That night.
Lucretius entered the empress’ bedroom quietly. None of the maids were aware of his visit because he didn’t use the door. Instead, he walked in through a secret passage.
His wife’s room was dead quiet. Bina was on the bed, and she seemed to be asleep. He knew she had a particularly bad day today.
Lucretius sat down a tray on a nearby table and walked towards the bed. He was being so quiet and careful that he looked like a thief rather than a husband visiting his wife.
When he lifted the beautiful lacy curtain, he saw his precious wife inside, lying on the bed. He made a great effort not to make any noise as he got into the bed next to her. She looked even thinner than this morning. Perhaps she was having a nightmare since drops of sweat covered her forehead.
Lucretius felt anxious as he wiped her forehead gently. She felt warmer, which he was told was something normal for a pregnant woman. Whenever he hugged her now, he felt like he was hugging a nice toasty fireplace. He wondered if he would melt someday due to her warmth.
He thought she was deep in her sleep, but Bina flinched when she felt his hand. He stilled nervously. Thankfully, she continued to sleep. In fact, she must have liked the coolness of his hand as she stopped frowning. She seemed to crave his touch, and he fell in love with her all over again.
Lucretius felt a sudden desire to hold her tight, but that meant he would end up waking her up, so he stopped himself.
He laid down beside her with the greatest caution he could possibly muster and placed his arm underneath her head. Luckily, he succeeded in not waking her up. He sighed in relief and smiled as she got closer to him by habit. Even in her sleep, she wanted to be closer to him, making him feel ecstatic.
He had nagged and threatened the royal chefs all day to make the dish. Unfortunately, the food was getting cold right now, but it didn’t matter. Bina’s sleep was much more important, and he could get the chefs to make it again tomorrow morning when she woke up.
It was good to be an emperor.
Lucretius fell asleep happy that night with his love in his arms.
***
Next morning.
Bina woke up feeling much better. It had been long since she slept so well. It was already in the middle of the morning, which meant she slept in.
She already knew nausea was part of being pregnant even before she came to this world. She saw enough of it on TV shows and movies when she was on Earth. At the time, she didn’t think much of it. In fact, she thought the actresses were acting in an exaggerated manner. Now, she finally realized how ignorant she was.
Morning sickness was no joke.
Even her favorite dishes made her feel sick. She couldn’t even tolerate its smell and because of it, she was on an unexpected and unwanted diet. Even the smell and taste of vegetables bothered her. She was losing weight while her belly grew.
Bina was almost going crazy. On top of the morning sickness, she was also suffering from insomnia. It was difficult to fall asleep and staying asleep was an even harder dilemma. She expected morning sickness, but she hadn’t realized insomnia was part of being pregnant.
For the first three months, she actually slept too much. She often took naps and felt sleepy all the time. However, into her second trimester, insomnia followed. There were nights when she couldn’t sleep at all.
She was about to lose her mind, but finally, last night, she slept well. She felt rewarded after such a long period of suffering.
What a nice sleep she had!
She even felt a little bit of hunger. It had been so long since she felt any desire for food. She stretched her hands, readying herself for another day. She was about to get out of the bed and call for the maids when she saw a figure outside the curtain. He looked familiar and she gasped.
He must have snuck into her bedroom again through the secret passage. This meant she slept through the noise of him entering the room and sleeping beside her. It was shocking that she slept so deeply. Of course, Bina didn’t know how careful Lucretius acted so he wouldn’t wake her up.
Bina called out quietly.
“Luc…?”
The figure stopped suddenly and picked up something from the table. Lucretius opened the curtain and asked, “Are you awake? Did you sleep well?”
Bina nodded and looked at the object he was holding.
“Yes, I had a nice sleep. By the way, what is that?”
Lucretius was holding an extravagant silver bed tray with a matching cover. He mimicked the servants as he placed it theatrically on Bina’s lap.
Bina reached out for it expectantly. It has been so long since she felt hungry.
“What could this be?”
When she was about to open the tray, Lucretius stopped her gently. When Bina looked up at him in confusion, he shook his head.
“No, I will do it for you.”
Bina was surprised for a second but smiled widely. If her husband wanted to do all the work, then he was certainly welcome to do it! She would make him work! An emperor of the biggest kingdom volunteering to be her help! Sa Bina would never refuse.
Bina nodded and leaned back comfortably. Lucretius got a cushion for her so she could be even more comfortable.
Bina asked teasingly, “What could this be that you are making such a big deal?”
Bina sounded excited. Lucretius confidently opened the tray.
Inside was a white bowl filled with red colored stew-like food. It must have arrived recently because it was steaming visibly.
Bina didn’t know, but since Lucretius didn’t know when she would wake up, he ordered the chefs to make this dish fresh every hour since early this morning. Lucretius wanted to give her a warm freshly cooked dish as soon as she woke up, so the chefs had to make this dish over and over again all morning.
Bina exclaimed, “T, this… Could it be!”
At Bina’s thrilled expression, Lucretius became even more confident.
“That’s right. I made the [kimchi stew].”
“You couldn’t have made it yourself… So how?”
Lucretius pouted. “I got the chefs and told them how it should look and taste like. We discussed the recipe together, so I practically made it myself with the chefs.”
Bina smiled at Lucretius indulgently and picked up the silver fork.
“Then should I taste the very first dish my husband ever made for me? It smells pretty authentic.”
It wasn’t exactly the same, but it was similar. It smelled spicy and sour, making her salivate. Bina hurriedly moved her fork. It looked like there was meat in it, but the smell didn’t bother her. Perhaps her morning sickness was over.
Bina took a big bite out of the dish.
Swallow.
Lucretius stared at her nervously. If the chefs were allowed to be present here, they would have stared at the empress with the same expression. This was finally the moment of truth.
Lucretius continued to stare at Bina’s face.
‘Please…!’ Just then, Bina frowned.
“Huh?”
And a familiar sound, which he had been hearing for the past three to four months every day, followed.
“Blarrrg!”
“B, Bina!!”
At Bina’s vomiting and Lucretius’ shocked scream, the maids ran in and saw the red vomit on the bed. They initially panicked, thinking Bina vomited blood or was bleeding until they found out that it was the red stew.
