His Majesty's Devious Sin

A week passed by, and Adeline was heavily pregnant. By now, she was having difficulties walking and standing. Her complexion was pale and she looked like she'd faint any moment now.

Adeline always felt tired, her lower back had sharp pains, and she rarely slept comfortably in the past few days. The last two weeks were approaching, and Elias never left her side. He only completed paperwork when she was fast asleep.

Elias had moved his desk into their room. Even though his hand was scribbling on the paper, he could never look away from Adeline's sleeping body. She'd toss and turn in bed, even when he was holding her. 

"I can walk on my own," Adeline said, blushing when they walked past a pair of servants who paused at the sight of them, before whispering and smiling amongst themselves.

Elias carried Adeline wherever she wanted to go. He'd carry her to the bathroom, to the dining room, to the gardens. It was quite literally everywhere. Her feet only touched the ground when she sat down.

"I'm heavy, Elias, put me down," Adeline said, tapping at his shoulder for mercy. He simply chuckled at her words and stared at her.

"If I can't even carry my wife to the gardens, what is the use of exercising?" Elias mused, as they walked down the staircase. Her arms were tightly woven around his shoulders, scared she'd fall. It was a silly fear, for he'd never drop her. Ever. 

Well, perhaps to tease her a bit. But that was it. Elisa felt like he was carrying an empty book bag. Even though their twins were developing at the speed of light, getting bigger by the day, Elias wished she ate more.

"You just want an excuse to spend every waking moment with me," Adeline responded. She was grateful for his actions, despite her words. Having him by her side made her feel much more at ease. She felt comfortable and protected, as if nothing could ever go wrong in this world.

"Besides, why are we going to the garden?" Adeline lightly laughed, wondering what made him so excited to take her outside. He was usually complaining that the sun was too bright for her skin, and the wind too harsh on her body.

"You'll see," Elias said with a smile. Together, they walked through the hallways and soon, the familiar scent of flowers wafted through the air, tickling the nose.

Adeline's eyes instantly brightened when she saw who was in the garden. There was a wooden picnic table set up, with flower vases, a white cloth running down the edges, finger food, cakes and sandwiches resting on trays of tiers, and tea pots.

"A tea party!" Adeline gushed, excitedly taking everything in. She gasped when she saw who was waiting for her. 

"Liddy!" Adeline exclaimed, just as Elias placed her by the picnic table. He pulled out the chair, ready to help her into it, but she had other plans.

Adeline forced herself to take steps forward and hug her friend. She was finding it incredibly difficult to move her limbs, especially her feet which were always sore and aching. The last time she could properly walk without pain was a week ago, when she visited Kastrem.

"I can't believe it's actually you, Addy!" Lydia said, rushing forward to prevent Adeline from falling. 

Lydia grabbed both of Adeline's hands, squeezing it to pass her some strength. Adeline's tense shoulders instantly relaxed, and she looked a bit more relieved.

"I am always amazed by the properties you possess as the Golden Rose," Adeline said.

"Well, it is the least I can do for you!" Lydia said as she hurriedly guided Adeline towards the chair. Lydia tried to ignore how sick Adeline looked. Her cheeks were hollow and her skin was pale. The babies were draining the nutrients from her food, the blood of her body, and her energy. 

"Lydia isn't that important for you to stand," Elias remarked. "Sit, darling."

Lydia glared at him. The King ignored her. He simply helped his wife sit down and Lydia felt a stab in her chest. Just sitting down seemed to hurt Adeline who tightly grabbed onto his hand, her arms shaky when she lowered herself onto the chair.

"Are you alright? You're a bit pale," Lydia worriedly said, immediately holding onto Adeline's hands again. Lydia wondered if she and Weston were going to have the same difficulties.

"I'm fine," Adeline said, her voice a bit breathless from using so much of her energy. But she felt much better from Lydia's touch.

"Liddy, I have a request to ask of you," Adeline suddenly said. 

Adeline knew she could not drink Lydia's blood, for it felt like cannabalism. But she also couldn't inject the blood of the Golden Rose into her body, their blood was incompatiable. Lydia was neither O positive or O negative. Adeline's body would face further complications if Lydia's blood was injected into her.

"A request?" Lydia echoed, staring at her best friend with a large smile.

Adeline looked up at Elias who was staring at her the entire time, with lines on his forehead, and a deep frown on his face.

Elias was beginning to regret setting up this tea party for Adeline. Elias recalled she loved to have tea parties with Lydia when they were little girls. It was all that they liked to do, aside from shooting at cups with their practice guns. Given her state, he didn't even want to host this party, but she had been complaining about being on bed-rest for far too long.

