His Majesty's Devious Sin

"I still want to see our newborns," Adeline said after a few seconds of silence. He stared at her, astonished that she still wanted the same thing. She stared directly back at him, refusing to back down.

"No one said you couldn\'t," Elias finally told her. 

Elias bent down and carried her into his arms again. He could get used to this. Now, she truly had no one to rely on but him. The castle had elevators, but it was rarely utilized by him. Why use the elevators when the staircase was much nicer?

"Then take me to them," Adeline responded. She rested her cheek upon his shoulder, relaxing in his hold. He was always so strong, she wondered what his training routine was. 

Adeline wouldn\'t mind observing him… exercising naked. She could picture the clench of his toned muscles, the flex of his eight pack, and the veins that popped on his arm. His long fingers curling around the bars or lifting a dumbbell, sweat trickling down his abdomen—

"What are you imagining?" Elias asked, curious to why her heart began to race. He could hear it loudly pounding in her chest, threatening to jump out.

"How handsome you\'d look exercising…" Adeline confessed, earning ripe laughter from him. His eyes crinkled and he was grinning.

"Would you like to see?" Elias teased. He began to realize his innocent wife was a lot more dirty-minded than he initially thought. He wondered to what extent her dirty mind went… enough to be courageous and try out different positions?

"N-no," Adeline stammered, swallowing a lump in her throat, her mouth suddenly drying. She didn\'t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing she\'d fall directly into his seduction.

"We can exercise together," Elias said, brushing his lips against hers. He wickedly smiled when she naively looked up at him.

"Like?" she asked, curious.

"Well, we already exercise in bed together, don\'t we?" Elias whispered, pressing a kiss upon her mouth, breathing hotly upon it. "Why don\'t we try out different exercise poses, hm?"

Adeline nervously laughed. "That stamina of yours is what got us into this situation in the first place."

Elias softly smiled. "That is why we\'re tying your tubes."

Adeline\'s face stiffened. "What?"

Elias leaned his forehead upon hers, his smile widening. "No more comas. No more pregnancies."

Adeline\'s breath was caught in her throat. She looked into his eyes and saw a crazy man. Her heart skipped in terror, her stomach uncomfortably churning. Instantly, she tried to move away from him, but he pushed the doors open.

"We\'re here," Elias announced, glancing away from her paling expression. Why did she seem surprised? Did she really think he\'d let her go through the pain and hardships again? What for? 

"Look at our little demons," Elias cooed, bringing her closer to the cribs. She still couldn\'t look at them, trembling in his arms. He wordlessly brought her to the couch, where she was immediately looking for the door.

"Would you like to hold them?" Elias asked, peering into the crib. It seemed they\'d arrived right on time. The babies stirred in their cribs, their faces slightly scrunched up. Their lips were moving against each other.

"They\'re hungry," Elias told her, turning around to see she was no longer searching for the exit.

"L-let me hold them…" Adeline whispered, holding her hand out. Now that she realized it, her breasts felt heavy. She was relieved that she was lactating. At long last, she could have skin-to-skin with her babies.

"Why are you stuttering?" Elias calmly asked, looking her directly in the eyes with a pensive expression.

"Don\'t do this to me, Elias," Adeline whispered. "I—"

"You gave birth to a little Princess and Prince. We don\'t need any more children, Adeline."

Adeline\'s heart skipped. She didn\'t know that. 

Elias bent down and carried the children out of their cribs, one in each arm. They weighed like feathers. Elias closed the distance between them in three long strides. He handed one to her, not knowing which was which.

"We have all that we need," Elias said, watching as her hands tremble with excitement. When she nearly touched the baby, he pulled away.

"Elias!" she cried out, frustrated.

"We have all that we need," Elias repeated in a harsher tone. "Your tubes are getting tied as soon as possible."

Adeline peered up at him. How could he be so cruel? "You dare dangle my children in front of me and threaten me like this?" she demanded.

"No, I am not threatening you, Adeline. Your excitement led you to not hear me the first time," Elias said. 

Elias handed the child back to her, this time, allowing her to take it from his arms.

Adeline\'s breath hitched when she held her baby. Her heart swelled and an undeniable warmth filled her. She was overwhelmed with happiness, feeling as if her world was colorful again. She had never felt this kind of joy before. It was all new to her.

"She\'s beautiful," Adeline gushed just as the baby girl opened her eyes to reveal the same, emerald ones like her.

"I\'m surprised you knew it was a girl," Elias said. "They\'re both wearing the same color. I didn\'t know which was which until they opened their eyes. They\'re fraternal twins."

Adeline smiled down at her child and used a finger to touch her cheeks. It was soft and squishy, like a marshmallow. She hugged the baby closer to her and pressed a soft kiss upon her forehead. Immediately, the baby moved its tiny hand, a strange noise leaving their tiny mouth.

"Adelia," she suddenly said. "Her name would be Adelia."

"A combination of our name," Elias mused. "It has foreign origins, meaning noble."

Adeline blinked. "I was mainly thinking of just a combination of our names, and the plant Adelia, after her beautiful eyes."

Elias peered down at Adelia and softly chuckled. Their baby girl did have beautiful green eyes, like a meadow found at the peak of a mountain. 

"And the boy," Elias murmured, glancing down at the red-eyed infant in his arms. For some reason, he was quiet tonight, perhaps soothed by the presence of his parents.

"Elios," Elias said, humored by the baby\'s golden hair that was so light, he thought the child was bald. "Like the Sun God."

Adeline softly laughed. "Sounds more like your name than a combination of ours."

"It\'s not my fault our names are so difficult to combine," Elias chuckled. "The \'li\' from Elios is the \'li\' in both of our names."

Adeline raised a brow. She supposed he was correct. She peered down at Adelia and softly hugged the child close to her chest. Adelia responded by crying, her face scrunching up, showcasing her powerful set of lungs.

"Our little angel must be hungry," Adeline said. 

Adeline began to unbutton the front of her nightgown. Not a second later, Elios started crying as well, following in his younger sister\'s path.

Soon, the nursery was filled with their loud cries.

  Adeline panicked as she began to rock the child, completely not knowing how to take care of a baby. She was still young herself, but she did read books in her spare time. Thus, she began to soothe the baby by softly rocking her whilst trying her hardest to unbutton her nightgown.

"Twins are a handful," Elias wryly said as he watched her breastfeed the child. 

Elias lightly swayed Elios in hopes of calming himdown. And since Adelia stopped crying, he blinked a few times and stopped.

Elias narrowed his eyes. They were tricksters already. Not a single tear rolled down Elios\'s cheeks. Why that little brat. He glanced at Adelia and noticed she didn\'t have a tear either. 

Elias, in the centuries he\'s lived, realized one thing—babies sometimes cry for the sake of crying.