Around 5:30 am the next day, Gigi was a bit grumpy as Cal woke her up for the sunrise, which wasn't for another hour. Thanks to her little dalliance last night, they got only five hours of sleep, which was... not enough. Thankfully, Cal was very practical with time, as he was used to travelling and working outdoors which required him to follow irregular schedules. First, he gave Gigi some extra time to snooze by hitting the shower first... And to avoid her jumping him in the shower which would just lead to more delay.

When she asked why he had to wake her up so early, he said that she needed time to dress and apply makeup, and Gigi begrudgingly complied knowing he was right. Sometimes he appeared to have more knowledge on womanly things than she did.

Even so, they made it to the beach on time, bringing Inferno with them. Gigi's crankiness disappeared at the panoramic sight of the sunrise, twirling in a sleeveless floral summer dress. Cal gladly took a few shots with a new pocket camera he'd ordered specifically for the getaway.

Regrettably, the sunrise lasted as short as two whole minutes so it was only twenty minutes later that she demanded to resume her sleep. It would be a hassle to return all the way back to the cottage, so Cal found a small gazebo for them on the beach and lent his shoulder as a pillow. Accompanied by the rhythmic sound of sea waves, he too, dozed off.

It was not until two hours later, with the sun shining brighter, that they carried on with their activities. Cal was confident that Inferno would enjoy the beach since he'd often been along the trail riding alongside a river or through a rushing stream, but the ocean was another matter. It was noisier, and unlike a cross country river, it could come at them. So it took some time before his beloved steed dared to come near the water. His finicky nature reminded Gigi of Junior somehow.

Once he was acclimated with the environment, however, it was a different story. Cal had to prevent him from sticking his nose down the beach water and rolling into it.

Gigi then mounted him, as Cal led them along the shoreline slowly and steadily, getting Inferno used to the trails before mounting him together. He allowed her to ride solo, but immediately warned them from going too fast, fearing for both of their safety.

Too bad, for she would enjoy playing tag with him.

When the sun rose higher above their heads, they had to leave the poor boy under a shade for too much sun would bleach his ink-black coat. Gigi looked on with adoration as he fed Inferno freshwater from a container. A righteous man regarded the needs of his animals.

"So, you've been the Empress of Angletonia for half a year now. How are you feeling?" Cal asked as they walked together on the beach. He had taken off his jacket, leaving a white and navy blue striped shirt. Gigi was struggling to keep her eyes off his chest with the two top buttons undone; his complexion glowing a nice honey tan under the tropical sun.

"In all honesty, I still have so much to learn about Angletonia. I've spent all my time in the south and it's only fair I pay a visit to the other regions as well. I've always been proud of Praja's multicultural identity and growing up with this image that Angletonia is homogenous. But it turns out to be completely untrue. The people here are just as diverse, in their way of life and personality if not ethnicity. It's good of you to bring me here, Cal."

Cal beamed. "Aren't you glad that we got married... despite everything?"

Gigi pressed her lips together in thought, still having complicated feelings about the circumstances of their union. Even though she had gotten used to the idea of a political marriage as a princess, and that love would come eventually, she still had so little to say in the arrangement. There should've been a courtship period prior to the engagement where she could choose for herself. He didn't have to be a stranger.

"Well, I'm still enraged with the fact that I was being sent off to marry a complete stranger. But I'm glad that you turned out okay." She stared out over the ocean, clutching her floppy hat tightly in her hand.

"Did you... regret it happening?" Cal sounded nervous.

"It could've happened differently. It could've been better!" she blurted, softening her gaze as she turned in his direction. "I'm sure we would still have ended up together in the end. I know why you did it the way you did, but I should be allowed to entertain the possibilities... of what it should be. Imagine if we met at a social gathering for the first time. I'd still befriend Junior, and then you'd fall for me anyway," she raised her brow smugly.

He smiled. "That's within the realm of possibility."

