Side Story 7
Side Story 7
He felt the Emperor glaring at him. The last time he had heard the nonsense that he would marry his first dance partner at the masquerade show and he had made the exact same expression as he did now.
<……I heard that the Crown Princess wanted to eat strawberries.>
That was the reaction he gave after a long time.
The Emperor still had no idea what nonsense Killian was talking about. Did he wake him up to hear this in the first place? He might have been grumbling inside.
However, Killian didn’t really care and answered.
<As you know, strawberries don’t grow anywhere in the Escass Empire right now, right?>
<……So?>
He still had a look in his eyes that said, “What kind of crazy stuff are you trying to say?”
Killian answered without disappointing his expectations.
<I would like you to allow me to trade with the country where strawberries grow.>
Then, instead of talking longer, Killian handed over a letter from a country that boasted about growing strawberries in their country.
At first, the emperor made an expression that he had no idea what this meant. After his eyes moved up and down several times, he glared at Killian again.
He looked at his son as if he were crazy, trading strawberries for his wife to eat, and the cause of abdication.
Killian looked at that tired gaze and then said a word.
<I really love Idina.>
It was to the extent that he could trade strawberries. The emperor gave a short warning with a bewildered expression.
<Be prepared.>
<……Of course.>
***
Although the very strange transaction was concluded, Emperor Escass did not easily give Killian what he wanted.
He constantly tested whether Killian was truly willing to accept the throne or not. Hence, because of that, he had no choice but to leave Idina, who was pregnant, alone during the day.
The Emperor intentionally exposed him to many people and made him learn all the education necessary for the throne endlessly. Killian also got annoyed in the middle and tried to send a letter on his own to trade strawberries, but the Emperor, who had already predicted that he would do so, intercepted the letter in the middle.
With just one strawberry, Emperor Escass and Killian engaged in a ridiculous espionage war.
Honestly, Killian himself was at a loss as to why he had to do this with just strawberries. But if he thinks of it as the price for finding something that doesn’t come from his own country… then it’s not so bad…
His feelings became very complicated.
Still.
“Come on, eat more, Idina.”
“Hm, I’m full…….”
Contrary to her words, Idina opened her pretty pink mouth and took the strawberry, chewing it. She looked so cute like a white rabbit eating grass that Killian’s heart ached.
The strawberry alone made all the months of suffering worth it.
Killian never regretted his decision, not even a little. As long as Idina could eat well.
But anyway.
‘She’s eating a lot.’
Killian was a little surprised that Idina had already eaten about two-thirds of the strawberries. Idina was stuffing strawberries into her small body endlessly.
If someone saw her, they’d think she was possessed by a strawberry ghost.
But she didn’t show any sign of being tired. Far from being tired……
“How long will these strawberries last?”
It sent a signal that she wanted to eat it again next time.
Killian thought about the numerous strawberries that he had ordered to be stored separately in the warehouse to keep them fresh, and he felt sorry for them. If he had brought in too few, Idina must have looked at him with a disappointed look……. Thinking about it made Killian feel a little creepy.
“They’re pretty fresh, so if you store them well, they should last about a week. And don’t worry, I only took out a few of them…….”
A week.
It was neither too long nor too short, so Idina’s expression was a little ambiguous. She nodded slightly.
And she said something that made Killian nervous.
“Then I can eat them again tomorrow, right?”
“……Of course.”
But why does she really eat so much?
Killian also started to get suspicious at this point. Was the b*by in Idina’s stomach really a glutton in her past life? Idina, who was worried about gaining weight but acted like she would eat all the strawberries in the world, was so cute that Killian soon forgot about that useless thought.
***
Idina’s love of strawberries really surprised everyone. Killian brought in ten times the amount of strawberries that Idina had eaten on her first day, but surprisingly, she ate them all by herself.
Even so, she ate without skipping meals, which was fortunate. Nonetheless, he was also worried that Idina’s small stomach would really burst.
However, Killian was happy that she ate well and got busy again bringing in strawberries. Fortunately, before she could finish eating the strawberries that were brought in the first time, new strawberries were filled in the warehouse.
It was clear that Idina and Killian had probably eaten more strawberries in the past two weeks than they had in their entire lives.
“Will the children in her womb be girls? Other women say they want to eat strawberries when they have a daughter.”
Idina was still eating strawberries and telling Killian that. Killian asked her, still happily watching her from the side.
“They say they want to eat something different when they have a boy?”
Idina nodded quickly.
“Some women say they want to eat plums when they have a boy.”
“It’s sour just thinking about it.”
“Mrs. Jefferson said she ate strawberries and had a son, but…….”
Idina had already finished a bowl and looked down at her stomach. She was already looking forward to the day these children would come out into the world.
