The truth is that he hasn’t seen his own reflection much longer than 7 months. He had actually avoided mirrors for quite some time. At some point Jerome found a new amusement that was ravaging him in front of a huge mirror, and he would force Silvano to keep looking too. Over and over again, to the point that his own reflection nauseated him. Jerome would even leave the mirror in the basement room to let Silvano keep looking at his own sorry state. At that point Silvano was quite young, around 15-16 and still didn’t know that they were cousins. When it was first found out that he’s pregnant he actually had some hope that Jerome might change, that he might decide to be a real family. Silvano was so lost at that point that he was ready to put up with his wickedness for the hope of having a place to call home, but that became a cheap joke for Jerome and the Ulime family. They laughed at him, mocked him, scorned him, and that day Jerome kept beating him in the stomach and continued doing so every night for days to force him to have a miscarriage. In the end they had to call that forsaken backdoor doctor. How naive he was and stupid…

“We’re done! How do you find my work?” Melam realised that Silvano had gotten tangled and lost in his thoughts again, so she intentionally spoke louder. He came back to his senses and glanced at his own reflection once more. It was still very hard to look straight into his own face, but there were so many changes in the environment and himself that made it somewhat tolerable. 

If he were to look at himself objectively he’d realise that with a little more weight and some muscles, his looks would be just perfect: right in between being handsome and beautiful. Not too feminine, not too masculine, nicely balanced proportions, astonishing eyes and eyebrows, lips not too thin and not overly plump. Only his nose looked a little more towards masculine as the bridge of his nose had been broken and there was a tiny bump there. But it didn’t look ugly, rather more charismatic. 

Not knowing how to react, Silvano quietly said with his voice a little less hoarse as he had inhaled the vapours in the bathroom. “Thank y-you.” How could he not thank someone who put so much effort in tending to his needs. Then after some thought he added.

“You d-do this every d-day?” 

“Of course not dear!” Melam said surprised, but before Silvano could sigh with relief she added. “It’s not good for the hair to get styled every day, the best frequency is every 2-3 days. Our schedule for hair care is 3 times a week.” 

“Sc-chedule f-for hair?” Silvano felt like these people had too much free time to make something like a hair care schedule. 

“Of course, we have a schedule for hair, for nails, for teeth, for skin, in fact the hair care is one of the less frequent ones. Right now is actually the time for today's second skin care routine. It’s advised to wait 20 minutes after taking a bath to apply cream. We don’t want your skin to develop stretch marks, do we?.” 

Silvano felt like losing connection to reality, and it took him until that moment to realise that this adjacent room was connected to the closet, bedroom and bathroom and was actually a dressing room slash boudoir exclusively for his use. The most luxurious house he had seen so far was the Ulime residence and even Mrs Ulime didn’t seem to have this much stuff… Then again this was Admiral Carnage’s mansion. Who knows how big the whole estate was. He stopped daydreaming when it got to him that Melam had quietly taken off the lavender bathrobe and started applying a cream on his arms. Then he realised something and it terrified him. The first time he woke up from coma there was a cream being applied to his belly and the baby was actively kicking and nudging back then.

“What’s the matter, dear, you don’t look right. Should I call the doctor or Colonel Gillian?” 

“Th-the ba-by hasn’t moved!” Silvano looked panicked and gravely guilty. 

“The little master hasn’t moved? Are you in pain? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?” Silvano frantically shook his head to all three questions with tears welling in his eyes. 

“When was the last time you felt a movement?” She asked with a professional tone.

“Bef-ffore w-washing up!?” Silvano felt so guilty and anxious that completely forgot about everything else in the world.

“I’ll call for Dr Sherum just in case but you shouldn’t worry much. Babies don’t usually move all the time. Even though the little master has been very active since he was a tiny embryo there are still times that he sleeps, and as in most cases during this term the circadian rhythms of the child and the parent are reversed.” She spoke patiently and with a reassuring tone, then picked up a palm size panel that hung on the side of the bed. 

“As we are on the  topic, let me show you this panel. The red button is for critical situations when it’s an absolute emergency, the yellow one is for emergencies that are serious but not life threatening. And this green one that I'm going to press now is just for calling in the doctor for minor worries.”

Just 2-3 seconds passed when Colonel Gillian and Doctor Sherum rushed in together. 

“What’s the matter?”

“What is the situation?”

They ask at the same time. 

“I c-cou-…”

Seeing that it was hard for Silvano to speak at the moment, Melam took the task of explaining.

“Mr. Silvano was worried as he hasn't felt the baby’s movements for about an hour now. I explained that it’s perfectly normal for babies to rest as well.” 

“Do you feel any pain or discomfort? When did you last feel movements?”

“O-on the b-bed.” 

“That’s about an hour ago.”

From their reactions and words Silvano logically assumed that there shouldn’t be anything too worrying, but reason and emotions don’t always listen to each other. He was still stiff and panicked. 

“Let’s make a quick scan just in case, to be on the safe side.” Colonel Gillian said and for saving time decided to carry the patient instead of rolling the wheelchair. 

