The Villain's End Is Pregnancy - C110

As soon as he left the bedroom rubbing his eyes, things became hectic. Ryan was dragged around by the maids and servants led by the queen’s head maid, without even having a proper meal.

Since this was all for his own wedding ceremony, Ryan couldn’t even complain.

“Ugh… At this rate, I’ll collapse before the ceremony even starts.”

After being tormented for hours, he now felt so drained that it was hard to move anymore. As Ryan slumped onto the sofa, tightly wrapped in his ceremonial robes, awkward smiles appeared on the faces of those surrounding him.

“The prince consort seems tired, so we’ll take a short break.”

The head maid appeared as soon as Ryan left the bedroom, as if she had been waiting.

While the king’s head servant had meticulously taught him about the etiquette before the wedding, it was she who instructed and informed him about clothing and other ways of dressing and greeting.

And today, she was also leading the preparation of Ryan’s wedding.

“Yes, Head Maid.”

The maids and servants who had been busily moving according to the head maid’s orders all withdrew at once. In the meantime, Ryan gulped down the water that had been prepared in advance.

His mouth must have been very dry, as it still felt insufficient even after emptying a whole cup. However, there was a different problem.

‘I’m hungry…’

He gently rubbed his stomach and looked to the side. The snacks and fruits that had been prepared were already empty.

‘I don’t even remember eating, when did they all disappear?’

He seemed to have been busy moving his hands while getting dressed. He also recalled occasionally drinking beverages or asking for water.

But he didn’t seem to have put anything in his mouth and chewed, yet unfairly, the plates were already clean. As soon as he realized this, he felt even more drained.

However, the problem was that there were no familiar faces around to ask for something to eat because he was hungry. Even Peter, who was somewhat familiar, would naturally be by Hendrick’s side.

‘What should I do?’

Since becoming pregnant, he didn’t have morning sickness, but he became particularly greedy when it came to eating, and once this started, it would continue to linger until resolved.

‘Hendrick’s not here either.’

He desperately missed his alpha, who would always notice and ask faster than him whenever he wanted to eat something or had such thoughts.

He rolled his eyes back, hoping that someone would ask if he needed anything.

“Lord Ryan, if you’re feeling better, shall we move again?”

However, unfortunately, the head maid who met his gaze read his intention differently. Ryan felt a bit sad.

Somehow, his nose started to tingle, and his eyes felt hot.

Clearly, it should be a good day, a blessed time, but the thought of why he had to suffer without eating properly or resting suddenly surged up.

Ryan’s eyes, which had become a bit more difficult to control his emotions after pregnancy, suddenly became teary.

“L-Lord Ryan!”

The head maid, who noticed the tears rolling down, lost her earlier strict expression and didn’t know what to do.

“Uh, um… um. This is, well…”

Ryan was equally flustered. Why is this happening? He quickly wiped it with his thumb, but it wasn’t going to end there.

“I’m sorry, Lord Ryan. If I’ve made any mistake, please tell me. I’ll fix it right away.”

The head servant knelt in front of Ryan. She had no choice. She thought she might be the reason why the prince consort, who had been following orders without a word of complaint despite being told what to do since early morning, suddenly started crying.

“No, no. It’s not that. More importantly, please get up quickly. The floor is cold.”

Ryan quickly wiped his eyes. Fortunately, he seemed to have stopped the droplets from falling. Then he quickly stood up and grabbed the head maid’s arm to lift her up.

It was still hard for him to adapt to seeing someone who was much older than him showing such a posture.

Above all, the reason wasn’t with the head maid in the first place.

“Then can you tell us the reason?”

He bit the inside of his cheek. No matter what, he couldn’t say that he cried because he was hungry. Especially not in front of the maids who were sincerely preparing everything for him.

“Perhaps you were having a hard time and I didn’t notice it first? I’m truly sorry, Lord Ryan.”

But even this seemed enough to cause a misunderstanding for the head maid. Her knees, which had just risen, were about to touch the floor again.

“Ah, that’s not it either! I mean…”

Seeing her complexion darken, Ryan hurriedly tried to stop her and opened his mouth. Yet, he still couldn’t speak out, as he was still unsure if it was okay to reveal such circumstances.

