Side Story 15. Baby Star

Whoosh!

It happened in an instant.

Johann skillfully snatched the handkerchief that was fluttering between my back and side.

“Ah, that’s…”

I opened my mouth, not knowing what to do, and trailed off. What business does the Emperor, revered by the entire empire and a valiant hero, have with delicate flower embroidery?

I glanced at Johann, checking his reaction. He was staring intently at the handkerchief, lost in thought.

Is he taken aback after all?

“If you don’t like flowers, I can embroider something else. There’s a wolf, the imperial crest, and also…”

My head lowered involuntarily. I rambled on, looking at the ground.

“I like it.”

“What?”

Surprised by the voice that reached my ears, I raised my head. Johann was smiling with a face more beautiful than the flower embroidery on the handkerchief.

His silver hair shimmered in the winter sunlight. It was as if this man had taken all the light in the world.

“It’s a pretty flower. I’ll cherish it.”

You’re even prettier.

I blushed while inwardly praising this handsome man. Johann was looking at me with eyes dripping honey.

“Your handiwork is truly the best.”

As he said this, Johann took out the handkerchief from his front pocket and folded the one I had just given him so that the embroidery was visible, then tucked it in.

“Does it suit me well?”

“It suits you incredibly well. So much that I want to give you another gift.”

I nodded my head seriously. Johann laughed out loud.

“Faye says your dream is to sew dresses.”

“Do you remember what I did in Ponitan?”

“Hmm. We’ll need a warehouse that can become a mess.”

He seemed to be recalling the room we used as a warehouse piled with fabrics. Right. It was a mess.

“If you want, we could renovate an unused palace. Since there are so many types of fabrics, to stock all the fabrics in the world…”

“Wait, wait. Are you suggesting I set up a dress shop?”

“Not necessarily.”

“One dress at a time when I’m bored is enough.”

After giving birth, I’ll return to paperwork too.

As if reaching the same thought, Johann let out a small “Ah.” Then he lowered his gaze to look at my full-term belly.

“How’s Baby Star?”

Because people called me the Morning Star, our baby’s prenatal name became ‘Baby Star’.

I liked it.

“I think it’s sleeping. It’s been quiet… Oh?”

Just then, my belly moved.

When I opened my eyes wide, Johann quickly bent down, thinking this might be the moment. He gently cupped my belly with one hand and pressed his ear against it.

Thump.

Baby Star kicked once more.

“Did you feel it?”

“I felt it, I felt it.”

Johann excitedly pressed his ear closer.

I could see passing maids smiling fondly at us. Or maybe not. Perhaps they were smiling at the Emperor, already set to be a doting father.

Completely ignoring others’ gazes, Johann focused on the baby’s movements, forgetting his dignity in the middle of the garden.

“Judging by that excellent kick, it’ll be a great runner.”

“You’re not planning to train it harshly from the start, are you?”

I asked, just in case.

Johann straightened up and replied as if stating the obvious.

“There’s a saying. Raise them as strongly as you love them.”

“And?”

“Running laps in the training ground with sandbags is just the basics, isn’t it?”

“……”

Ugh.

Suddenly, the past years flashed before my eyes like a kaleidoscope.

A bitter laugh mixed with a sigh escaped through my teeth at the nightmarish memory of the sandbags. It had to be this garden. The place where that hellish special training took place.

“Looking back now, you were really annoying.”

I muttered, glaring at the window of the Emperor’s office. Why can I so vividly recall that face looking down at me, standing side by side with Jesuf there?

Johann seemed to genuinely not know. He asked in a bewildered voice.

“Weren’t you enthusiastic about it?”

“Haha……”

“You weren’t?”

“I don’t know.”

Not expecting any good words to come out, I just started walking. Johann followed closely beside me, continuing to chatter.

How could you act like that when it hadn’t been long since you took the purifier oath, did you plan to run away from the start, what about the undead, sorry for making it hard, I was wrong, don’t hate me…

Really, I can’t live with this.

“How could I ever hate you, Johann?”

“Sera……”

Johann stopped walking and hugged me tightly.

“I love you. I’ll love you forever.”

His sweet voice seeped through the cold air. It felt like breathing in a sweet ice candy.

As if reciprocating the same feelings, I hugged him back. Though it wasn’t easy to move because of the thick clothes. And the full-term belly, of course.

Just then, Baby Star moved ‘thump thump’. It was a different movement than usual.

