)
Chapter 102: How to control your wild nightlife (7) [END]
TLN: I want to thanks everyone who supported this novel until the end and don’t forget to check out my other projects.
As soon as the meal was over, Alex and I headed to the royal quarters where Kael and Sofia were staying.
In fact, up until this point, Kael hadn’t exactly been living in the palace.
As the Minister of General Affairs, or rather, Deputy Minister of General Affairs, it was customary for Kael to commute to work from his residence near the royal road.
It’s not just Kael, but most royal officials work that way.
It would be impossible to build a bedroom for every single official in the palace, and no one would want to sleep on the job in the first place.
…I knew the pain of multiple days of sleeping on the job all too well, and I didn’t want to impose it on anyone else.
Though one day, when Kael officially takes over for House Anastasia, it will have to change from commuting to picking up papers from the manor itself.
That was still a little ways off, and for other reasons, the current Kael insisted on commuting to and from the palace, where he would be housed and fed.
That, of course, is because of his current wife, Miss Sophia.
Sophia Kylie, Viscountess. Or Sophia, Minister of Research.
Now that she’s Kael’s wife and her last name has been changed to Sophia Anastasia, she’s attached herself to the palace’s research labs like a glue stick and won’t let go, which means her husband, Kael, has no choice but to live the palace life.
Even when Kael offered to build her a lab in their home that was identical to the royal lab, she didn’t want to give up her royal life anytime soon.
“If I move my lab to Anastasia’s mansion, I won’t be able to share the same space with Ariana!”
She said something along those lines.
Kael’s resentful glare that his wife liked me more than him stung at times, but that was between Sophia and Kael.
“Sis, you’re really coming to see Sofia, aren’t you?”
“…That’s right, yeah, it’s been a while!”
“…….”
As if my reaction wasn’t enough, Kael’s gaze shifted to where Alex was.
“If by any chance my sister shows any strange behavior….”
“You don’t have to worry about her, I’ll keep her under control.”
“Please, Brother Alex.”
Kael and Alex, you guys are treating people like time bombs.
Still, for now, I kept my mouth shut, because I didn’t want to interrupt and risk being banned from the interview with Ms. Sophia.
That would mean I’d miss a valuable opportunity to ask her about her birth control.
Especially the expression on Kael’s face, who has been anxious about Sophia and I meeting since earlier.
After over a decade of being sister and brother, that look alone is enough to convince me that right now, Kael is anxious to hide something from me!
Surely there must be something I haven’t thought of, like his birth control method with Sophia. I’m sure of it!
By the way, unlike me and Alex, Charlotte and Eamon have gone home first.
The reasoning is that we don’t want to overwhelm a pregnant woman who’s in full labor, because she’ll get tired if she has to deal with too many guests.
“It must be tiring for a pregnant woman to be swarmed by a bunch of people who don’t care.”
…If I leave it at that, it makes me look like I’m out to harass Ms. Sophia without even realizing it.
When all I really wanted to do was ask her about her knowledge of birth control!
With that thought in mind, I followed Kael for some distance through the corridors of the palace until we reached the private room where Sophia and Kael were staying.
Kael knocked twice on the door and called out to Sophia inside.
“Sophia, I’m back.”
“Ah, Kael. Did you finish your work?”
“Yeah… And I have guests, can we come in now?”
“Guests? Who are they?”
“Brother Alex and Sister Ariana.”
As soon as my and Alex’s names were spoken, the buzz in the room quickly turned to the sound of footsteps.
Before Kael could open the door, it opened first from the inside, revealing Miss Sophia.
“Miss Arianna!”
Seeing the cheerful appearance of Miss Sophia whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, I felt a sense of joy just like hers.
“It’s been a long time, Miss Sophia.”
“Miss Ariana, come in!”
“Wait a minute, miss, you can’t run around in your condition!”
Claire, Sophia’s maid, rushed over to stop her.
“This is why I didn’t want to bring you here….”
As me and Sophia stood face to face and exchanged pleasantries, Kael quietly muttered something to himself.
“Miss Sophia, as much as I’m glad to see you, you shouldn’t be running around, what if something bad happens to the child inside?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Ariana….”
“Anyway, Miss Sophia, you need to respect your body a little more. Before you got pregnant, you used to spend every day in the lab, not sleeping, doing research, and using yourself as a test subject for drugs without really thinking about the side effects. Now that you’re going to be the mother of a child, you need to be a little more self-conscious.”
“Yes….Ariana is right about everything you said….”
I didn’t want to scold her after seeing her for so long, but when I saw her treating her body with such reckless abandon, I couldn’t help but feel a nagging feeling in my stomach.
It’s like I’m dealing with a younger sister with a slight age difference rather than a friend.
“That doesn’t sound like something Ariana would say….”
“I don’t think that’s something Ariana would say….”
I’ve gotten a lot of ridiculous comments from the guys.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎ ⁎
“You mean about birth control?”
Sophia asked, tilting her head towards me as she was helped back onto the bed by the maid.
“Yes, Miss Sophia, I thought you might have some ideas.”
