It was very cold on a midwinter morning, so it was quite difficult to get out of the thick blanket.
“Uh…”
After waking up, Anastasia habitually looked for Wilhelm first. It wasn’t very difficult.
It was because the bare chest and fresh scent that she saw as soon as she opened her eyes were a clear tell that he was right next to her.
“Wilhelm.”
Anastasia hugged him tighter and whispered.
When she lifted her head up, she saw his face looking at her.
Anastasia asked with a bashful smile.
“When did you wake up?”
“Not long ago.”
“Wake me up then.”
“Then I won’t see you sleeping anymore.”
Wilhelm whispered, kissing Anastasia’s forehead.
“How lovely you are like an angel.”
“It would be nice if a cute angel like child came to visit.”
“…”
Wilhelm looked at Anastasia in bewilderment at the unexpected words.
Where did her smiling face go, and a quickly depressed look was in front of him.
‘Damn it, I chose the wrong words.’
Wilhelm decided to use the expression “beautiful like a goddess” in the future, and hurriedly set out to fix it.
“It will come soon. Why are you in such a hurry?”
“But… We’ve been married for four years already.”
Strictly speaking, they didn’t have sex in the first three years. But the last year had been different.
In the eyes of others, the late newlyweds found each other every night like a newlywed couple and barely fell asleep after sunrise.
‘Isn’t the standard of infertility the condition in which you couldn’t get pregnant even after a year of normal marital relationship?’
So, now that a year and several months have passed, Anastasia had no choice but to become anxious.
‘Before I returned, I got pregnant right away…’
Of course, there was no news after the miscarriage, but it was said that the couple were not infertile anyway.
The court doctors also diagnosed that the two of them had no problems with having children.
This was when Anastasia was lost in thought for a moment.
“… Perhaps.”
Wilhelm, who narrowed his eyes, opened his mouth in a voice that sounded like a firm cry.
“Did some guy pressure you?”
“Yes?”
“Some of the nobility rushed you for an imperial son. Just tell me, I’ll take care of it.”
“Oh. It’s not like that, Will.”
Anastasia hurriedly waved her hand, fearing he might catch someone.
After a series of events that nearly put Anastasia’s place in jeopardy, no one pressured her for her position as Empress.
‘Of course, someone would be tempted to recommend a paramour to Will on the pretext of not having children, but…”
It was obvious what would happen if they said such things recklessly to the Emperor who loved the Empress very much.
Fortunately, the nobles weren’t that stupid.
“It’s just that I’m impatient. I want to give birth to a child who looks just like you.”
“I am very grateful to hear that.”
Wilhelm hugged Anastasia tightly and stroked his hair.
“To be honest, I like it better now.”
“What does that mean?”
“When we have children, the time we spend together is bound to decrease.”
Wilhelm still hugged Anastasia, making eye contact with her, muttering in his meaningful voice.
“I’ll have to give up on the same trip as last time.”
“That…!”
Naturally, Anastasia’s expression turned red as she recalled the incident. Wilhelm looked at her happily and took it another step further.
“The trip we took last month. We had a lot of fun then. Isn’t that right?”
“… Don’t talk about it. I’m embarrassed whenever I think about it.”
“It was good anyway. Isn’t that right?”
“… Yes.”
As Anastasia’s face grew red as if it were about to explode, Wilhelm laughed out loud. Why was her shy face so cute?
“I don’t want to get up.”
“What? No. You have to get up.”
Those words lit the fuse. Wilhelm hurriedly checked the time.
“… 30 minutes will satisfy the thirst.”
“Will, not in the morning…”
But before she could finish speaking, Wilhelm quickly kissed Anastasia on her lips.
Anastasia looked like she wanted to be like, ‘we can’t do this…’ and then closed her eyes with the feeling of ‘I don’t know anymore’ and wrapped her arms around his neck.
~~~~
As always, an unexpected hot morning passed, and Anastasia was busy from the morning preparing for the ball that afternoon.
“Your Majesty, you skipped breakfast, so you’d better eat lunch.”
The Duchess of Rochester said anxiously to Anastasia, who had not left her desk since morning.
“I’m worried that you can’t eat a whole meal these days.”
“I have no appetite…”
Anastasia also tilted her head as if it were strange.
“I’ve never not had such an appetite before.”
“You’ve been doing that for weeks. Why don’t you call the palace doctor? You complain of headaches more often than usual, and you didn’t sleep well.”
“… Sleep.”
Anastasia hurriedly covered her cheeks, which were about to turn red without realizing it. It was caused by Wilhelm’s refusal to let her go, but it was embarrassing to be honest.
