*~Aurora’s POV~*
Realization had finally dawned on me—heavy, suffocating, undeniably sweet. I was pregnant. Really....Pregnant. The word itself felt too big for my chest, like it could barely fit inside my body. And yet it was inside me, forming, growing, demanding that I acknowledge it.
And now Rebecca knew.
Rebecca.
The last person on earth—or in hell—who should ever know something this delicate.
Fear curled around my spine, cold and tight, but I inhaled and forced myself to straighten. I am Aurora. I scale through things others would crumble under. I bend, I break, I burn, but I always rise. I always do.
I sat up properly on the bed, brushing strands of the white wig away from my face. Serah, who had been hovering over me for the past ten minutes, gently nudged the spoon toward my lips again like I was some stubborn child refusing to eat.
"My lady, please," she begged softly. "Just one bite. You need strength."
I sighed and took the smallest bite humanly possible. Serah’s face lit up like she had completed a holy mission.
"There. See? Eating isn’t so bad," she teased gently swiping the sweat off my head.
I scoffed but swallowed. "You sound like you’ve been practicing that line."
She laughed and sat beside me. Her voice softened—too soft—and her eyes shimmered with something like excitement.
"My lady... motherhood is not as bad as you think."
My heart stopped. Motherhood. The word sliced through my mind like a shard of glass, sharp and delicate all at once. I laid a hand on my abdomen, barely touching it, like the smallest pressure could shatter something inside me.
Motherhood. Me—carrying a child..My own child. My own little versions of Heather or Christain.
I felt an unexpected warmth rise in my chest, something fragile, something hopeful, something terrifying all at once. A small, involuntary smile tugged at the corner of my lips. I imagined tiny fingers gripping mine. Soft breathing. A heartbeat beneath my hand. A life depending on me.
A life that belonged to me.
For the first time since discovering this truth, something inside me fluttered—something other than fear.
But then reality crashed in.
Darius...Rebecca....The demons...This palace. This cursed place where nothing is ever as it seems.
My smile faded. My thoughts scattered like birds fleeing danger. I snapped out of my daze just in time—the door swung open with force, and Darius stepped in.
Serah immediately stiffened. I straightened so fast it felt like my spine cracked into place. My hands folded on my lap, hiding the slightest tremble beneath them.
Darius’s eyes scanned the room—me first, then the tray of half-touched food, then Serah—and something unreadable flickered in those cold, controlled eyes.
"My lady," he said, voice low.
Serah bowed quickly and moved away from me, almost instinctively placing herself out of the line of fire. And I... I lifted my chin, masking the storm inside me.
Because whatever happens next—whatever darius suspects because Rebecca will definitely tell him..
I am Aurora. And now, I am not fighting for myself alone.
I placed a hand over my stomach, very carefully as he sat beside me
"Good afternoon, Lord Darius," I said, finding my voice just in time as he approached.
Serah immediately rushed out of the room the moment he entered—as if Darius’s presence alone could burn her skin. The door hadn’t even finished closing when Darius crossed the room and sat beside me on the bed.
"Good afternoon, milady." Without warning, he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek.
I shivered.. Not the good or romantic kind. The kind where your stomach clenches and every nerve in your body screams danger.
He pulled back, his brows knitting together as he studied me.
"Why did you react like that?"
My mouth parted. No sound came out at first. My mind immediately went to Rebecca—her viper tongue, her smirk, the way she whispered lies as if they were truths.
What if she already told him? What if he knew I was pregnant? What if he was only here to corner me with a smile?
I forced a shaky breath, forcing my body to tremble a little more—faking weakness, playing it off as nerves.
"I... I’m just a little cold," I lied, voice small.
But he kept staring at me like he was peeling back my skin one layer at a time.
Then...unexpectedly..his expression softened.
"You look good in the wig," he said quietly.
I blinked. That was not the direction I expected him to go in.
"You do," he continued, lifting a strand of the white hair between his fingers. "It suits you better than that short red hair you insist on keeping. This"—he lifted the curl gently—"makes you look refined. Softer."
I swallowed the frustration boiling in me.
He continued showering me with compliments—my eyes, my skin, my posture, my voice—as if drowning me in praise would blind me to the chain tightening around my neck. I was so sick of him.
And then...
He dropped the bomb.
"About the wedding," he said suddenly, as if speaking about the weather.
My entire body paused as the air thinned and my heart lurched so violently I felt it in my throat.


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