“Yes, the duchess has regained consciousness. Though she’s very weakened, she’s gathering her strength again. The cervix, which was dilating slowly, has now opened almost completely, so delivery is imminent.”

“……So there are no other problems with Chloe?”

Andert’s voice, repeatedly confirming his wife’s condition, trembled slightly. Doctor Harmen, who had been trying to guide the duke back to the reception room, cleared his throat at the desperate question.

“Yes, Your Grace. The duchess is bravely persevering. With her strong will, her recovery after childbirth will be quick. Would you like to come this way?”

After barely getting the man, who still stood firmly in the corridor, into the reception room, Harmen carefully observed him. Andert, with his necktie loosened, appeared uncharacteristically disheveled.

It wasn’t uncommon for mothers to faint during labor. In fact, this wasn’t the first time the duchess had fainted. Chloe had also lost consciousness last night but quickly regained it like other mothers.

But this time she hadn’t recovered for several minutes. That’s why there had been a commotion in the hospital room with people loudly calling the mother’s name.

‘Adding such detailed explanations in the current situation would only fuel unnecessary anxiety.’

Fortunately, the baby’s head had started to show, meaning it was fully prepared to enter the world.

Doctor Harmen handed a glass of water to the anxious guardian, hoping to calm him. Andert, who unconsciously took the glass, repeatedly checked the clock.

“Ha……”

Despite Doctor Harmen’s presence beside him, he leaned back in his chair and squeezed his eyes shut. It was a morning when he found it excruciating how slowly time could pass.

* * *

“The babies, the babies…… are they both healthy?”

This question barely escaped from Chloe’s dry lips.

Blood seeped into her mouth from the flesh she had repeatedly bitten until it broke. But she didn’t even notice the metallic taste on her tongue.

“Yes, Lady Dietrich. You have a healthy daughter and son. You’ve done remarkably well.”

Only after hearing the doctor’s answer did Chloe feel relieved.

Thank goodness.

And that was her last memory. Having spent all her strength, Chloe lost consciousness again before she could ask to see the babies.

Andert entered the hospital room right after. The time had already passed noon. Crossing the threshold, he immediately approached the bedside. Seeing her haggard face, his heart sank again.

His eyes darkened at once upon seeing her pale complexion and the scabs on Chloe’s lips.

“The duchess is very exhausted due to the prolonged labor. The examination shows no abnormalities. And both your son and daughter were born healthy.”

This was followed by the doctor’s explanation that the exhausted mother’s body needed rest. Andert, who had been waiting anxiously all this time, asked without taking his eyes off Chloe.

“She simply lost consciousness?”

“Yes. There are no other issues with the duchess. We can view it as her exhausted body demanding rest.”

The obstetrician added these words sincerely again. But Andert, holding Chloe’s limp hand, asked once more.

“Are you certain there are no other abnormalities with my wife?”

The doctor, who had intended to show the newborn babies first, looked with bewildered eyes at the duke who wouldn’t even turn his head in their direction. The voice verifying the facts was low and cold.

Yet he didn’t ask about the babies and kept repeating the same question.

This reaction didn’t match his seemingly rational demeanor.

Unlike Doctor Harmen, the Dietrich family physician, this was only the second time he had directly faced the duke. The doctor, who had been standing blankly for a moment, suddenly realized the reality. An immediate answer took priority for questions from someone difficult to deal with.

“Yes. The duchess lost consciousness only after confirming the babies were healthy. It seems the tension she had been maintaining was released all at once.”

Only after several explanations did Andert finally raise his bent upper body. The thumping in his chest still persisted.

But Chloe wasn’t the only one in this hospital room. Raising his head, Andert finally faced his daughter and son who had entered the world.

The doctor, who had been standing awkwardly, could finally deliver his prepared greeting to the duke who had turned his gaze.

“Congratulations. These are your healthy son and daughter who have become members of House Dietrich today.”

The babies wrapped in white swaddling clothes had their eyes tightly closed.

Not realizing newborns could be this small, he alternately looked at faces smaller than his fist. Throughout this, his fingers still held one of Chloe’s hands.

