Eventually he resigned himself to getting up and putting a pillow in his place for her to hold. Then he closed the door silently as he went off into the palace. He first informed the necessary staff of the good news. Once that was complete, he kneeled before his parents in the throne room.

"It is done," he said, head still bowed.

"Already?" His mother questioned.

"Yes." Marcello raised his head. "She is most certainly with child, and she's taking the news of everything better than I could have expected."

"So you've told her?" His father questioned, motioning for his son to rise.

Marcello nodded as he did. "She was afraid, of course. However, she is drinking the blood, and she still seems smitten with me. She's stronger than I ever expected a human to be. But—"

"But?" His father raised a brow.

"I won't put her through this more than once. When asked, I informed her if we had a girl... she would be free to choose her fate. I wouldn't make her go through the process twice. Nor would I force her to be turned unless she wished it." He took an unneeded breath to steady himself before adding, "I'm falling in love with her, and seeing her suffer..."

His mother sighed in return. "Then let us hope it is a boy. Please give our congratulations to your wife." Marcello nodded and excused himself, leaving the throne room. They hadn't agreed to the terms, but they hadn't outright rejected them either. For the moment, he took that as a positive outcome. If it became necessary, he would fight them about it later.

Next, he needed to speak to the royal physician. Doctor Dellucci was an elderly-looking man with white hair and a hunched back. "Come in! Come in!" The old man waved as Marcello dawned his door.

"I'm here to speak to you about Natalia," he informed him, standing awkwardly in the corner instead of sitting as the doctor gestured for him to.

"Is your bride already with child? Congratulations. You've fulfilled your contractual agreement." He told him, putting on a pair of spectacles and pulling out a large box.

"Yes, and she's already... uncomfortable." That was an understatement.

"Ah! So you've come for my help? Here." He handed the large leather-bound box to Marcello before opening the top and pointing to various things. Marcello was then treated to another lengthy talk on some of the initial changes Natalia might feel, along with various ailments and medicines that were available for her if she wanted them and the dosages one should take for the corresponding effect.

Before he left, the older man slapped his arm. "I know this is frightening, but it is also an exciting time. Congratulations and should you need me, I'm but a call away."

He took a leisurely stroll, carrying the box back to his bedroom, a little more elated because of the congratulations and positivity from everyone that he had spoken to. His mind drifted as he whistled through the hall until he realised someone was standing right in front of him: a maid, somewhat tanned considering she was an impure, raven black hair and chocolate brown eyes staring him down with an annoyance and anger that he had been trying to avoid.

"Sienna, this is not the time. We knew this was going to happen. You cannot be angry now!" He moved to step around her, but she stepped in front of him once more.

"So now that your whore is here and pregnant, you can just drop me like that?"

"She's not a whore. She's my wife. If anything, in this situation, you would be the whore."

That was the wrong thing to say. She reared back and slapped him across the face. He grabbed her hand and pinned her against the wall, eyes glaring down at her.

"There's the Marcello I know," she grinned, biting down on her lip as she wriggled beneath him. He quickly moved off of her and threw her away from him.

She stumbled and growled, "This isn't over, Marcello!" Her voice was barely above a whisper, not wanting to shout where they could be heard. "When you tire of that human, don't expect me to be waiting!" Marcello just walked faster, trying to block her from his mind. He could address the Sienna situation later.

Natalia had been sleeping quite well until she heard people talking outside her door. One of them sounded like her husband, but the other's voice was a woman... who sounded furious. It hadn't occurred to her before that moment, but there was a strong possibility he had lovers who still lived in the castle. Even amongst normal nobility, it wasn't uncommon for them to bed servants. As long as he'd been alive, there was no doubt he'd taken countless lovers. She tried not to feel a pang of jealousy at all the women who had been with him before her. He didn't know her then. Hell, she hadn't even been born when he no doubt reached sexual maturity, but she couldn't help but wonder just how many there had been. Worse, how many still resided in these walls? And could she be sure he would be faithful to her? Even if she was too ill to satisfy his needs?

She was just stirring, attempting to sit up as he came back into the room. She smiled, happy to see him, and gave him a sleepy "Hi..." before her attention was pulled to the box in his arms. "What's that?"

She sat up, but as soon as she did, the pang hit again. "Really?" She asked, frustratedly looking down at her abdomen. Did it already seemed a small bit distended? Her eyes flew open as she put her hand on it. There was indeed a tiny lump, no bigger than if she'd eaten a large meal. Still, it was there.

"Really?" she repeated, but this time it wasn't in anger. It was amazement.

He put the box on the bed and sat beside her, resting a hand on her abdomen and beaming. "He's a little fighter, he is!" So long as he wasn't hurting her beyond the occasional pang, it was good that he seemed to be growing and strong.

He turned and rifled through the box, pulling out a vial with a lighter shaded red liquid. "This is 'sweet blood' I'm not sure how its made and apparently you should try to keep dosages far apart. It is blood, but they make it taste at least somewhat nicer for humans, so the physician claims." He handed it to her and uncorked it in one motion. He hoped it was better for her, but to him it smelt tainted.

