"The Lady is with child."
"...What?"
Kaian simply blinked and froze.
"I mean, she's pregnant."
For a moment, the doctor wondered if Kaian had misunderstood the word, but quickly corrected himself. However, when Kaian still said nothing and showed no reaction, the frustrated doctor took a deep breath, stuck out his stomach, and patted it with his palm.
"There's a baby in her belly!"
"Is that true?"
The doctor deflated a little.
"Yes, that's right."
"She didn't feel nauseous or anything like that at all, did she?"
Kaian's knowledge of pregnancy was woefully inadequate. This was because he'd never been educated about the condition of a woman's body. All he knew was that a child grows inside a woman's body and comes out when the time is right. It felt very strange to use the word "pregnancy" to describe Claudel's flat, unchanged stomach.
"It seems it's still early stages."
"Are you certain?"
"Of course. We'll monitor it carefully."
"Ha. Unbelievable."
Kaian shook his head, roughly covered the documents he'd been reviewing, and stood up.
"I need to see Claudel right now."
"Wait a moment."
The doctor hurriedly blocked his path.
"That's not possible."
"Why not?"
"Just calm down for a moment and listen to me."
Kaian reluctantly returned to his seat.
"One of the aftereffects of consumption is the inability to have children."
"This is my first time hearing this."
"Well, my Lord ordered me to procure medicine, and after the Lady recovered, she stopped consulting me. I didn't have a chance to explain."
"But you said she's pregnant? Then it doesn't matter."
"That's right. Ahem. It's quite miraculous."
The doctor puffed out his chest proudly.
"However, there's a possibility she may miscarry."
"Miscarry?"
Kaian frowned.
"Given that she supposedly couldn't have children, something might have gone wrong."
The doctor spoke quickly.
"The Lady asked me to keep the pregnancy secret from my Lord."
"What? Why would she say that?"
"Think about it—isn't she the daughter of an enemy family? Giving birth to the Temnes successor, or having a child with half Vermont blood, would have political implications."
The doctor worried that Kaian would ignore his request and run to his wife.
"The most important thing is for your wife to feel at ease. The Lady said she'd like to tell you when the child is stable."
"When was this? When did she conceive?"
"It's not certain because of the consumption complications, but your wife mentioned health issues around autumn. So it may be about four months, give or take."
"What if she's not pregnant? Could it be a misdiagnosis?"
The doctor bristled.
"That makes no sense. If it's a misdiagnosis, I'll resign my position as a physician."
A smile spread across Kaian's face at the emphatic declaration.
"Yes. You've worked hard."
"But I forgot to mention something earlier."
Kaian looked at him expectantly.
"Well, you'll just have to hold her hand and sleep until things stabilize."
"Why?"
"She must be very careful now, the Lady. I think we need to learn more about the aftereffects of consumption."
"Right."
The doctor was relieved when Kaian seemed to understand.
"Please obtain any medicine that can improve Claudel's health."
"I will, my Lord."
Kaian produced a gold coin and gave it to the doctor.
"Please pay extra attention to Claudel from now on."
"Thank you, thank you."
The doctor departed excitedly.
Kaian couldn't calm down at all and paced back and forth in his office.
"I can't believe I'm becoming a father."
Claudel was becoming a mother. In his mind, his parents had been the late Duke and Duchess of Temnes. However, he'd thought they were very much adults and that he wasn't quite there yet. Even though he was the head of a family, there were still so many things he didn't know.
"I can't believe she's four months pregnant."
Had he taken her to the royal castle without even knowing? It was the early stages of pregnancy—she should have been very careful—yet he worried she'd overdone it with the long-distance carriage journey.
"But Claudel seemed fine."
If she'd been suffering during that time, she would have mentioned it separately. She'd greatly enjoyed the carriage ride with him on the way to the royal castle. The happy smile had never left her face.
It was after returning from the ball that her condition had deteriorated.
*Is it because she was hurt after all?*
Because he'd said he didn't love her. He hadn't known she was struggling to carry a child, and every time she'd looked at him with those sad eyes, he'd felt like trash.
"This isn't the time."
The doctor had asked him to pretend for now that he didn't know Claudel was pregnant.
"But he didn't say I shouldn't give gifts."
The conception of the first child to be born into the Temnes family should be celebrated. Discreetly.
---
Kaian hurried to the marketplace. The feeling of riding his horse was exhilarating, unlike usual.
*What kind of child will be born?*
People in the Kingdom of Oberon usually had brown hair and brown eyes. Even if slightly darker or lighter, it was rare to have symbolic coloring as distinctive as the royal family, Vermont, or Temnes.
