Queen Of Adis

Haru's eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped at her husband's words. "F-Frost? As in... Dr. Frost? You knew the mad scientist, Dr. Frost?"

"Yes, he's one of my people in Gehenna," Adis responded.

"But isn't he one of the fugitives? If you knew him, why did you act like you were mad earlier?"

"If I acted nonchalantly upon hearing a wanted criminal's name, then Fenghuang would definitely suspect something. Besides, a good old surprise wouldn't hurt," Adis shrugged.

Haru slapped his muscled arms and regretted it at once as she felt the stung on her palm while the brute didn't feel anything at all. "You idiot! What surprise? I was so worried that you might back out from our commitment. I was shaking the whole time!" She was gnashing her teeth while her tears were threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Ssh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry." Adis took her hand and massage it to ease the pain. He kissed the tears on her eyes. "Please don't cry. I won't do it again."

Frost awkwardly cleared his throat to get their attention and to stop them from their lovey-dovey show. "Good day, my Queen. My name is Alexander Crow, but you may call me Frost. It's a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to finally meet you." Frost bowed deeply in front of her. "Although I reckoned that King Adis will be visiting my humble abode anytime soon, I still have no idea why Her Majesty would personally look for me."

"Uhm," Haru suddenly hesitated and hid behind Adis' broad back.

"Oh, my! I hope I did not scare Her Majesty in any away. Please don't worry, this loyal servant shall never hurt you." Frost seriously promised to make her at ease.

Haru noticed that the way he spoke was very similar to Fang and Aquarius; elegant words and level-headed behavior.

"Why are you here? What's your story?" Haru stepped out of Adis' shadow and suddenly asked out of nowhere, simply curious at how he ended up being involved with the fugitives.

Frost blinked and wondered whether the Queen came just to ask him such trivial things.

"Of course I can ask Adis about it, but if you don't wish for me to pry about your story then I won't ask him." She immediately countered her own statement.

Frost's features softened as he smiled tenderly. "Rumor has it that the Queen of Adis is not just a true beauty but also considerate. So, it was true. Before I share my story, shall we have our little chat over a cup of tea inside my home, then?"

The inside of Frost's house was remarkably colorful and homey, truly contradicting his grimy reputation. Frost even prepared tea and animal-shaped cookies.

"Please allow me to explain why the King kept this from Your Majesty. As you may have already known, my circ.u.mstances were anything but exemplary. Only the three Kings knew about my real existence. If someone finds out that a prisoner of Gehenna is actually a spy, the prisoners and nobles might create a riot and they may exact vengeance against the people involved. If anything, the King always has your best interest in mind." Frost started and added colorful macaroons and cupcakes on the table.

When Frost noticed that Haru was intently looking at his cracked eyeglasses, he unconsciously reached out for a new pair in his coat pocket. "Ah, please forgive this humble servant for making you see such an unsightly scene. It works great for my disguise."

Now that the annoying old eyeglasses were gone, Haru could clearly see Frost's face. If truth be told, he had great looks; big round eyes adored with thick, long eyelashes, small but sharp nose, pale but smooth skin, and thin red lips. Haru was looking for the right word to describe his beauty... ah, that's right, an androgynous one.

Frost continued, "My story, if one would put it into words, was very tragic. I used to be a famous doctor. I really like helping people and making experiments. I also once had a live-in partner... a male one... and I thought that we were in love. Then one day, I had a rude awakening when I found out that he was just using me to gain fame and money. When we broke up, he spread rumors about an underground laboratory where I kept abducted bodies and did numerous experiments until they were beyond recovery."

"In a nutshell, humans and even those that I healed before, believed the baseless rumors. Even when I pleaded not guilty, the magistrate sentenced me to life imprisonment without any trials to defend myself. Later on, I found out that my ex-lover's fiancee was the magistrate's daughter. When the three Kings heard about my sentence, King Adis immediately decreed that I was to be sent to Gehenna. I was beyond devastated. A human in Gehenna was unheard of. And my plan to escape from prison was deterred. When I finally met His Majesty, he explained the reason why I was sent to Gehenna.

"Nobles and Elders would raise their eyebrows and might even make an uproar if King Adis would intervene with human affairs. My safety inside the prison was also unguarded and he won't be able to help me if anything happened. Unlike in Gehenna, His Majesty holds the supreme power and no one could touch me if I cooperate with him. He asked me to be a spy and to report anyone who has ill intentions to him and his family. It was actually an easy task. As a doctor, my ability is not just limited to the human body. As I healed countless beasts and monsters inside the dungeon, I also earned their trust. If anything, non-human beings were much easier to deal with than humans."

Frost took a break from his long story when he heard Haru blew her nose on her white handkerchief while bawling her eyes out. Frost's story was so tragic that her tears just fell even without her consent. Adis, on the other hand, was busy stroking her back with a helpless look on his face.

"Then, how did you end up with those criminals? And how were you able to live in Gehenna for so long without disintegrating?" Haru asked as she wiped her tears away.

"I once healed both Alastair and Ulric's grave injuries from the punishments of Gehenna and they started to open up to me. When I heard of their plan, I did not have much time to inform His Majesty about it, so I decided to join their group, hoping that they will not succeed at all. But if they do, I planned to help you escape from their clutches. However, I was really caught off guard when I found out that you were great in martial arts that I suddenly felt useless at that time."

