She dropped her hand at once, as if it had been burned.

She lowered her head and stared at her lower abdomen, then slowly rose and stepped in front of the mirror. The negligée clung loosely to her body, revealing nothing of her silhouette. It was only when she turned slightly and grasped the fabric that she realized her hand was trembling violently.

For a moment, Annely considered loosening her grip, pretending that nothing was wrong, and returning to what she had been doing. She tried to release the fabric immediately, but her fingers, clenched around it, refused to obey.

Her body would not move as she wished. She could feel cold sweat sliding down her back. The air in the room, which had felt warm and comforting just moments ago, now felt hot enough to scorch her skin.

The harder she tried to take a deep breath, the more ragged her breathing became.

Closing her eyes, Annely slowly moved her hand and pulled the negligee taut. She could clearly feel the fabric brushing against her waist.

There was only one thing left to do.

If she opened her eyes, it would be over.

But her eyelids felt unbearably heavy, as though weights had been hung from them, and her body was on the verge of collapsing. She did not know what she wanted, nor did she have time to examine her own heart.

Annely opened her eyes.

Time seemed to stop.

The strength drained from her body, yet her hand remained where it was. Instead, it drifted back towards her abdomen. She placed her palm just beneath her chest and slowly slid it downwards.

Her hand came to rest on her lower belly.

It had always been flat and slender, sometimes even curving inwards. This made the change feel all the more unmistakable. Annely could not tear her eyes away from the faintly rounded swell.

The moment she brought her other hand up to cradle her lower abdomen, she abruptly pulled both away. The negligée once again concealed her figure completely, but the subtle curve she had seen only moments earlier was etched in her memory.

Her last period had been more than two months ago. She had also taken her supplements around that time.

This feeling was unfamiliar, yet not entirely unexpected.

When she had miscarried six months into her marriage, she had become easily fatigued and nauseous. There had been light bleeding, which she had dismissed as an irregular cycle. She paid little attention to the faint swelling of her abdomen.

Back then, she had also stood in front of the mirror and looked at her lower belly, but she hadn’t harbored even the slightest suspicion.

But this was the second time.

This time, she could not possibly be unaware.

Contrary to what she might have expected, her heart was not racing. The breath that had been shallow and uneven moments before had settled into an eerie calm.

Standing there blankly, Annely suddenly came back to herself and sat down on the sofa. She appeared composed on the outside, but she lowered herself excessively carefully and could no longer sprawl as freely as before.

Only after leaning back against the sofa with effort did she place a hand over her lower abdomen again, blinking in a quiet daze.

‘Am I… pregnant?’

She repeated in her mind what she already knew.

“A child…”

Annely murmured so softly that she could barely hear herself and rubbed her lower abdomen. Beneath her palm, she could feel something swelling.

She had lost her previous child at this time — a child she had never even known existed.

If that child had been born safely, they would have been walking and running by now.

In an instant, the warmth drained from her body, replaced by a cold, sinking chill.

Only one thought remained in Annely’s mind.

She could not lose this child too.

“Amber!”

Calling out reflexively, Annely hurriedly pulled the bell cord. The moment Amber entered, Annely spoke at once.

“Bring her. That maid.”

Amber still didn’t understand what was happening, but she hurried to summon the maid in the same secretive manner as before. As soon as the door closed behind them, Annely spoke urgently.

“Tell His Majesty. Tell him I wish to leave tomorrow.”

Carlos did not want children. He had even taken powerful contraceptives, which had damaged her body. Given her infertility, Annely’s pregnancy was nothing short of a miracle — her last, irreplaceable chance.

Annely could not stay there for even one more day.

She had to leave immediately — away from the husband who had previously taken her child’s life and who might have ended up taking hers as well.

***

Even after returning to his office, Carlos found that he could not concentrate.

He held the documents in his hands, his gaze lowered as he lost himself in thought.

That morning, he had hesitated when he saw the embroidery frame. Driven by selfish desire, he had wanted to pour tea over it, ruin it, and then keep it for himself. In the end, however, he did not act on that impulse.

He told himself that he had made the right choice and tried to put it out of his mind. Yet, unexpectedly, the tea had spilled and ruined the handkerchief anyway.

