Published at 1st of November 2019 02:00:11 PM
Chapter 78
Chapter 78 – Good Visitors, Bad Visitors (1)
“I’m pregnant…?”
Sovieshu nodded, and Rashta looked dazed . This surprise news was given to her as soon as she woke up . Rashta covered her belly with her hands .
“I’m pregnant…”
“It may be scary because it’s your first pregnancy, but…thank you . ”
Sovieshu leaned down and embraced Rashta tightly . He could feel her trembling in his arms, and he rubbed her back and repeatedly murmured his gratitude for her . He had always wanted a baby, and he had always wanted to be a father . Apart from simply needing a successor to the throne, a happy family was his ideal dream . How was it that a concubine that had only been in his life for a few months made it come true?
But despite his happiness, harbored a sense of unease . The best plan was to have a child with the Empress first . A concubine’s children could not be successors, but the relationship between parent and child can not be severed so easily . Clever bastard children were the seeds of many quarrels . Sovieshu never wanted that to happen among his generations . With an illegitimate child born first, he was both happy and anxious .
“Your Majesty, we have our baby here…”
But Sovieshu could not share his concerns to the mother of his baby . He placed his hand on Rashta’s stomach with a smile, pushing away his unease .
“Isn’t this incredible?”
“Yes, I don’t feel anything yet…but it’s amazing . ”
The palace doctor standing to the side spoke up carefully .
“Miss Rashta, were you having irregular periods?”
She nodded .
“Yes, so I never thought about getting pregnant . It was always irregular…”
“I’ll prepare you medicine and healthy foods . For the time being, please focus on your prescribed diet . ”
The doctor left, and Sovieshu seated himself by Rashta’s side .
“If there’s anything you want to eat, anything you want to have, just tell me . ”
“Anything?”
“When a mother is happy, so will the baby . ”
At that moment, tears started to fill her eyes .
“Rashta?”
Sovieshu looked at her in surprise, but Rashta curled up and buried her face on her knees .
“What’s wrong? Are you sick? Should I call back the doctor?”
“No, not that…”
“I’ve always wanted to hear that . ”
“Rashta?”
Sovieshu was bewildered by her reaction, and he lifted her chin . She wasn’t crying cutely as usual, instead her body wracked with sobs as if she couldn’t care less what she looked like . After crying hard for a long time, Rashta threw herself into Sovieshu’s arms .
“You’re Rashta’s savior, Your Majesty . You don’t know how much Rashta loves you . ”
However, Rashta’s soaring happiness plummeted after she met with Duke Elgy the next day . She was grateful for his help, but when he spoke to her it was with a grave expression .
“I’ve been to Rimwell, Miss . The child that Viscount Roteschu is keeping…I think that’s your baby . ”
Rashta’s eyes grew wide . She never had words of congratulations when she had her first child, but now it was like a needle in her heart .
“Did you ask the Church for an examination?”
Rashta covered her belly with her hands . She was afraid that the eldest child, born unloved, would grab the ankle of the second child, who would live in love . Duke Elgy shook his head .
“No . ”
“If there’s no examination…”
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“It was a baby boy . He looks just like you . ”
The blood drained from Rashta’s face . Now that it was true, there was nothing to be done except to give Viscount Roteschu money in return for his silence .
As he looked down at Rashta, Duke Elgy smiled and made a suggestion .
“As I’ve told you before, I can lend you the money you need, Miss . ”
He made it sound so easy . Rashta, who was not able to afford the money right away, was terrified .
“How much?”
In the past, she had been very cautious about borrowing money . However, things had changed . She was now carrying the Emperor’s baby, and she was wildly happy . The money would be available in a few years, and she had to prevent Viscount Roteschu from entering her life no matter the cost .
“Any amount . ”
Rashta hesitated for a moment .
“Then is it possible to borrow a thousand krangs…?”
“I’ll lend you ten thousand . ”
He sat down and took a piece of paper out of his pocket, then placed it on the table . It was an unsigned promissory note . He wrote his name and signature and put “10,000 krangs” on the amount .
“Here . ”
He then took out two 5,000 krang slips from his breast pocket . It was issued from the top credit lender on the Wol continent .
“Thank you…”
Rashta signed the promissory note from Duke Elgy and accepted the slips . This would keep Viscount Roteschu’s mouth shut for at least a little while .
“You’ll get worn out if you kept getting swept away, so think of a means to shake it off . ”
“Is there a good way…?”
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“Well, in this case, I don’t know . ”
Duke Elgy stood up a gave a word of encouragement to Rashta, who smiled at him . As he was leaving the room, his hand stopped on the doorknob and he and turned back .
“But Miss . ”
“What?”
“The baby in your womb now . I wonder if it’s a daughter or son?”
“I see…she’s awake . ”
It was evening time . After work, Laura delivered to me the news that Rashta was safe . The lady-in-waiting also added that Sovieshu gave Rashta a large armchair as a gift . I sat in front of my desk and smiled as calmly as possible, but the other ladies-in-waiting stopped playing chess and flocked to my side for more gossip . It turned out that Rashta wasn’t the only news of the day .
“Duchess Tuania has decided to divorce the Duke . They couldn’t agree on anything, however, so they went to court over property division . ”
“Viscount Langdel was exiled yesterday, Her Majesty . ”
But the most unexpected news was not even about them .
“Your Majesty, what do you think of Viscount Roteschu? The man who claimed Rashta was a slave . ”
Rashta’s old master…
While the topic of him was long buried, I wasn’t ignorant of him . But why suddenly bring him up now? The lady-in-waiting leaned in and whispered to the group .
“I heard that Viscount Roteschu wants to move to the capital city . He’s looking for a house near the palace . ”
As soon as I heard those words, my mind turned to Rashta . Although Sovieshu had forced Viscount Roteschu to renounce his claim that Rashta was his slave, their past relationship would never be gone . Viscount Roteschu had even gone around manipulating information about Duchess Tuania for Rashta . And now he was moving near the palace?
‘Is Rashta being blackmailed?’
As I stewed over this information, Laura cut in with her own gossip .
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“I heard that he’s not only looking for a house, but a nanny as well . Does he have a baby at home?”
I didn’t want to say this out loud, but…I didn’t want to get involved, even if Rashta was being threatened . I’ll only focus on myself . It would be difficult if she asked Sovieshu for help, but she was not my job .
As I listened to the conversation on Rashta, I opened my drawer and rummaged through my items .
‘Oh?’
Something rolled into my hand . When I pulled it out, it was a pretty pink bottle about the size of my palm .
“Huh? Isn’t that from before?”
Laura, who had been talking about Viscount Roteschu, diverted her attention .
“Wasn’t it a gift? It’s a love potion, right?”
“That’s right . ”
I didn’t use it as the sender was anonymous, and left it in my drawer and completely forgot about it . After I received it, I went to the villa, and then Sovieshu got sick, and so on .
“You didn’t open it at all, did you?”
“I believe it’s just a joke . ”
Laura came near and peered at the bottle . She seemed curious about the love potion .
“Could it be real?”
“Of course not . If it were real, people would talk about it . ”
“But there are all kinds of things in this world, Her Majesty . ”
If there was a true love potion, wouldn’t there at least be rumors? I looked at the bottle hesitatingly, and Laura had an encouraging expression in her eyes .
“Try it, Your Majesty . ”
“Even if I use this, there’s no situation for me to use it for…”
I trailed off nervously . In response, Laura mouthed, ‘Emperor . ’