'It's a dream.'

As soon as Kalia saw Simon's eyes glistening greedily for her, full of love, she realized that she was dreaming. Although everything felt too vivid and too hot, it was truly just a dream. Simon looking at her with that kind of look couldn't have been real.

'Kalia, I miss you.'

Dream Simon looked at Kalia with a wistful look and kissed her lips gently. What started as a gentle kiss quickly grew in intensity. Their two lips slid against one another, not a seam of gap between them, separating only for quick breaths of air before locking again. Their tongues moved freely, exploring each other's mouth without, making one feel as if they were bearing their all to the other.

Their tongues danced, feeling each other's teeth at a moderate tempo. But the deeper his tongue delved, the more desperate he became.

'Kalia, Kalia…..Kalia,' When they came up for air between their breathtaking kisses Simon chanted her name again and again, as if memorizing it like a spell.

'….I miss you. I miss you so much. So please, come back.'

Simon's touch was everywhere. Their forehead, their cheeks and their close, overlapping breaths.

He was begging. With Kalia in his arms, Simon pleaded with her nonstop.

Come back to me. Please come back.

'I'll be nice. I won't speak badly. I won't grumble like a child...So please, come back to me,' he pleaded in a ragged voice.

Simon's breath warmed Kalia's cheeks and swept down to her neck; the warmth permeating/seeping into her skinny shoulders. The damp yet warm touch was so vivid it really felt like he was actually here. His touch was hasty yet gentle.

Simon evaded every one of her senses. His smooth, flowing touch caressed her all over. His lips glided smoothly down her skin, moving nonstop over her body. A sound that didn't sound like it would come from her kept leaking through her rough breathing.

Simon, who was carefully but greedily touching her, raised his eyes to stare at her. Golden eyes gleamed in the faint light, looking as if he wanted to eat her up, swallow her whole. Kalia felt her whole body becoming more sensitive to his light touches. The heat from his fingertips seemed to grow hotter and hotter.

Was this really a dream?

It was so vivid. This can't be a dream, right? No way.

It couldn't have been a dream. This heat… She felt that the flames of this heat could burn through and consume her at any moment,

Simon drew even closer to her. Their bodies were pressed against one another and moved together as one, almost like they were dreaming the same dream. The heat burned strongly like fire, so intense it seemed to drain her soul but at the same time, the feeling was so fragrant and so sweet, just like finely-aged wine.

'Kalia…!'

Simon hugged Kalia, who was struggling with the shuddering sensations racking through her body, not allowing a single sliver of space between them. His strong arms gripped her shoulder blades, not letting her go for even a fraction of a second. He pressed his lips deeply into the nape of her neck.

Kalia struggled to hold onto her slipping consciousness just as she felt his lips engrave a deep kiss into her skin, lasting like an imprint. It was an indescribably hot and sexual sensation.

***

"…Huh," With a gasp, Kalia shot up in her bed and gripped the soft quilt that had been covering her.

Blinking rapidly to orient herself, her chest rose and fell as if she had been running and her face was red.

'What….' She blinked again, eyes opening and closing. She turned her head stiffly to look at the curtained window that fought to keep the morning sun out. A few rays peeked through when the curtain fluttered in the breeze. She took a deep breath of the fresh morning air, trying to clear her head. Kalia's face slowly cooled down.

She patted her body in stiff motions, so stiffly that it seemed like she would creak like a rusty iron should she move more. door.

Her burning body felt hot and sticky all over. The experience had been so vivid and a hand went to her neck to feel for the lingering sensations of Simon's engraving.

She was shocked and shut the mouth that had been agape.

'How can I dream such an obscene dream when I'm with child….'

A dizzying sense of guilt washed over her. Yet, at the same time, she also felt indescribably languid; a heady feeling of satisfaction heated up her whole body. In her head, she clearly felt shame, but her body didn't.

"Oh no. I guess I'm really a piece of garbage," Kalia murmured what was on her mind, before immediately going pale and hurriedly shook her head.

"Not.. no, I'm not. This is supposed to be natural. I'm not rubbish. It's natural. Yeah, it must be the hormones," Kalia rubbed her ears and bit her lower lip.

Because it had been so life-like, fragments of the dream would flicker in her head every time she closed her eyes and her cheeks automatically reddened again. It was definitely just a dream but just a moment ago, her skin throbbed as if she had really felt Simon's touch.

It was true that the picture of Simon she had taken out last night was especially memorable but did she just dream about him because of it?

Kalia sighed unknowingly, and shifted her uncomfortable body. It felt heavier than normal.

Her stomach was cramping a little1. Because of how heavy his presence was in dream and the lasting impression he'd left on her, she felt her uterus2 throbbing down there.

Should she say this….. She was kind of….thirsty.

'….Mom had such a naughty dream so Shasha3 must've been surprised? I'm sorry. Mom didn't intend for it to happen.'

It felt like the baby was reproaching her by tightening Kalia's stomach; her heart was heavy with guilt.

She really didn't mean to….

'What's wrong with me.'

Kalia laid on her back for a while, rubbing her cramped belly as if to soothe her baby with her gentle caresses. She felt like she needed to lay there a little while longer, at least until her tight stomach relaxed. Gradually, the heavy weight of her stomach calmed her mind down. Her belly seemed to grow bigger as time went on.

