Chapter 150
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 150
The moment the words were spoken, the maids bolted into the hallway like arrows. Marisen and the nanny, who had been standing frozen in shock, scrambled to the bedside.
Thalia’s terror-stricken eyes darted between their pale faces. She reached out, clutching the hem of the Eastern woman’s dress as the woman propped a pillow beneath her hips.
“W-what’s happening? Is something wrong?”
A flicker of pity crossed the woman’s sun-bronzed face. She took Thalia’s ice-cold hand in hers and replied calmly, “Don’t worry too much. For now… we’re just monitoring the situation.”
It was an answer meant to evade the truth.
Gasping for air as if a hand were tightening around her throat, Thalia yanked harder on the woman’s clothes.
“The baby… Is something wrong with the baby?”
The woman did not respond.
Thalia pulled at her sleeve with even more force. “I’m asking if my baby is okay!”
“You mustn’t move like that!” The woman quickly pressed down on Thalia’s shoulders. Her dark brown eyes, shining with resolve, firmly locked onto Thalia’s gaze, which was clouded with anxiety and dread. “Take deep breaths. You must stay strong, if only for the child’s sake.”
Thalia looked up at that determined face through eyes brimming with tears, then finally took a ragged breath.
Will everything really be okay if I do this? She wanted to ask, but the woman already seemed preoccupied, rushing to the side of the room to gather a mountain of linen cloths.
As Thalia watched her with bloodshot eyes, Marisen tightly grasped her pale, trembling hand.
“I—I will cast healing magic on you.”
Marisen’s face was deathly pale. Thalia gripped the healer’s hand as if clinging to a lifeline. Soon, a warm sensation seeped into her body.
However, the miracle of magic solving everything did not occur. The sharp, ice-pick stabs in her lower abdomen soon gave way to a crushing, rhythmic pressure.
Thalia let out a sharp groan and curled her body. Seeing this, Tiuran rushed over and forced her to lie flat again.
“You mustn’t let any more amniotic fluid leak out! Please, you must endure it, even if it’s painful.”
Thalia struggled to follow her instructions, but the pain was so intense that staying still felt impossible. She tore at the blankets, her breathing coming in ragged hitches.
At that moment, the door burst open, and a middle-aged woman in black priestly robes ran inside.
“Move aside.”
The priestess pushed past Marisen to reach the bedside and, without ceremony, hiked Thalia’s skirts up to her thighs.
Her damp undergarments and legs loosely wrapped in bandages were exposed, but Thalia had no room for shame. She bit her lip as the pain grew increasingly sharp. The priestess removed her undergarments, spread her knees, and performed a swift examination.
Before Thalia could even process the shock, the priestess turned back and shouted.
“The cervix is already beginning to open. The baby is coming.”
“It’s still too early!” The nanny’s scream pierced Thalia’s ears like a needle.
Even in her dazed state, Thalia wrapped her arms around her stomach protectively. The nanny was right. It was far too early. There were still three months left until her due date.
Thalia shook her head frantically. “No. Stop it! Do something to stop it!”
“Once the water has broken, there is no turning back. We must get the baby out quickly,” the priestess said in a stern tone, gesturing to the maids waiting by the door. “Set up the partitions around the bed. And you, go get the medical bag from my quarters. It should be ready on the shelf.”
Following the priestess’s orders, the maids moved in perfect unison.
Thalia watched the chaotic scene as if witnessing a nightmare. Then, feeling another surge of intense pain, she squeezed her eyes shut. The pressure on her abdomen was growing heavier. Now, even Thalia could clearly sense it.
The baby was trying to come out.
The terror brought on by that realization was so extreme that she couldn’t even properly register the sensation of her spine snapping. Only one thought filled her mind.
Can the baby survive if it comes out now?
Even Thalia, ignorant as she was about pregnancy, knew that the survival rate for premature babies was low.
How much has the baby grown inside me?
With trembling hands, she fumbled to touch her stomach, which had become as hard as stone. Only half a day ago, she had worried that the baby might be too big. She had even slightly regretted eating so much without a second thought.
But now, she felt a maddening regret that she hadn’t made the baby grow more. She should have eaten with all her might. She should have raised the child to be strong enough to endure this.
“You mustn’t lose consciousness! Your Highness, you must hold on.”
Someone pressed a cold towel to her face. Only when she felt that chilling sensation did Thalia realize her eyelids had drifted shut.
Blinking her bloodshot eyes, she stared at the dark ceiling where candlelight flickered, then slowly lowered her gaze to scan those surrounding her. Between the priestess, Tiuran, Marisen, the nanny, and the head maid, Thalia’s eyes darted incessantly. She didn’t know what she was looking for.
The moment she opened her mouth to ask something, another horrific spasm arrived. This time, it was a pain capable of freezing all thought.
Thalia lost all composure and began to thrash her limbs wildly. A piercing scream erupted from her lungs.
Just then, a sound like a beast’s growl echoed through the walls.
“Move.”
“Your Excellency, the Grand Duchess is in labor. Entering the room now is against protocol—”
The sound of a desperate protest was cut short by a pained cry, followed by the door slamming open. A man in a black military uniform appeared through the partitions.
Thalia reached out her arm toward him, like a drowning person seeking salvation.
“Barkas…”
Barkas strode to the bedside and leaned over her. Thalia clung desperately to his neck, her sweat soaking into his skin. Through a vision blurred by tears, his distorted face came into faint focus.
“Help me, Barkas… Please help me… It hurts so much.”
At her tearful plea, the arms surrounding her tightened with immense strength. Holding her so tightly it was almost suffocating, Barkas asked the priestess sharply, “What is the status?”
“The birth canal is opening smoothly. However, the baby isn’t descending, so…”
Her abdomen contracted violently again, and all sound seemed to drift far away. Thalia sobbed thinly, clawing at the thick, tough fabric of his uniform. It felt as if her lower body was being crushed alive.
“Your Highness, you must push now. You have to push the baby out!”
Thalia shook her head frantically.
No. I can’t. I’m scared. It hurts too much.
She looked up at Barkas as if begging. She stared and stared, as if clinging to him would solve everything. In her tear-stained vision, his face appeared paler than ever before. That plaster-like face hovered just above the bridge of her nose.
“It’s all right, Thalia. It’s all right, so don’t cry.”
He wiped the tears from her cheeks with his cold, stiff hands, his voice sinking to an unnervingly low whisper.
Thalia’s face contorted. It wasn’t all right. Nothing was all right. But because he said it, she wanted to believe it.