CHAPTER 57 - BROTHERS-IN-LAW"Oh, brother-in-law," Liam raised one hand at Heath, who quickly took steps to get away from there.
But Heath's attempt failed when the young man felt his Brother-in-law's sturdy arms wrap around his shoulders and prevent him from walking away.
"Hey, you must not be busy," Liam said with a mischievous smile.
"I am busy! I'm also an Alpha with a family to lead, not like someone who–" Heath stopped talking, feeling Liam's smile beside him. Liam's gentle and warm smile always made his body tremble–
"Too bad," Liam mumbled quietly. "I want to take you to learn about pregnant women," said the man.
Heath furrowed his brows deeply and recalled his brother-in-law's conversation with the Old Duke earlier. His heart softened.
He really didn't like these monsters who had taken advantage of his sister's misfortune, yet he couldn't deny that both of them had done the best for his sister and himself all this time.
They could just ignore an Alpha Lycan like him, because Lycan culture obviously didn't allow them to help other Alphas other than those born into their family. However, the Old Duke chose to help him by marrying off his grandson to his sister, making Heath their relative.
Were it not for their sincere sense of responsibility for all the Lycans on this Continent, they might have chosen to kill Heath. There had been many opportunities for them to do that.
Heath saw Liam balance a pile of books about pregnant women with his left hand. He also realized this man was no longer using a walking cane. Had his body improved a bit?
Would this man be okay? Earlier he heard that his brother-in-law wanted to start his research back to heal himself again?
"Alright, you just need a place to read so sister doesn't find out, right?" Heath asked.
Liam smiled happily to hear that his brother-in-law was willing to help him. Heath looked away in annoyance, but he obediently led Liam to his room.
On the sofa in his room, Liam sat quietly and fell back into his reading. Every now and then, he jotted down something in a small notebook. Heath silently watched what the man wrote after he called the maid over to serve tea for Liam.
Apparently, the man noted several things that could help pregnant women, such as the type of food that was good for them, and what kind of snacks helped pregnant women with nausea.
However, it did not just stop there. He also noted the recommended sleeping position and the length of sleep. What things should not be done, what should be done for exercise for pregnant women, and the like.
In this respect, Heath felt Liam was similar to his sister.
Heath remembered that he had found his Sister's notebook with everything about him and his needs. Starting from Heath's favourite food recipes to what medicines he used to take when he was sick since childhood.
He even found notes on lists and calculations of the nutrients Heath needed in his sister's notebook–perhaps that was what made her sister have such an incredibly weird habit of cooking food.
Heath's hands clenched tightly to his sides.
It was Harriet who bought his first longsword and sent him to the Knight Academy on the first day of school. She also came to his graduation ceremony and made his first Goldlane Knight uniform according to his taste.
It was Harriet who smiled the brightest as he was named one of the best Knights in the Euclase Empire. The woman even cried, welcoming him off the stage.
When he saw someone else doing the same thing for his sister, Heath felt strange.
"You know that they aren't sure of my sister's pregnancy yet, right? She could just have a late period," Heath asked quietly.
Liam looked up to see Heath standing on the side of the sofa. The man smiled warmly.
"You're right," Liam just glanced briefly at his brother-in-law's face and went back to reading.
Heath decided to sit still and opened a book in the pile of books Liam had brought with him. As he began to read it, his face slowly turned pale. What he read turned out to be a medical notebook about pregnant women. It recorded a study of the complaints of many pregnant women that appeared most frequently during their nine months of pregnancy.
"Wh-where did you get this book?!" Heath asked Liam, who looked up back at him.
Heath was sitting relaxed with his legs crossed on the sofa, looking at him in surprise.
"Oh, I borrowed it from the records of the castle physicians," Liam replied.
Heath was sure the castle physicians couldn't possibly have this kind of record. Liam must have gotten it from somewhere else. It was more like a note from a midwife, though no patient's name was listed on it. This was more like the personal record of a midwife who had worked with pregnant women for years.
But since Heath knew nothing about this, he might as well be wrong. Maybe Liam did borrow it from the castle physicians.
"Young Lord… are you actually familiar with medical technology?"
Liam didn't lift his face from his book and just muttered under his breath nonchalantly. "Hmm. Since childhood, my dream was to become a physician."
Heath blinked in confusion.
With that overwhelming power, and as an Alpha Lycan, this man before him wanted to become a medical practitioner?
Heath awkwardly lowered his head back to the book Liam was reading and he immediately felt dizzy. He sometimes cringed when he read the part about giving birth which was written in detail in the book.
So,o with a pale face, he closed his book and moved on to another book. This time, this book discusses drugs that were not allowed to enter the body of a pregnant woman, and his head becomes even dizzier.
After just half an hour of reading, he already felt his head was not strong enough to handle it anymore. He was actually confident about reading because he could read military books and war theory for hours on end. Only, these books in front of his brother-in-law were too hard for his brain.
But when he saw his brother-in-law, Liam was still sitting in the same position, only making small movements as he turned the page or wrote something in his notebook.
At the door to the room that had been opened earlier, Miriam suddenly appeared.
"Ah," Miriam saw her husband sitting, reading with his brother-in-law, and she quickly bowed awkwardly. "Young Lord Almandine, and… Heath," she said quietly.
"Miriam," Heath was grateful Miriam appeared and got him out of all this. The man stood up and put the book in his hand into the pile.
"Sister-in-law," said Liam with a warm smile.
"Umm, Sister Harriet said earlier that she wanted to have lunch at the castle garden. The weather is getting brighter and warmer… so I came here to invite Heath… umm… Sister Harriet was also looking everywhere for Young Lord Almandine and couldn't find you," Miriam said in a small voice.
"Oh," Liam closed his book and sat up straight. "Madam is looking for me? All right."
The man put his books in the pile and turned to Heath.
"Please tell Harriet I'll be coming. I want to return these books and hide the rest in Grandpa's study first. You two can go first," he said and lifted the pile of books with both hands.
Heath neither answered nor nodded, just looking back at Liam, who gave a faint smile and walked away. He also saw Liam keeping his little notebook in his jacket pocket and smoothing out his hair a little after balancing the stack of books with one hand.
The young man got a strange feeling.
It was irritating. And warm.
It felt like he wanted to hug the man tightly while also choking his neck–and, of course, he knew he would die if he really did. He remembered that all his fellow knights had described feelings similar to this as the feelings they had when they were with their brothers.
What the hell.