Perhaps a mixed child would emerge. A child with black hair and golden eyes. A child with red hair and red eyes. Or maybe a child with black hair and red eyes—a miniature version of him—would be born, or a baby with red hair and gold eyes who looked just like Claudel.
"That would be lovely."
The moment Kaian imagined a baby girl who resembled Claudel, he became ecstatic. If two beautiful things came together...
Before he knew it, the fast-moving horse had reached the bustling marketplace. He handed the reins to his squire and hurried through the shops.
The first thing that caught his eye was a knitted teddy bear the size of half a palm.
*I had something like that when I was young.*
It had been made by Lady Elise with her own hands.
"Give me that one."
"Oh my! Thank you, my Lord."
The merchant was delighted and handed over the doll in a paper bag.
The next thing he noticed was a new accessory set displayed in the jeweler's window.
"My Lord, you're here?"
A craftsman recognized his valued customer and came out to greet him. The craftsman thought Kaian was examining the new necklace closely and licked his lips.
"If you'd like to discuss this necklace—"
"I'll take it."
"Yes, thank you."
Kaian was in a hurry. He had much work today and was very busy—he only had time to buy gifts.
While making his rounds through the marketplace in a short period, merchants began appearing who'd made several days or even months' worth of sales at once.
The man generously displaying the Lord's favor stopped in front of a flower shop.
"Welcome, my Lord."
The flower shop owner greeted him.
"Do you like the flowers we're sending to the castle these days?"
"Yes. But what is this sign?"
"Ah, each flower has a meaning. There's something called the language of flowers."
"The language of flowers?"
Kaian examined the flowers carefully and pointed to one.
"Give me all of these."
---
That night, I sat by the window with a melancholy heart. The night air in Rowan, which never grew cold, felt pleasant even in the December wind. I seemed to have improved considerably with the window open.
"Morning sickness?"
I'd thought I was upset because of Kaian.
"So you were the culprit?"
I carefully rubbed my still-unmarked lower abdomen. When I'd been late to eat, I'd felt like I was dying. I'd blamed myself for eating too much like a glutton. One day I'd thought, *Is there a beggar in my stomach?*
I felt sorry for having treated this small, precious life like a beggar before I'd even known about it.
"I didn't know at the time."
If you don't know, you have to judge by appearances. That's simply human nature.
"Ha."
Anyway, I was worried about tonight. During the trip back from the capital and after my return to Rowan, my health had been poor, so Kaian had stopped short of holding and kissing me.
However, since he was a man who naturally desired my body, he might want to be intimate at any time.
"Did I ask the doctor to keep it secret for no reason?"
The doctor had said I needed to be careful in the early stages of pregnancy, but I worried about what I could say to refuse him.
*Knock knock.*
I reflexively turned my head toward the door, and before I could respond, Kaian entered my room.
"You came early?"
"I finished work a little early."
In Kaian's hand was a bouquet of tulip flowers.
"Here."
"What's this?"
"I had to go to the marketplace for a moment."
"Did you buy it yourself?"
"Wasn't that obvious?"
I liked the bouquet with bluish-green buds scattered throughout. My mood improved, and I smiled as I inhaled the flowers' scent.
On one hand, I was curious about Kaian's reaction—whether he was happy or not—since I'd asked the doctor to keep the pregnancy secret. I was also distraught because I hadn't received any congratulations.
When he brought me flowers like this, I felt as if he was happy about the baby, which made me feel good.
*I hope the baby grows healthy and without problems.*
I wanted to believe in the baby's vitality. Plus, if it was Kaian's baby—if the child resembled their father—the baby was definitely not ordinary.
When my belly was full and showing, there was a high chance Kaian would demand to know why I hadn't told him sooner and threaten to dismiss the resident physician.
Anyway, the flowers I'd received as a gift today lifted my spirits.
*Besides, the flower language of tulips is a confession of love.*
There was no way Kaian had known that when he'd bought them.
While I was enjoying the flowers for a moment, Kaian opened the door and dragged something into my room.
"What is that?"
I asked. Boxes and packages of various sizes were piled on a cart so large it looked heavy even as he pulled it.
"It's nothing special—I just remembered and bought things."
He opened boxes. Usually, Kaian tended to select one type of jewelry or one type of accessory. But what he'd brought today was all different.
A butter cake sprinkled with pink bead-shaped candies appeared from a box the size of a palm.
Kaian looked at me curiously and seemed embarrassed.
"I don't particularly want to give these as gifts. Just..."
*...He doesn't know I'm pregnant, does he?*
---