“Pregnant?”

What does this mean?

I looked at Estira blankly, wondering if it was a joke, but there was not a single smile on her face.

Yeah, she’s not the one to joke about this.

Then.

“Really…?”

“I have checked several times, Matriarch.”

“Then I really had a child. It is.”

I was stunned.

I couldn’t believe it.

But before I knew it, my hand was carefully covering my stomach.

It’s a natural thing to say, but it’s still a flat stomach with no changes.

No, I haven’t been able to eat properly these days, so I’ve gotten thinner.

But there’s a child in here.

It was strange.

I felt like I could only describe as strange.

I asked with my hands on my stomach.

“How old is it, Estira?”

“It’s been about eight weeks.”

“Eight weeks?!”

Eight weeks is almost two months.

It means that I has had another life in my body for two months.

I really didn’t even notice this much.

“It is common, Matriarch. Usually, in the very early stages of pregnancy, there are not many changes in the body, so it often passes without realizing it.”

“But still…”

“You may experience mild abdominal pain, loss of appetite, indigestion, headache, and fatigue, but these can all be taken as symptoms of overwork or stress.”

These were all symptoms I was experiencing.

“So what I’m going through right now is sickness…?”

“It looks like that.”

“Then will it get worse in the future? Even when I smell food, I’ll cover my mouth and get sick?”

“I cannot give you a definitive answer because there are individual differences, but there are many cases like that.”

Ha. (Sigh)

It’s painful just thinking about it.

I’m still struggling like this, but it’s going to get worse in the future?

“Then, when will the morning sickness go away?”

“It also individual differences. It usually disappears around 20 weeks, but in severe cases it can lasts until childbirth.”

Did I hear it wrong?

Before childbirth?

Can a person live with morning sickness for so long?

Seeing that my complexion was rapidly deteriorating, Estira added quickly.

“There are medications that can help with morning sickness. I will prepare it right away.”

“If I take that medicine, will I feel refreshed? I keep getting sleepy.”

“It happens when the fetus settles down, so it can’t be solved with medicine. You need to take a rest…”

Estira, who knows me well, blurred the end of her speech.

If I’m told to take medicine, I’ll take it, and if I’m forced to eat, I’ll try it.

But it’s hard for taking a rest.

There are wedding preparations right now and a meeting that I can never step down as the head of Lombardi.

“Then…”

Estira said in a voice full of sighs.

“I will make you a herbal medicine that will give you energy. But the most important thing is rest. Matriarch, how about if you speak to His Majesty and adjust the schedule…”

“No!”

My answer was firm.

“Don’t let Perez know yet.”

Neither Perez nor I can back down on this agenda, that is, the academy case.

As an emperor from the academy, Perez has been preparing this agenda for a long time.

So I have no choice but to do my best to defend myself.

We have been fighting fiercely, both inside and outside the conference hall, without an inch of backing down.

But when he found out I was pregnant.

“I can’t even imagine what kind of face he will make.”

But one thing is certain, he will quietly put down the academy agenda.

“Never do that.”

The next meeting is tomorrow.

If I’m lucky, tomorrow could be the last meeting to discuss the academy case. That’s what I meant.

Even if it wasn’t, it had to be finished before the wedding.

I can last a few more days.

“Don’t tell anyone, Estira. Whether it’s Caitlin or anyone, okay?”

At my words, Estira was forced to nod.

“I will bring the medicine to your bedroom tonight.”

“Thank you. Please work hard.”

Estira packed all the examination tools she had brought and left the office.

I was alone again in the quiet office.

“No, I’m not alone anymore.”

I lay long on the sofa and once again placed my hand on my stomach.

It felt strange.

Is it because it came earlier than I thought?

I was still stunned rather than happy.

I suddenly felt as if I had received a gift.

“A gift is a gift.”

It’s also incredibly big.

I could feel my body temperature through the thin fabric.

And now there is an existence that shares this body temperature.

“Hi.”

I greeted in a small way.

“I am your mother.”

I was still quite awkward, but I continued to gather up my courage and try to talk to her.

“Nice to meet you. Let’s do well in the future.”

If anyone sees it, it will be like muttering alone.

I picked and laughed.

Did my mother feel like this when she had me?

“She may not have been surprised because she was a person who saw the future.”

If she were still alive, I could share this moment and ask a bunch of questions like this.

A little regret ensued.

“What kind of child are you? I’m already curious.”

Daughter? Son?

“Probably…”

I wish she was a daughter.

But I swallowed my last words.

If the child in the stomach is a son, he may be disappointed.

“Just be born healthy.”

It was a word from the heart.

There was nothing else I wanted.

Why is it that a mother who is exhausted after giving birth counts her baby’s fingers and toes first?

I’m now fully understood her feelings.

Hmm, what else can I say?

Oh right.

“Let her look like her dad.”

A little baby that resembles Perez.

Just thinking about it makes my heart pound.

“By the way, what is your dad… going to say?”

It was very awkward to use the word ‘dad’ to Perez.

That’s it.

If I become a mother, Perez will also become a father.

We, mom and dad, become parents.

“Okay… will you?”

Every time ‘child’ comes up as a topic, it’s Perez who suddenly becomes a wooden doll.

“Pheu.” (Small laugh)

He must be really surprised.

“When the academy agenda is finished, I should let him know first. That way, he won’t have to worry about it later.”

What kind of reaction will it be?

I was already curious, so my mouth was tickled.

“Still, I hope he won’t faint.”

I giggled, stroking my lower stomach with a touch that had just become a habit.

***

Next day

“Uh…”

The feeling of the carriage stopping made me feel very nauseous.

Last night, I took the medicine Estira gave me, but unfortunately, it took a few days for it to work properly.

“Oh, it’s worse than yesterday.”

In the meantime, I just stopped at the level of lack of appetite.

I couldn’t eat at all this morning.

It was because the smell of the omelette, which I usually liked, came so disgusting.

It was fortunate that I did not vomit at the breakfast table where my family gathered.

“Sister, why not postpone today’s meeting? You look very unwell…”

Craney asked worriedly.

Estira kept the secret as I commanded.

Perhaps in the middle of the night, Caitlin and Clarivan came and questioned her, but they had to return without getting any answers.

It just seemed to be surrounded by ‘the body couldn’t handle overwork and stress’.

Everyone was so worried about me who couldn’t even eat this morning.

It was a pity that I couldn’t announce the news of my pregnancy.

‘Well, if I told the truth, it would have been even more chaotic.’

Perhaps as soon as I delivered the news, I was picked up by one of the twins and delivered straight to the bed.

Then Perez came to ponder and come after me, and my father, who is in Chesail, will drive horses day and night, and…

Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

At the same time, it was a pity that it was a process that I had to go through someday.

“I’m fine, Craney. I just get motion sickness today. Because I am not feeling well.”

“But…”

“Don’t mind me. It’ll be okay when I get off the carriage. By the way, are you ready for the meeting?”

Today, Craney took on a role next to me in telling specific reasons and figures to empower the arguments of the nobles.

“Yes, sister.”

Craney’s eyes twinkled.

Instead of pushing his arguments or cooking his opponents like this, Craney’s specialty was to develop logic based on accurate figures and facts.

Every time that happens, the facts that are presented with a particularly calming face sometimes make me shake.

“Okay, let’s go home early today.”

Before the meeting, it was a word to inspire and at the same time an earnest wish.

I want to go home early!

“Yes, sister. I have a good feeling today.”

“Do you feel the same way? Me too.”

It was like that.

“…Ugh.”

As soon as I opened the door to the conference hall, the strong smell of food hit me.