Alisa's piercing gaze penetrated the woman's soul, causing her to tremble in fear. In terms of demeanor, no one could contest with her. Everyone would cower in fear before her. A normal woman wouldn't be able to handle the intense pressure she was exerting and they would definitely break soon. She retracted her gaze and looked at Raphkiel with a blush. She wanted to say something but her words were stuck on her throat.
"How are you feeling?" Raphkiel asked her in an even tone.
"I-I'm fine..." Alisa averted her eyes. She had to get away from the scene. Her mind racked for several excuses when she suddenly felt something rose up from her stomach. She hurriedly covered her mouth and said in a hurry, "Excuse me!"
She bolted out of the room as fast as she could, leaving Raphkiel baffled. Was he that disgusting to her that she felt like throwing up whenever she saw him? He was at a loss.
Sylvia followed afterwards and found her vomiting in the bathroom. Alisa's eyes were bloodshot and her body was wobbly due to her muscles weakening. Before she would collapse, Sylvia caught her steadily, making sure that she wouldn't lose her balance.
"Can you please send me to the hospital? And please don't tell anyone about this." She pleaded desperately to her only friend.
Seeing her in that state made Sylvia's heart bled. She agreed without any hesitation and had her sent to the hospital by her most trusted aide. She couldn't go with her since someone had to take control of the event. As she came back to the hall, she took the microphone on the stage and announced to everyone that the chairman had to take care of some important matters so she, the CEO, would be the one hosting the events tonight. The party went resumed peacefully. Raphkiel was disappointed that Alisa didn't came back so he said a few words to Sylvia and left his substantial amount of gift and took his leave. He also wasn't interested on keeping an eye on Alisa's situation right now as he was pissed by her earlier reaction.
On the hospital, the doctor had just finished diagnosing her condition and she looked at her with stern eyes. "You should be careful with your activities as well as your mood and ensure that you won't feel aggrieved. Don't you know that you are pregnant? For Eidelweiss' sake, youngsters these days are so reckless."
Alisa's whole world felt like stopping. She was pregnant. That one sentence pressed upon her like a huge mountain. That one uneventful night bore them a child! What would a mother even do at this point? She hadn't been a mother in both lives. How was she going to live from now on? Alisa felt stressed out from hearing it and was about to break down again. Fortunately, the doctor had foreseen this so she advised her of what to do, such as taking folic acid, prenatal vitamins, iron supplements, and so on.
They talked for a while and the knot in her heart had loosened up. She was already fine so she wasn't confined. She took out her phone to call Sylvia, but decided not to. She called for a taxi instead. She was still contemplating about the idea of telling Raphkiel about the child.
In the end, she decided not to tell him as of now. She didn't want him to feel obligated to marry her for the sake of the child. She'd rather raise the child on her own. Alisa was afraid that Raphkiel would reject the baby and ask her to abort it— or he would take custody of the child since it was her who forced herself on him that night. She couldn't bear to kill her own child nor bear to part with it.
Still, the thought of her child growing without a father put endless worries over her head. She was so emerged in her thoughts that she didn't even know how she got home. Once again, she could only cry her grievances on her sleep.
Morning came and Alisa was still asleep until Lily came to knock on her door which woke her up. she rubbed her still drowsy eyes while telling Lily to come in.
"Miss Hayworth, there's someone out there looking for you. He's currently waiting downstairs."
"'He'? Who is this man?" She asked lazily.
"He said his name was Grunt Reis."
Her eyes opened violently upon hearing that name. It had been a while since she last heard anything about Sylpharia or the people from there. Hearing that her former military comrade came to Eidelweiss made her panic. She clearly remembered their talk about marriage and only regarded as joke as she thought that there was no way a Sylpharian would go to an unknown country just to search for his supposed-to-be bride.
'Grunt? What was he doing here? He couldn't be here to marry me, right?'
She paced back and forth in her room while biting her finger with a panicked and frustrated expression. Before she could even decide of what to do, Celine suddenly came barging in with deep breaths. "M-Miss Alisa, this is bad! Another man came to look for you and now they're glaring daggers at each other!"