“…Sis, that’s not what we agreed to, weren’t you supposed to just say hello and then leave?”
“It’s just a greeting and a catch-up, Kael, I’m in the middle of something important right now, so you’re out of the picture.”
“Ha ha, did I really….”
I ignored Kael’s sigh of frustration and waited for the answer to come out of Ms. Sophia’s mouth.
“I know it’s a rude question, but it’s something I need to know for mine and Alex’s future.”
“No, I don’t think you’re being rude.”
“As I understand it, Miss Sophia, you haven’t had children for quite a few years because of your research, right?”
“Yes. After all, having a child can cause many inconveniences in conducting research. I’m sorry to Kael, but until last year, I asked him to refrain from sleeping on days when there was a high chance of pregnancy.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for, Sofia, I can’t stop you from doing what you’ve truly set out to do.”
From the way they cared for each other, it seems like they didn’t have a child because they were estranged.
It was a moment that reinforced my conviction that Sophia and Kael were the right couple to provide the solution I was looking for.
“Well, but!”
“What?”
“I know you say you’ve tried to stay out of bed on dangerous days, but haven’t you had at least one day when you just couldn’t take it?”
“Sister, how far are you going to pry?”
“You’re a woman, Sophia, so you should know! I’m talking about days like today, when your heart is racing like you’re going to die if you don’t get physical with someone you love!”
“Ariana….”
Unlike Ms. Sophia, who listened to my story with a straight face, Alex and Kael were now blushing bright red.
They’re so sensitive.
“If you say there isn’t any… you’re probably lying.”
“Of course!”
“It’s one of the natural instincts of a woman to have the contradictory desire to make love, even though she doesn’t want to have children.”
“I knew you’d understand that, Miss Sophia!”
“That’s why I used ‘this’ on days when it was really hard to stand it.”
With that, Miss Sophia whispered in her ear for the maid in the room to bring her something.
Soon after, the maid handed her a vial of a light blue liquid.
“I’ll give you this, Miss Ariana.”
“…What is this?”
“It’s an ovulation inhibitor, and it’s also a pill that will keep you from having your period once a month.”
“It’s ……?”
“I made it on a whim, but I didn’t think it was commercially viable, so I kept it to myself. I’m glad to hear it can help you again, Ariana.”
“…….”
“…….”
……Wow, there was a……?
There was a birth control pill in this world?
Stunned by the solution, which had been delivered even more hollowly than we’d expected, Alex and I could only stare at the vial she handed us as if we’d lost our minds.
“…Miss Sophia.”
“Yes, Ms. Ariana.”
“When did you first develop this drug….?”
“It was shortly after I married Mr. Kael, so it must have been about four years ago.”
…What the hell have I been thinking all this time?
“Wait, Sophia, you never told me that you had developed a drug like this before.”
“That’s because you didn’t ask.”
“I didn’t even know you were using this stuff, and I’ve been thinking that I’m the reason you can’t have kids….”
“Uh… I already told you, right? I said I can’t stop my research yet, so I won’t have children.”
“Who would have thought that you could decide something like that at will…?”
Miss Sophia, who was engaged in a conversation with Kael that didn’t quite mesh, turned her attention back to me and Alex and continued her explanation of the pills.
“You’ll need to take it at least a day before intercourse, and it should last about a month, but if you need more, I’ll have the guys in the research department make some more.”
“…Thank you, Miss Sophia.”
As I accepted the vial of light blue liquid from her, I silently thought to myself.
If I ever have to deal with something like this again in the future, I’ll definitely consult Miss Sophia first.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎ ⁎
Three months later, Alex’s inauguration began with great pomp and ceremony.
The sixth king of Leavrov, Alexandros Leavrov, and to top it all off, it was the inauguration of Ariana Leavrov, the sixth Empress.
There was some concern about the 5th King, Alfred Leavrov, who was stepping down from the throne a bit quickly compared to his predecessors, but thankfully there was nothing to cause a ruckus.
…Well, that’s mostly due to the fact that most of the top ministers in their respective departments are either mine or Alex’s supporters.
I wasn’t exactly expecting this to happen, but here we are.
In a way, this is what a true queen should be like! Isn’t it my job as queen to keep the noise down so that Alex can focus on the big things in state affairs?
I can’t deny that it’s going to get more tiring as my status rises and I have more responsibilities, but….
At the end of the day, this is the future I have chosen, and I humbly accept it.
From being born as a villainess, to becoming Alex’s fiancée, to almost being destroyed as a villainess again, to becoming even more bonded.
Through a series of events, I became Alex’s wife, the mother of his children, and eventually the queen.
It was an opportunity I might not have had otherwise.
I also know that this happiness is undeserved, as I had envisioned a future where I would spend the last moments of my life alone.
I don’t know if this is truly a happy ending after a long and difficult journey, or if it’s just the beginning of another complicated story.
But,
I know that whatever hardships come our way, Alex and I will be able to face them with the same humility we’ve always had.
Because I believe that, I’m not afraid anymore.
Because whatever the future holds for me and Alex, one way or another, it’s going to be a ‘long and happily ever after.’
I think my fiancé has regressed – Complete!