Chapter 58

Such a tumultuous day finally passed and perhaps thanks to Gellerhard’s previous riot, my prestige in the Duchy became very high. Everyone from the lower ranks of the castle right up to the head maid and aides slowly looked up at me. My meal would be watched over by a maid or servant who had quite a bit of seniority within the Duchy while the cooks and the head chef who had the same seniority were always in charge. Gellerhard’s threat was so strong that if the Duchess were to cough at all, everyone from the overseer right to the cooks that day would be decapitated. In fact, it was so strong that one of the servants fainted with a single sneeze.

Time eventually passed day by day. Fortunately, my body didn’t get worse and nothing ever happened or anything. My parents couldn’t come to visit the Duchy of DeMancier for a long time, probably since they were tightly held off by Count Petrika and the baby seemed like he could not wait for his maternal grandparents. Signs of childbirth suddenly developed in the morning and I was straight away moved to the birthing room, which had already been decorated as best they could. A full and a half day later, the baby was eventually born during the middle of the night. The long delivery was extremely painful and exhausting, so I fainted even before I could hold the newborn baby in my arms.

When I opened my eyes, a maid, who was watching over me, handed me a glass of lukewarm water. As I quenched my dry throat, my voice could finally come out.

“Baby…?”

“The Princess has now fallen asleep right after drinking the nursemaid’s milk.”

“Princess…?”

“She was a very pretty little princess. She was delighted with the Duke, the Young Master and  even with the Duchess Dowager as well.”

The maid explained calmly as if it had been to soothe me, but I was so surprised that I began to ask again.

“A daughter…”

“Yes, My Lady has given birth to a daughter.”

Daughter—a girl. So, it was Carl’s sister!

The child who was born to ‘Amanda’ had been a son and Carl’s only sibling was his half-brother, so I never thought that I would give birth to a daughter instead. I idly questioned several times at the maid who had brought me the news and the question-and-answer session eventually ended when Carl and Gellerhard came to me as soon as they heard that I had woken up.

“Mandy!”

“Mandy.”

Both of their pairs of eyes were equally red. Gellerhard embraced Carl as he suddenly tried to climb onto the bed. Carl, who thought that his father would carry him to my side in his arms, began to struggle as he pulled up the chair next to the bed and sat down instead.

“Carl, Gellerhard.”

“Mandyyyy—”

Carl struggled against him before he soon burst into tears. Gellerhard continued hugging that kind of Carl tightly, but there was no way that Carl could actually understand that he should not bother a sick person. When I was about to stop Gellerhard from trying to forcibly handle Carl by handing him over to the maid in order to let him out, Carl had already mounted onto the bed and crawled over to me before he then crouched down.

I didn’t have the strength to pat the child who was all curled up while weeping nor the energy to kiss him on the forehead for him to cease crying.

“Hey, Carl. Are you surprised? Mandy is all fine now.”

“Uh-uh—”

“It’s okay, it’s okay now.”

It was very pitiful to see his face that had been dripping with tears along with that runny nose of his. Whatever Baroness May was actually doing, she, who had been Carl’s other nanny, seemed to be acting coy. I would have to tell her to take care of Carl properly later.

“Gellerhard, please wipe Carl’s face.”

“Uh, uh!”

Gellerhard, who only knew how to play with the child but couldn’t really take care of him, hurriedly tugged on the sleeve of his clothes and tried to touch Carl’s face. Oh my, I felt exhausted once again trying to dry him all by myself.

“What about the child?”

“She is healthy. And she is a pretty girl too.”

“Small!”

Gellerhard stroked Carl’s head. It had been obvious that he was joking around while remarking that; ‘you’re such a small subject too—’. As if Carl had never cried before, he burst into laughter and began clinging to my arms. Oops!

I understood the feelings of the boy who had come running in out of concern and both of them were really tired as well. However, to see that he was still sniffing with a face that seemed like he had been crying bothered me again and while I let the two of them be like that, the Duchess Dowager eventually came to my rescue.

“What are you doing to a child who is already so exhausted!”

At the exclamation of the Duchess Dowager, Gellerhard got up and she eventually took the place where he had been sitting previously. Right after her, Charlotte brought in a tray in tow. After reprimanding her son with such bitter eyes, the Duchess Dowager gently held my hand and put on a benevolent expression.

“It was a lot of hard work. You’ve been asleep for half a day already. Now that you’re up, you need to fill your stomach right away.”

Gellerhard helped me in lifting my upper body a little—as per the Duchess Dowager’s order. Charlotte then got on the bed as she rested some of the soft cushions behind my back as well as my head. The savory smell from her slowly stimulated my hunger.

“It’s a kind of soup that is eaten by new mothers back in my hometown.”

“From preparing the ingredients right up to cooking itself, Charlotte had done everything by herself.”

What the Duchess Dowager added just then meant that neither Countess Petrika nor anyone else had any hand in this dish.