The Hidden King's Stolen Wife-Chapter 269: Pulse of Warmth

"Am I dead?" Soleia’s first words came out in a croak. She cracked just one eye open, her eyebrows lifted high up her forehead in order to assist the action.

The second Rafael heard her voice, he coughed out in laughter. Tears uncontrollably flowed from his eyes, gushing like a waterfall as he leaned down and buried his face in the crook of her neck, breathing her in.

She still smelled like blood, of course. That was impossible to avoid with how much crimson was surrounding them. However, when pressed this close together, he could smell the natural fragrance that always seemed to cling to Soleia’s skin.

Rafael sobbed into her shoulder, his body trembling when he felt her weakly raise a hand before placing it on his back.

"There there," Soleia said. "I didn’t realize you loved your father so much as to cry about his death."

"You’re so full of shit," Rafael said, desperately sniffing back the snot that threatened to drip out of his nostrils and onto Soleia’s bare skin. He didn’t think she would appreciate it that much. "Why would I care about him?"

"Beats me," Soleia said. She cracked a tiny smile, and even though her eyes weren’t wide open and filled with energy, it was definitely bright with humor. "Maybe tethering on the edge of death has breathed new life into your father-son relationship with the tyrannical king."

"Make up with your father first, then we’ll talk."

"Touché."

Rafael couldn’t help but laugh, snuggling further into Soleia’s embrace as though he was trying to merge into one body with her entirely. Now that she was healed enough, it was so much easier to feel everything that went through her body and fix all the little cracks and tears in her health and physical condition.

His carnelian glowed, and likewise, Soleia was filled with a slow, pulsing warmth as her body began to feel stronger and stronger. She could feel herself slowly regaining her energy, but there was still a cavernous, empty feeling in her that gnawed away at her heart.

"Rafael," she said, her voice suddenly much hoarser than usual. "How are they?"

Rafael stiffened.

Soleia need not specify who ’they’ were. He already knew. Hesitantly, Rafael trailed his hand down to her lower stomach, resting his palm against her belly. He waited in silence, and she waited with him, their breaths so quiet that it was almost as though they held it.

When Rafael pursed his lips before his tongue darted out to wet them, Soleia patted his back.

"It’s okay," she said. "I already guessed."

Then, one singular tear dripped down from Rafael’s eyes and onto Soleia’s cheek. Then another, and another.

"They are fine," Rafael said with a small, short laugh.

Soleia’s surprise drove her to sharply jerk her head and look at her own stomach, where Rafael’s hand rested, surrounded by a faint reddish cloud of magic. It sparkled and glowed, shimmers present in the smoke that moved with the rise and fall of her stomach due to her own breathing.

"And you’re right," Rafael said. "It’s ’them’."

"’Them’?" Soleia echoed, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

Her child had suffered all of that? The stabbing and the draining of her entire magical powers and life force? How was that even possible?

She was still too caught up in all those questions to even begin to properly understand what Rafael was even implying with his words. Her brain simply didn’t have the energy or power to do such advanced mental gymnastics at the moment.

"You’re pregnant with twins, Soleia," Rafael said. "I feel two heartbeats other than your own."

However, Rafael’s smile didn’t last long.

"What is it?" Soleia asked when she noticed the change in his expression.

Rafael said nothing. He immediately stood up, carrying Soleia in his arms as he did so. She yelped in surprise, her arms raised to loop around his neck as he quickly crossed the room.

"Wait!" Soleia exclaimed, her attention caught by Orion’s body lying motionlessly on the floor a short distance away. "Orion! Is he―"

Her words were cut off when Rafael shot his hand out in Orion’s direction. A red burst of mist was thrust towards him, surrounding Orion’s body. It lingered only for a second, and after it disappeared, Orion let out a few coughs.

That should be enough to keep him alive if he were on the verge of dying. Rafael didn’t have the time for anything more, not when one of the heartbeats he heard in Soleia was turning fainter and fainter by the second.

Without sparing his old friend a glance, Rafael rushed through the destroyed halls. Much of the palace was left in tatters after the needlessly flashy display of power King Recaldo had shown. As such, Rafael had to be extra careful even as he ran.

He quickly located the infirmary, and thankfully, the physicians had yet to evacuate the palace like the rest of the palace had. On their way over, they encountered several palace staff, either cowering in a safe corner or dead on the floor.

"Have a look at Her Highness," Rafael ordered, placing Soleia down on one of the beds.

When he slammed the door open, the physicians jumped in shock. Seeing it was their prince allowed them a sigh of relief, but that was quickly taken away when they noticed Soleia’s pale face.

"What happened, Your Highness?" one man asked as he hurriedly prepared his tools. Another rushed to grab the salves and general medicines.

"She was stabbed," Rafael said plainly, "by the late king of Raxuvia. She is with child. Twins."

Now that Soleia was no longer in Rafael’s arms, pain was quickly starting to trickle into her body. She hadn’t realized that he had been supplying constant healing magic into her blood to keep the pain of her injuries at bay. Now that they were no longer in physical contact, the agony of it all was starting to return in full force.

She gritted her teeth, her lips turning pale as sweat beaded across her forehead. Cramps racked through her lower stomach, and Soleia tossed her head back into the pillow and groaned through gritted teeth.

"One of the foetuses is weak!" she could hear the physician say. Her head was throbbing, and with the pain hitting her from all angles, she could barely make out the next words that were spoken. "We may have to conduct an abortion to save the mother―"