Chapter 46

The Fifth Plan: To Protect the Child (3)

“Mandy—”

“Yes, Carl.”

“I like Mandy.”

“Yes, this Mandy loves Carl very much as well.”

“Yes, I like you—”

Carl hugged me tightly before he soon went down the couch. The child’s tiny hand had stroked past my stomach. It might just have been brushed a little, but it still felt as though Carl’s gesture was like a welcome greeting to his new sibling to me. I stroked the puppy which had been waiting for its owner’s touch. Then, as I saw that Carl was already entangling together with the puppy, I began to caress my lower abdomen softly with my hand in which I still could not feel any presence of the baby in my belly just yet.

* * *

News of my pregnancy spread instantly like wildfire. Gellerhard immediately replied with a letter full of joy and concern along with some thick and fine fur too—even though it was still spring. I received many letters and congratulatory gifts for my pregnancy from all my family members too as the news spread even faster to my parents’ house, which was much closer than the north en d where he had been.

My mother sent me her maternal grandmother’s necklace as a gift as she said that she would soon come over to the Duke’s castle when it was just in time for the baby to be born. The necklace was a treasure that had been handed down to the daughter from generation to generation and she said that she would hand it over to me—the only daughter. However, when I got married, she refused to give it to me all because she was opposed to the marriage. It had been a necklace with an unbelievable legend where a distant ancestor had received it as a gift from the God of Fertility in order to help with conceiving. On top of that, it turned out to be a very reliable legend based on this era since my mother herself had given birth to three sons and a daughter—me, the  youngest.

Even the Count of Petrika and his wife had sent me some gifts. It was a tiara that had been smaller than my palm which girls born into a noble family would be using during their childhood. The idea of bestowing a daughter’s gift to an unborn child meant that they wanted me to give birth to a daughter who would therefore match with this tiara.

Even if I were to give birth to a son, would I actually threaten Carl, who had always been raised with love? There was no way to feel regretful towards Count Petrika’s move.

“Keep the tiara aside, please.”

Madame May bowed to my words that had flown out with a sigh. Amanda would give birth to a son. This upcoming baby would not be using that tiara.

“Whoa, I don’t feel very well.”

“May I bring you a cup of tea?”

“Yes, please.”

My bottom was sore since I had been sitting down for quite a while, but I felt very weak when I got up as I had walked a little. Perhaps due to the fact that I had found out that I was pregnant, my condition became an utter mess as various pregnancy symptoms began to stand out as if they had always been waiting. The morning sickness cropped up violently and the fatigue was even worse. Moreover, it weighed heavily on my body too. I thought that it would soon be okay, but after I started to feel quite full, my stomach would stand out and my whole body felt like it was being dried up as if all the nutrients in my body were heading straight to my stomach instead. No, it could have been that my body was actually too thin for it to stand out even more.

The clear green tea drink smelled rather differently from usual, which eventually caused me nausea.

“The tea smells quite different.”

“Madam, the Duchess Dowager has sent you some herbs. She said that it should be mixed with the usual tea leaves…”

At first, the Duchess Dowager, who thought that the morning sickness period would pass quickly and I would therefore gain weight soon before getting chubby, became stunned when she saw that my morning sickness was getting even longer and I became dried up. So, she began to look into chefs, clinics and even wizards. This tea was also thought to be an effort, which couldn’t be ignored in other words, so I proceeded to suppress my disgust and started to drink the tea little by little.

“Do tell her that I’ve finished it.”

“I will send out something for lunch in just a minute.”

“I don’t feel that well. So, a light stew should be enough.”

Shortly after the empty teacup had been cleared, a bowl of gently boiled stew was brought in. The mushy vegetables didn’t stimulate my appetite very much and I didn’t feel like eating anything at all, but I still held up the spoon.

“Whoa.”

I tried to take a bite, but my stomach began to churn and all I could do was sigh in the end. After all, I was just lying on the bed since I had no energy even after eating the dish. And suddenly, I could hear the sound of the door opening abruptly.

“The Madam is still feeling unwell.”

“I want to see Mandy!”

“But still…”

The voice that replied to the whisper belonged to Carl. When I beckoned the maid who was standing by near the bed, she instantly made her way to the door.

“Mandy—are you sick?”

In the meantime, Carl’s hand, when he had already crawled up on the bed, touched my face. Carl’s face as he was lying beside me face to face appeared to be stained with some sadness and anxiety.

“Are you here because you’re worried about this Mandy, Carl?”

The small rose-colored lips slid upwards and he seemingly could burst into tears at any moment. When I saw Carl, in fact, when I looked at the sad child’s face, my stomach became much heavier while my body was getting weaker and weaker—

Oh—and sometimes, a surge of indescribable anxiety and sadness would crop up too.