“Wh-what could it be?”

“Indeed. Gregory isn’t one to make mistakes.”

Though he was the youngest, he was recognized for his skills among the physicians, so seeing him hesitate made the other doctors feel their hearts might leap from their chests.

“I feel like my heart’s going to stop.”

“Let’s each take a tranquilizer when we leave here.”

The doctors quickly whispered during a brief moment.

“What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with the empress?”

Kai’s face had also turned pale. Meanwhile, Stella, who felt nothing unusual except for the drowsiness from her disturbed sleep, just blinked and stared blankly at the doctor examining her.

She felt embarrassed and sorry that the innocent doctors were having such a hard time because of her.

“I really am fine.”

Though Stella spoke with an intentionally bright smile, Kai’s stiff expression didn’t soften. Instead of answering, Gregory examined Stella once more before speaking.

“Your Majesty…, it appears that Her Majesty the Empress…”

Gulp.

The sound of people drawing breath and swallowing dry saliva could be heard throughout the room. If anything were even slightly wrong with the empress’s body, their lives would be as good as forfeit.

“Appears to be with child.”

“What? With child?”

“Your Majesty, congratulations.”

“But the empress is still weak…”

Though Kai was overjoyed, he was more worried about Stella’s physical condition. To Kai’s eyes, Stella still looked so fragile that she might blow away in the wind.

“Is it really true that I’m pregnant?”

Unlike Kai with his worried expression, Stella was so happy she worried this might be a dream.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Though it’s still early, the pregnancy is certain. Congratulations.”

Gregory stood up and bowed deeply. Though he felt congratulatory about the empress’s pregnancy, his feeling of relief at having passed a critical moment was even greater.

“Kai, we’re going to have a baby.”

Tears welled up in Stella’s eyes. Kai nodded while carefully embracing his precious wife in his arms.

“Aren’t you happy?”

“I am. So much I could dance right now.”

“I’m relieved. I was worried that you might not want the baby because your expression was so dark.”

“How could that be? I’m just worried about the strain on your body.”

Stella knew well what Kai was worried about. She still had nightmares sometimes, and each time, she would lose weight so drastically that it would terrify the empress’s dedicated nutritionist.

“I’ll be fine. Now that I’m not alone, I’ll only have beautiful dreams.”

“Yes. You will.”

The doctors smiled warmly watching the beautiful young imperial couple. Then, in silent agreement, they all backed away slowly leaving only Gregory, saying:

“As the doctor who first diagnosed Her Majesty’s pregnancy, Gregory will be responsible for monitoring Her Majesty’s health from now on.”

Gregory startled and stared at his senior doctors with wide, resentful eyes, but the rest of the doctors wore relieved expressions like people who had just shed a heavy burden.

* * *

“Huh? What’s this?”

Oton, who was gathering fallen Golden Bloom seeds into a basket, tilted her head while looking down at the ground.

“What is it?”

“What’s what?”

“What, what!”

Curiosity aroused by Oton’s words, the other three fairies quickly gathered around her. Despite her friends coming near, Oton’s gaze remained fixed on the ground without moving.

“What are you looking at?”

Getting impatient when there was no response even after poking her, Esta looked intently at the ground and asked.

“Oh?”

After Oton, Iver was the next to detect something unusual.

“Why? What is it? Let us know too!”

Esta and Ark squatted down in front of the spot the other two were staring at, looking frustrated. After a moment, their eyes also grew wide with surprise.

“Could this be…”

“Move aside. I’ll pick it up.”

Oton carefully squatted down, pushing aside the three who sat there dumbfounded.

Where the four fairies were looking, there was a round ball of earth. Through the fine soil particles, a very delicate pink light softly seeped through.

Oton carefully picked up the ball of earth, embracing it with both arms.

“It’s firm and warm. And it smells nice too.”

Oton spoke in a moved voice while holding the earth ball.

“Wow! I’ve never seen such a pretty fairy seed before!”

“It’s really beautiful! It’s a seed born from the energy of the Golden Bloom, right?”

When Iver and Esta asked, Oton nodded proudly.

“Yes!”

Just then, the soil covering the outside of the bead fell away with a soft thud. This revealed a bright and beautiful pink bead.

“Wooooow!”

“Let’s take this to our house!”

Ark said while stomping his feet excitedly. All the fairies looked beside themselves with joy.

“I’ll give up my bed!”

“No! I’ll give up my bed!”

“Instead of that, let’s ask Stella to make a new bed!”

“But is it okay not to take it to the underground house?”

The earth fairies each spoke up, offering to give up their beds. Hearing this, Oton sighed deeply and looked at her friends with exasperation as she started nagging.

“You idiots! This was found outside, wasn’t it? If we take it underground, the baby will feel suffocated! Don’t you even know such basic things? What have you all been learning?”

“We can forget things! How can anyone remember everything they learned?”

“Isn’t it weird that you can’t remember?”

“No, it’s not! You’re the weird one!”

“Shh! Be quiet! You’ll startle the baby!”

When Esta and Oton started bickering, Iver looked at them and signaled them to be quiet.

