Oh for you, I would have done whatever.

"Make a baby with me."

Riftan spits out his wine in surprise at the statement. Almost thirty seconds worth of choked coughing was then followed by him shooting her an incredulous look, dark black eyes widened with surprise.

"Excuse me?"

Maxi could only blink up at him expectantly. "A baby. We should get one."

Riftan's eyebrows raise, setting the goblet of wine on the nearby table. "Why are you saying it like we're just buying a basket of apples at the town square?"

Maxi furrows her eyebrows at him. "I'm serious, Riftan. We should be genuinely trying for a child instead of fooling around."

"Do you think I'm doing you halfheartedly? Every action I make is 'genuine'." Riftan retorts, and Maxi couldn't stop the impending blush on her face upon hearing his words.

"Still... it's about time you have an heir."

Hints of guilt laced Maxi's tone, and she couldn't stop her gaze from meeting the floor.

No matter how many times others assured her that she saved hundreds of people that day at Ethylene castle, sometimes she wished she hadn't been so reckless. God knows how many nights she has spent thinking of what could have been if she had been just a little stronger, just a little wiser.

Sensing the dreary shift in her mood, Riftan approaches her in a few quick strides.

"Enough with that." Riftan lifts her chin with a calloused finger. Her heart is pierced by the swirling pool of emotions in his eyes. "You don't have to go through something so tedious."

"But I am your wife! It's... It's my duty."

"I don't care about 'duties', I will put your wellbeing over anything." Riftan's voice tightens, like he ate something bitter. It's almost like he remembered something painful. "So don't worry about things like that."

More guilt poured inside of her, she felt like a keg being filled with ale. Maxi wonders how a man could be so selfless, down from the tips of his fingers to the heels of his feet. She had grown up in a castle filled with selfishness, where her father hungered for a strong male heir, and his selfishness choked the life out of her mother and the women who followed her. It was strange to see her husband not even bat an eye at things that other men waged wars over.

Yet there was something else there, something that stirred within Maxi whenever she saw Riftan's intense eyes and his beautiful copper skin. She'd take his hands in her own and feel like nothing in the world could hurt her, and suddenly all fears and pretenses would fade away. She could go through anything as long as it's with Riftan... even if it's raising children with him.

"Still... Will you try with me?"

Riftan's eyes twitch, followed by a silence, like he was still processing her words.

Maxi steps closer, smoothing out the creases on the front of his tunic. "You did say that... It'd be cute if we had a little kid running around."

His lips part, still stuck in silence. Maxi gives him a gentle smile. "It'd be a nice way to make the castle livelier. I would love a little child with dark hair and golden skin-."

"Red hair and silver eyes." Riftan cuts in, intertwining his fingers with hers. Something soars in Maxi's heart, it felt like rain after a forest fire. Soothing and serendipitous, Maxi realized that what she was feeling was joy.

Trying to hide the unparalleled happiness on her face, Maxi buries her face in his chest. "T-They would look better with your skin and hair."

"Are you kidding me? I would throw a daily festival for a little red-haired baby." Riftan moves to kiss the top of her head and Maxi smiles, still feeling trickles of elation dripping through her veins.