"I'd enjoy it if you had courted me. I'd treasure the moments where I'd be blushing and grinning like an idiot reading your cheesy letters; me, and not my father! And if you proposed to me, I would've said yes. I've never gotten a chance to experience accepting a proposal—all my sisters did! That's just barbaric. To rob a girl of the dreams that she'd been having ever since she was five! I've had my entire love life planned in my head, and suddenly it's gone! How is that not awful?" she squealed, venting all of her frustrations with a hand gesture.

"...You had it planned in your head?"

"All women do," she huffed. Finally, she caught him as clueless as a man once. "A wedding which the bride didn't enjoy is a failure."

"Why didn't you?"

"I didn't even get to choose my own dress! I went into it blindly, where everyone else knew what was going on but me. You should've fetched me from Praja yourself. We could've gotten married on your humongous steamship. I liked that ship, it was beautiful," she muttered the last few words indistinctly.

It became quiet, and she found that now Cal was no longer listening but standing with his closed hand over his mouth, resting his elbow in his other hand. The air around him was tense as he pondered her words.

"But I am still glad to be married to you," she patted his shoulder reassuringly. "I'd never have chosen someone like you if it were up to me," she let out before she realized how bad it sounded.

"Someone like me?" Cal's eyes narrowed, "Explain."

"Likely, I would have settled for someone who was much less conspicuous. Someone who shared my interests. Perhaps a scholar, a man of intellect who came from a noble or a good family, at least." Letting out an awkward giggle, she added, "Boring!"

But Cal's expression was rigid as a hunter, like a bird of prey scanning for a kill. "Does this noble, intellectual scholar boy have a name?"

"No, no, no!" she denied aggressively, fanning around him with her hand. "I was just talking nonsense so don't you think about it, Sire," she laughed. It was better for him not knowing about her old crush. She'd long since moved on from him anyway. It was among the things Cal did much better than him, that he'd seen her even from thousands of miles away. The other man had never even noticed her despite working daily as her father's secretary.

"You are good at a lot of things, Gi, but you're just so bad at lying," Cal said before walking away.

"Wait, where are you going?" Running after him, she found him bending and scraping over the beach sands. "...Are you angry?"

"No, I only wish to offer my wife a second chance at reclaiming her dreams and moments that have been lost," Cal revealed the small thing he'd picked out from the ground, which turned out to be a broken seashell. It seemed to have been smashed into pieces as it crashed on the shore, making it hollow. "This isn't lavish jewellery but I believe it'd be as precious to us as would any gems, so..."

Gigi's hands rose up to her mouth, unable to believe her eyes as he knelt down before her.

"Gianita, I love you. You certainly are one in a million; your beauty is beyond words and your obsession with my butt has completely blown my mind. I know that we didn't start off well but I promise, it'll only get better from now on. Will you give me the honour of—not marrying me, because you already did that—but having you by my side throughout my life, and possibly after?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" she squealed. Her answer was obvious, she already knew it before he slid the seashell into her finger. Throwing herself into his arms, she continued chanting countless 'yes' against his lips. Although they were in love and married, thus making it obvious how it'd play out, the proposal still surprised her. She was suddenly feeling everything at once. Exhilarating, shocking, indescribable.

So this was how it felt to be proposed to.

"I want us to have a second wedding," Cal said between laughter as she clung to him. "Let's redo our vows and not skip 'love' this time. And you can pick your own dress."

"You don't have to do this, Cal," Gigi waved it away bashfully. "It was just a silly dream of mine."

"Have to? I want to. We won't need the whole world to be there, just a small, private ceremony." He kissed the tip of her nose. "None of your dreams are silly, dear. I want us to be a real couple; two people who choose to be together and stay together. I'll no longer hide things from you anymore. No more lies."

Uh-oh.

