Chapter 13 – Part 2

With deep wrinkles around her eyes and continuously vomiting, Laviela clung to Mary’s hand, unable to contain her agitation.

“This isn’t right. Something must be wrong!”

“No, it’s a very natural symptom of early pregnancy, so don’t worry too much.”

Mary, who had many younger siblings, knew pregnancy symptoms better than anyone.

If the Empress could just vomit everything out now, she wouldn’t have to worry about vomiting during the banquet.

Mary, having finished her thoughts, continued to pat the Empress on the back.

“Go on, vomit quickly. There’s not much time left.”

Laviela’s mood soured at those words.

She wanted to burn the painting the Emperor had hung, and the cotton bedding he insisted on changing. Pregnancy was like that.

A terrifying change came that made her let go of the composure she had barely maintained.

“Mary, call the imperial physician.”

“What? Then when will you attend the banquet?”

With a crazed smile, Laviela caressed her belly.

“Our child has such a strong will, shouldn’t we ask why the belly isn’t swelling? Hurry and call him!”

Mary, familiar with Laviela’s irritable outbursts, calmly responded.

“It’s normal not to show at this stage. But you must attend the banquet, or…”

But Laviela, already drenched in a cold sweat, yelled at Mary.

“I’m dying here! The imperial physician who diagnosed the pregnancy last time seemed skilled. Bring him!”

Laviela, unable to stand it any longer, lay down on the bed, her body completely limp.

“Nothing is going right. Mary, what did you say about the Crown Prince and the Duke?”

Though Mary had reported this a few days ago, she opened her mouth without showing any sign of it.

“They are still under house arrest.”

“What? Why are you telling me this just now!”

An enraged Laviela threw a table clock. Barely dodging it, Mary quietly bowed her head.

They couldn’t go beyond house arrest. No decisive evidence of treason had emerged.

Mary’s original plan wasn’t to proceed this quickly.

She planned to either kill or incapacitate Duke Davis, who would hinder the Empress’s rebellion during wartime, and then have the Kingdom of Vails win.

After that, dealing with the Emperor and political opponents during the peace treaty process was the safest route.

The impatient Empress didn’t like this plan.

Moreover, suddenly, Commander Davis kept achieving victories.

As if he knew the future, he kept countering every tactic of the opponent, which drove the Empress to extreme anxiety.

The result of that impatience was this mess.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Enough, just call the physician. I can’t vomit at the banquet, so bring strong but effective medicine.”

“Yes.”

Mary replied and left the room.

But from her experience, there was no perfect medicine that could completely alleviate morning sickness without harming the child.

Thinking that the trusted imperial physician would lose his head, Mary could only give a hollow laugh.

Returning with the physician, Mary spoke urgently.

“Please examine her as quickly as possible, she needs to attend the banquet soon.”

The physician nodded. He quickly checked her pulse and thought.

She’s making such a fuss over mere morning sickness.

At that moment, he couldn’t detect a normal fetal heartbeat from the Empress.

“What are you doing? Didn’t you hear me say to hurry?”

The imperial physician had been checking her pulse for several minutes. Laviela, watching him switch arms with a pallor-stricken face, grew increasingly anxious.

“What’s the matter? It’s not some serious illness, is it?”

The physician, half-wishing it was a serious illness, asked cautiously.

“What symptoms are you experiencing now?”

“My stomach feels really nauseous. I used to feel bad only once a month during my period, but now I feel like dying every day. Oh, and there was fetal movement a few days ago. Our baby’s development seems different from others. There was also a bit of bleeding.”

As she spoke, the Empress realized these were all pregnancy symptoms and slightly regretted lying in bed instead of attending the banquet.

‘I need to impress His Majesty with the strength of the next Crown Prince. Should I just say I was delayed by getting dressed?’

On the other hand, the physician’s leg began to tremble as he listened to the Empress.

Out of all the symptoms, the fetal movement was particularly concerning. Usually, the first fetal movement is felt around 16 weeks, but the Empress was at most 8 weeks along.

‘Could it be a misdiagnosis?’

With a sinking feeling, he asked again.

“How much bleeding was there?”

“About half of what I’d get during my period? Everyone says it’s common to have some bleeding in early pregnancy.”

