Chapter 8 – Epilogue
“Yawn…”
Saye covered her mouth and yawned. Two months had passed since Kainer returned to the Imperial Palace. Every night, they madly yearned for each other more passionately than the first time.
Now, without knowing shame, she learned how to seduce him by first riding on his waist. And each time, Kainer’s eyes shone as sharply as a wolf in the desert, and he would embrace her that night harshly. That was the case last night, and she couldn’t sleep all night, so she slept in like this for a while when he saw to government affairs.
Enin told Saye, who couldn’t get out of bed every day and only slept, that the garden was done being refurbished, so she should eat snacks while staying at the garden today. Enin went to prepare the snacks while Saye was with some of the maids.
A lot had happened in two months.
The daughters of the ministers who entered the harem were terrified by the Sultan’s mandate that they would be decapitated if they did not return to where they came from, so they left without even packing their belongings.
The harem was still quiet. There was only one person staying there. The ministers agreed to this at first because they thought that no Sultan would be satisfied with just one woman, but as these two months passed, they began to express their concerns. At this rate, there may be a situation where there was only one concubine in the harem—they thought that the beautiful concubines of the harem were the face and pride of the Sultan.
However, Kainer, who smiled every time he talked about the harem and mentions Cezanne who died recently, was too formidable.
There was a lot of hidden meaning in Kainer’s words back then, that they should choose wisely whether it’s their daughter or their family, so it was no longer possible to recklessly push their daughter into the harem. In a situation where they couldn’t do this or that, Saye was the only person who was relaxed.
“Where did you fly from?”
Saye, who was resting her chin and buried her body on a long cushion, opened her eyes to the sound of a yellow bird chirping right in front of her. If she touched it, she thought it would fly away, but it pecked her hand gently when Saye put her finger on it, still chirping. She smiled as the figure looked peaceful.
“Oomph…”
At that moment, nausea came over. Saye gasped, covering her mouth with both her hands.
“Your Majesty!”
The maids, more startled than Saye, immediately surrounded her and shouted.
“Hurry up, quick!”
When the other maid cried out, one of them rushed to call the physician. She wanted to say she was okay, but if she opened her mouth she would heave again, so Saye froze on the spot. Something smelled disgusting and she couldn’t stand it. Where in the world…
“Your Majesty!”
When Enin came here after hearing from some of the maids, she saw the white-face Saye covering her mouth and ran to her in surprise.
“What is this? How do you all serve Her Majesty!”
“It looks like Her Majesty is suddenly nauseous.”
“What?”
Enin’s eyes changed in an instant. She then beckoned the maids who were frozen behind her three or four steps. As they approached with a basket, there was freshly baked bread. It was Saye’s favorite bread. As if to confirm, when she pushed the basket in front of Saye, Saye hurriedly turned her head and retreated again.
“Oh my God.”
When she again handed the bread basket to the maid, beckoning them to move away, the maids, who understood its meaning, smiled softly, any signs of their concern fading away.
“Is the royal physician coming?”
“Yes. He will arrive soon.”
“Am I seriously ill?”
When the smell disappeared, Saye lifted her hand that had barely covered her mouth and asked. Enin and the other maids had already noticed. The smile never left their face. Enin grabbed Saye’s hands and knelt down on the floor.
“Enin?”
“Congratulations, Your Majesty. It seems that there is a baby in your womb.”
“What?”
“It’s called morning sickness.”
Saye also saw a couple of royal concubines suffering from morning sickness. They couldn’t eat anything and became nervous, and she remembered them angry, crying, and nauseating.
“Baby… Really?”
“It will be certain only when the royal physician comes and confirms, but women know. Come to think of it, it has been two months since you haven’t had your monthly visitor.”
Enin wondered if she could be pregnant because she had no blood this month, but when she asked Saye, she replied casually that her original cycle had been unstable. But seeing Saye’s actions, now Enin was sure. Then again, she should’ve noticed after seeing Saye sleeping like that. Everyone just assumed that Kainer had tormented her all night long, so she couldn’t sleep properly.
“From now on, you must continue to take care of yourself and be more careful. Of course, avoid sleeping with His Majesty for the time being.”
As a nanny, she could say this. Saye’s face turned red.
“I can’t believe it.”
She wrapped her arms around her belly with both hands. There’s nothing yet, it was just flat. Is there really a baby in here? Suddenly, her face went red when she remembered the night Kainer had said he would let her have his child a couple of months ago.
“Miss Saye!”
She saw Kainer running from afar ahead of the royal physician. Enin smiled and got up from her place and took the maids and stepped back.
“I heard the royal physician is on the way here. Are you sick? Where?”
It seems that Kainer should receive the physician’s examination. Seeing him running, he was whiter than she was, and he asked Enin for help, baffled.
“Your Majesty, Her Majesty is not ill.”
“What? Does Enin know?”
“I’m not sure yet. The royal physician will come and see for sure.”
Suddenly, Enin shut her mouth tightly. This was her revenge. Everyday, he tormented Saye who she served to the point that Enin was confused as to whether he was a beast or a person, no matter how much it was true that she raised him with her own hands.
Enin frowned and squinted one of her eyes as she looked at Saye.
Looking into her eyes, Saye also bit her mouth before trying to say something. The maids also laughed and kept quiet about Saye’s condition together. Then, Kainer shouted.
“Can’t everyone tell me right now?!”
From afar, the royal physician was running and sweating.
Still, the yellow bird did not leave, and often walked around Saye, twirling behind Kainer.
It was an unimaginably peaceful afternoon.
—Fin.