Epilogue, Chapter 4
“Go in and ask how things are progressing.”
The court lady who had been waiting with them at the door carefully opened it at Sise’s command and stepped inside.
It was an order that had been given dozens of times already. Sise wanted to go in personally, but the birthing chamber was strictly off-limits to men.
Instead of the eagerly waiting Sise, one of the palace attendants appeared, face weary from exhaustion. Sise dashed forward as if she wanted to grab the attendant by the collar.
“How is it?”
“The baby’s birth door has not opened yet.”
Perhaps because it was her first childbirth, there was no sign that the baby would come despite the labor pains beginning.
Inside the chamber, the attendants assisting Bii with her delivery grew increasingly tense and anxious as time passed.
Sise, already on edge, sent people in at not hourly but minute intervals, pestering those inside.
It wasn’t just the attendants who were on edge. The mother, Bii, was highly sensitive due to her labor pains.
“Didn’t I just ask the same question earlier?!”
Sise, unaware of the situation inside, lost control of her frustration and shouted. The screams from inside were growing closer together, but the attendants’ replies remained the same, like parrots repeating a phrase.
“I don’t want the same answer again! Give me a proper response!”
Sise growled at the attendant, threateningly.
Although slightly intimidated by the emperor’s anger, the attendant held her head high rather than cowering.
The mother’s condition was the most important thing for a safe delivery. The attendant prioritized the safety of both mother and child above all else.
She took great pride in her work. Anyone who disturbed the mother’s mental state—even the emperor himself—was unacceptable. Moreover, she had brought a message from the empress. With such backing, no one in the empire could intimidate her at this moment.
“Her Majesty the Empress has instructed that if anyone else is sent into the birthing chamber, they will not be allowed near the empress’s quarters for the time being.”
“…What?”
Sise’s brows furrowed at the unexpected message. But the attendant was not finished.
“Her Majesty also said that lingering outside the door only interferes with the birth, and that you should attend to your official duties instead.”
‘This woman, really!’
It was something Bii could easily say. But at this moment, Sise couldn’t help but feel a twinge of frustration.
He had been counting every minute like a full day, desperate to hear that the baby had been born, yet the woman who had gone into the birthing chamber for that very purpose was now telling him to mind his duties because he was in the way.
Was this something one says to a husband anxiously waiting outside the door?
So shocked and flustered, Sise couldn’t even respond to the attendant. He simply had no energy to do so. At that moment, Lant quietly approached and gently patted his shoulder in comfort.
“…!”
Although Lant reluctantly accepted it because Sise liked his sister, he still didn’t approve of Sise.
Sise’s smooth, handsome face seemed like it could make many women cry, and his slick way of speaking appeared to have easily won over his innocent sister—something that irritated Lant.
On top of that, Evan, who looked quite handsome even to a man’s eye, was beside Bii. Lant couldn’t understand why Bii had chosen Sise over Evan.
Perhaps it was the shared ordeal of a night trembling outside the door, but at this moment, Lant felt a hint of camaraderie toward Sise.
Having been unexpectedly comforted by his brother-in-law, Sise’s expression grew subtle—he felt a mixture of pride at finally being recognized as family and annoyance at Lant’s sympathetic, almost pitying gaze.
“Ahh—!”
“The birth door has finally opened!”
“Her Majesty the Empress, the baby is visible!”
“Not long now! Please hold on, Your Majesty!”
As Sise mulled over his complex feelings from Lant’s consolation, a chilling scream was followed by the attendants’ urgent voices.
“Well then, I shall go inside.”
Having delivered all the empress’s messages, the attendant hurried inside amid the chaos.
Sise instinctively followed, but the unforgiving door shut right in front of him.
“Damn it!”
He could have easily smashed the flimsy wooden door with force, but fearing that entering might endanger Bii and the baby, Sise didn’t dare touch it.
Even the usually composed Marquess Elient had approached the door.
He had never heard such agonized screams before. Perhaps he had, but it felt like the first time.
Other people’s pain never affected the marquess, but the cries of his beloved daughter shattered his heart. If he could take her pain on himself, he would do so a dozen times over.
“Ahhhh!”
“Please hold on, Your Majesty!”
“It’s almost out.”
“Just a little more strength, Your Majesty!”
Bii’s screams grew louder as time passed.
The four men gathered outside the door clenched their fists, glaring at it as though it were a mortal enemy. If sheer will could exert force, the door blocking them would have crumbled to dust.
“Ahhhhh—!”
“Waaah—”
Amid the screaming, the sound they had all been anxiously waiting for finally came—the baby’s first cry.
“Her Majesty, the baby has finally arrived!”
“Your Majesty!”
The attendants’ voices, full of emotion, echoed from inside.
From the sounds alone, the four men couldn’t tell exactly what was happening. They swallowed hard and waited desperately for the door to open.
As the chaos gradually subsided, the door, which had seemed like it would never open, slowly began to move. It was the moment the four men had been waiting for.
“The beautiful princess has arrived. Congratulations, Your Majesty.”
“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”
“A blessing to the empire, Your Majesty.”
The attendants and court ladies emerged, bowing deeply to Sise. Those waiting outside joined in to offer their congratulations.
“Bii?”
It was Sise and Bii’s child. Of course, the baby mattered. But Sise’s priority was Bii’s well-being over seeing the baby.
“Please come in.”
The court lady stepped aside, letting Sise enter. Seeing with his own eyes was better than hearing about it.
Despite the long-awaited moment, neither Sise, the marquess, Lant, nor Evan moved forward immediately. Their keen senses detected the metallic smell of blood from inside.
The four men’s hearts pounded in unison.
“Your Majesty?”
The attendant looked at Sise in puzzlement—his face pale as if he had turned to stone, unable to move. He had been so impatient earlier, yet now, when the baby was born, he froze.
Just then, a hoarse but unmistakable voice spoke.
“Why aren’t you coming in?”
It was Bii. Sise instinctively stepped inside.
The room was filled with heat and humidity. Bii held a small bundle in her arms.
“Bii!”
The first thing Sise saw was Bii’s sweat-soaked face. Seeing her like this made him want to burst into tears. Overnight, her face had hollowed, her delicate lips cracked and dried with blood.
Unable to speak, Sise gently brushed the hair stuck to her cheek.
“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
Bii asked, leaning into Sise’s gentle touch like a fragile glass cup.
Sise’s throat tightened, and he could barely move his lips. But urged by Bii, he managed to speak.
“…I’m relieved.”
At this moment, that was all he could say.
Sise knew that childbirth was often dangerous. History had many such cases in the royal family.
As labor prolonged, Sise’s heart had raced with fear that Bii might be among the unlucky. The metallic smell of blood inside made his vision go dark. Reason told him everything was fine—the attendants’ expressions were too composed—but his heart imagined the worst.
What pulled him back from despair was Bii’s voice.
At that instant, Sise could think of nothing else. Only the fact that Bii was safe dominated his mind.
His answer wasn’t what Bii expected:
‘Thank you for giving birth.’
‘Who does the baby resemble?’
She expected questions about the baby. But Sise acted as if the baby didn’t even exist.
The baby, swaddled tightly in cloth, slept soundly in Bii’s arms. She lifted the child toward Sise.
“Aren’t you curious about the baby?”
Only then did Sise look at the baby.
Contrary to the idea that newborns are wrinkled, this baby had round, plump cheeks, like it had been filled with candy. Its features were indistinct—resembling both Sise and Bii. Sise hadn’t even realized he’d been staring at the baby without blinking.
Bii gently nudged the baby toward him. Sise, unaware of her intention, just blinked.
