The Age Of Arrogance

꧁༺New Family ༻꧂

 

Carlyle and Asha’s efforts bore fruit sooner than expected.

 

“You are pregnant. Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

 

After suffering from a body ache and dizziness she had never experienced in her life for a few days, Asha could not resist Carlyle’s persuasion and received an examination from the imperial physician.

 

Although the imperial physician uttered the word “pregnancy” in anticipation of the imperial couple’s joy, the couple was extremely silent.

 

Asha frowned as if it was nonsense, and Carlyle’s expression was stiff with his mouth slightly open.

 

“Examine me again.”

 

At Asha’s dry command, the imperial physician, who was rather embarrassed, became nervous and re-examined her, but there was no way he could have mistaken the clear signs of pregnancy with his long experience.

 

“You are definitely pregnant… Did you happen to get pregnant without having sex?”

 

“No, that’s not it. It’s not that… but… it’s just hard to believe.”

 

“Ah…! Ha, I’ve waited ten years for this, Your Majesty! Hahaha!”

 

Only then did Carlyle let out a breath he had been holding with a “ha!” as the imperial physician, who had been anxious with various imaginations, laughed and relieved his tension.

 

“So, you’re saying I’m going to be a father soon?”

 

“It will be in about 8 or 9 months. However, you are in the early stages of pregnancy, so you need to be careful and relax. It would be better to announce the pregnancy after a month or two.”

 

“Yes, good job.”

 

After thoroughly checking the presence of the imperial chamberlains and the maids, Carlyle sat down alone with Asha.

 

The two, who had been staring at each other for a while without saying anything, opened their mouths hesitantly.

 

“I’m… pregnant… ?”

 

Asha couldn’t believe it no matter how much she thought about it. She had only suffered from body aches and dizziness for a few days.

 

Other than that, she didn’t feel anything in her lower abdomen at all. Of course, she was told that she wouldn’t be able to feel it yet, but still!

 

Carlyle smiled as he watched Asha, who was still looking bewildered and touching her lower abdomen. In fact, he didn’t even realize that he was smiling, but a happy smile spread across his face.

 

“I hope it looks like you, whether it’s a son or a daughter. It will be so beautiful.”

 

“It would be prettier if it looked like you than me. That way, there will be no talk of doubting the blood of the imperial heir.”

 

Seeing Asha, who was more concerned about political issues than being overwhelmed with joy at the news of her pregnancy, Carlyle felt a sense of bitterness.

 

He felt like Asha had suffered too much from those shameless people because of him.

 

He approached Asha and hugged her tightly.

 

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll get rid of those who talk nonsense on the spot. Did you hear what the imperial physician said? You need to be careful with your body and mind.”

 

“Yes. And I thought you were going to use that as an excuse to keep me in bed.”

 

“How could I do such a thing…”

 

“You would try to do something like that. I won’t allow it, though.”

 

From the beginning, it was expected to be a battle of spears and shields, but this time Asha was unable to break Carlyle’s stubbornness. This is because there was the case of Ivelina, who suffered serious assassination threats as soon as her pregnancy was known.

 

Of course, he didn’t lock her in the bedroom.

 

Instead, Carlyle stayed by Asha’s side almost all day.

 

The plan was to interpret any threat to Asha as a threat to the emperor and to destroy the opponent and his accomplices.

 

“Now people will say that you’re always following me around.”

 

“It’s a good thing that you can hide the fact that you’re pregnant. It’s nice to see that my worship and praise of you can help your safety. After all, it’s good to express love.”

 

Asha nodded at Carlyle’s answer, which seemed much more cheerful than before, but she didn’t hate it either.

 

By staying by his side and watching his work, she was able to learn a lot about the empire, and people’s views on the empress who was living with the emperor also changed.

 

‘His Majesty the Emperor loves her so much. If you show even the slightest bit of disrespect to Her Majesty, you’ll be finished.’

 

Perhaps because of this, everyone became more polite and kind to Asha.

 

And more than anything, she felt a sense of comfort and happiness being by Carlyle’s side.

 

‘If I had known I would feel this good, I wouldn’t have opposed it in the first place.’

 

Asha saw Carlyle hugging and kissing her during breaks between work, and even saying things like, “Hey, are you doing well in there? I’m your dad.”

 

And at the fifth month of pregnancy, when Asha’s belly started to swell and could no longer be hidden, the palace officially announced the news of the empress’s pregnancy.

 

The newly established Imperial Department, dedicated to the imperial heir, was under pressure to prepare for the baby’s arrival within 4 months, but the entire empire rejoiced when the news that everyone had been waiting for since the couple’s marriage was finally announced.

 

* * *

 

It was a dawn in September when Asha, who was full term, woke Carlyle up by shaking him while measuring the intervals of her labor pains.

 

“Carlyle……. Ugh……. Car, lyle…….”

 

Carlyle woke up, startled at the voice.

 

“Why, what’s wrong, Asha!”

