By the time I returned to my chambers, my legs were barely carrying me. My head felt too heavy, my stomach kept twisting like something inside was trying to speak, and every breath felt like I was breathing through two different worlds at once. I shut the door behind me and leaned on it, sliding down slowly.
Weak. Hot. Cold. Angry. Scared. Hopeful. Disgusted. Excited.
Every emotion was hitting me like waves, one after the other, wild and uncontrollable.
Pregnant?
No. No, no, no, no. Impossible.
I placed my shaking hand on my stomach, and suddenly my mind flashed — Leon. His warmth. That night. How everything cut off halfway but how the feeling still lingered like an unfinished Chapter.
"No," I whispered, my voice breaking. "It can’t be."
My vision blurred as tears filled my eyes.
Why do I feel like this? Why do I feel so weak? So nauseous? So tired? Why do I feel like there’s... something inside me? Something breathing, something faint but there.
I got up quickly, pacing the room, then stopping because dizziness almost knocked me down.
No, I can’t be. Not now. Not here. Not in the demon world. Not when Leon... Leon...
I covered my mouth as more tears dropped. My chest squeezed tight, panic spreading everywhere.
Just then, a knock sounded on the door.
I wiped my tears immediately. "Come in."
Darius entered with slow, controlled steps — the type that always warned trouble. His eyes scanned me from head to toe like he already knew something was off.
"You look pale," he said. "Did you eat?" His tone was soft, suspiciously soft.
"Yes. I— I’m fine." My voice cracked in the middle.
He didn’t look convinced, but he continued anyway.
"I have removed your former maid," he said sharply. "I don’t trust her loyalty anymore. You will be assigned a new one."
I swallowed. "Who?"
He snapped his fingers, and someone walked in from behind him.
The human girl. The one I saved. Her bruises still fresh, her eyes still swollen. When she saw me, she immediately bowed deeply.
"My lady... I— I was assigned to serve you."
I stared at Darius in disbelief. "Why her?"
"I saw you defending her," Darius said simply. "If she pleases you, she pleases me. If she is loyal to you, she will be loyal to me."
He walked closer, his fingers brushing my cheek. I tensed.
"And besides, you seemed... emotional today. I want someone gentle around you."
He left after that, leaving me staring at the door like the world had just turned upside down.
The girl— Serah, that was her name — slowly approached me.
"My lady," she said softly, "is everything okay?"
And that question alone broke me.
I burst into tears.
Serah rushed to my side, holding my hands. "My lady—Aurora—it’s okay. Please breathe. Breathe slowly."
"I— I think something is wrong with me," I sobbed. "I feel sick. Weak. And she said... she said I might be pregnant."
Serah’s eyes softened with a kind of understanding only women shared.
"Then let your body tell you the truth," she whispered. "Don’t fight your tears. Cry. Cry until your mind clears."
I did. I cried so hard my chest hurt, so hard I couldn’t breathe properly.
And in the middle of those tears, one thought cut through everything...
If I am pregnant... is the child Leon’s?
And why does that possibility hurt and comfort me at the same time?
After crying until my head felt empty and raw, I wiped my face, stood up, and immediately headed toward the drawer where I hid the small communication crystal Hazel enchanted for me back in the High House. If I could just send Leon a message—anything—maybe I would calm down. Maybe he would feel me. Maybe something in the mate bond would react.
My fingers trembled as I lifted the crystal.
"Hazel... Leon... anyone, please—" I whispered as I tried channeling magic into it.
But the moment the power left my hand—
A sharp pain stabbed through my stomach.
My breath hitched.
The crystal fell from my fingertips.
"Aurora?" Serah rushed toward me.
"I— I can’t—" My legs buckled and I grabbed the edge of the table to stop myself from collapsing. "My powers—something is wrong—"
I tried again. I pushed magic out, even a little spark—
Nothing.
No glow.
No shimmer.
Just empty cold air.
I tried harder, and suddenly a wave of dizziness swallowed me whole. My vision doubled, then tripled, like the room was swaying from side to side.
"Why are you here?" Aurora asked, crossing her arms, her voice cold enough to freeze fire.
He took one step forward, but Sarah flinched so hard he immediately stopped.
His face twisted in guilt. "Sarah... I—I didn’t know."
Sarah looked away, wiping her tears quickly. "You didn’t know? You didn’t know you punched me in the stomach? You didn’t know you almost killed your own child?" Her voice cracked like thin glass.
He dropped to his knees. Actually dropped.
The general of a demon battalion dropped like a beggar.
"Sarah, please... I didn’t know you were pregnant. I swear it on my life. I never would’ve—"
Aurora scoffed loudly.
"Save it. You left a pregnant woman crying her soul out, carrying YOUR child, while demons beat her like a rag doll. And you ’didn’t know?’ Are you hearing yourself?"
He looked up, pained. "Aurora... did she tell you? Did Sarah tell you I’m the father?"
Aurora blinked.
"What? She didn’t have to tell me anything. I can see it. Anyone with a functioning brain can see the way you look at her."
"I didn’t know..." he whispered again, turning to Sarah with broken eyes. "Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you come to me?"
Sarah snapped.
"Because the moment you became a general, the elders said you needed a demon wife! They said I would ruin your future. That I was unfit. I didn’t want to be the reason you got punished, or the reason you failed your duties."
His eyes softened.
"I don’t care about titles," he said. "I care about YOU. And our child."
Sarah covered her face, crying harder now, shaking.
Aurora stepped in between them like the world’s angriest mediator.
"So what now? You want to be in the baby’s life? Or is this just guilt speaking?"
He shook his head firmly.
"No. I want to be a father. I want to protect them both. I want her—"
He stopped, breath catching.
"I want Sarah. And I’ll face whatever consequences come with it."
Sarah slowly lifted her head, tears still falling, eyes wide with disbelief.
Aurora folded her arms.
"Well," she said with a deep sigh. "Looks like we’re starting drama week early."

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