"Actually, I did lie to you once..." She let go of him as he paled, playing with her fingers. "I said I wasn't really good at horseback riding, so you'd offer me a ride. But I'm actually pretty good at riding. It's kind of mandatory for the Prajan royal family because we ride horses in festivals."

"Oh well, that certainly explains a lot of things about you," Cal's features slowly relaxed before he let out a snicker.

She pursed her lips. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Suddenly, the sky rumbled with thunder, gradually turning a charcoal grey. Large clouds started forming, cloaking the golden rays of the sun. Soon, droplets of moisture began to sprinkle onto the ground, making it as wet as the ocean.

It was wrong to have a vacation in September without bringing an umbrella.

Cal and Gigi got the first drops of rain as they were halfway to the gazebo where Inferno was secured. At first, they considered staying inside and waiting for the rain to stop, but it sounded like a bad idea now that it had become a heavy shower.

"Use this!" Cal threw his jacket over Gigi as she was busy shoving the seashell ring into her bag to keep it safe. "I don't know how long it'll last so we need to get back to the shore!"

"But what about you, Sire?" He was being a gentleman, as always, but she still felt bad to have it easier only because she was a woman.

"I need to hold Inferno's reins."

They hurriedly climbed up the pathway uphill, with Cal slowly leading Inferno while Gigi was a bit ahead of them, trying to use the jacket to cover them both from the downpour. Puddles began plinking as the rain turned into a storm, yet they still had a long way to go to reach the cottage.

"We can take shelter over there!" Cal pointed at a shack nearby. It didn't have fancy construction to begin with, but even a hovel looked like a manor in this weather. "Let's see if there's anyone inside," he said as he tied Inferno up at a post under the roof, using any piece of cloth he could find to dry his coat. The poor boy was soaked badly.

"Hello?" Gigi peered her head into the doorway, getting no answer. "There's nobody in here," she announced after inspecting the small cabin. The shack was empty but seemed to be well looked after. Perhaps some farmers or fishermen used it as a retreat when working near the ocean.

"At least they won't have a heart attack when they see us," Cal smirked.

Gigi found a rack to hang Cal's jacket and her hat, coming back to her husband who was sitting there with his clothes drenched. "Give me your shirt, I'll hang it till it's dry."

"I think I'm okay," he trembled, wrapping his arms around himself.

"You'll get cold if you keep it on," she insisted. Her mother used to say the same thing to Aravin frequently. He really liked going out in the rain.

Cal stood up and unbuttoned his shirt. Gigi's breath hitched, diverting her attention to anything else other than his undressed state, taking the shirt and hanging it in the same place as his jacket.

"I got a towel in my bag, it'll help dry you off." Gigi bit her lip, wiping the small towel over his shoulders, chest and abdomen. She was being careful not to insinuate anything, sensing that her desire for him was becoming insatiable lately, fearing that he'd find her too vulgar or that she might have tired him. But as she looked up into his eyes she saw her husband was giving her the stare. One that was reserved for the moments where she felt most loved, giving her the most wonderful feeling while singing endless praises into her skin.

Drawing her into a kiss, he held her face firmly, tilting his head side to side as his tongue delved deeply into her warm mouth. She dropped the towel, letting out a happy sigh as she kissed him back with the same ferocity.

"I think you should take off your trousers, too," she mewled, quickly working on undoing his belt and zipper. "It's wet. Let's not get you cold."

They found a small modest bed in the corner. Gigi wailed as she was pushed down on the thin mattress, the hardness of the wooden railings hitting her back. It was uncomfortable, but she couldn't care less. Kicking his pants off, Cal slid his boxers down and hovered above her as she did the same, lifting her skirt and parting her legs for him. She moaned as he entered her, pressing on his ass to draw him closer.

The bed was made of a frail wooden frame and it creaked with each movement as he started thrusting into her. Gigi was genuinely surprised at how the situation only turned her on even more. They were stranded in a shack under a rainstorm, all alone, wet and dirty with the sound of the bed rocking with them, its board bumping into the wall.