As soon as her stomach grew bigger, her body also swelled. This was the first time she felt so heavy because she had never experienced swelling before. The sensation was quite uncomfortable, but not unpleasant; she didn't hate it because she could strongly feel her child's presence.

The sensation was inconvenient because the feeling of her growing child pressing down on her uterus caused her to have to go in and out of the bathroom every so often. Nevertheless, she liked the full feeling.4

My mind went into the gutter when I was translating this lmao. I was tempted to put "she liked the feeling of being full" but lmao… too much too much. her child gave her.

After a while, Kalia got up to take a quick shower, as if to wash away the wild dreams from last night, before hurrying down to the first floor a little earlier than usual mornings.

Mrs. McCanna, who was hired to work in the kitchen, was already busy preparing breakfast. The fragrant smell of breakfast permeated the kitchen.

"You're early, Mrs. McCanna," Kalia greeted.

"The gypsies arrived in town sometime last night. The streets are pretty noisy so I couldn't sleep. Might as well get up. There will be a festival in town soon, so the town is bustling with energy. Have you ever seen gypsies5, Leah?"

"I've seen a few by chance." "Oh! There must be more gypsies in the Capital, right? They're attractive people. Just a little noisy" Mrs. McCanna responded with lively chatter to Kalia. She filled the large pot in front of her full with savory, mouth-watering food.

"You woke up early, by the way. If you're headed for the market, would you like me to prepare your meal right away?"

"Oh, no. It's okay. I'll have breakfast with the others. It's a hassle to set the table twice. Can I just have some juice please?"

"The kale is fresh today. I'll grind it with kiwi. Please wait a moment," Mrs. McCanna smiled, grabbed the blender and immediately took out some green kale, kiwis and apples.

The sweet and healthy juice was made in an instant. Mrs. McCanna also handed over warm buttered bread and jam, telling Kalia that she had bought it on her way here. The amount of bread wasn't small but Kalia's appetite wasn't small either, so the bread was like an appetizer to her.

Munching on the warm buttery bread slathered with blueberry jam, Kalia looked at Mrs. McCanna's back for a moment.

Mrs. McCanna was a mother of five. She had three sons and two daughters.

Five children. Kalia couldn't believe it and looked at Mrs. McCanna's working figure in wonder.

Kalia couldn't believe she had five children and looked in wonder at Mrs. McCanna's back.

In the Empire, the average family size was 4 people, at most 56.

In the meantime, Mrs. McCanna had a family of seven.

"It's crowded when you go home, right?" Kalia suddenly asked as she ate her bread.

Mrs. McCanna, who was now making salad, glanced back and smiled affectionately, "It's not just crowded. I feel like I'm going deaf sometimes. My 2nd and 3rd fight a lot. The youngest is the youngest and the oldest never comes back from dorms. At least the 4th is a bit more docile, but… oh, that kid got into a fight with his father a few days ago and is still upset."

Mrs. McCanna seemed to glow with warmth and light up with joy as she laughed and talked about her noisy family.

Is that what it would feel like to be a mother?

Come to think of it, Mrs. McCanna had a very good relationship with her husband. They were childhood friends and had gotten married as soon as they turned 20. In a nutshell, it's similar to Kalia's relationship with Simon with some slight differences. Kalia and Simon didn't intend to marry each other.

Her stomach tightened again but….

"Hmmm. Hmm," Kalia, who had gotten a little lost in her own thoughts, poured herself another large glass of fresh fruit juice. After finishing the last piece of bread, she sat at the table by the kitchen and lingered there, seemingly with something weighing on her mind.

Mrs. McCanna, who was busy grinding nuts, looked back at Kalia. Sensing that she seemed a little antsy, Mrs. McCanna asked "Is there something you want to ask?" to try to see what was wrong.

"What? Oh, oh, no!" Kalia stood up in surprise, and hurriedly shook her head. However, a moment later, she then sat back down as if she had made up her mind about something.

"Hey, actually. I don't know if I can ask you something like this," unlike her usual self, Kalia spoke haltingly and she chose her words carefully.

'What in the world does she want to say, hesitating so much like this?' Mrs. McCanna looked at Kalia, puzzled.

"Well, you've experienced it five times so I was wondering if you'd know."

Even though it was strange to Mrs. McCanna to see Kalia shrink like this, she thought her red cheeks were very lovely. Mrs. McCanna washed her hands, dried them on her apron before turning around and laughing, her dimples flashing.

Kalia propped her face up with her hands as Mrs. McCanna replied, "Please feel free to ask. Are you feeling uncomfortable? Are you worried about the actual birthing experience? It may be scary to go into your first labour but it'll pass by quickly so don't worry. If you scream a few times, the child will be pushed out. Ah! Actually, it's better not to scream. You'll have more energy to push."

"What? Ah, yes. I won't make a sound. I have some tolerance for pain but that's not what I'm curious about."

Mrs. McCanna's eyebrows shot up, wondering what Kalia was getting at.

Kalia, who had been biting her lip in hesitation, let out a short breath before spitting out her next words very quickly, "I had a strange dream last night. It was a dream about the baby's father but it's my first time having such a dream. I was wondering if it was normal and why I did it. I don't know why I had such a dream but it's weird and embarrassing…. haha."

Mrs. McCanna listened with a tilted head and her face lit up in sudden realization, "A dream about the baby's father? That kind of dream…? Ah! That kind of dream!"