"Huh?"
It was like the air around Gina immediately froze. Gina’s eyes slowly grew wide in shock, and her hand around her cup became ice cold as she turned slowly to stare up at Queen Bethsha. Queen Bethsha almost smiled at the look that Gina was giving her since she thought Gina was just playing around, but then something in her mind clicked, and her amusement slowly turned into shock and finally disbelief. There was no way.
"You... You didn’t know?"
Queen Bethsha whispered this to Gina in a very low voice, and Gina felt her heart rate spiking as she started shaking! Her eyes were wide, and it looked like her entire body had suddenly gone into shock! Queen Bethsha immediately came down to one knee and put her hand on Gina’s shoulder while asking her to breathe!
"Gina, calm down. You need to calm down. Oh gods, I didn’t know you didn’t know. I-I wouldn’t have said anything. Please, just take a breath and calm down."
Queen Bethsha grimaced in guilt, and she gently took the cup away from Gina’s hand and put it on the ground as she waited for Gina to get herself back. Gina looked down at her lap with wide eyes as she tried to process what Queen Bethsha had just said over and over again. Pregnant? She was pregnant? Was this real? This wasn’t just some sick joke, right? Gina gently moved her hands over her flat stomach, and she touched it as if it were the most precious thing she had ever felt. There was no sign of any pregnancy, and Gina couldn’t even feel a kick or heartbeat, so she couldn’t tell if Queen Bethsha had been telling the truth or not. Gina hadn’t even felt any of the symptoms that she had heard other women complaining about during pregnancy! But the absolute certainty in Queen Bethsha’s words was undeniable.
’Am I actually pregnant?’
"Gina, are you feeling alright? Do you want to lie down?"
Queen Bethsha’s calm voice came from the side as she looked Gina over with a worried gaze, but Gina just shook her head. Gina turned to Queen Bethsha with wide, curious eyes, and she spoke in a low tone.
"Am I really pregnant? How do you know for sure?"
Queen Bethsha smiled softly, and she sat beside Gina and held her hand as she spoke.
"The people of Vanta have always been very close to the sea, and as a result, we have a high affinity for life and all things related to it. Even without any tests, we can immediately feel when there is an extra life present in a woman’s body. I honestly thought you already knew about this. My entire family sensed the child once they saw you, and most of the food that we served you today was different from the others since we wanted to help the growing child. I’m sorry you had to find out this way."
Gina blinked in realisation as she remembered that there were some dishes she got during dinner that weren’t the same as everyone else’s. Gina just thought that they were trying to be gracious hosts, so she didn’t question it much! So this is why they did that? They were already treating her like she was a mother. Gina felt a sudden surge of pure happiness rising from deep inside her when she heard the word ’mother’ echo in her head, and she couldn’t stop her lips from twitching up into a smile at the thought! Gina couldn’t believe that she was going to be a mother! She was going to be the mother of Jason’s child!
"Hehehehe~ Eeeeeee!"
Gina suddenly felt a low, infectious laugh escaping from her lips, and it wasn’t long before she squealed in pure joy while kicking her legs! Queen Bethsha was stunned when Gina suddenly jumped and pulled her into a massive hug, and Bethsha just laughed as she hugged Gina back. The Queen could still remember what it felt like the first time she learned that she was going to have Kai, so she could understand the feelings going through Gina at this moment. There was no denying that Gina was a little scared, but the sheer joy you feel at the thought of becoming a mother always overshadowed the fear by a large margin!
"I’m going to be a mother! Oh my god, I can’t wait to tell Jason about this! We’re having a baby!"
Queen Bethsha laughed as she hugged Gina, and she waited until Gina finally calmed down a little before she pulled back a little and made Gina look at her while she spoke.
"So, I hope you understand now. I know you truly love my son, and you want to be with him, but you have to think about more than just yourself from now on. Your child needs to be safe, so you should consider their safety no matter what. That is what it means to care about something."
Gina sensed the seriousness in Queen Bethsha’s words, but there was no way she could kill the smile that had spread on her face as she nodded. Queen Bethsha just chuckled at the infectious smile that Gina had, and she pulled her closer and gave Gina a kiss on the forehead.
"Bless you, my daughter. I know you will make a wondrous mother. Now come inside before you catch a cold out here."
Gina chuckled at the thought of catching a cold. Gina had never fallen sick ever since she got her powers, and she didn’t think that she ever would. Her constitution was just too strong as a superhuman. Gina shook her head when Queen Bethsha tried to help her up, and she smiled as she spoke.
"I’ll come inside soon, I promise. I just... I need a minute."
Queen Bethsha hummed in understanding and smiled before gently running her hand over Gina’s blood red hair and telling her not to stay outside for too long. Gina nodded, and she watched Queen Bethsha fly off the roof before she finally looked back over the large kingdom with a wistful look on her face. Gina knew that she could just send a message to Jason through their mental link and ask him to come back so she could talk to him about thier child, but Jason was currently in the middle of a battle, and Gina didn’t want to bother him in case he was in a dangerous situation, so she just wrapped her hand around her stomach and let out a small, wistful sigh while praying that Jason would come back soon.
....
[The World of Helion]
[Rank III]
A Dimensional Circle tore through the air over a large flowing river of magma, and the moment Jason fell through the Dimensional Circle, only one thought ran through his head. This world was hotter than anything he had ever felt.
Jason’s skin immediately began to grow darker as he felt the scorching sun tanning him at an unbelievable rate, and the air going into Jason’s lungs felt unbelievably dry! It was like someone took all the water vapour away from the air and left only dryness behind! Jason began to send a surge of mana through his body to strengthen himself and prevent the heat from getting to him. The sun in the sky was blood red, and the heat it released felt like it would be enough to melt the skin off a regular human. The entire land was covered in flowing magma, like all the rock had been melted by the heat and formed into a large sea of lava. The burning sulphur from the molten rock had formed into a dark cloud in the sky that cast the entire world in an eternal twilight, and only the glow from the boiling lava below served as a source of light that allowed Jason to see properly.