Chapter 901 - 901: The contrast of the taboo

Many years ago, in the front courtyard of the duchy, the warmth of late spring had settled over the pale stone. Sunlight streamed through the open arches, casting long shadows across the ground.

Somewhere nearby, gardeners were trimming the hedges, and the fresh scent of cut grass mingled with the warmth of the marble.

Olivia sat in a broad, cushioned chair, enjoying the peaceful afternoon. Her husband sat nearby, occasionally glancing at her with a smile as she cradled their infant son in her arms.

Little Kraven was still so young that he could barely hold his head steady. His tiny fingers clutched the fabric of her dress, and his cheeks were soft and round. Every now and then, he would make a small, impatient sound, as though the world had already given him more reasons to complain than he could bear.

Olivia laughed softly at his impatience. She adjusted him in her arms, drew aside the neckline of her dress, and gently guided him toward her breast.

Kraven latched on almost immediately.

He was hungry, that much was obvious. His tiny hands moved restlessly against her, and he suckled with an eagerness that made Olivia smile. She watched him with the familiar warmth of a mother looking at her child, brushing a finger over his soft cheek.

**bite**

Then, quite suddenly, she felt a sharp sting.

Her smile faltered.

Kraven had begun to develop his first teeth, and in his eagerness, he had bitten down far harder than he should have.

Olivia winced and instinctively drew back, though she was careful not to startle him.

The little boy made a dissatisfied noise, apparently unable to understand why his meal had been interrupted.

A quiet laugh escaped her despite the discomfort.

"Kraven, slow down. You're using your teeth. You're hurting your mama."

She spoke gently, the words coming naturally to her.

There was no anger in her voice, only the tenderness of a mother correcting her little one. She stroked his cheek and waited for him to settle before guiding him back.

Her husband watched the exchange with amusement, and the afternoon continued in the easy warmth of family life.

It had been such an ordinary moment. One of countless small memories she had gathered while raising her son.

At the time, Olivia had never imagined that years later, a single sentence would bring it all rushing back with such clarity.

**

It was too late by the time she realized what she had said.

The words hung between them, carrying a familiarity that belonged to another time.

Even Julian went still.

The change was subtle at first, little more than a pause against her breast, but Olivia noticed it immediately. She had known her "son" since the day he was born. She knew the difference between his ordinary silences and the moments when something had caught his attention.

And her words had managed to do exactly that.

"Say that again," he said, lips still close enough that his breath warmed the wet skin he had just left.

Olivia stared at him. Her face grew warm as the meaning of her own words finally settled over her. Her one hand was still wrapped around him. The other had only just fallen from where she had been holding her breast to his mouth.

"I did not mean to say that."

"I know."

"Then why would you ask me to repeat it?"

Julian did not answer immediately. He studied her face, his expression unusually thoughtful.

Whatever hunger had been in him a moment earlier had quieted into something more careful.

"Because you sounded as though you were remembering something," he finally said. "For a moment, you were somewhere else entirely. Even with your hand on me."

Olivia looked away.

He was right, and that was precisely what troubled her. The memory had come so suddenly that she barely understood what was happening.

One moment she was caught in the present, feeding him, touching him, letting him take from her body in a way no mother should. The next, she heard her own voice speaking words she had not spoken in years.

She could still picture the courtyard, the pale stone warmed by the afternoon sun, and the little boy who had once fit so easily in her arms. She remembered the weight of him against her chest, his tiny fingers clutching her dress, and the endless patience that motherhood had demanded of her.

Those days seemed impossibly distant now.

"Kraven," she said quietly, "that was a long time ago."

"I know, Mother."

The familiar title brought her eyes back to him. Spoken while she sat half-undressed before him, it landed with more weight than it should have.

However, there was something almost disarming about the way he said it.

For all the years that had passed, he still remained the child she had once carried through the halls of the duchy. She could remember him stumbling over his first steps, crying when he scraped his knee, and reaching for her whenever a nightmare woke him in the middle of the night.

She was there for all of it.

And yet, looking at him now, with her milk on his mouth and her fingers still loosely around his cock, she struggled to reconcile those memories with the man before her.

"You were so small back then," she murmured. "You could barely speak. You certainly had no idea how much trouble you caused me."

A faint smile touched Julian's face. "I imagine I caused quite a lot. More now than then, perhaps."

"You have no idea."

For the first time since her accidental words, Olivia managed a small laugh. It was brief and uncertain, but it eased some of the tension that had gathered in her chest. Even so, she became acutely aware again of their present state.

Then her smile faded.

"I sometimes wonder where all those years went," she admitted. "It feels as though I only looked away for a moment, and suddenly you were grown. Grown enough to put me in a position like this."

Julian fell silent.