She took the vial and drank it down. It was definitely more tolerable, tasting more like wine that was slightly...off and with a minerally aftertaste. "It's not bad." she admitted. "I mean not what I'd ideally choose but... better."

"There are many remedies in here. The doctor said it was everything you might want or need to help with the pregnancy. He also warned that a lot of the things you'd like most are the most damaging to take. The stuff that dulls pain, for example..." There really was a lot in there, but he did not see it as his place to tell her what to have.

She looked the box over. "As long as the blood satiates him..." suddenly, she realized she called the child 'him' not 'it,' "I don't need anything for the pain. It's bearable. It's just not pleasant." She would do whatever she had to in order to not harm the child. If this was her one and only shot at a healthy baby, she would not jeopardize that with her own comfort.

He laid back on the bed, letting her have a look through the box. "I'm sorry I didn't rest with you. It just seemed an opportune time to announce to the palace and run some errands. I hope you don't mind?"

"Of course I don't mind. You don't need sleep, I suppose?" She asked with a tilt of her head. "That must be nice. It also must leave a lot of free time on your hands which makes sense why your studio is so full."

She wasn't sure if breaching the next subject was a wise idea, but she did so, nonetheless. "I... um... heard someone outside speaking to you..." she stated timidly. "Who was that?"

"Oh, you heard that? My apologies I tried to be quiet, but it was just an issue with a maid. She thinks I'm being unfair and overworking her, mistreating her so to speak." He tried to base his lie on the truth so it would sound more convincing, even if the undertones were somewhat evident. "She would never say it to my face, of course. She knows her place. We just addressed it in the hall, but I don't think she's happy just yet. I'll take care if it in time."

He did not wish to lie to her, but bending and working with the truth was another issue. Marcello told himself it did not matter, anyway. He loved her and wanted her. No prior relationship would stand in the way of that.

In an effort to both move on from her asking about Sienna and show affection, he pulled a thin cloth out of the box and moved behind her to untie his makeshift shirt bandage from earlier. Changing it to a much more fashionable strip of cloth (which was also designed for this purpose and not just a shredded shirt) would keep the wound clean and pressured. "Much better," he declared with a kiss to her cheek.

She wasn't sure if she fully believed his story, but it was plausible enough that she wouldn't argue. He successfully distracted her from further thought of it by changing the cloth. It was adorable that he seemed to care so much, and it eased some of her doubt. "I love you..." she told him, petting his face before pulling him into a kiss.

"How about that walk, hmm?" She stood up, feeling a little lightheaded again, and braced herself against him until it subsided.

"That's going to take some getting used to..." A lot of things were going to take a lot of getting used to, but she tried to brush it to the side. At least for the time being. As she re-tightened the laces on the corset, it now feeling more snug against her and made her breasts ache. "I'm going to have to have new clothes."

Her dress, which had fit fine hours ago, was already constricting the tiniest bump, making it uncomfortable, and causing her breasts to pop up almost dangerously out of her dress. "Not that I think you mind the view," she giggled, adjusting it slightly so there was no longer a threat of catching a peak of her areolas. She winced slightly as she did so.

"How did they get bigger over the course of an afternoon as well?" She was quite blessed in the breast region anyway, but just as in a normal pregnancy, they had begun to swell and become tender. Like everything else, it was just happening faster.

"What... what happens when the baby is born? Does it drink milk or just blood?" It was a legitimate question. If it had no need for nourishment from her—why did her breasts seem to think it did? "And if I... if I'm turned... will that cease? Will I never get to suckle my child at my breast?" She wasn't sure exactly how all of this worked. It was such a foreign concept, and it was all happening so quickly.

The prince would have gone red if he had been capable. He had never spoken about breasts in any other context than how sexually pleasing they were. Now he couldn't take his eyes off of them and quickly realised how ungentlemanly he was being. He cleared his throat and averted his eyes, trying to answer her.

"I can't say for sure, but it's possible your body still thinks it's preparing for a normal baby and so will still do the whole..." He trailed off, using his hand to gesture toward her chest. "Then again, it might be, well, there's a long-standing theory with evidence that as part of a vampiric pregnancy the mother receives some 'gifts'. In that she gains some traits of how she might be as a vampire, not the strength or speed, but the tweaks to appearance." Why was he so embarrassed? It was his wife! They were just breasts! "Or it could be both?" He shrugged.

He couldn't look her in the eye for a moment, avoiding her body altogether, otherwise his eyes would just jump to them again. "It's a bit of a grey area as to if the child will take nourishment from them. I guess we'll have to wait and see, or I can do some research if you insist?" He did not like the idea of having to search the history books of his family for such a fact, but if she wanted to know, he would do it. Perhaps his mother remembered?

"Well, wet nurses have always been common for royal families. So it wouldn't have been unusual that the mother would've passed that off whether or not she was able. It was just... something I'd always imagined I'd do." She said with a sigh. There had been a lot of things she'd imagined she would do, but those weren't shaping up to be the case.