The moment Colonel Gillian's hands touched his bare thighs Silvano felt electrocuted. Only then did he realise that all he had been wearing were quite short loose shorts and a sleeveless undergarment both of thin, light peach colour and soft fabric. Completely exposed and defenceless in the hands of a muscular tall man. The sensation of the hands of a strong person who has control over the situation on his bare skin made his mind a muddled mess …he didn’t want to give up, never wanted to give in, but he’s powerless, completely, utterly powerless and useless…

Colonel Gillian felt his trembling and realised the reason only midway, where he still had several steps to take to reach the bed. He tried to quickly but smoothly get there and gently place quivering Silvano on the bed sheets, then retreated far enough for the kid to feel safer. He couldn’t forgive himself how they continuously managed to trigger Silvano into an agony. 

The two men in the room stood at the side not sure how to act. Melam tried to approach and console Silvano, saying a couple of words, but her touch startled him even more. She then took a blanket and draped it over his curled up figure. 

After 5-6 minutes Dr Sherum started considering using a sedative to help Silvano relax as he didn’t like the look on the Colonel’s face assuming it reflected Silvano’s state.

“Uh..m.” Silvano, who was frighteningly silent until then, made an effort to say something and moved his trembling hand to his belly. Doctor Sherum came closer and asked. 

“Did he move?”

“Um-hm…” It was said very quietly but everyone present understood the meaning, that is, the calamity was overcome thanks to the youngest person in the room, the one that wasn’t even born yet. 

They took a mental note of what to and what not to do in the future while looking as tears silently trickled down Silvano’s cheeks. They waited for his breathing to gradually get steadier, until the exhausted patient finally fell asleep. Then they quietly performed a series of scans to make sure everything was fine all the while talking in quiet whispers. When everything indicated to be normal they breathed out a sigh of relief, but only for a second, because Colonel Gillian jolted at the notion of incoming communication on his encrypted device that was fastened inside his forearm. For 2 whole seconds he was torn between whether it’s worse to answer or not to answer the communication, but of course he did respond. 

“…” He connected without daring to say anything. 

“Are you going to amaze me with the wonderful news that the boy is up and running, doing gymnastics? How else am I supposed to understand the heart rate of 174 beats per minute of a bedridden person?” The last sentence was said stressing each word separately. It was evident that Admiral Carnage was furious. 

“It was my misjudgment, Admiral Sir.”

… 

20 minutes earlier in the Grand Council’s Central Communication Hall of Interstellar Negotiations. 

“Not everyone can afford to be an idealist like yourself, Carnage! You cannot demand something that is not under your command or responsibility. This is the norm and order of our society!” 

The synthetic voice automatically translated the common language of The Coral Constellation, a language that derived from the same root as the ones used by all humans scattered around in the universe. But 800 years was not a short time. It's enough for the language, aesthetics, morals, worldview… a lot can change unrecognisably during these many centuries. While Admiral Carnage mostly understood the Coral language he patiently awaited the translation, unfazed by the other’s provocations.

“You should understand better than anyone else, right Carnage? Don’t you feel nostalgic about the old times on Nest 5? People should have been happier back then, more honest to their true nature at least.” Even through the transmission hologram Admiral Carnage could imagine sensing the sticky unnerving nature of this man: Velozar da Yarivin da Adala. The 11th generation Emperor of The Coral Constellation, though some called their Empire “The Wasteland of Corpses”. This title was given by Starship Traders who would often find parts or entire corpses in the wagons of ores purchased from The Coral Constellation. It was an Empire built on slavery, lords, oppression, exploitation, the list could go on but in conclusion human life didn't weigh much in their eyes. 

Seeing the unwavering gaze of Admiral Carnage, Emperor Velozar knew there was not much left to negotiate. 

“Well maybe this conversation could move a little if General Feecel was the one negotiating? You have lived for so long Admiral Carnage, have you not learned the beautiful art of assigning troublesome matters to others?” While the main reason Velozar brought up Feecel was to anger the Admiral, there was some truth in his words too. The initial negotiations had been made with General Feecel’s faction which predominantly represented trade and financial interests not particularly interested in such details as means and morals. Whereas with this “stubborn rock” that had picked up the negotiations at some point it was completely impossible to find mutual interests to navigate around. 

“I have revised all the initial agreements you have reached previously with our side, and I find 3 points in the 52 pointed document that are acceptable and don’t need revision. So I ask Emperor Velozar and the Hall of Pillars of The Coral Constellation to generously wait for us to reassess and bring renewed negotiation materials on the table.” 

Emperor Velozar was a stunningly attractive but venomous man, with long blonde hair which almost looked yellow and shimmering green eyes. Without showing on his face he cursed inwardly that he had stumbled across this unbudging boulder. Then with a charming smile on his beautifully curved lips he  gestured with his hand as if to show generosity. 

“Of course Admiral Carnage for such important matters rushing is not appropriate. Wise decisions take time and effort. Admiral?” There was a pause in Velozar’s speech as he got intrigued to see a slight emotional fluctuation in the stern Admiral’s behaviour. During the whole conversation Admiral Carnage had just looked ahead with an impenetrable face, but suddenly, he furrowed his brows and glanced at his forearm worriedly. ‘This looks personal!’ For a cunning and obsessive person like Velozar this was enough to pique his interest and tempt him to rampage through another man’s secrets. ‘How fun! Hmhmm…’ Velozar couldn’t help but giggle in his mind.