She answered from the corner of the room.
“I’m here. What’s wrong?”
Lucretius turned towards her voice desperately. When he saw her, however, his anxiety quickly faded.
“B, Bina…?” Lucretius murmured in surprise.
Bina replied, “Why do you keep calling my name? Are you awake now? You seemed to need some more sleep, so I didn’t wake you up.”
Bina looked very different than usual. Lucretius gaped in shock.
She was wearing only a single layer, but this wasn’t the surprising thing. They were husband and wife, after all, so he had seen her in many different types of clothing. However, what she was wearing right now was something he had never seen before.
It was his own shirt he wore yesterday. Bina was wearing his shirt, and his shirt only!
“…”
Lucretius swallowed hard and loudly. Bina looked confused.
“What’s wrong?”
It was short and it barely covered her legs. Staring at her shapely legs, he could hardly breathe.
Bina asked again, “What? Luc?”
Lucretius felt confused. Did she really not know what she was doing to him?
However, he didn’t have to think for long.
‘That can’t be…’
The woman he loved wasn’t naïve or stupid, and that was why he loved her even more. Lucretius grinned and decided to play along.
“Why are you wearing that?”
“Hmm…”
Bina narrowed her eyes and didn’t answer him. Instead, she moved her arms around. The sleeves were too long for her, covering her hands. She looked adorable.
Bina knew exactly what she was doing to him. She knew how she looked in his shirt. She was smiling knowingly at him, reminding him of a beautiful yet dangerous cat.
He walked towards her.
“That’s the shirt I wore yesterday, so it probably smells.”
“It doesn’t matter. I… like your scent.”
Bina smiled prettily for him.
“…”
There was no way he could resist her. Lucretius carried her to the bed, making Bina giggle.
“Fine, fine! I surrender!”
“I don’t know why you keep doing this to me. I’m going to have a heart attack because of you someday.”
Bina pouted, “Are you saying you don’t like it?”
They both knew the answer.
“Of course not.”
***
It was four days filled with sweetness and passion. Most days, they didn’t even leave the bedroom.
Finally, it was the last night of their short vacation. They had to go back to their normal life tomorrow morning.
That night, Bina had a dream. It was a very vivid dream of a dark night sky. Suddenly a pretty golden bird danced down from it and entered Bina’s embrace.
Bina woke from it with a smile.
“… oh!”
Her husband was sleeping soundly beside her. He was holding her tight as if he was afraid she would run away. Bina smiled again.
It was going to be a while till she knew for sure, but Bina felt certain. She wondered when she should tell him.
Bina knew it didn’t matter when. No matter how or when she told him, Lucretius would be surprised and happy for both of them.
She quickly went back to sleep.
***
Two months later, Regia confirmed that Bina was indeed pregnant. When Bina informed Beatrice and Lucretius about it at the breakfast table, it was Bina who ended up surprised. It was because of how her daughter reacted to the news.
“I would like it to be a girl. If it is a boy, he will become the emperor.”
Bina was genuinely surprised at Beatrice. She contemplated for a while, and finally, she made her decision.
She told her husband, “Yes. We should be thankful that Beatrice is such a strong and confident child.”
Bina wasn’t Katleyanira and Lucretius wasn’t his father. How their own children would turn out to become will depend on them, and they would do their best to raise them right.
Just then, the emperor caressed her cheek as if he was patting a cat. It was a loving and careful gesture, making Bina giggle.
“That tickles.”
Lucretius hugged her even tighter from behind. He gently placed his hand on her belly and asked, “What did you call it? The dream you have when you get pregnant. Did you have one for this baby too?”
Bina nodded. “[Conception dream]? Yeah, I had one.”
“Yes, [conception dream]. What was it this time? Last time, you said it was a handsome black horse wearing a crown charging at you, right?”
Lucretius found it very interesting. In this world, there was no such thing as conception dreams. Bina wasn’t sure if women didn’t dream them, or they just didn’t realize what they were even though they had them.
In Korea, some believed that conception dreams could sometimes tell the mother if something was wrong with her baby. Both of Bina’s dreams were good, so she felt relieved.
Bina explained the dream she had two months ago.
“It was of a golden bird. Now that I think about it, its color was the same as your hair. The pretty bird flew into my arms.”
Lucretius chuckled.
“With Beatrice, you said the horse came right at you, but this time, it sounds like the bird was gentler… I wonder if this baby will be a quieter child. You said your nausea was better than your first pregnancy, right?”
“Yup.”
“Thank god.” What Lucretius said next surprised Bina. “You really wanted this child, so let’s do our best to raise it right.”
Bina turned around in shock. She looked straight into his eyes.
Lucretius looked peaceful. He looked very happy, just like that night she promised him to stay by his side forever.
“You…?!”
Lucretius now looked naughtily at her. Bina gaped in shock.
“How long have you known about my plan?”
“I didn’t know at first, but I realized that whenever you suddenly became very seductive, it was the time of the month when you could most likely get pregnant.”
It made sense. Lucretius was very well aware of Bina’s schedule because, after the birth of Beatrice, he had been avoiding certain times to minimize the risk of pregnancy.
Bina pouted, “Why didn’t you tell me!?”
Lucretius laughed. “Because you looked cute when you try so hard.”
“…”
Bina felt embarrassed. She hid her face while Lucretius continued to laugh.
Bina murmured, “Then why did you pretend to be so surprised when I told you I was pregnant?”
Lucretius dropped his bread when he heard the news. Was he acting?
Lucretius explained, “Oh, I really was surprised.”
“But you said you knew!”
“I knew you wanted to have a second child, and you were trying, but… I didn’t realize it would happen so quickly…”
“Oh, I guess…”
They had been very careful with their birth control method, but there were a few times when they made mistakes. However, none of those times led to pregnancy, so it was a surprise that after trying only twice, Bina became pregnant.
Bina asked quietly, “Do you want a son or a daughter?”
“How about you? I want whatever you want.”
“…”
This was a perfect answer. She would tease him with whichever answer he gave, but she couldn’t fault him with such a considerate answer.
Lucretius smiled confidently, “I must have answered right.”
“Hmm… I hate to admit it, but it’s true.”
Lucretius hugged Bina and whispered, “As I’ve said, there is nothing to worry about.”
“… Yes. I know.”
She was certain of it.