At her words, the physician’s intuition told him the Empress had never been pregnant.

Everything pointed perfectly to ‘phantom pregnancy.’

However, he knew that telling her this would result in severe punishment for failing to diagnose her correctly the first time, so he decided to take a gamble.

A miscarriage, he thought, would focus the blame on why it happened rather than on his initial diagnosis.

“I… I’m terribly sorry…”

At the physician’s trembling voice, Laviela grabbed his hair and shouted.

“What are you doing, not telling me right away!”

“It appears you’ve had a miscarriage. All the symptoms you’re experiencing are aftereffects of a miscarriage.”

The Empress’s lips quivered with shock.

“What? Are you saying I really had a miscarriage? That’s a lie, isn’t it? Tell me it’s a lie!”

“…I’m sorry. My duty is to give an accurate diagnosis. And you know, Your Majesty, that you conceived after taking the medicine I provided. I, who only think of your well-being, could not lie. Perhaps you have been overly tired from vomiting and not sleeping well, or perhaps you have been too selective with your food?”

The Empress, who had never shown tears before, began to cry. Holding her belly with both hands, she asked the physician with a trembling voice.

“Could it be because I drank alcohol? It was just one sip! I drank a lot of healthy tea afterward to dilute it. Right? Tell me it’s not a miscarriage but that the fetus is just sleeping! Even if you misdiagnosed it, I won’t punish you!”

The physician bowed his head and smiled.

She said she hadn’t done anything harmful, yet now she feared punishment. Now he had a scapegoat.

If something like this happened, even His Majesty would hold the Empress accountable.

“May I check once more?”

At the physician’s request, Laviela wiped her tears with a handkerchief and nodded.

She desperately hoped her baby was still alive.

“Yes. Check quickly.”

The physician took her pulse again and spoke sadly.

“…It is indeed a miscarriage. I advised against drinking alcohol during early pregnancy, even a single sip can be fatal to the fetus…”

Hearing this, the Empress covered her face with both hands and sobbed. Tears streamed through her fingers.

“Why, why me? Everyone else bears children so easily, why only me? Pregnancy is so difficult, and now even the baby…”

At that moment, the Empress suddenly remembered the Emperor’s words.

“If it’s my child, a bit of wine won’t harm it. If the child can’t withstand even this, then perhaps Ailon is more suited to be the next Emperor.”

Fury toward the Emperor surged within Laviela, but she soon grabbed the physician’s arm with a troubled expression.

She could not give up on having an heir.

“Can I… can I conceive again?”

The unexpected question startled the physician, but he answered.

“Even after a miscarriage, another pregnancy is possible, so please don’t worry too much…”

“When? Can I conceive right away?”

The Empress, having experienced pregnancy for the first time, urgently asked if she could conceive again immediately.

“Do you mean to ask if intercourse is possible?”

“Yes.”

The physician took out a handkerchief to wipe his forehead, recalling His Majesty’s formidable stamina.

‘Since there was no actual pregnancy or miscarriage, it should be possible.’

“Since it was a natural miscarriage, it should be possible.”

“Then, keep this to yourself. I will tell His Majesty myself.”

The imperial physician sighed with relief.

If the Empress was keeping this matter secret, no other physician would examine her immediately, allowing him to commit the perfect crime.

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

Mary cautiously poured warm tea into a cup, observing the Empress’s agitated state. The Empress’s indignant voice echoed through the room.

“I only drank one glass of wine. Why!”

Mary’s expression was peculiar.

It seemed the Empress’s memory was distorted. It was Mary who had prepared the cheese and wine the day His Majesty visited.

She remembered every detail of the conversation and actions of that day.

“Mary! Say something! This is definitely a mistake!”

Laviela’s face was truly sorrowful.

Considering the amount of wine she had drunk, it was easily a whole bottle.

During early pregnancy, one should be cautious about everything, but the Emperor paid no attention to this.

Whether it was the Emperor’s child or another man’s, it was only natural that such heavy drinking was unsustainable.

However, to the Emperor, who was deluded into thinking he was superior to others, such common sense didn’t apply.

Mary was certain the reason there was only Ailon left among the many consorts and numerous pregnancies was because of the Emperor.

But the real issue was the Empress sobbing like that.

‘Foolish. Why did you drink the wine?’