"Of course, I'd be happy to hear it! Tell me, tell me!" Lydia chirped, eager to lend as much help as she could. Lydia had been dying of guilt ever since she realized Claymore Pharmaceuticals could not develop the medicine in time.

A few days ago, Lydia heard from Adeline that the Doctors predicted the babies were going to come out in 2-3 weeks. It was not enough time, for the drug was not completed yet.

"Would you mind holding my hand during the birth? Elias and I hypothesized it'd help—"

"Of course!" Lydia said. "Thank goodness you asked me this. My plan was to push my way into your birthing room to offer you support."

Adeline lightly laughed at the thought of Lydia shoving her way into the hospital room. Elias would have a fit if she did that. Speaking of Elias, he finally looked away from her. She wondered what he was looking at. Turns out, it was Minerva and Easton in the distance.

"I didn't know you invited Minerva," Adeline said to Elias. 

"So that's her name?" Lydia grumbled, rising to her full height. She turned to look at Minerva, and her breath caught in her throat. 

The vampiress was beautiful in every angle possible. Minerva was engaged in a conversation with Weston, the two seemingly bonding well, whereas Easton tried his best to interrupt the conversation.

"I got here first, you know, and then Weston saw me. He decided to stay, and Minerva happened to walk past here, and the damn brute invited her to join us," Lydia hissed. "I bet he is trying to make me jealous."

Adeline smiled at Lydia's childish antics. "But you tried to make him jealous first. It is expected he'd retaliate."

Lydia let out a scoff. She turned to the King and frowned. "Your politicians are petty, Your Majesty."

Elias stared at her for a brief second before smirking. "I expected better insults from you. Pity."

Lydia gaped at his words, spinning directly to Adeline. "Did you just hear him—"

"Your Grace," Weston greeted, placing a hand upon Lydia's hip. His girlfriend instantly moved away from him, pissed off by his actions. 

"What did you guys talk about?" Adeline asked, suppressing the urge to widen her smile at the sight of Lydia's obvious jealousy. She could already tell Lydia planned on inviting William to the tea party.

"The latest gossip about you in High Society," Weston responded. "You've made quite a name for yourself, Your Grace."

"Oh?"

"Our kind is praising you for being so strong throughout the pregnancy, when most humans can barely stand during the last month, Your Grace," Weston said. 

"Well, that is me now," Adeline chuckled. She turned her head a bit to see Easton was trying his best to talk to Minerva, who was looking away as if no one was beside her.

"Yes, but it's very impressive you've held on for so long, Your Grace," Weston said. He opened his mouth to say more, but Lydia interrupted him.

"Uh huh, are you sure that's the only thing you talked about?" Lydia asked in a light voice, hiding her anger, but her glaring eyes spoke for her.

"I don't know," Weston deadpanned. "What do you and William talk about in the car?"

"He has a girlfriend," Lydia scoffed.

"And Minerva is into women."

Lydia narrowed her eyes at him.

"If you're going to argue, do it out of my wife's sight. You're giving her a headache," Elias snapped at them.

"No, no, I'm fine—"

"If you're jealous, just say so," Lydia said to Weston.

Weston gawked at her in disbelief, before scoffing, his chest huffing. He grabbed her wrist and began dragging her away, knowing their dispute won't end unless there was an intense make-up session to leave her breathless and begging for more.

"Aw, why did you say that?" Adeline groaned, sulking that she wouldn't be able to witness her romance novels come to life. She was going to grab a bite or two and watch the argument go down.

"I can never understand your logic, darling," Elias murmured, shaking his head at her. He placed a hand on the table and bent down, capturing her lips in a soft kiss. He licked at her bottom lip, and she parted her mouth for him. Before they could go any further, he pulled away and pecked her on the nose. Any more than that, and he'd be far too aroused to control himself.

"That's because there is no logic," Adeline chuckled. "It's my first time seeing Lydia with a decent man. I am just happy for her and I want to witness everything."

Elias looked at her with an expecting gaze, knowing that was half the truth. "Don't lie to me, darling. I know you wanted to witness your love stories come to life. You're practically living in a romance novel yourself, what could be so interesting about other people's relationships?"

Adeline stared at him as if he was crazy. She was a nosy person and liked to know everything. "What is not interesting about other people's relationships?"

Elias always found it intriguing that he learned more and more about her with each passing day. Right when he thought he had learned everything about her, she surprises him. 

"I do not understand the way your brain works, darling," Elias muttered, tapping the side of her head.

Adeline grabbed his finger and scoffed. "I can say the same about you, Eli."

Elias smiled at the nickname. She was saying it more often now, and he loved the sound of it rolling off her tongue. In this world, only she was allowed to call him by a nickname. 

"Whatever you say, darling."

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