"What?!" She was once again hit by another surprise. "What's going on? Who is this other man?"
"He said he is Raphkiel Leonis Arnor. Wh-What should we do about them, miss Alisa?"
She sprinted out of her bedroom without answering them. She was worried that the two would start fighting each other inside her own house. Moreover, the father of the child is Raphkiel. There was no way she could marry Grunt if he really did come all the way here from Sylpharia just to ask her hand in marriage. Her life had become a total mess.
When Raphkiel entered Alisa's house for the second time, he was surprised to see a familiar man.
'Isn't this Grunt Reis from the Infernal Monarch army? What is he doing in...' Raphkiel's train of thoughts were cut off upon seeing something.
He was holding a bouquet of roses on his arms, which hinted that he was here to court someone. There was no way the guy would know any of the household staffs here since he was not a native from Eidelweiss. His face fell and his voice was laced with a biting cold that could make the hearts of people shiver. However, the guy seemed to not care whether he was annoyed by it or not.
"What are you doing here, Grunt Reis?"
"Oh, it's the Infernal Monarch. I'm surprised that you're here... wait! What are you doing here?" He was initially surprised to see Raphkiel but then realized something was off so he changed his tone with an interrogating stare.
"It's none of your business. Don't turn the question against me." Raphkiel coldly replied.
"Then, it's none of your business too. You're no longer my superior so you don't have the right to question me."
Their fierce eyes clashed against each other. It was like there were invisible sparks flying everywhere and the living room was filled with a dreadful tension. Maria, who was left to entertain the guests on her own as the other two had run off to call their mistress, shivered in fright. She felt like crying any minute now. Fortunately, Alisa arrived at the critical moment.
"Maria, go back with the others and resume your work. I'll handle this. Sorry for making you go through all the trouble." Alisa gently apologized to her and sent her off.
Maria nodded and swiftly left together with the other maids. Actually, they stopped in far corner to listen to the conversation as they were worried something might happen to her. She was so kind to them to allow them live their lives with dignity and proper treatment. The three had taken a liking to their boss so they decided in their hearts that they would do anything for her.
"What are you two doing here?" She asked them with a sharp voice, sounding clearly irritated for scaring her staffs.
"Hey, Alisa. This is for you." Grunt smiled widely as he approached her and handed the bouquet of roses he was holding.
"Wh-What? You shouldn't have bothered..." Alisa blushed as she was forced to accept the bouquet. Raphkiel's face twitched in displeasure while seeing the two of them getting close. He immediately strode forward and placed himself between them. Grunt was angered at his outrageous behavior.
"What's the meaning of this, Raphkiel Leonis?"
"I should be asking you that question. What are you doing, Grunt Reis? You are a Sylpharian and also a member of the Infernal Monarch Army. Do you really have the time to be dawdling here instead of protecting the western borders?"
"I already told you it's none of your business! You're no longer my superior so you have no right to order me. I came here to propose to her as part of my promise to her after the war. What about you? Why are you here?"
Upon hearing that they had an initial agreement of getting engaged to each other before he and Alisa arrived in Eidelweiss, veins popped out from his forehead and he was slowly consumed by his anger. His eyes reddened from all the bottled up feelings that threatened to explode. He turned to Alisa with a piercing stare and spoke in a very cold and dark voice that sounded sarcastic.
"Engaged, huh? You're such a shameless woman. I thought I would give you a chance of explaining yourself after you suddenly forced yourself on me that night but here you are, planning to marry another man. But seems like you really hid your true self all too well. Looks like I was mistaken about you."
Alisa's heart was gradually torn apart with each word that came out of his lips that were like sharp blades. The way he stared at her with disgust was unbearable. She didn't know why how it happened. It all just happened so suddenly that he had a great impact towards her in whatever he did, probably because they inevitably formed a bond in that single night they made love to each other.
Raphkiel turned to leave. Alisa's heart felt like it was slowly losing something precious and priceless that she wouldn't ever have again if she let him go. She suddenly blurted out loud without realizing that she had casually said something carelessly that would only cause an even more complicated situation later on.
"I want to marry you!"
Raphkiel stopped in his tracks. He felt like his whole world shook violently and then went still.