As he had not touched it himself, there was only one person who could have done it.

‘Why?’

Why had she ruined it?

Her devotion to that handkerchief over the past two days had been genuine. She had pricked her fingers countless times and bled more than once. By morning, her fingertips were badly swollen.

She had no reason to destroy it herself. The more Carlos thought about it, the more hopelessly tangled his thoughts became. Even though he knew there was no answer to be found, he could not stop himself searching for one.

With a quiet sigh, he set the documents aside and opened a drawer.

Then he froze.

The pill bottle caught his eye.

When he picked it up, a faint rattle echoed through the silent room. The bottle was still full. It was only then that he realized more than a month had passed since Annely had last taken the pills.

During that time, they had continued to share a bed.

There was a chance — an impossibly small one — that a new life had taken root in her womb.

“A child…”

Annely’s child.

His child.

The child that Annely would carry.

His seed taking root within her womb.

The mere thought sent a sharp thrill through him, leaving his mouth dry.

Annely had not seen Tedor in a long time. If she was pregnant, the child could only be his.

It was a child that no one could deny belonged to him.

It was a temptation he could not resist.

Once again, it felt as though he were sinking into a deep, sweet mire. Absentmindedly, Carlos opened the pill bottle and poured its contents straight into his tea. The tablets dissolved almost at once, blending into the clear liquid. He did not look away.

He was convinced that the moment the pills vanished, Annely would become pregnant right then and there.

The excitement was overwhelming. Cold sweat soaked the palm clutching the bottle. When it finally slipped from his grasp, he set it down.

When he had asked her if she wanted a child, Annely had never given him a clear answer, but she had disliked the idea enough to stop pretending altogether.

But if the child already existed, what choice would Annely have?

There was only one answer.

‘Stay by my side.’

She wasn’t leaving.

That was all that mattered, and it was exactly what Carlos wanted.

If she wanted to love, she could do so beside him. If she wanted to yearn, she could do that beside him, too.

It felt as though he had finally spotted an exit at the far end of an endless maze — an inexplicable shiver ran through him.

As he forced himself to steady his breathing, Carlos forgot all about Annely’s strange behavior earlier.

A thought struck him. He quickly summoned Emily.

“When was Annely’s last menstruation?”

Caught off guard by the question the moment she entered, Emily paused briefly before answering.

“Two months ago.”

Carlos burst out laughing.

Only then did he realize how long it had been since Annely had experienced menstrual cramps. It was the only time she had ever clung to him like that, burrowing into his arms. It was such a long-awaited moment that it was strange he had forgotten it for so long.

Now, he could be certain.

‘She’s definitely pregnant.’

Annely was pregnant.

With his child.

Overcome by a stroke of fortune he could never have imagined, Carlos couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

“How is Annely? Has she calmed down?”

He asked, barely holding back his smile. His expression and voice were unusually gentle; his lips were curved upwards.

Noticing nothing amiss, Emily replied calmly.

“Yes. After resting for a bit, she immediately began making a new handkerchief.”

“I see. She must still be upset…”

Carlos turned his gaze toward the window. Seeing that it was still bright outside, he continued speaking.

“I should go see her this evening. You may go.”

After dismissing Emily, Carlos returned to his paperwork, humming softly to himself. His eyes moved over the documents, but his mind was fixed on Annely.

Although he was already convinced, he wanted to see it for himself — to experience it for himself and confirm it with his own senses.

The previous night, the abdomen he had seen had still been flat, but at two months, a pregnancy could easily be confirmed by examination. Nevertheless, although the idea of consulting the ducal physician crossed his mind, Carlos decided to put it off for now.

Annely must not realize it yet.

Only once the baby had grown enough to make itself known would she be unable to harden her heart against it.

His body felt strangely light, as though he were walking on clouds, hovering just above the ground.

Then, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

Unexpectedly, it was Emily again.

Still smiling faintly, Carlos motioned for her to speak.

Having received permission, Emily immediately bowed and said:

“Madam has begun her menstruation.”

That single sentence was enough to send Carlos plummeting from the highest sky straight into the abyss.