A TALE OF FIRE AND ICE

The Emperor's Selfish Love

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***

Irene was surprised when the door opened and Lisa entered the room. He was out of breath as if he ran to get to her.

[He definitely did.]

" Lisa," Irene greeted her husband with a smile. She noticed that he was checking her from head to toe for any physical injury. He looked relieved when he saw that she was physically fine. "You're here."

Lisa closed the door behind him and ran towards her. He sat on the edge of the bed and hugged her tight, burying his head against her neck. She smiled and hugged him back. Ah, her husband's masculine scent and cool body made her feel like she was "home," at last.

"You're alive," Lisa whispered in relief. "Thank you for being alive, Irene."

"I'm okay, Lisa," Irene assured him while gently patting his back. "I heard about the attack at the castle. Are you okay? Please tell me you're not hurt."

"I'm not hurt," he assured her. Then, he pulled away from the hug to look at her and inspect her once again. "I heard you got into an accident. Any injury?"

She shook her head before she explained. "I managed to jump out of the carriage before it hit the tree. Luckily, I landed on the soft grass. Plus, as a noble, I am physically stronger than an average woman. But I guess I was shocked so I lost consciousness."

She felt guilty that she had to lie to Lisa for now.

When she woke up earlier, Captain Denver told her the memory that he planted in the mind of the still-unconscious coachman. Her statement had to match the coachman's fake memory so she wouldn't appear suspicious.

[This is not yet the time to tell Lisa about my real identity. Once we go home, I'll tell him everything right away.]

" Irene, you're not riding a carriage without me ever again," Lisa said as if he was horrified to hear that she jumped out of the carriage to save herself.

She giggled. He couldn't be serious, could he? "We are fine, Lisa. Don't worry too much."

[Oopsie... here comes the good news.]

As expected, her captain looked confused. ""We?""

"Me and our baby," Irene said with her hands placed carefully on her tummy. She was nervous but her happiness and excitement were greater than it. Thus, she was able to give him the best smile that she could offer while telling her husband the good news. " Lisa, the doctor who checked on me a while ago said that I'm four weeks pregnant."

She didn't expect the next thing that happened: Lisa's tears silently fell.

Seeing her husband get emotional made her feel soft as well.

She knew that Lisa was an orphan. In her past life, he told her that he didn't want their son to grow up without parents as he did. That was one of the reasons why he didn't give up on their marriage before he met another woman.

[Let's not think about her in the meantime.]

This time, she would do everything in her power to make sure that their family would be happy together for eternity.

For that, she was willing to risk exposing her identity to her husband. She knew that they would never have a peaceful life if she would keep a huge secret from him. Plus, she needed Lisa's help to make sure that Winter would be born safely in this world.