At that moment, a servant’s call was heard from outside.

“His Majesty the King is entering!”

Ryan’s action of holding the head maid’s arm to lift her up stopped abruptly. The head maid, who was in an awkward posture, was the same.

At the moment their eyes met, the closed door opened.

“Hmm?”

The king, who was entering nonchalantly, paused at the scene unfolding before his eyes. Then he checked the posture of Ryan and the head maid once again.

“Ryan. What’s going on? Did the head maid bully you?”

“Ah! No, Your Majesty.”

Ryan quickly answered and finished lifting the head maid up.

“We greet Your Majesty!”

And belatedly, he paid his respects. Then the other palace people, including the head maid, hurriedly greeted the king as well.

“Then what is this situation?”

The king, who had responded to them with a nod, asked Ryan again.

“I was just resting a bit because I was tired.”

He tried to brush it off, unable to say that he had cried, but even that was stopped by the head maid’s words.

“That’s not the case, Your Majesty.”

“It’s not?”

“Yes, it’s because Lord Ryan’s eyes…”

As the head maid seemed about to mention the tears, Ryan, startled, spoke first.

“Well, you see… I was hungry.”

His tone became soft as usual, different from when he was being respectful. And for a moment, the surroundings became quiet. The first to speak was the king.

“Oh my, Ryan. You were hungry. Listen here. How could you let a pregnant person starve? Bring food for a meal right away.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a waiting servant ran outside. The head maid also finally noticed that the bowl that had contained snacks was empty and bowed her head again.

Seeing her about to apologize, Ryan hurriedly spoke first.

“I should have said something first, but I was embarrassed and couldn’t. So there’s no need to apologize. Rather than that, I’m craving something spicy rather than sweet and greasy. Could you prepare something like that?”

Perhaps due to fatigue, he was drawn to stimulating food. However, it was unlikely that there would be something very spicy here, so something similar would be good.

Fortunately, food was soon prepared with a taste similar to what Ryan wanted. The king meanwhile continued to watch the situation unfold.

“If you’re done with urgent matters, could you spare me some time?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’m sorry.”

“No. I came during a busy time, so naturally, I should wait.”

And when Ryan finished his meal, only then did he dismiss the people around. The king sipped the tea prepared by the head servant and chose his words for a moment.

His gaze examined Ryan’s charming face, who was quietly looking at him in elaborate clothing. Ryan also nervously sipped his drink with a fresh scent.

While doing so, he busily pondered the reason for the king’s appearance. He must have come to say something important during a busy time, but he couldn’t guess what it could be.

“Ahem, so.”

After a while, the king cleared his throat with his fist and opened his mouth again. But somehow, was it just a feeling, or did he look a bit uncomfortable?

‘What is it?’

Did he come because he had concerns? If it was something like that, it seemed like he should go to Hendrick, not him. The more he thought about it, the harder it was to figure out the reason, so Ryan carefully observed the king’s expression.

“I apologized to Earl Fitzroy yesterday, but Ryan, I think I should say sorry to you too.”

Huh? But what came out of the king’s mouth was something he never expected. It was because the king was suddenly asking for forgiveness.

“Your Majesty, what do you mean?”

“I’m talking about the incident with Count Cedric and his son the other day. At that time, didn’t I make you, who was pregnant, stand as if on trial and make things difficult for you? And even after that, I didn’t properly take care of you to see if you were alright.”

“Ah, Your Majesty, about that…”

Ryan finally realized what the king was talking about and quickly shook his head.

“No. It was something that could easily be misunderstood, and it was resolved well, so it was fine.”

Because Hendrick had treated him so kindly that he had forgotten about the previous incident, it didn’t remain as a particularly painful memory for Ryan.

However, what was slightly puzzling was why the king was bringing up this topic now to apologize.

“At that time, I didn’t realize that I had done wrong. But yesterday, Hendrick, who brought in Count Seiden, said that it was largely my fault that Count Seiden behaved this way.”

“Pardon?”

What on earth did you say to the king, Hendrick!