As if shouting that it loved us too, Johann and I met eyes at the kick. Soon, both our eyes curved deeply at the same time.

What should I do?

It felt like we had plunged into a lake of happiness.

* * *

“Aaaargh!”

Johann was restless at the pain-filled screams leaking through the door.

If only he could take her pain instead, he would sell his soul if he could!

“Is it really alright? At this rate…”

Johann, about to say ‘she might die’, couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence and just clenched his fist tightly. It felt like his heart was burning up. It felt like his whole body was being crushed by a huge boulder.

Why was there nothing he could do?

It had already been nine hours…

“Do something. Is this really normal?”

Johann was pleading with the innocent Bremen.

Bremen answered with a solemn face and a bow.

“It’s the natural pain that accompanies the birthing process.”

This was all he could say. And that since the birthing room had become off-limits to men, the best thing to do was to wait outside and pray.

“Hah.”

Johann kept letting out short, rapid sighs. Even though he wasn’t the one giving birth, his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

The midwife currently helping the Empress give birth was a veteran who had delivered many children of famous nobles. There was no need to worry at all, but no amount of reassurance would work on Johann right now.

Bremen carefully opened his mouth.

“Your Majesty, perhaps you could rest your eyes for a moment in the next room…”

“How could I sleep now! Sera, my Sera…”

Is suffering so much.

Johann felt suffocated, thinking she seemed to be in so much pain, as if she might die. If anything happened to her, he didn’t have the confidence to live the rest of his life alone. It felt like he was back to that day when he helplessly watched Seraphina running into the bone dragon’s breath.

He felt like he was going crazy.

Could everyone really endure such hellish times? He couldn’t believe it. If he had known it would hurt Sera this much, he would have been careful not to let her get pregnant.

Johann couldn’t stay still for a moment, thinking thoughts that would horrify Ionia and the ministers if they heard. They could adopt an heir…

Although he felt sorry for Baby Star, Seraphina’s well-being came first for Johann.

“Aaah! Aaaaargh!”

“Sera!”

Johann almost broke the doorknob and barged in.

“Bremen! Please do something. Please…”

“Your Majesty.”

Bremen bowed his head with a gloomy voice. His mind was complicated. He knew the two were close, but to think the great Emperor Marseus would be so devoted to one woman.

Remembering the old Johann, Bremen found it hard to believe what he was seeing. He let out a small chuckle.

“What’s so funny?”

Johann reacted sensitively to the gentle laughter.

Bremen felt like laughing more, but not wanting to upset the Emperor, he barely held it in. Instead, he spoke calmly.

“I’m just amazed to see Your Majesty like this.”

“Isn’t it natural? My Empress is dying!”

“There are many husbands who go out to pass time while their wives are giving birth and come back later.”

“Aren’t they insane?”

Johann sincerely thought so. To leave her to endure such pain alone? How could a husband be so heartless?

“Those bastards should all have their bloodlines end…”

“Waaah! Waaaah!”

“……!”

Johann stopped mid-sentence and froze like a statue.

The first cry he had ever heard.

It was Baby Star’s voice.

Bremen bowed deeply to the Emperor, who was stiffly staring at the door.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

Just then, the door opened. Beyond it, a small life wrapped in a white blanket was visible in the midwife’s arms.

Johann moved forward as if in a trance.

The midwife handed the baby to him. Throughout the entire process of carefully holding Baby Star, Johann was extremely cautious. It seemed so small that the slightest mistake might break it. To think this little one had been kicking so vigorously.

“It’s a healthy prince, Your Majesty.”

“I see.”

Johann answered blankly.

Then he looked at Seraphina, who was lying down with an exhausted expression. Her hair and entire body were drenched in sweat.

“Your Majesty.”

Seraphina smiled weakly with her limp body. It was a smile Johann would never forget for the rest of his life.

After the long night of painful labor, morning sunlight streamed through the window bars. When the clean, sparkling winter light settled on Seraphina, it felt as if time had stopped.

Johann, snapping back to reality with a blink, approached her with the baby in his arms. Then he kissed Seraphina’s forehead.

“You did well. Our baby.”

“Yes.”

Seraphina smiled brightly.

The Emperor and Empress gazing at each other with love. And the baby prince cradled in their arms.

It was quite a picturesque scene to those watching.

This miraculous moment, when the imperial prince was born amidst overflowing love and blessings, was long recounted through the lips of numerous chroniclers.