The sleeping babies had features that were still difficult to distinguish clearly in terms of resemblance. However, their hair, sprouting like down, was of different colors.

Sweet brown and sparkling gold. Though sparse and flat, the distinctly different colors were clearly distinguishable.

‘Chloe and my children.’

Andert clasped the slender hand he still hadn’t released.

The family image he had been carefully preparing with Chloe had finally materialized before his eyes. It was a moment when another meaning was added to the name Dietrich, which he had simply wanted to possess completely.

* * *

Elliott and Gloria.

Chloe, who had been embroidering each baby cap stitch by stitch, rose from her seat with practiced ease. This was after she heard innocent laughter coming from nearby as they took clumsy steps with two nannies.

“Elliott, Gloria.”

At her affectionate call, the sound of toddling footsteps quickly followed. Chloe, bending her knees deeply, embraced both children tightly with her arms.

Roman, the butler who had been following behind the nannies, watched the scene with satisfaction. The young lady and young master, born after more than two full days of labor, were healthy.

“Slowly, be careful.”

Chloe’s voice, watching the two children toddle again, was as warm as the late spring sunshine.

Roman neatly placed the mail that had arrived for the duchess on the table. The Dietrich children, who had just passed their first birthday recently, were growing day by day.

Gloria, who looked exactly like Chloe, and Elliott, who was a spitting image of Andert’s childhood.

Their appearance, from hair color to eyes, seemed to perfectly match their parents according to gender. But as they gradually grew, their personalities seemed to be the opposite.

“Rather, doesn’t the young lady’s personality resemble the duke? When you observe closely, the young master seems much more affectionate and gentle in nature.”

“That’s true. It seems like the opposite gender would have suited them better.”

As the servants occasionally remarked, the young master and young lady of House Dietrich had completely different personalities. In a word, Gloria was like a miniature version of the reserved Chloe, and Elliott was like seeing the universally kind Andert.

“My lady, I’ve prepared snacks for the young master and young lady.”

Even their reactions to the snacks Bellisa brought, like now, were worlds apart. The difference between Elliott, who kept smiling brightly, and Gloria, whose expression rarely changed, appeared even more stark as they sat side by side.

But their small hands gripping the spoons were equally adorable beyond measure. While Gloria and Elliott enjoyed their mashed chestnuts, a brief peace settled in the first-floor reception room.

“I’ve arranged the letters on the table. Doctor Harmen is scheduled to visit in an hour. I’ll escort him here when he arrives.”

“Thank you.”

After confirming the family physician’s house call time, Chloe gently stroked the hair of the two children seated before her.

Perhaps due to the difficult labor she had experienced, she had struggled to regain her strength for several months after giving birth. But now that her body had largely recovered, she didn’t need regular check-ups.

Nevertheless, Doctor Harmen’s twice-monthly visits to House Dietrich were entirely at Andert’s request.

“Chloe, please continue receiving check-ups for a while. I really want you to do this for me.”

Chloe couldn’t refuse him when he asked like that. She vividly remembered Andert’s face that she encountered as soon as she regained consciousness on the day she gave birth.

She had closed her eyes immediately after confirming Elliott and Gloria were safely born, but regained consciousness not long after.

“Chloe.”

And she faced it. That gaze where relief, concern, joy, and bewilderment were all intertwined.

How had she reacted upon seeing those eyes?

She probably smiled at Andert, who seemed to have been holding her hand all along.

She was grateful just for the fact that both children were born safely. Not only that, she felt happy that he was the one steadfastly by her side.

Knowing how anxiously he must have waited for her to wake up, she intended to follow her husband’s opinion on the matter of the physician. Although it seemed somewhat excessive now that she had recovered almost completely like before.

Just then, Bellisa’s careful voice broke into her thoughts.

“Young lady, please give me the bowl now.”

Gloria, who had already tilted her head back, had emptied her portion completely by shaking the bowl.

After watching the cute gesture for a moment, Chloe gently removed the dish clutched in the tiny fingers. After wiping her mouth with a clean handkerchief, Chloe kissed her chubby cheek.

“Gloria, it’s almost time for dinner, so let’s put that down now. Okay?”

“Mommy.”