Chapter 283 – Before The Flowers Wither (1)
The sun rose the next morning. Elena muttered her annoyance as the rays fell on her eyes, but she got up early and waited nervously for the results of the pregnancy test. She barely managed to keep her breakfast down. Fortunately, the doctor knew of her restlessness, and rushed to see her and report the result as soon as he confirmed it.
“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”
“Ah…”
“You are with child! You can go and tell the Emperor the good news.”
Elena nodded with a dazed expression. She had suspected that she was pregnant, but was still a little shocked to hear the results. She subconsciously laid a hand on her abdomen.
‘…Is there really a child in here?’
A strange feeling she could not put into words coursed through her. Was she amazed or scared? It was a complicated emotion that could not be defined.
In the end though, she did not hate it. Although it was unplanned for, there would be a child born between herself and Carlisle. Nothing made her happier than to carry the child of the man she loved.
The doctor spoke again with a brightened expression.
“I’ll go and tell everyone the good news right now.”
“Oh, please don’t. The Emperor has left the Imperial Palace for a while, so I’ll tell him in person later. And I think it would be a good idea to inform the nobles later as well.”
“Ah, of course. I wasn’t thinking. I will gladly follow your wishes, Your Majesty.”
As Elena looked at the jovial doctor, her mind began to ease and her rational thoughts returned.
“Until then, please keep my pregnancy secret from everyone.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll prepare some healthy medicine for you once I go back.”
“Very well.”
“Then I’ll take my leave and leave you to rest.”
“Thank you for coming all this way.”
As soon as the doctor left, Mary and the nanny, who had been quietly listening to the conversation in the background, burst into excitement. The nanny was the first one to cry, and she spoke in a thrilled voice.
“I’m overwhelmed with a thousand emotions. Oh, to have seen you grown up and finally become pregnant.”
Mary applauded in joy.
“Congratulations, Your Majesty. I had a nice dream last night, and I knew that something good would happen.”
In face of their excitement, Elena responded with an embarrassed look.
“Thank you. But please keep it a secret between us.”
Mary and the nanny replied at the same time.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Elena wondered if Carlisle would be as happy as these two once he heard the news. Although he did not express it outwardly, he did not want to pass on the family’s cursed blood onto a child. He once said that he wanted their child to look like Elena, but to put it another way, he didn’t want a child like himself.
‘…I want to have a child that looks like Caril.’
She would be very happy if she had a boy with the same beautiful blue eyes as Carlisle. However, there was still one problem to be solved first. If the boy inherited much of the dragon’s blood as Carlisle did, then at around the age of ten years old…he would have to be fed human blood.
And even if Elena’s child was born normally…they could not escape the perpetual yoke of the responsibilities of the Imperial Family.
Elena wanted to break the curse as completely as possible, but she had no idea where to start. She had planned to conceive only after she had investigated and broken the curse. Now that she was with child, however, she had no choice but to hasten the schedule.
After a moment of reflection, Elena swiftly stood up from her seat. Mary looked at her in surprise.
“Your Majesty, you are pregnant now, and you have to move more carefully.”
Not to be outdone by Mary, the nanny quickly responded.
“Mary is right. You should also take more care on how you walk from now on.”
Elena offered a faint smile at their concern.
“I understand. I’ll be more careful.”
Elena went to her desk and sat down, and the nanny quickly brought a blanket and placed it on her lap.
“You should keep your stomach warm.”
“I’ll bring you hot tea, Your Majesty.”
Mary hurried out to make tea without Elena asking. As Elena watched the two of them, her heart swelled. When the baby was born, there would be so many people to love them. Thoughts of the curse momentarily faded away from her mind. What was important was that the child deserved to be loved.
Elena turned back to her desk, picked up her pen, and wrote a letter to the leader of Astar.
[I have heard rumors of a tribe that serve dragons.
I hope you’ll find more about them.
Where do they live, and is there any way to contact them?
Because it’s a time-intensive matter, I will also ask the leader of Krauss the same task.
I will greatly reward whoever brings me answers first.]
If she used both Astar and Krauss at the same time, then there was almost nothing she couldn’t find on the continent. Hopefully, she would be able to get a response sooner than expected.
‘…I hope I will have results.’
For the first time, she will come to understand the tribe that worshipped the sacred dragons like gods. Although they were a mysterious and secret culture, perhaps she could get some information if she contacted them.
One by one, Elena took care of each task.