 

“Haah, call someone outside. I think I’m going into labor.”

 

“What? Wait, just wait a minute!”

 

Carlyle pulled on the dressing gown and quickly put it on.

 

As soon as he was dressed, the delivery room was prepared, and those who would help with the delivery were on standby 24 hours a day.

 

At Carlyle’s call, the midwife, the imperial physician, and the nurses came in quietly and quickly and moved Asha.

 

“Of all times, at dawn……. I’m sorry.”

 

“Don’t say that, Your Majesty. Your Majesty only needs to worry about your own body. Leave the rest to us.”

 

The people already knew the empress, who was kind to her subordinates even though she looked scary. Where else in the world would there be an empress who apologizes for waking you up at dawn while sweating from labor pains?

 

As they went into the delivery room to do their best to help the empress with her first delivery, Carlyle waited anxiously outside with his close aides and maids.

 

The maids had to comfort him because of how nervous he was.

 

“The first childbirth is different for everyone, but it can take up to a day. If you lose your strength like this, Your Majesty won’t be able to bear it yourself.”

 

“That’s right. Her Majesty the Empress will do well, so please wait calmly, Your Majesty.”

 

Carlyle knew their words were right. In his head.

 

‘But many people still die giving birth! ……Surely, that won’t happen, right?’

 

Once he thought about ‘death’, his nervousness worsened, and Carlyle paced back and forth in the long corridor, trying to calm his pounding heart.

 

He couldn’t even hear Asha’s voice from outside the delivery room.

 

It was a terrible thing to hear the screams of pain from labor, but the silence was even more painful.

 

‘One child is enough. I will never let Asha have another child. Do this again? It’s crazy. I can never do it.’

 

Carlyle repeated the same thought a few times, a few dozen times, pacing anxiously in front of the delivery room.

 

A minute felt like an hour.

 

Then, suddenly, the delivery room door opened.

 

“What, what is it! What’s going on!”

 

Carlyle felt like his heart was dropping when the delivery room door suddenly opened, even though he hadn’t heard any cries of childbirth.

 

However, the imperial physician’s face who came out was bright.

 

“His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince has been born! Congratulations, Your Majesty!”

 

Only then did the sound of a baby crying come from behind.

 

The maids and aides who were guarding the delivery room with Carlyle bowed and congratulated him.

 

“Congratulations on the birth of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Your Majesty!”

 

While everyone was greeting him with a full heart, Carlyle only thought of one thing.

 

“How is Asha?”

 

To him, Asha’s condition was more important than anything else. Don’t women usually scream in pain when giving birth? Doesn’t it take much longer than this?

 

Why was the baby born so quickly and quietly?

 

Unable to hide his anxiety, Carlyle grabbed the imperial physician’s wrist again and pressed for an answer.

 

“Asha? Is the Empress safe?”

 

“Yes? Ah, yes. She is perfectly safe. This is the first time I have seen someone endure the pain so well.”

 

Only then did the imperial physician realize that he had not reported the empress’s condition, so he briefly explained the delivery process.

 

“Her Majesty the Empress followed everything she had practiced. Even though the labor pain must have been severe, she did not utter a sound and followed the midwife’s instructions well. Thanks to her, she was able to give birth naturally without much effort.”

 

“Are you sure she’s okay? Even so, can she be so quiet?”

 

“That’s right. Even the midwife said this is the first time she has seen such a quiet birth.”

 

As the imperial physician burst into laughter, Carlyle, relieved of his tension, staggered. It was only thanks to the quick support of his aide that the emperor did not collapse in front of the delivery room.

 

The imperial physician was also surprised and supported him.

 

“Now, let’s go see Her Majesty the Empress and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. First, wash your hands with hot water and…”

 

Carlyle washed his hands thoroughly and changed into clean clothes that had been prepared in advance before entering the delivery room, where the postpartum care was almost finished.

 

Asha was pale but had a smile on her face. It was a different smile from any he had ever seen.

 

It was a smile that was full of satisfaction, happiness, and joy… a smile that made his eyes water just by looking at it.

 

“Asha… You’ve worked hard. You’ve really… really worked hard. Thank you.”

 

“Carlyle… Hurry up and see the baby. He’s really ugly.”

 

“Huh? Yes, isn’t he pretty?”

 

“He’s really ugly. But he’s cute.”

 

Asha said things that didn’t make sense as she smiled.

 

And as he took the baby that the maid handed him, Carlyle understood what Asha meant.

 

The baby, covered in amniotic fluid and mostly red, was literally a lump of flesh. His features were like wrinkles roughly made from flesh.

 

But he was so incredibly beautiful.

 

“Ah…”

 

My child and Asha’s child.

 

A precious life, infinitely light but so afraid of losing it that he had to hold it tightly in his arms.

 

“Finally, I’ve met you, little one.”

 

Carlyle’s eyes reddened, but a smile spread across his face, as if he had everything.

 

It was the same smile that Asha had made.

* * * *

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