"Sire..." Hooking her legs tighter around his waist, she gasped as he hit a certain spot, ramming harder into her.

"Cal... Cal..."

***

Two hours later the storm had finally died down. They had spent the remaining hour sitting and cuddling in bed, following their love-making. Gigi rested her chin atop Cal's shoulder, her arms enclosed around him as he returned to bed after putting his clothes back on.

"It's stopped raining. I think we ought to give some money to whoever owns this place since we soiled their bed," she giggled. "Let's go back to our cottage—"

"I have a confession to make, too," Cal said suddenly. "I also lied to you once."

Gigi gaped at him, confusion written all over her face.

"...I lied about not wanting to have a family with you," he admitted in a soundless whisper. "On our wedding night, I said all those things only because I was afraid for Junior. Isleen and Olivia left me a wounded, cynical man. But I was wrong; you took Junior as your own without a second thought, and any future child of ours would be lucky to be yours." He smiled faintly, "Initially, I wanted to have a big family, you see."

Gigi wasn't sure what to say, or that she could believe her ears. She engulfed him in a tight embrace, burying her head in his chest. There were so many things she would like to say. How glad she was that he was able to trust again, to be able to open himself to the possibilities that he could be happy once more. But all she could say was, "Thank you, Cal. You opened your heart to trust me. I promise that I would love any child of yours as much as I love Junior."

"Ours," he corrected. "You said you wanted a princess?"

"A princess!" She repeated with flaring enthusiasm. "But... I am not going to let you offer her up to a stranger at five!"

Cal snorted. "Deal."

But wait... When did she ever tell him she wanted a daughter?

***

"...No! No! Get off me!"

Gigi frantically sat up; once again, waking up to Cal screaming in his sleep. His voice alone indicated that he was in a lot of pain, and she could ignore it no longer.

"Cal... Cal, for heaven's sake please wake up." She shook his body violently.

"Don't touch m—" Cal's whole body tensed up as he was awakened, his eyes were bloodshot and watery, gasping for air as his eyes scanned the room as if looking out for danger. But this was their room; they were back in the cottage, safe and sound. His gaze soon settled on her. "Oh... it's you, Gi. Thank goodness."

"This isn't the first time I've seen you had nightmares, what's happening? Should I send for Dr. Jaeyr?"

Cal grabbed her arms surprisingly hard, preventing her from even moving an inch. "Please, don't! She'd blame it on the sex and separate us!"

Gigi gawked at him. "But I can't let you keep being tortured in your sleep!" she shrieked. "If we have to say in separate rooms again then so be it, if it would make you better!"

"It wouldn't," he shook his head furiously. "Remember it didn't work last time? It would just keep feasting on my fear! Nothing is working!"

"Then please let me help you battle it, Sire... Tell me, what do you fear?"

Cal's fingers clawed the bedsheets, looking like he was in excruciating pain before he answered. "...Of you finding out what truly happened and disbelieving me. Of you leaving me, disgusted by me, and..." Tilting his chin up, Gigi saw real horror in his eyes. "That you will, somehow, become her."

"You know I'll never do that." She put her hand over his, feeling that they were cold as ice. "And what do you mean by me becoming her...? Are you afraid that I'd also treat you as badly?"

"No." He shook his head weakly, his stare empty. "No... The last time I thought I was making love to the woman I love, she turned into her. You don't understand." He buried his face in both palms in despair.

"Then make me." She handed him a glass of water from the nightstand, entwining their fingers. "You don't have to be alone. Allow me to share your pain."

Downing the water, Cal took a deep breath, his grip on her fingers tightening. "So, it happened weeks after I met Isleen at that banquet. It was so strange; I did sense that something was off, yet it felt so normal..."

.·。.·゜·༺♥༻ ·゜·。.

When did she tell him she wanted a daughter?

When she was drunk on Chapter 22 😏