“Anyway, you don’t have to call the palace doctor with this. Don’t worry about the headache. Maybe it’s because the weather is cold.”
“Make sure to eat a little. You’ll hurt yourself.”
“I will. Thank you for your concern.”
Anastasia smiled and nodded.
~~~~
That evening, Anastasia wore a wine-colored velvet dress with sleeves down to her wrist.
The dress embroidered with gold thread, and a necklace rich in gold and pearls seemed to shout that the main character of the ball was Anastasia.
“Look at Her Majesty today. She is wearing a dress so passionate that it overshadows the cold weather.”
“How can she look so good even if she dresses so fancy all the time? I’m just amazed.”
“I wish I had more opportunities to have Her Majesty’s collection! It’s a shame that she holds an auction very rarely these days.”
There were voices praising Anastasia’s fashion sense here and there.
Meanwhile, Anastasia was busy greeting the people who came to her.
It’s not like this kind of occasion was held infrequently, but every time it did, they were anxious to say hello to her.
In this situation, the influence of man would have been great.
“Asha.”
Only one person can call me this affectionately. A person who solidifies his position with infinite affection and trust for himself.
Anastasia, who was talking to the ladies, smiled reflexively and turned her head.
“Will.”
“Am I a bit late?”
They were two people who rarely entered separately due to urgent work.
The ladies tactfully moved away, and Anastasia shook her head with a bright smile.
“Not at all. It was nice to be able to say hello to more people thanks to you.”
“My Empress is so popular that it’s like a beautiful mask.”
“It was all women.”
Anastasia replied, blowing her eyes as if she couldn’t stop him.
“All men are scared of me and try not to come near me.”
Not long ago, it happened at the ball. One new official from the countryside expressed some excessive loyalty to Anastasia.
Of course, even if it was excessive, it was just kneeling in front of Anastasia and kissing on the back of her hand.
However, Wilhelm’s eyes literally sparkled when he saw it.
“At that time, the new official was assigned to a dangerous place, so everyone didn’t even want to come meet me because they were afraid of being hated by you.”
“That sounds satisfying to me.”
Oh, my God. Anastasia replied with an absurd look.
“No matter how hard it was, it was too much to send the official to such a place.”
“It’s unfair that I unintentionally get such a misunderstanding, Asha. That’s just how it was supposed to be.”
“Hmm…”
She didn’t trust that very much, but there’s no way to check, so she just had to trust him.
“Shall we dance now?”
Wilhelm offered her a hand with an elegant smile. Anastasia willingly took the hand he put out and went to the center of the hall.
Everyone paid attention to the imperial couple’s first dance. Watching a picture-like figure of two people dancing was another charm of the ball.
It was time for Anastasia to take Wilhelm’s hand and make a lap on the spot with a graceful movement.
“Ah…”
She felt a sudden dizziness. Anastasia then stumbled in a daze.
Wilhelm, who quickly sensed the change before her leg gave out and collapsed, grabbed Anastasia.
“Asha.”
An urgent voice whispered.
“Are you okay? Why are you suddenly…”
“Oh… it’s okay. I’m just a little dizzy… It’s a temporary dizziness.”
Anastasia answered as calmly as possible.
“It’s because I suddenly turned around. You don’t have to worry too much…”
“Call the palace doctor now!”
She was one step behind. Wilhelm was already looking for a doctor with a pale face.
“It’s really okay…”
“I can’t believe it until I check it with my own eyes.”
Wilhelm replied with his brows narrowed.
“You often feel headaches these days. You said it’s okay, but you kept moving on. You have to get a checkup.”
“It’s really just nothing. Anyway, there was no need to call the palace doctor now… Everyone is looking at me in surprise.”
“I’m in trouble if they’re surprised by looking at you like this.”
“What?”
Before Anastasia could ask what that was all about, Wilhelm picked her up in a bridal carry. Anastasia, surprised, opened her eyes wide and grabbed Wilhelm.
“Will!”
“It’s hard to get a checkup here.”
“I can walk alone…”
“You have to be absolutely at rest now.”
As Wilhelm walked with Anastasia in his arms, he heard a murmur from the side.
“Oh, what’s this? What’s wrong with Her Majesty?”
“From afar, I saw the Emperor supporting the Empress just before she collapsed.”
“What? When I see him holding her without being able to move… It’s not a serious illness, is it?”
With all the worries combining together, Anastasia was worried about the future when she would be bombarded with questions.
‘I just stumbled a bit with vertigo… isn’t this a bit silly?’
However, after a short check-up, Anastasia’s worries became completely meaningless.
“Congratulations, Your Majesty. You have conceived.”
Wilhelm and Anastasia looked at each other in amazement.