Haru was about to ask another question but was interrupted when she heard someone entered the door. They all looked at the newcomer.

Graves came unceremoniously but immediately halted upon seeing his King and Queen. When he recovered from his surprise, he bowed and greeted in respect. "Your Majesties, I didn't know you're here. Please excuse this servant's discourtesy."

Haru tilted her head and blinked twice at the unexpected visitor. "Why are you here, Graves? Are you going to take us home now?"

Frost chuckled softly. "He's the answer to your second question, Your Majesty. Graves is my fated mate."

Haru lost count of how many times her jaw dropped for today. But one thing's for sure, the recent news was overkill for her. She slowly stood up and opened her mouth to speak but she just couldn't find the right words to say. Adis just ended up touching her chin and gently closed her mouth.

Frost's laughter became even louder at her reaction. "I know it was quite surprising. At first, I had a hard time accepting it too. Our relationship started in s.e.x only because His Majesty suggested it and I needed it too to survive in Umbra. But who would have thought that that brawny beast was actually my mate? Oh, and he was the one who personally built this lovely home for us. I just helped out with the decorations."

"Alie, the Queen doesn't need to know that. Queen Haru, please excuse my wife's behavior. He's just a bit of a bully at first but he would gradually become friendlier." Graves called Frost endearingly that Haru felt her skin crawled.

Frost clapped his hands to mark the end of his story. "Well, that's all about my past. What about you, Your Majesty, what is your story? What made you so desperate to even reach out to a mad scientist such as myself?"

Haru felt her throat parched so she reached out for her tea and gulped it down. As she gently put the teacup down, she finally told him her business. "I want to have a child with Adis. Fenghuang said that no one can help me about it except you."

When Graves heard the seriousness of their topic, he excused himself and gone to his workshop outside the house.

"Hmm," Frost placed his thumb and index finger beneath his chin. "That was quite a predicament. My Queen, you are a human and yet you wish to carry a demon child? The risk was just too high and the probability of success was too low--"

Haru banged the table, anxiety was gnawing her patience. "I know that already but I still want to do it. Please don't tell me you that can't help me too."

"Goodness me, I never thought that the Queen has such short temper. But regarding your concern... there could be a chance."

"Really?!" Haru squealed and she unconsciously stood up again. "How? Tell me! what should I need to do?"

"Please excuse my impertinence, but before I answer your question, have you already made love with His Majesty's true form?"

"No, I haven't. Adis doesn't want to take that kind of risk." Haru immediately answered as though she was in a consultation room and having a physical exam.

Frost nodded in approval. "That's a natural response towards your beloved. Before I got framed up, I heard that there were a lot of human females, who married into the dark realm and got pregnant by their demon partners, that died during childbirth. Until now, the maternal mortality rate is increasing. The record shows that there are a lot of factors why a mother dies during childbirth for a demon baby. The most common and highest mortality rate is due to Obstructed Labour which may result in other complications such as infection, uterine rupture, and post-partum bleeding. In addition, the mother also dies from exhaustion or that the child had eaten all of the mother's life force before it could finally come out of the w.o.m.b."

Haru just swallowed hard and gripped Adis' hand but did not comment, urging him to continue.

Frost proceeded with his explanation, "I tried to think of so many ways to help decrease the mortality rate of this kind of childbirth, however, I could only come up with one. I'm unable to practice it as I had to go to prison but I think I have kept my research about it in my old house. I will ask Graves to check on it later. Your Majesty, I am thinking of an unorthodox approach to this childbirth, and I suggest to wait until we can have a successful experiment for it. The process I'm talking about is delivering a baby through incisions in the abdomen and uterus."

This time, it was Adis' turn to angrily banged the top of the table, causing all the tablewares to topple. "You are really a mad scientist! How could you even suggest that to your Queen? If you cut her open, she will immediately die before you can even pull out the child. That's preposterous! No one in this world has ever done it before."

Graves scampered inside the house upon hearing the crashing sounds of the tablewares. His eyes widened and his complexion paled when he saw Adis lifting Frost by his collar. "W-what's going on here?

"You're talking about... cesarean section?" She breathed out her question, the realization was finally clearing her clouded mind.

"A what?!" All the men shifted their attention to her and asked in chorus.

"Adis, in my word, this is a normal phenomenon. It's one of the modern methods for childbirth and we call it cesarean section." Haru's eyes twinkled in hope. "That makes sense now. So that's the reason why many human mothers died during complicated childbirth. It was because your ancient world has yet to practice any surgical procedure."

Haru clutched the hem of Frost's wide sleeves. "Frost, are you saying that if we do the cesarean section, then I can give birth safely to Adis' child?"

Frost shook his head. "I'm not saying it's risk-free. There are still many loopholes in this topic. All I'm saying is the probability of increasing your survival rate is 40-50%."

Haru nodded repeatedly and gripped his hands tightly, "That's already high compared to the initial 0%. I am not a doctor or even a nurse in my previous life. But I have heard a lot of things about the cesarean section when I'm still living in the orphanage. I can share it with you for your research. Dr. Frost, if you could pull this off, it will be a great milestone to Trium Regum's Healthcare System. Together, let's make history! This is the best revenge for all the people who have wronged you."