Chapter 98 – You Are Pregnant!

Repeatedly, the fork moved to and from the plate.  

Just as the plate was nearly empty, the memory of that dream resurfaced.  

It was a dream so vivid that it was impossible to forget.  

Children who looked just like her, almost like miniature versions of herself. The transformed royal garden.  

Would this have been what it was like if Leo and I had met as children?  

She thought it was a ridiculous mix of assumptions and fantasies about the past.  

As Seilia lowered her head, a captivating smile spread across her face, and she chuckled quietly. Seeing her like this, Leo’s eyes sparkled with anticipation, as if asking her to share the story with him.  

“Well, you see… I had this dream earlier. It was so strange and fascinating at the same time.”  

“What kind of dream was it?”  

Leo, full of curiosity, listened intently as Seilia slowly recounted her dream.  

She explained that she had dreamed of the royal garden, which had undergone some changes. In that garden, there were children who looked exactly like them, fighting and playing with each other.  

At first, Leo only heard the part about someone in the dream looking just like her. He couldn’t help but act like a doting fool, joking about how she even thought of him in her dreams. However, when she mentioned that the figures in the dream were children, his eyes widened slightly.  

“Seilia, what if it wasn’t the past but the future?”  

That thought hadn’t crossed her mind.  

Not the past, but the future.  

His words hinted at the possibility of children who would be born between Seilia and Leo.  

She began to organize her thoughts based on Leo’s suggestion.  

Even as she considered it, there was nothing unnatural or out of place about the idea.  

‘For one, the children in the dream looked exactly like Leo and me.’  

There were children who didn’t resemble their parents at all. However, from what she had observed in her surroundings, most children bore a strong resemblance to their parents.  

Seilia herself had inherited both her parents’ appearances and personalities equally.  

Her beautiful features, stubbornness, and cold demeanor came from her mother, while her boldness and determination came from her father.  

Children who would inherit Leo’s cold nature and… her own audacious personality.  

Her rapidly wandering thoughts came to a halt as she landed on the core idea.  

Children.  

“But… does that mean this was a pregnancy dream?”  

“It’s just my personal speculation. It doesn’t mean you’re actually pregnant yet.”  

He was right. It was far too early to bring up the idea of a pregnancy dream when her pregnancy hadn’t even been confirmed.  

Leo, who had accidentally said the word “pregnancy” aloud, quickly shifted his gaze.  

Sitting upright, Leo asked slowly, 

“Seilia, haven’t you been saying lately that food feels unappetizing and makes you nauseous?”  

“Yes. Most of the time, I feel that way, though sometimes I get really hungry and eat a lot, but it doesn’t last long.”  

“And your body has been feeling sluggish and tired.”  

“That’s… true.”  

As Seilia wiped her mouth and replied, she suddenly froze in her movements and thoughts.  

The questions Leo was asking were all early symptoms of pregnancy.  

And the dream that seemed like a pregnancy dream.  

Her hands grew as cold as ice.  

Leo gently clasped her icy hands, and Seilia glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, offering a small smile.  

At first, she was overwhelmed by shock, but after a moment, she calmly began to organize her thoughts.  

It wasn’t as if they hadn’t considered the possibility of having children.  

Leo and Seilia had often joked in passing about how many sons or daughters they would like to have.  

Of course, they had used contraception sometimes during their intimate moments, but not always.  

As adults and as a married couple, both had been open to the idea of having children.  

“Seilia, I think you should get a check-up soon.”  

A faint smile appeared on Seilia’s lips as she stared at the table. It wasn’t intentional, but her lips curled into a smile automatically. Her blood coursed through her veins with excitement.  

When Seilia finally turned her gaze toward Leo, she saw him smiling with a look of deep emotion.  

Perhaps… they might have a child.  

Our child.  

* * *

From that evening onward, Leo and Seilia decided to wait until her next period. If it didn’t come, they would call the court physician to confirm whether she was pregnant.  

As they waited for her period, the two of them remained both anxious and excited, maintaining an optimistic outlook.  

The day her period was supposed to start came and went without any sign of it.  

Two days passed, then three, then four.  

After waiting for about four days, and even giving it an extra day just in case, there was still no sign of her period.  

