“There is a fixed flow in the world.”
The fortune-teller’s white hair seemed to accentuate her heterochromia. Two warts on the nose, and a strange spot near the lips.
Evelina had too many fantasies and hallucinations these days. Because it was like a memory that she hadn’t experienced.
So the fortune-teller’s words felt like a dream, too.
“That’s what has to happen to change the flow. Your Majesty will live beyond your original lifespan.”
“Until when?”
“Until you give birth to the child.”
Evelina had ringing in her ears from the shock.
“When did the child… How the hell…”
She recalled the bed she had shared with Kaiden to pass time with.
“If you ask when, I have to tell you the first night.”
“Ah…”
At the fortune-teller’s words, Evelina involuntarily wrapped her body and trembled.
That was the only option at the time. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have kept her adoptive parents alive. How could she keep a person alive who attempted treason against the imperial family?
“My adoptive parents… Would they have survived if I hadn’t done that?”
Evelina said in a desperate voice. But the fortune-teller said with a calm look.
“No.”
At that, she was relieved and let out a self-deprecating laugh.
“So what am I going to do now?”
“You’ll become Empress.”
“…Until when?”
“Until you really have ten children.”
Evelina looked at the fortune-teller’s words in disbelief.
“How long do I have to live like that?”
She was saying when she was going to die, so the fortune-teller picked up the teacup in front of her as if her mouth was dry and gulped it down.
“Your adoptive parents will soon disappear.”
“What are you talking about?”
The fortune-teller shut up as if she could not say more.
“Perhaps… Did my father really try to kill Kaiden?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I think you can only understand that part by asking the Marquis himself.”
Evelina shed tears at the fortune-teller’s words. She thought he did it because of her.
And really.
“Is Kaiden happy that my parents are dead?”
“He’s not sad.”
“Ha…”
She realized it.
“They weren’t planned to arrive in Tenesi from the beginning.”
“…Yes.”
Evelina laughed as she embraced her crumbling heart. It became clear that Kaiden tried to kill her adoptive parents by pretending to show her mercy.
“Ha…”
“…I…”
“You should never bleed. Because there is power in your blood.”
“What…”
“I can’t tell you anymore. So never. Don’t shed any blood.”
So she said her greetings, and without Evelina’s permission, she went out of the Imperial Palace bedroom.
Evelina was going crazy with confusion.
~~~~
“Hans, am I really pregnant?”
Evelina immediately called Hans to confirm the fortune-teller’s words. Hans was examining her. No matter how much he examined, it was clear that she was in the early stages of pregnancy.
In the imperial family, they were sensitive to pregnant women, so it was possible to test through blood even after two weeks.
Now Hans, who drew her blood with a syringe, was spraying it on a long stick without a word.
Evelina was reluctant to give blood, contrary to the fortune-teller’s words. But she needed it now, she thought, and she couldn’t help it.
“Wait a minute.”
After saying that, he couldn’t open his mouth even though the results came out quickly.
The Emperor had not been able to return to the palace for four days. He was looking for a carriage with the Logias in a landslide halfway up the Balkans.
There were five people who disappeared. Marquis and Marchioness Logias, the driver and the two knights next to them.
He heard that it would take a long time to dig out however much soil has collapsed.
The Logias could not have been alive. Hans knew that.
“Hans, you said my heart is weak. Didn’t you say I can only live for a week?”
He was sure it was the case. A week ago, Evelina’s heart beat was as silent as if she was about to die. Hans really thought she was going to die soon, so he didn’t say much.
But now it’s different.
Her heart was weaker than normal, but it was still beating properly. As if it hadn’t been sick.
“No…? I’m not pregnant, am I?”
Evelina spoke in a pitch like she couldn’t believe it.
“A, Actually, I did get my menstrual last time. But I wrote a little differently than usual… Maybe it’s because I’m not feeling well this time.”
She was rejecting the facts, making excuses for herself.
“Lina.”
“No, Hans, please. Please, it’s not a child, is it?”
She had maintained her relationship with Kaiden, looking forward to the day she would die.
“Lina…”
However, when she saw Hans’ expression, it already sounded like a definite answer even if he didn’t say anything.
“Please… Hans, say no. Yeah?”
But Hans was in trouble because he couldn’t figure out how to say it. It’s not right to lie to her as a doctor. But her protector, the Emperor, was not present. Besides, he was told the emperor already seemed to know she was pregnant.
