Florian was pacing.

He had no business pacing.

He was dizzy. His legs felt weak. His head still felt light.

And yet he couldn't sit still.

He walked from one end of the room to the other, fingers dragging through his hair, then falling to his sides, then curling into fists.

Because as much as his mind tried to reject it—

The possibility lingered.

That he might be… pregnant.

Florian stopped mid-step.

'No,' he told himself. 'No. That's ridiculous.'

But the facts were there.

Stacked neatly.

Exhaustion.

Mood swings.

Food aversion.

Binge eating.

Dizziness.

The dream...apparently.

The dream of bunnies.

His stomach twisted again.

There was still a small, stubborn hope inside him. A childish hope.

'Maybe it's just coincidence,' he thought. 'Maybe I'm just stressed. Maybe my body's reacting to everything that's happened.'

Right?

Right.

All he had to do was wait for Cindy to come back with that enchanted vial.

Then this would all be over.

Either he would laugh at himself for panicking—

Or—

His steps faltered.

'And then what?' Florian thought, his chest tightening. 'If I am pregnant… what do I do?'

This was the original Florian's body.

But the soul inside it was his.

Aden's.

If he left this world… would the original Florian wake up pregnant?

Would he condemn him to that?

And this child—

Would it be his?

Or the original Florian's?

This body belonged to someone else.

But the nights with Heinz—

Those were his.

His choices.

His decisions.

His carelessness.

He swallowed hard.

'No,' he thought quickly. 'Nothing is confirmed. Don't spiral. Not yet.'

It was only a theory.

A horrible one.

One he desperately wanted to disprove.

Pregnancy was the worst possible outcome.

Especially if the father was—

Heinz.

Florian's jaw tightened.

Heinz was not meant to be a father.

He had been given that chance once.

In another life.

And he had destroyed it.

'I won't let that happen again,' Florian thought, though he didn't even know what that meant yet.

He started pacing again.

"Where is Cindy?" he muttered, biting down on his thumb. "She's been gone for over thirty minutes…"

The door suddenly burst open.

Florian jumped.

Cindy stumbled inside, slightly out of breath, strands of hair sticking to her forehead.

"Your Highness, I'm here!" she exclaimed, pushing the door shut behind her.

Florian rushed toward her immediately.

"Did you get it?"

She nodded quickly and held something out in both hands.

Florian frowned.

"What… is that?"

Cindy was holding a small crystal vial filled with clear liquid. The liquid shimmered faintly, like stardust suspended in water. It glittered when it caught the light, subtle but unmistakably enchanted.

"This," Cindy said, lifting it carefully, "is a Bloomstone Vial."

She brought it closer so he could see it clearly.

"We have quite a lot of pregnancies here," she added awkwardly. "So we keep an entire case of these."

Florian blinked slowly.

"What does it do?"

Cindy hesitated, then gave him a small, embarrassed smile.

"Well… it's simple," she said. "You need to, um… relieve yourself into the vial."

Florian stared at her.

"And?"

"If it turns white," Cindy continued carefully, "then you are indeed pregnant. If it remains clear… then you are not."

Silence.

Florian looked at the vial again.

Clear liquid.

Faint shimmer.

Just a small glass container.

'That's it?' he thought. 'That tiny thing decides everything?'

It was strangely mundane.

Like any other pregnancy test.

Just dressed up in magic.

He exhaled slowly.

"Okay," he muttered.

That wasn't so bad.

Right?

His hand hovered over the vial.

And for the first time since Cindy had said the word pregnant, Florian felt something worse than fear.

Anticipation.

Florian grabbed the vial.

It felt light in his hand.

A little too light.

"I'll… do it now," he said, his voice unsteady despite his effort to sound calm. "Wait here. And if anyone knocks, tell them I'm asleep."

Cindy nodded quickly. "I will. Good luck, Your Highness."

Good luck.

'That sounds wrong,' Florian thought.

He turned and walked toward the bathroom, each step heavier than the last.

Once inside, he shut the door and leaned against it for a second, closing his eyes.

'It's just a test,' he told himself. 'Just proof that you're overthinking.'

He was just overthinking.

This was nothing.

He inhaled deeply.

Then exhaled.

He forced himself to move.

He undid his trousers with trembling fingers, feeling ridiculous and strangely ashamed, even though no one else was there.

'This is necessary,' he reminded himself. 'Embarrassment is nothing compared to not knowing.'

He followed Cindy's instructions.

The sound of liquid hitting glass felt too loud in the quiet room.

He avoided looking directly at it at first.

Once there was enough, he stopped and capped the vial carefully. His hands were shaking.

He placed it on the sink.

Clear.

The liquid inside shimmered faintly as before.

But it was clear.

Florian stared at it.

Seconds passed.

Nothing happened.

His shoulders sagged.

A breath he hadn't realized he was holding left his lungs.

"It's clear," he whispered.

'It was a false alarm,' he thought, relief washing over him so strongly his knees nearly gave out. 'I'm not pregnant.'

He let out a weak laugh.

"I knew it," he muttered. "I'm just stressed. That's all."

Then—

The shimmer inside the vial shifted.

Florian's smile faded.

The clear liquid began to cloud.

Slowly.

Almost gently.

"No," he breathed.

The transparency dulled.

From clear—

To hazy—

To milky.

"No," he said again, louder this time. "No, no, no…"

No.

No.

No!

No way.

No fucking way.

His heart began to pound painfully in his chest.

The white spread through the vial like ink in water, swallowing every trace of clarity.

"Stop," Florian whispered, as if the vial could hear him. "Stop."

Please.

His breathing grew shallow.

The liquid turned fully white.

Completely.

Solid and unmistakable.

Florian stared at it, his vision blurring.

His chest hurt.

'I can't—' he thought. 'I can't be—'

A broken sound tore from his throat.

Then he screamed.

The vial slipped from his hands.

It shattered against the floor.

White liquid splashed across the tiles.

The bathroom door flew open.

"Your Highness!" Cindy cried.

She rushed inside, panic written all over her face.

"What happened—"

Her words died when she saw it.

The shattered glass.

The white liquid spreading across the floor.

Her eyes widened.

Florian staggered backward.

His knees buckled.

The room spun violently.

"I can't—" he gasped. "I can't—"

Cindy lunged forward just in time, wrapping her arms around him as he collapsed.

"Careful!" she cried. "Please, Prince Florian."

She sank to the floor with him, holding him upright as best she could.

Florian's body trembled in her arms.

"It turned white," he whispered, his voice hollow. "It turned white…"

Cindy tightened her grip around him, her own breathing uneven.

"I know," she said softly. "I know, Your Highness, but please...you need too calm down."

How could he?

How could he calm down?

Florian stared blankly at the mess on the floor.

White.

There was no mistaking it.

His hand drifted to his stomach again.

He was pregnant.

Florian was actually pregnant.

There was...a baby inside of him.