The next morning, Leo immediately called for the court physician to conduct an examination.  

After a Commander health check, they explained the main reason for summoning the physician.  

Seilia and Leo, both trying to suppress their excitement, waited for the physician’s diagnosis.  

Although the symptoms Seilia had been experiencing strongly indicated early pregnancy, they tried not to let their hopes get too high until they received a definitive answer.  

The physician placed their hand on Seilia’s forearm and began checking her pulse.  

The duration of the pulse check was brief, but to Seilia and Leo, it felt like an eternity.  

They reminded themselves not to get too hopeful yet. After all, it would be embarrassing if it turned out to be a false alarm.  

Despite their efforts to remain calm, it was impossible to completely hide their anticipation.  

Everyone in the room maintained a tense silence, waiting for the physician to speak.  

However, Seilia began to feel a trembling sensation from the physician’s hand on her pale skin.  

Startled, Seilia lifted her head and looked at Leo with wide eyes.  

Noticing the subtle change, Leo, too, began to show signs of surprise.  

Finally, the physician slowly withdrew their trembling hand and opened their lips, which had been dry and cracked from exhaustion.  

The words that emerged lit up Seilia and Leo’s faces with radiant smiles.  

“You… you are pregnant!”  

* * *

A booming voice that seemed to pierce the heavens echoed through the room.  

While the physician, now muttering the same phrase repeatedly, jumped up and down in excitement, the actual subjects of the news—Leo and Seilia—took a while to react.  

The suspicion they had doubted over and over had become reality.  

I am pregnant.  

My wife is pregnant.  

As their empty minds began to fill with bright, vibrant light, Seilia’s delicate hand on the bedside trembled, and her arm grew weak, shaking slightly.  

Seilia covered her mouth with one hand, biting her lip.  

To think that she was carrying a child.  

They hadn’t planned for this pregnancy, but joy and happiness surged within her, warming her eyes.  

Her vision became blurry as her light purple eyes filled with tears.  

With tearful eyes, Seilia turned to look at Leo, who was standing beside her.  

Noticing her gaze, Leo, who had been lowering his head, looked down at her.  

“Seilia.”  

His voice trembled, and so did his reddened eyes, which he covered with his hand.  

Leo was usually bold in expressing his emotions, but he wasn’t someone who easily let those emotions spill out.  

Yet now, Leo looked as though he might burst into tears at the slightest touch.  

His green eyes, like a deep forest, revealed a myriad of emotions.  

Surprise, joy, gratitude, and overwhelming happiness.  

Every single one of these emotions was clearly visible.  

“A child… our child is growing inside you, Seilia.”  

Leo was even more astonished and overjoyed now than when he first suspected her pregnancy.  

“Our child, with our blood mixed together….”  

Tears began to stream down Leo’s smooth cheeks.  

Though he quickly wiped them away, they continued to flow uncontrollably, leaving him visibly startled.  

A new life was growing inside her.  

At this very moment, it was moving and breathing.  

I’m going to be a mother.  

The child growing inside me will one day come into the world, take its first breath, speak, walk, sleep, move, eat, cry, and laugh.  

I will witness all these moments.  

In the distant dreams that kept slipping away, I can now truly see myself and young Leo with my own eyes.  

She didn’t know how other couples react when they find out they’re going to have a child.  

Some might react indifferently, others reluctantly, and some might have desperately wished for it.  

But for Seilia and Leo, it was pure joy.  

The thought of having children who were wholly their own—who belonged to them—was a happiness beyond imagination.  

For a long while, Seilia touched her flushed eyes, and even her cheeks felt the same warm moisture that Leo had.  

Perhaps she needed to cry alongside Leo, if only to ease his possible embarrassment?  

Seilia’s face, now damp with tears, blossomed into a radiant smile. Seeing her like this, Leo smiled as well.  

***

Another wave of change swept through the Imperial Palace.  

The Empress of their nation was pregnant. With just this one sentence, the people of the Belton Empire had every reason to cheer and rejoice with fervor.  

However, as many as there were who celebrated, there were just as many—if not more—who worried.  

Everyone focused solely on Seilia, offering their concerns and heartfelt advice without reservation.  

When it came to nagging, it would be a shame not to place the Duke and Duchess of Ernian in second place.