Chapter 73: You Are Pregnant

Laughter and conversations rang out loudly.

The noisy sound that cluttered his ears made Damian frown, and he instinctively looked for Edelweiss.

Just setting his eyes on her slightly soothed his irritation.

But that calm didn’t last long.

Edelweiss, who had been standing on the deck, suddenly lost her balance and fell forward.

The moment he saw her fall straight into the sea, it felt as if time had stopped.

“Edelweiss—!”

Damian immediately ran, grabbed the railing, and jumped in. Waves surged high.

The sea, cold enough to sting, surged in to threaten him. But to Damian, only one thing mattered.

Edelweiss, who had fallen into the water, was sinking fast.

He saw her flailing weaken.

She was swept away by the icy waves and couldn’t breathe. No matter how much he called her, there was no response.

Damian quickly dove down and found her. He reached out and barely grabbed her.

Her eyes wouldn’t open, and her limp body hung still. He breathed into her. Holding her close, Damian pushed against the current and rose to the surface.

With her arms wrapped around his neck and her face resting against his chest, Edelweiss seemed too exhausted to move, having used up all her strength underwater.

With his left arm burning like it was on fire, Damian pulled the collapsing Edelweiss up.

“Edelweiss, open your eyes.”

He kept calling her name out of desperation, and finally saw the shoreline. Breaking through the crashing waves, Damian barely reached the end and laid Edelweiss on the sand.

Her whole body was pale.

With trembling hands, he brushed back her wet hair.

Her lips had lost all color and turned ghostly white.

“Edelweiss.”

“……”

Even when he touched her cheek and called her name, she did not open her eyes. She was utterly motionless, as if dead. Damian murmured desperately in a low voice while holding Edelweiss’s hand.

The warmth he had felt the night before was gone, replaced by ice-cold chill.

This was already the second time he had seen her collapse in front of him.

The helplessness was the same as that day, yet this time it felt different—

as though Edelweiss were slipping away from him.

Just as before, Damian placed his index finger beneath her nose. The faint breath he could barely feel stopped altogether.

His heart pounded as if it would burst.

Terror closed around his throat.

“Your Highness!”

Footsteps pounded toward them. Damian turned; sailors were running up.

One of them shouted,

“We’ve brought the surgeon!”

The physician knelt beside Edelweiss and took her wrist.

“Her pulse is weak, but she’s still breathing. Her temperature is very low—we must move her somewhere warm at once.”

She’s alive, still.

That single sentence hauled him back from despair. Damian slipped an arm beneath her legs and lifted her.

“I can carry Her Grace to the cabin—”

A sailor, knowing his left arm was injured, began to offer, but Damian jerked his chin for him to stand aside.

He strode directly into the ship and laid Edelweiss on the cabin bed.

Blood stained his hand.

Blood was flowing from between her legs. Startled, the physician hurried to examine her.

“Her Grace…”

“……”

“…is pregnant.”

The words slammed through Damian’s mind. The physician threw him a grave look.

“What?”

“Roughly two months along—she’s just reached the stable period, so fortunately the imperial heir seems unharmed. However…”

“……”

“Because bleeding has begun, I can’t guarantee the child will survive.”

He had never once imagined she might be carrying a child.

If that was why she would not wake…

“…Is that why she can’t regain consciousness?” he asked, voice grim. The physician nodded silently.

“Let no one else in.”

“I’ll bring an analgesic.”

The physician bowed and left the cabin.

Silence filled the room. Damian stared at Edelweiss’s belly—it looked far too flat to believe a child was inside.

***

“What a mishap on such a joyous night—will Her Grace be all right?”

“I saw His Highness carrying her to the cabin. Thank goodness he noticed—things could have been dreadful.”

Guests lingering on deck whispered. Rosemary knelt, eyes cast down.

She had botched everything. She had planned to fall, pretend to miscarry, and gain sympathy—

but Edelweiss had fallen instead and now everyone pitied her.

“To think she suffered this trying to save Lady Benel—”

“Lady Benel once slandered Her Grace at a gathering and even accused her of stealing the ruby necklace Empress Roxanne gave her. Yet Her Grace shielded her without hesitation—truly remarkable.”

They even praised her, saying she fell while trying to save Rosemary.

She wanted to cover her ears; just hearing it made her sick.

“Newlyweds, and he jumped right in to save his wife—what a loving couple.”

“Just look at the necklace Her Grace wore at the wedding. Only someone they cherish deeply would receive such a rare Mediart pearl as a bridal gift.”

What tormented her most was Damian’s action: the moment Edelweiss fell, he leapt in after her.

‘He… he must have thought I was the one falling and saved me instead,’ she reassured herself. ‘It was chaotic—he probably didn’t see who it was.’

Rosemary consoled herself, rose, and headed down the corridor toward the cabins.

There, she ran into the surgeon.

“My sister… is she all right…?”

Tears shimmered in her eyes, her voice quivered with moisture as she asked about Edelweiss’s condition.

“Ah, Lady Benel. His Highness Damian is with Her Grace now—it may be better to see her later.”

“C-could you at least tell me how she is? She fell because of me… I worry something terrible happened… sob…”

Unable to contain her “grief,” Rosemary covered her face with both hands and pretended to sob aloud.

“Do not worry, my lady. Her Grace will come to soon. The imperial heir is well, too.”

“…The imperial heir?”

“Yes, Her Grace is with child.”

Pregnant.

The word pierced her ears, and something boiled in her chest, ready to explode.

Impossible!

How could Edelweiss be pregnant?

She had made her drink lily tea constantly—she was supposed to be barren, yet she carried Damian’s child?

“Are you certain she is pregnant?”

“…Pardon?”

The surgeon looked bewildered by Rosemary’s suddenly sharp tone.

Realising it, she clenched her fists and forced her face back into sorrow.

“I-I’m only worried for my sister. She’s expecting and fell into the sea… Could something go wrong?

I’m sorry, I was just shocked.”

“Both mother and child are stable. There is little need for concern. Now, please excuse me.”

When the surgeon left, Rosemary’s gaze darkened.

‘Did she only pretend to drink the lily tea?’

Or had it been too soon for it to take effect?

Losing the man she loved was maddening enough…

She bit her lip, the padded cloth around her own belly suddenly ridiculous.

Once again, only Edelweiss was chosen. Fortune smiled on her alone.

‘I’ll write anonymous letters to the Boniel Times, claiming Edelweiss has a secret lover.’

It was unfair that only Edelweiss enjoyed happiness.