Pregnancy Is Too Much For The Villain - C149.2

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While saying motherly words, Asif pushed high-quality honey and apricot jam towards Valentin. Valentin nodded, tearing bread and dipping it in honey. Thus, Valentin finished dinner, happily chatting with people who had now become like a close family.

The closer humans are to nature, the more they live with the sun. They wake up at dawn as soon as the sun rises and go to bed when it sets and becomes dark.

Except for those who lit a few oil lamps to do some sewing or finish up work, everyone prepared for bed. They spread out bedding made of blankets covered in sheep’s wool or animal skins on spaces roughly divided by screens.

Valentin stared blankly at the alpha and omega couple, Jamil and Asif, calmly combing each other’s hair, before pulling the blanket over himself.

Seeing people living happily and loving each other in this harsh place reminded him of a certain face. But that was already in the past. Valentin tightly closed his eyes, trying to erase the faintly emerging image.

In fact, he hadn’t come to such a remote place for travel from the beginning.

The start wasn’t so grand.

Thinking about the beginning of the journey, he was naturally reminded of Cecilia’s always cheerful voice.

[Valentin. Instead of staying like this, why don’t we go on a trip together?]

Cecilia, who had been visiting continuously since Valentin returned to the Viscount Wiche’s family, asked. She had come to visit her friend who had fallen ill from running around the slums full of dust, ash, and smoke every day.

She was already worried and displeased that her divorcing friend was always covering himself with a gray robe and running around sweating in the slums. No matter how down-to-earth her friend was, regardless of social status, he had been the consort of the Grand Duke, considered the noblest in the empire after the royal family. He wasn’t in a position to be running around the harsh and dirty Gray Chapel streets with soot on his face.

Cecilia tidied Valentin’s hair as he lay down and patted his back, urging an answer.

[What do you think?]

[…A trip?]

Valentin, sprawled lifelessly on the couch, suddenly raised his head at the word ‘trip’. Yes, why hadn’t he thought of that?

[Yes. We’ve promised since we were young that we’d go on a trip together someday.]

As soon as he heard the word ‘trip’, life returned to Valentin’s face. His old friend had finally found a topic that could lift his spirits. Thinking she had hit the mark, Cecilia continued more excitedly.

[Christopher said he received an invitation from a friend in Turkestan. He asked me to go with him, and I think it would be good if you came along too. You’ve always wanted to travel to those countries, right?]

Cecilia brought up the Central Asian region that Valentin was interested in.

[You say Christopher received an invitation…]

[That’s right!]

Yes, that was trustworthy. Valentin nodded at his friend’s words.

Christopher Vernon, Cecilia’s fiancé, boasted extreme sociability to the point of having at least one friend in each country. He was a cheerful eccentric, rarely seen in noble families, who loved traveling here and there, being very interested in foreign cultures and active. It seemed he was planning to take his fiancée Cecilia on this journey as well.

[It’s a traditional noble family in Turkestan. It’ll be fun.]

Thus, in the blink of an eye, Valentin found himself half-willingly, half-unwillingly embarking on a journey.

The Viscount Wiche couple and Dalton, who had been displeased with him constantly handing out flyers in dangerous neighborhoods since his return to the Count’s family, welcomed this with open arms. As soon as they heard about it, they started packing his bags. He was thus properly pushed by his friends and family.

At first, he stayed leisurely as a guest of the Babur family who had invited them.

He spent time enjoying the trip itself like a tourist from a foreign land, along with Cecilia and Christopher. In the beginning, they constantly toured mosques and minaret spires, Islamic architectural structures decorated in emerald and gold. Some days, he would touch and try to draw the tiles engraved with mysterious patterns in turquoise and deep blue that beautifully adorned the walls of ancient temples.

While staying as a guest of a wealthy family for several days, Valentin felt a realization rising that this wasn’t the kind of trip he had wanted to take. The Babur family, descendants of Emperor Tamar, was a powerful noble family as their reputation suggested, and wealthy, and their warm hospitality was very comfortable, but he thought he wanted to experience a more free-spirited journey.

[Christopher. I’d like to take a trip that delves deeper into the lives of ordinary people, is that possible?]

Christopher, who had been strictly instructed about Valentin’s safety and well-being by the Viscount Wiche’s family, was in a dilemma. But due to the earnest request, he eventually introduced someone from this family.

Asif, a young omega, was one of the residents living in an intermediate region that travelers crossing the desert must stop by, and since his boyhood, he had been guiding merchants to nearby cities so they wouldn’t get lost in the desert. He was good with camels, as well as horses, donkeys, sheep, and goats, fluent in neighboring languages, and skilled. Such a person brought Valentin to his home for a fee.

The two omegas of the same age quickly became friends.

Thus, Valentin blended in as a guest into the natural life of locals in a remote area.

Valentin was satisfied with mixing into their daily lives. He experienced and learned cultural differences firsthand, and often captured their living environment and lifestyle in drawings.

Some days he would follow them to herd sheep, and other days he would learn to weave tapestries with grandmothers. Generally, each day was filled with new and enjoyable experiences.

Jamil and the village men returned, laden with cargo on camels and horses, cutting through the chilly weather.

