Episode 100
Helena felt his warm breath and smiled faintly.
Rurik was striving to seat her in the position of Empress.
To do that, groundwork was necessary, and they had two options.
One was to publicly announce that she was the Saint who possessed purification abilities and received visions of the future. The other was to grant her a fief and title in recognition of her contributions during the coup.
“If we do that, no one will dare object when I make you Empress.”
In the future Helena saw in her dream, she was merely a spectator.
Thus, she couldn’t know the answer to this problem.
But when she cautiously discussed it with Princess Louise, the Princess, despite her heavy body, spoke quite lightly.
“Unless it’s what you want, but if it’s just to become Empress, you don’t really need a title. Revealing you’re the Saint should be enough.”
“But there’s no longer any place to use my purification ability…….”
Helena was skeptical, but Louise was firm.
“Just because there’s no use for it in the future doesn’t mean the fact that you purified your brother and saved his life, or that you gave our eldest brother peace before he left this world, disappears.”
Helena quietly pondered his words.
Thinking back, Princess Louise had persistently tried to get her to meet His Majesty Rurik since Caesarea.
‘Your Highness was always one step ahead of me.’
Even such a Princess insisted that she should become Empress…
Helena decided to make the boldest, most audacious choice of her life.
“Please reveal that I am the Saint. The fact that I received a vision of the future, and that I saved Your Majesty’s life with my purification ability.”
Rurik’s expression brightened instantly.
“Then I’ll announce it immediately…….”
Helena gripped his hand tightly and added,
“I’d prefer if we proceeded slowly. I’m still learning noble culture and imperial etiquette, you know. I don’t want to wear ill-fitting clothes while I’m still lacking.”
And if I were to marry Your Majesty right now, Your Highness Louise wouldn’t be able to attend. How upset would she be then?
Helena thought this to herself, but Rurik simply nodded happily.
He had expected persuading her to take much longer.
“Phoebe…….”
I called for my maid in a small voice from my bed early in the morning.
It had been a few days since Phoebe moved her bed into my room to care for me at night.
“Shall I help you up, Your Highness?”
She came scurrying over, already awake.
“No…….”
I answered while still lying down, and Phoebe laughed.
“Then, shall I help you turn over?”
“Mmm.”
I was now a full-term expectant mother.
My belly was so large that I suspected there might be twins inside.
I couldn’t even lie flat on my back.
As I managed to turn over with help, a knock was heard.
—Knock knock.
Phoebe drew the curtains around the bed and ran towards the door.
“How is Lou?”
It was Ren.
I heard Phoebe’s voice answering.
“It’s a good thing I moved my bed in. She got leg cramps twice already while sleeping…….”
Their voices exchanged a few words.
Soon, a shadow fell outside the curtains.
“Ru, it’s me. Can I see you?”
But while I might let a doctor examine me, I didn’t want Len to see me.
‘I don’t want him to see me in such a haggard state.’
Len had returned to Edessa last week, around the time my due date was a month away, after settling all affairs at the Imperial Castle and the Magic Tower.
Unfortunately, Moghold still hadn’t woken up, but healing wizards were diligently attending to him, he said.
‘So Ren said it was now his turn to care for me, and that he’d stay in Edessa until the birth.’
Even in the modern world I lived in, childbirth was said to be one of the three greatest pains a human can experience.
‘I heard they even use something called an epidural for delivery…….’
Of course, in this world without such things, childbirth was a major ordeal that risked one’s very life.
So, naturally, only Ren, the Master of the Magic Tower, was my light and hope.
Even Callisteon, who used to growl at the mere sight of Ren, couldn’t disparage his abilities and usefulness this time and quietly returned to Babenberg.
“I’ll return the week before the birth.”
When he kissed my forehead for the last time, I couldn’t help but feel a bit sad.
But the Grand Duke of Babenberg was simply too busy to stay in Edessa indefinitely.
‘The Chamberlain of Babenberg probably wants to bow in gratitude to Ren.’
Anyway, living as a heavily pregnant woman in the final month was miserable.
Whenever something inconvenient happened, Ren did his best to resolve it, but even he couldn’t do anything about the heavy weight of my large belly pressing down on me.
“I heard you had cramps at night.”
When I didn’t answer, Ren asked again.
“Shall I massage your legs?”
I finally spoke reluctantly.
“My face is a mess from lack of sleep… I don’t want anyone to see me right now…….”
But the persistent Master of the Magic Tower didn’t give up.
“Are you looking this way now?”
“……Yes.”
“Then I’ll turn the other way. If seeing me is uncomfortable, you can just lie there as you are. Okay?”
I sighed, unable to refuse further.
I had the covers pulled up to my shoulders anyway, and since I was lying turned away, as Len said, there was no chance he’d see my face.
Soon, I heard the curtains open.
The scent of a brazier and wood, unique to Ren, wafted strongly.
He patted my shoulder over the covers.
“Was it tough being alone all night? Is that why you’re upset?”
So, Ren still firmly believed he was the baby’s father.
“I’m not upset, it’s just because I haven’t washed up yet.”
“You’re pretty even unwashed.”
I didn’t bother responding to that unnecessary comment.
Of course, this body would be beautiful even standing on its hands, but beauty is always relative.
“I’ll massage your calves.”
Len laughed softly and slightly lifted the covers over my legs.
He asked, half-joking,
“Do you have any idea how much the Master of the Empire’s Magic Tower is worth?”
“How much is it?”
I laughed incredulously, and he chuckled too.
“How much was it again? I actually don’t remember. But I could massage Ru’s legs all day unpaid. For a week, no, even a whole month.”
His large hands began to massage my calves with gentle pressure.
“Before that whole month is over……, ugh.”
Since my belly grew large, my legs regularly swelled and cramped, so even touching them felt sore and painful.
As I gasped in pain, his touch changed to a gentle rubbing.
I barely regained my composure and continued,
“The baby will be born before then, right?”
“Yes.”
Ren answered.
I fell back asleep while this high-spec potential baby father was spending his precious time massaging my legs.
Due to my sleepless night, I couldn’t overcome the overwhelming fatigue.
—Knock knock.
In the afternoon, another knock was heard.
“Come in.”
I said, wearing a bonnet to cover my hair.
I had actually scheduled a final meeting with the furniture craftsman before the birth.
‘I thought I could easily handle listening to reports right up until the birth, but the opposition was so strong.’
If I had insisted on continuing to meet the craftsman and run the furniture business until then, Callisteon would never have left Edessa, no matter what Ren said.
Mesh Echo entered the room.
The man, with whom I was making and selling slides and self-rocking chairs, had recently started looking much more prosperous.
“Oh my! Seeing your belly grow bigger each time, the baby must be growing well!”
We were the first to start this business here in Flavi County, and the response was quite good.
So Mesh was beaming, his smile stretching from ear to ear.
“Yes, I suppose so. It’s getting quite taxing as the days go by.”
The assistant he brought carried in several crates of various sizes and stacked them on the floor.
Mesh laughed heartily and opened the smallest of the crates the assistant had set down.
“This much should… at least cover the cost of a rattle after the baby is born, right?”
I glanced at it casually, then my eyes widened at the crate filled to the brim with gold coins.
“How is there so much? Is this all my share?”
