For The Eternal's Soul, His Dearest || WrioLette

VIII

The two men were closer than ever after that incident, for whatever reason, even after months had passed. Wriothesley encouraged Neuvillette to share any stories about his day-to-day life with each other, and the two of them just became more at ease in their circle around each other to fill in the dots in their missing pieces.

Yet one day, an unanticipated discovery significantly changed Neuvillette's mores, as if the world and his view of it was all turned upside-down—a revelation that he could not possibly comprehend even with all the centuries he had been living through alone.

Knowing that there's another soul in his body, preserved between the little portion of his living organs wherein especially females raises a whole creature within it left a trackless whirlwind jumbling all of his emotions and thoughts into one, forming an overwhelming pile of pressure to his mind. Every negative input is surrounding him almost every second of his days, interrupting both his work, the state of his lucidity, and even attracting concerns from the people around him.

Neuvillette planned to keep this case concealed, and he did, with the exact result of absolutely no one knowing about his matter, even Wriothesley, the father of the child he's carrying in his womb. He was in fact about to tell the man, but every single time he tried to do it, he would fail miserably with the feeling of something clogging up his throat lingering for the rest of the day afterwards.

It's burdensome. All he could think about is how Wriothesley would take it if he ever found out. Will he stay? What if he's unhappy with the news? What happens if he suddenly leaves without any explanation? What if he dies before it's even born? What should I do? How do I take care of the baby? Why should he be a mortal? Why am I like this?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why?

......?

Papa, come with me! It's okay. Everything is going to be fine. We have each other!

...Collette.

...

What a beautiful name.

.

.

.

"Monsieur! Wake up! Are you okay?"

Neuvillette woke himself to Sedene shaking his body to try to wake him up. The man was not exactly in a proper state when he finally regained his consciousness. His eyes were swollen red as tears kept streaming down his cheeks, his breathing unsteady while hiccups kept intruding between them, and his head was hurting badly that his vision was heavily blurred by both tears and the effect of laying down for too long. A grunt escaped his throat as he clutched his head, and his other hand reflexively went down to his stomach while he looked down, hoping that there won't be any signs of miscarriage.

A shaky sigh of relief could be heard once he made sure everything was alright, he tried to steady his breathing, calming himself down with Sedene helping him by rubbing his back gently. The melusine then offered him a cup of water, hoping that it would soothe and hydrate him.

"Monsieur.. What happened? You've passed out for almost three days, me and the other melusines are worried.." Asked Sedene, her head tilting to the side slightly in curiosity.

"..Three days?.." He muttered in slight surprise, "Is there anyone searching for my assistance in the court?" He asked, worried.

"No one, Monsieur. Don't worry about work first! You need to recover!" Sedene lectured, shaking her head in disbelief, "Miss Sigewinne will come by soon, she said she's going to check your condition, Monsieur."

The Iudex nodded at the heads up, his head too occupied with the neverending dizziness clouding his brain. But once he digested the sentences told to him, the feeling of anxiousness began to prickle through, sending alerts to his body, knowing someone that will definitely know any symptoms of illnesses or health matters is going to check on him.. Is this going to be the time he reveals everything to everyone?

"Monsieur, It's Sigewinne." A voice said along with a knock on the Iudex's room door.

"Come in, Miss Sigewinne!" Sedene replied for the man, giving the girl at the door permission to enter.

The door creaks as it opens, revealing Sigewinne's figure that looked worried over Neuvillette who's leaning on the headboard, limp. She immediately does what she has to do, checking the man's entire condition and searching for any unusual symptoms that she could define, and as Neuvillette expected, the girl quickly finds out the roots of his worries and stress that caused him to be out for days.

"Monsieur.. Why didn't you tell us? We were so worried." Sedene asked, looking somewhat upset and sulky, just like an anxious daughter.

"I apologize.. I'm bewildered, too. I don't quite know who to tell or how to tell this to anyone properly. And I feel so..perturbed, knowing the fact that people might take it negatively." Neuvillette muttered, his hand subconsciously caressing his own stomach as he talked his issues out.

Sigewinne nodded in understanding. She once had a patient who's carrying a baby too, and she picked up from the woman that the burden is more than what it seems, and it could cause them to get more sentimental and worry over so many more things than usual.

Neuvillette opened his mouth once again to speak, he seemed rather tentative, yet knowing that the two had already listened to all his concerns, he finally decided to let it out, "Sigewinne, may I know where Wriothesley is?"

Hearing the inquiry, Sigewinne's expression quickly changed to one of a reluctant look, giving a hint that this might not be good news for the man.

"His grace is on a duty outside of Fontaine. And the span is estimated to be a few weeks long." Sigewinne informed, sounding sympathetic.

"..I see. It seems that I have to wait longer to let him know." Neuvillette muttered an answer, his guts telling him that something bad might happen, yet he clutched the sheets tight as he sighs, hoping the best for the other man.

"You'll be in our care in the meantime, Monsieur. You can still continue to work, but I have to ask you to not overdo it and might have to limit your shift span." Sigewinne emphasized.

"Thank you Sigewinne, Sedene. I'll make sure to note your words."

A few days passed, and Neuvillette was once again back to track with his daily routine, in which he goes to work, and goes home at the agreed time that was already discussed together with the others that are in charge of his health.

He began to slowly get more open again to other people, Furina, for example. He took a while to gather his courage, but in the end, he felt like he had been exaggerating his concerns just a while back since everything he gets when he tells someone about his pregnancy is just positive responses and a little bit of shock.

Neuvillette thought that everything was going well at first, but slowly, his typically light morning sickness grew worse as days apart Wriothesley gradually began to corrupt him. Even Sigewinne, Sedene and the other few Melusines who are looking after him become afraid given that he vomits at anything that just slightly touches the surface of his tongue. His stomach is wrenched by a churning sensation that shuts off his digestive tract by clearing away everything that tries to enter his mouth.

"Monsieur, hold on! We will force the fortress' guards to bring the duke back home. We will do anything!" Sedene said before Neuvillette responded to her with a weak head shake.

He is unable to talk much as doing so will just make him sicker. Is this truly how dragons are supposed to feel during pregnancy? He continued to ponder, head hung low, hands clutching hard on his blouse, and cold sweat started to trickle down his brow while his devastated and heartfelt prayers for Wriothesley's safety recited in his mind.

Wriothesley. Please be alright.

I am deeply sorry for not updating for two months but I had quite a severe writer's block ever since school holiday starts so TT

We're just a chapter near the end, so please, stay tune for another few days until I upload the finale. I really appreciate all of you guys' patience, and I hope I can repay them by fulfilling your expectations on this fic :)