It was a journey to and from the bazaar (market) in the neighboring city, which took two days round trip. Buying items they couldn’t produce themselves like this once in a while was one of their tasks.

The women and omegas opened the sacks of items they brought, evaluating and dividing the quantities and weights. Asif, who was checking the quality of dried fruits like dried apricots and dates, spoke to Valentin.

“You should have come along.”

It was an affectionate reproach that it would have been nice to see a bustling place rather than this boring nomadic village.

“I’ve already seen plenty of such places before coming here.”

Valentin, who had already been in the large capital city of Markant before coming here, had no regrets. So he shrugged his shoulders while nibbling on some of the dry honey that Asif was distributing to his sons.

While trying to stop Fahod from playing with the sticky honey and ending up tickling and giggling together, someone tapped Valentin’s shoulder.

“Hm?”

Valentin turned around at the rough but not forceful, gentle touch.

It was Khalil, a tall and very sturdy alpha. He was probably the most handsome young man in this village.

Yes, in Valentin’s eyes, Khalil was still a ‘child’. This was because, unlike the local culture where people marry in their mid-teens and become adults, Valentin was from the Heston Empire where one is recognized as an adult at the age of twenty. No matter how sturdy his build or that he was an alpha, he was only 18 years old.

“What is it, Khalil?”

He couldn’t properly meet Valentin’s blue eyes that were asking innocently, and just took out something round from his chest. Then he rubbed it on his sleeve and handed it over.

“It’s a pomegranate.”

The red pomegranate with brown spots was so well polished that its surface shone. It was visibly very large and well-ripened.

“Eat it.”

“Is this for me?”

When asked about his rough words, he nodded vigorously. Then he turned back and went to take care of the tired horses. Valentin blankly watched him stroking the horse’s nose bridge and walking away holding the reins through the lowered tent flaps. Then he lowered his gaze to the fruit in his hand.

“Looks like he likes you.”

Asif blurted out, glancing at Valentin who was staring stupidly at the pomegranate larger than his fist.

“What?”

Valentin was startled by those words. This was because it was really something he had never even imagined. Asif shrugged at such a Valentin and asked as if wondering why he was making such a fuss.

“…Isn’t it obvious? It’s winter now, how easy do you think it is to get fruit that’s not in season?”

“I never thought…”

Come to think of it, unlike the noble society Valentin had lived in, here, fruit out of season would require paying extra. He must have gone to great lengths… As this thought occurred to him, Valentin’s face flushed with embarrassment. As he fumbled clumsily, not knowing what to do as if the pomegranate was about to explode, Asif said casually:

“Give it a try. Khalil is a good kid.”

“What do you mean, give it a try!”

Seeing Valentin jump up in surprise, Asif’s expression became even stranger.

“Why are you so surprised? It’s natural for an omega to meet an alpha.”

“I’ve never even thought about it! Besides, he’s too young!”

For Valentin, the only alpha had been Reynard, who was ten years older than him. Somehow, Valentin might have unconsciously fixed the idea that an alpha matching him should be at least that much older.

“Young? He’s completely late here! He’s the only alpha without a partner when everyone else has one.”

“Ugh… He’s still a teenager.”

“I married Jamil as soon as I had my first heat at 15. Jamil was 17 then. That’s how it is for everyone here. Khalil is the unusual one.”

“Unusual?”

“Yes. There aren’t many trait carriers left at that age in this village.”

Jamil and Asif were a very well-matched alpha-omega couple. Their relationship seemed good, and anyone could see how Jamil, who excellently managed the village as the alpha leader, loved his omega Asif. Valentin quietly looked at little Fahod, the fruit of their love, and gently stroked his black hair. They were the very image of an ideal and happy family.

“It’s a pity. I was the last omega of a similar age, so he had no choice. And there aren’t many omegas who would marry into a village like this.”

Valentin nodded as soon as he heard this. Trait carriers were not common in this nomadic village of only a few dozen people. Moreover, although not as much as in Heston, trait carriers in this country were also concentrated in the upper classes. It wouldn’t have been easy to find an omega to marry among the common people.

“Khalil’s parents and village elders suggested beta girls, but he just shook his head. It seems he wants to mate with an omega.”

“I see…”

Indeed, even in the Empire, medicine to alleviate omega heat cycles is difficult to obtain and expensive. So it was common even in the Empire for trait carriers who weren’t from the upper class to marry early and find a mate, like the people of this country. Moreover, these people are nomads living in tents, so there isn’t really a suitable space to take medicine and isolate… Valentin thought, looking around the space inside the yurt where families were used to all living together.

Asif, who was transferring dried apricots to another sack, asked:

“Come to think of it, are you okay with your heat? It’s been almost two months since you came here, but you haven’t had one yet, right?”

Valentin smiled bitterly at his question.

“…I probably won’t have heats.”

“Why? Are you pregnant?”

At those words, Valentin choked on his own saliva and coughed violently.

“Ah, no. It’s because my health isn’t good.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. So even if I saw Khalil as an alpha, I wouldn’t be able to be his mate. Probably not with anyone.”

There hadn’t been anything like a heat for the past year since losing Sharon. It’s probably because his womb wasn’t functioning properly.

“That’s a shame. Khalil is handsome and hardworking, so he’s the most popular in this village.”

“…Anyway, he’s too young for me.”