Empress Natsume ✓

XXXVIII

For a moment there, he just stared at me with a blank expression. His eyebrows twitched.

"Did I misheard you? Come again?"

"I'm carrying your child"

Silence had befallen upon us. Raiden is hard to read, he just stared at me again. His eyes are still dark and cold with no emotions or warmth to show. Just what I thought, he'll hate this child. Who would willingly accept a curse anyway? But still... I was hoping, hoping that he will show love to this child, this child is still his flesh and blood. If my decision was wrong to tell him, what's the right decision? I don't know anymore. I stared back at him with fear. Say something... just when I was about to open my mouth to break the silence between us, he muttered a word.

"Ichiro"

"What?"

"Ichiro if it's a boy"

His eyes sparked and for the first time, the light of the sun were reflecting in his eyes, it literally radiated.

"And if it's a girl, then... Ummmmm..."

He put his hand under his chin like he's thinking.

"I've been thinking of it this past few weeks but none came to my mind. Maybe we should name her after you? Natsume sounds great. I like the sounds of it when I say it"

To say that I was shock is an understatement. I'm starting to get skeptical of what he's saying. I have two other options in my mind of why he's acting this way. The first one is that Lord Ryuu was completely ignorant of his curse being passed down, the second one is he already knew and yet he still wanted to keep it from me, he feigned ignorance in front of me in order for me not to worry because he thought that I didn't know about the curse.

It was more likely the latter.

Raiden pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead. He smiled down at me, it was a genuine smile that I have never seen from him. A smile full of happiness.

"What do you think? A girl is hard to find a suitable name, coming up with a boy's name is easier, the name Ichiro just pop out of my head. A boy is fine but I actually prefer a girl for my first born, a child version of you so she can straighten up her little brother when he becomes a king someday. Maybe it's because of that I find it hard to think of a beautiful name that suits a daughter of mine. I even look up to some books to no avail. Akame? Sakura? Chiyo? I don't really know so I decided to just name it after you. Natsume sounds great, but of course, the final name of our child will still be decided by you. I'm just---"

Why is he being so bubbly today? And he said that he prefers a girl over a boy for his first born. How strange.

"Natsume... why are you crying even more? Your tears are falling like waterfalls. You're making me all flustered, stop crying..."

He said with a nervous laugh and continued wiping my tears away. I'm so happy and relieved that I can't help it.

I put my arms around his waist and buried my face on his chest. I'm already sobbing.

My heart feels so light, unlike before that it feels like I was suffocating. He pats my head and sighed.

"My Lord... thank you for letting me keep our child"

I muffled on his clothe and he suddenly stiffen.

"What are you talking about?"

"I already know..."

He relaxed after that.

"Don't worry... I already talk to an exceptional shaman, she's the one I called when... you're abducted by the Dark Cultists. Everything is going to be fine"