So he didn’t have to tell the mother, Evelina?
If she felt a change in her body, Evelina would be the first person to know.
But he couldn’t bear to speak. Because Evelina was crying.
“Ian is safe.”
He said something else on purpose. He wanted her to move on to another topic.
“Your heart is also much better.”
“I’m pregnant.”
He couldn’t answer when he saw her lose her expression. When he avoided her gaze first, Evelina laughed as if to laugh at her situation.
Only then did she realize. She wondered if it was because of the shock she would receive from this fact that she was told to be careful of her blood.
“Why wasn’t Princess Elsius exiled?”
“Because they don’t have enough evidence… I heard such.”
Evelina couldn’t resist the growing suspicion and asked Hans. Then Hans answered as he knew.
Then Evelina realized her situation.
In the first place, he had no intention of abandoning Elsius. He took her, sent her adoptive parents away, and he actually did it to kill them.
She had nothing left now.
Her adoptive parents, who she wanted to protect more than her life, were in an accident at the hands of the Emperor, and she now was having a child as the Emperor wished, and now she couldn’t die.
“I will go there too.”
“Lina.”
“The life and death of my parents…”
“Ianathas is there. So don’t worry.”
At Hans’s words, Evelina closed her eyes tightly and said,
“I have to go there. That way…”
That way she could save her adoptive parents from him.
She knew the idea wasn’t rational, but her heart was scolding her to do something.
“I’m going, please.”
“Lina.”
“Help me, Hans. Please.”
Evelina grabbed Hans by the arm and was told,
“His Majesty has ordered you not to leave the room.”
“What…”
She didn’t know because she didn’t leave the room, but there was a detention order. Although in reality it was actually given for her health.
“…why?”
“Because you’re pregnant. The child in your stomach… Because it’s the Emperor’s child.”
Even after Hans said that, he couldn’t meet her eyes because of the pain.
“Haha…”
Evelina’s situation was so pathetic that she laughed in vain.
Hell was not far away. Because her life was hell.
~~~~
“You have to go inside.”
“Never mind. Hurry up.”
Kaiden watched as the men in front of him collapsed and dug into the dirt. He was struggling to manage the knights and clear the trees and soil nearby.
“Support is on our side, Your Majesty.”
The Crown Prince of Tenesi was also waiting for his country’s knights. Everyone who went out together was digging up a pile of dirt where the Marquis of Logias would be.
However, the problem was that it wasn’t just the dirt that fell when it collapsed. And the problem was that the soil was swept down and dropped down the cliff.
There were also several rocks on the pile. It was impossible for anyone to be alive.
No matter how strong the carriage was, there was no way it would survive being crushed by a rock larger than a person that had fallen from the mountain. And even the mounds of dirt that fell right on top of it.
It was obviously an artificial accident.
But no one could say it. Because it was already a hopeless situation.
And the other knights were already moving to track the situation. Because Kaiden gave them orders.
“It’s raining too much, Your Majesty.”
“.”
“I’m concerned about your health.”
“Not my health, worry about Lina’s health.”
He chewed his lips as he looked at the dirt and huge rocks being removed from his eyes.
“The Empress is safe. And today… It is said she found out that she was pregnant.”
“Oh, damn it.”
Kaiden wanted to be with Evelina when she announced her pregnancy. Together, he wanted to let her know how happy he was and how grateful he was to her.
But this was not the time. And yet he felt guilty about leaving her alone. He was now at the end of his rope.
“I see a carriage!”
At the cry of the knight, Kaiden headed towards him.
~~~~
It was that night.
Evelina couldn’t sleep and was looking out the stormy window.
There was thunder and rain and wind beating against the window, and every time, the wind like a woman’s scream seemed to pierce her heart.
– Bang bang!
“Lina!”
Evelina turned to the voice from outside the room.
“Ian!”
Then, she ran to the door without even knowing that the wound on the sole of her foot had burst open.
“Ian! What about my father? What about my mother? Are they okay?”
As soon as she opened the door, she asked urgently.
But he couldn’t answer, and he avoided her eyes.
“Ah…”
At that moment, Evelina, who realized his answer, looked at him with a despairing expression.
“No.”
But Evelina intuitively realized. They were alive when the fortune-teller said so, but not anymore.
Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you.