Volume 1: Village Story Chapter 1: The Hill Outside the Village Chapter 79: Happiness

  I clearly felt Sulina's body stiffen in my arms, and then suddenly go limp as if the strength had been sucked out of her. She buried her head deep in my chest, not lifting it to look at me. It wasn't until much later that she softly asked, "You know everything?"

  I nodded and said: "When you and your Uncle Rod were in the garden, I was right next to you."

  After another long silence, I said to Sulina: "You haven't answered my question yet."

  Sulina seemed to have just woken up from a deep sleep, and looked around in confusion, asking: "What question?"

  I said: "Just now I asked you, they want you to marry, don't they mind that you and I have a child?"

  Sulina's face turned red for a moment, and then she regained her composure. She sneered and said: "This is politics, they care about the stable relationship brought by marriage, whether there are children or not doesn't matter to them, even if I were an ugly woman, they would still propose marriage, let alone me having only one child?"

  I said, "If we could have a child together, wouldn't that be more beneficial for them? What I'm most worried about is that if they think our child poses a threat to their interests, they'll try every means to get rid of him. If that's the case, I'd rather leave with the child now."

  Sulina sneered and said, "Unfortunately, my future husband is a man with no fertility, they want to plot against the throne, that's impossible. It's because of these restrictions that they dare to propose an alliance, otherwise, I would rather go to war with them than agree to such a request. Any suggestion that could threaten the throne will be vetoed by me. I've said it before, all they need is a stable relationship, and they also know that if they ask for too much, they might end up with nothing. A man without fertility and weak is the best proof of their lack of ambition, this way we can feel at ease."

  I shook my head with a sigh and said, "I don't understand such a marriage. Isn't it ruining your youth? What kind of inhumane request is this? Who could have thought of it? And you actually agreed to it?"

  Sulina smiled indifferently and said, "I have you in my heart, and I can't accommodate anyone else. This marriage is just a formality anyway. Moreover, in the days to come, even if I don't see you, I still have our child. I will definitely raise him to be a wise king."

  I hesitated for a moment, then said to Surienna: "Surienna, promise me that if the child doesn't want to be king in the future, don't force him, okay? I just hope he's happy and carefree later on. Does it really matter whether or not he becomes king? If he wants to become a magician, I'll definitely come take him away. I'll teach him magic and bring him traveling and adventuring across the continent of Aichun."

  "Sulina shook her head and said, 'You weren't born into royalty, you don't know that many things can't be decided by personal preference. Everyone has their own path to follow, everyone has their own life they want to live. But this world doesn't have absolute freedom, a man's first priority is to take responsibility for himself. Thinking only of one's own freedom and disregarding others is unmanly, my child won't be like that.'"

  I just smiled and didn't argue with her, who can say what's good for the future? Let's wait and see, but one thing is certain, when the child grows up, I will definitely come back once. If he wants to fly high, then I'll take him flying high, let him live the life he wants. I will follow the child's wishes, rather than locking him in a cage.

  It seemed as if he had heard us talking about him, the little guy burst into loud crying, as if protesting that no one was paying attention to him. Sulina picked up the child from the cradle again, opened her clothes and started breastfeeding, gently combing his hair with a face full of maternal love. The little guy drank sweet milk while staring at everything around him with big eyes, as if filled with curiosity about everything.

  As I admired this warm scene, I couldn't help but tease with a smile: "Your Majesty the Queen also wants to personally breastfeed the child?"

  Sulina glared at me and said, "In front of my subjects, I am the supreme queen, but here I am just an ordinary mother. It's not that no one has suggested finding a wet nurse for the child, but I refused. Feeding the child is my duty as a mother, but it's also my right. I nourish him with my own milk and watch him grow up every day. All my fatigue and resentment disappear when I think about what I'm doing now is laying a solid foundation for his future. No matter how tired I am or how difficult the situation is, thinking about this makes all my hard work worthwhile. So, no matter how busy I am, I've never delayed feeding him. Sometimes when I was too busy, I wanted to find a wet nurse to help out occasionally, but who knew that this little guy wouldn't drink anyone else's milk?"

  I nodded and said: "Being able to watch one's own child grow up, watching him learn to speak, watching him take his first steps, isn't that also a kind of happiness?"

  Sulina smiled happily, gently pulling the pacifier out of the little guy's mouth. The little guy was extremely dissatisfied and cried loudly twice, kicking his small feet in frustration and stretching his body straight to express his anger at being forcibly deprived of food. Sulina cooed to the child: "Okay, okay, just changing it for baby, don't worry, don't worry, Mom knows, baby is the most well-behaved, our baby is the most well-behaved in the world..." While hurriedly turning the child around and putting another pacifier into his mouth. The little guy was satisfied and continued to drink vigorously. He seemed to be showing off, loudly sucking on his mother's milk, humming happily while looking at him with a proud expression, making me suddenly have an urge to rush forward and pull him away, wanting to share in his joy myself.

  Looking at my gritted teeth, Sulina burst out laughing. She gave me a reproachful look and said: "Dear, let's just sleep here today, our time is limited, take advantage of it now before I make up my mind, let's spend a few happy days together, okay?"

  I stared at Sulina's high chest and nodded, gritting my teeth: "Good, I'll drink tonight too!"