War and Civilians (2)

“Cough, cough, cough...”

Startled, the minotaur choked on his breath, nearly suffocating on the dry tobacco. He coughed several more times before finally catching his breath.

But when he turned his head, he saw the person he least wanted to see right now.

His wife—Anna, a rabbitkin.

“What are you doing up here?” After a brief, stunned silence, Iron Bull scrambled to his feet to support his wife, who was struggling up the ladder due to her pregnancy.

“I woke up early and realized you weren't there,” Anna said as she was helped onto the roof. “Why aren't you in bed? What are you doing up on the roof?”

“Uh...” Iron Bull fell silent. Normally an honest, simple soul, he chose to lie this time. “I... I couldn't sleep, so I just came up here to get some fresh air.”

“Really?”

Anna blinked her large, watery eyes, meeting the minotaur's gaze.

“R-really,” Iron Bull muttered, averting his eyes guiltily. He didn't dare look his wife in the eye, nor did he dare tell her the truth.

He knew that if he told her the truth, she would definitely stop him.

Anna blinked, seemingly not noticing anything amiss. She stood on her tiptoes and brushed the ashes off Iron Bull's chest. “Look at you, why are you so careless? The ashes burned holes in your clothes.”

“Come on, take it off. I'll patch it up for you.”

As she spoke, she pulled out a bone needle as if by magic, plucked a few long hairs from her tail, and sat on the edge of the roof to twist them into thread.

“Huh?”

Iron Bull only now noticed the several holes burned into his clothes.

“I was wondering why my chest was stinging a bit. I thought it was just my stomach growling because I was hungry.”

With that, the minotaur slipped off his hide coat and handed it to Anna. He sat obediently by the edge of the roof, watching his wife sew his coat stitch by stitch.

The first light of dawn broke on the horizon, casting a warm glow on the rabbitkin's long eyelashes and soft, moist eyes, making her look exceptionally beautiful and tender.

A loud gulp echoed.

At the sudden sound, Anna looked up from her sewing and saw a long trail of drool hanging from the corner of Iron Bull's mouth.

“You're a grown bull, yet you're still drooling! Have you no shame?” Anna teased. She lightly poked the minotaur's arm with her bone needle. Iron Bull let out a yelp of pain, snapped out of his daze, and hastily wiped his mouth.

Yet his eyes remained fixed on her.

“What are you staring at?” Feeling his intense gaze, Anna rolled her eyes. “My belly is huge right now, so don't go getting any ideas.”

“Hehehe.”

Iron Bull scratched his head and gave a silly chuckle. “I didn't mean anything by it. I just think you're really beautiful, wife.”

“Of course I am,” Anna said without looking up. “Back then, the half-beastkin chasing after me lined up from one end of the tribe to the other.”

She looked up and draped the patched hide coat over Iron Bull's shoulders. “Who would've thought a silly, clumsy guy like you would end up winning me over?”

“Hehehe...”

Iron Bull grinned foolishly and obediently opened his arms, letting Anna help him into the coat. “Well, I had to beat everyone else single-handedly to win you.”

“Yes, yes, you're the strongest.” Anna rolled her eyes as she fastened the last bone button and neatly adjusted his collar, nodding in satisfaction.

“There, much better.”

She looked up, gazing into his large, round eyes.

“You're going to be a father soon, so pay a bit more attention to how you look. Once you get to Black City, don't mistreat yourself. Eat well, drink well, and don't worry about us.”

“Hehe, I...”

Mid-sentence, Iron Bull froze. The look of utter bewilderment on his face was almost comical.

Anna couldn't help but laugh at his expression. She reached out to gently pinch his ear, then pulled her hand back and rested her head against the minotaur's broad, sturdy chest.

She listened to his powerful, steady heartbeat.

“Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump...”

“Silly bull... You're so bad at lying...”

Amid the rapid thumping of his heart, the morning sun slowly rose. The shock on Iron Bull's face melted away like winter snow, and he gently wrapped his arms around the small figure in his embrace...

Time ticked away, minute by minute.

Under the warm sunlight, two shadows—one massive, one small—stretched out long behind them.

It wasn't until a sharp train whistle echoed from the distance, signaling the arrival of the steam train, that Iron Bull reluctantly let go. Like a machine, he stood up stiffly and began walking in the opposite direction from Anna.

But after only two steps, a pair of small hands suddenly wrapped around his waist from behind.

“Promise me... you'll come back alive, okay?” a voice choked with suppressed tears pleaded from behind him.

Even through the thick hide coat, Iron Bull could feel his back growing damp. They were Anna's tears.

He clenched his fists and closed his eyes as a wave of overwhelming sorrow flooded his heart.

The unyielding warrior finally let his tears fall.

Reaching down, he gently pried open the small hands holding him. Like a stone statue coming to life, Iron Bull took a heavy step forward.

That single step felt as heavy as a mountain.

Gritting his teeth, he forced a single word out.

“Okay...”

Only when the minotaur's figure had completely vanished from the rooftop did Anna close her eyes, gently caressing her swollen belly.

As the sun climbed higher, casting its brilliant light across the rooftop, a single, crystal tear shimmered with unyielding light in the remaining shadow.