Usually, everyone would have added their own comments, but today was an extremely happy and special day, so they all kept their mouths shut tight and fixed their sparkling eyes on the fairy seed Oton was holding.

It had been a hundred years since a new fairy seed had appeared.

* * *

News of Stella’s pregnancy quickly spread beyond the imperial palace. Melissa, who was eating dinner when she heard the news, dropped her knife with a clatter and asked her mother who had delivered the news:

“Stella- I mean, Her Majesty the Empress is pregnant?”

“That’s what they say. It’s wonderful news for the Credion Empire.”

Melissa’s mother, Eschlian, while sincerely congratulating, looked at her daughter who was well past marriageable age with a face full of concern.

She grew increasingly worried seeing her daughter, who had outstanding looks, came from an excellent family, and was respected by everyone, still alone without finding a partner.

Whether or not her mother worried, Melissa showed no interest in men, let alone marriage. The only things she cared about were sword practice and Stella.

She didn’t even show much interest in the earth fairies that others called cute and mysterious beings.

Rather, she found the earth fairies who pestered her whenever she visited Stella annoying. Those tiny creatures who weren’t even a handful were so talkative it gave her a headache.

“I can’t just sit here like this. I need to buy a gift right away!”

“Melissa, it’s late. Her Majesty must be resting now.”

When her impatient daughter jumped up from her seat, Eschlian shook her head knowingly and continued cutting her steak.

“Ah, it’s night.”

Melissa hung her head in genuine disappointment. Though she wanted to run to the imperial palace right away to offer congratulations, frustratingly, it was dark outside and as her mother said, Stella might be resting.

“By the way, this is terrible.”

“What now?”

When her daughter muttered to herself, Eschlian asked halfheartedly.

“What if it looks like Kai?”

“Sigh, Melissa. How can you, a subject of the emperor, say such things?”

Melissa’s father pretended not to hear the mother-daughter conversation and concentrated on eating his dinner. There was nothing to gain by joining that conversation.

“Hmm, the meat is very tender.”

Eschlian glared reproachfully at her husband who was just focusing on his meal.

“As a subject, I’m sincerely concerned. This won’t do.”

“What now!”

“Tomorrow I’ll go to the temple to pray that the baby looks only like Stella, and make a large donation too.”

“Oh dear.”

Eschlian let out a deep sigh and tore off a piece of bread, dunking it in her soup. Looking at her daughter who seemed to show no signs of maturity despite her age, she felt like she wouldn’t be able to digest the meat at all.

* * *

When Stella opened her eyes, it was already bright outside.

“I overslept!”

Just as Stella sat up startled in bed, Rudina entered the room, apparently having been waiting for this moment.

Though Milla and Rudina, who had made great contributions in saving the empress and defeating the earth spirit, had regained their lost noble titles and received territory from the emperor, Rudina still remained by Stella’s side.

She thought the clever sister Milla was more than capable of managing the territory.

Although Rudina remained in the position of the empress’s lady-in-waiting, no one dared treat her carelessly as she was one of the most trusted people of the imperial couple.

Even Melissa was extremely kind to Rudina. They had in common their love for Stella.

“Are you awake? You should have slept more.”

Rudina was more delighted than anyone at the news of Stella’s pregnancy. She also worried about Stella’s health no less than Kai did.

“I slept too much.”

“From now on, you need to sleep a lot, eat a lot, and only see pretty and nice things. Understood?”

Looking at Rudina who worried about her like a real mother, Stella felt overwhelmingly happy, like she had suddenly become rich.

“Yes. I will. Thank you.”

As the two were chatting, four earth fairies came fluttering in through the open window. After Stella’s marriage, the fairies’ house had been moved to a different location.

Instead of the dollhouse that Ian had given as a gift, Kai had called the most skilled craftsman in Credion to build them a magnificent house.

Not only did it have individual bathrooms, but it also had plenty of rooms to invite fairy friends, and even a mini kitchen where they could actually cook.

The pots and cooking utensils that could safely use fire were made to fit fairy size. Moreover, in recognition of their service in protecting Stella, the four earth fairies were even granted the title of count.

Though the earth fairies themselves had no interest in being counts or whatever, the nobles were different. They began to see the earth fairies, whom they had previously considered merely cute beings, in a different light.

Sometimes they would give gifts of clothes or accessories perfectly sized for the fairies to gain their favor.

But the fairies showed no interest in such things, and among all the gifts they received, the only things they liked were fresh vegetables, fruits, and cookies made with lots of chocolate.

“Stella, hello!”

“Good morning!”

“You idiot, it’s already afternoon, morning passed ages ago.”

“Stella, Stella!”

Esta, who had been cuddling like a baby for a while, suddenly lifted his head and called Stella in an excited voice. The other fairies also looked equally excited.

They all smiled with upturned lips, exchanging meaningful glances with each other.

“What is it? Did something happen?”

Stella asked with a puzzled expression, seeing the fairies acting differently than usual.

—

T/N: MELISSA IS SO HILARIOUS PLEASEEEE “What if the baby looks like Kai?” LMAOOOOOO I’M CACKLING