TAOA-SS9

Ch. Side Story (9) TAOA-SS9 e840b57cc7 Ch. Side Story (9) TAOA-SS9 f8b7c9ec1a ꧁༺New Family ༻꧂ Carlyle aa6ea39f3f and Asha’s efforts bore 8d159bc9e7 fruit sooner than expected. “You are pregnant. Congratulations, Your Majesty.” After 261a608749 suffering from a body 86a7919b77 ache and dizziness she 888b4847bb had never experienced in cce08f277c her life for a f683ce6b35 few days, Asha could 9b3843a33f not resist Carlyle’s persuasion 4e8574cfda and received an examination 8541b743f6 from the imperial physician. Although the imperial 3c4626c739 physician uttered the 21118a5c24 word “pregnancy” in 621e27dfca anticipation of the 0a8133aa4d imperial couple’s joy, edbe55879e the couple was 76089f594f extremely silent. Asha frowned as if f6b0515bf0 it was nonsense, and af89b1690d Carlyle’s expression was stiff ad41f0acaa with his mouth slightly ae37f87bf8 open. “Examine me again.” f7f25731be At Asha’s dry 6c8aaec4c9 command, the imperial e805f6d178 physician, who was b3b1d1251f rather embarrassed, became d5cf5eae6a nervous and re-examined 6a3ed57256 her, but there d1d4f3afe6 was no way a714d8e061 he could have 6fa935d7ff mistaken the clear ef346b9747 signs of pregnancy 3efe3e6693 with his long da6b4e4e85 experience. “You are definitely 8b17f338a3 pregnant… Did you 6d59e2a95b happen to get 539d60442f pregnant without having eac5d5ab39 sex?” “No, that’s c502042025 not it. It’s not 6ba0c3935b that… but… 6df5c7a315 it’s just a923116a6f hard to 8b59dad886 believe.” “Ah…! Ha, I’ve e1be36d6af waited ten eaf658708e years for be01566f05 this, Your 2735b24f0a Majesty! Hahaha!” Only f695f16307 then did 49cce2a613 Carlyle let 8158f5fde3 out a 9e5f166e6b breath he e66aef6ea9 had been 0af3b7b314 holding with 2bb437b2b6 a “ha!” 2189af14df as the 63ac7ed13c imperial physician, b6cf3da098 who had f922766aee been anxious 44de539e83 with various 4cdca9334d imaginations, laughed 4d1c83f2af and relieved 903461f71c his tension. “So, you’re saying d914b47e35 I’m going to f6da6d8039 be a father db8fae0386 soon?” “It will 823aba8782 be in about d681fa4093 8 or 9 a9e9fb4702 months. However, you ec60b7b4cf are in 59fbdd4a37 the early 4b61de76da stages of 661c27ca9a pregnancy, so ce1d47c550 you need 503fa63386 to be 354c478890 careful and befc49ba19 relax. It would 1c8c6f6fc7 be better 0711944554 to announce b0fa41c018 the pregnancy 7888de6ce8 after a 8656951312 month or 9de9dce607 two.” “Yes, 222300f8de good job.” 902f73fcc9 After thoroughly a3f3fc59b2 checking the acfa5120b5 presence of cb488d25c0 the imperial 68e885a1f4 chamberlains and 615da32a46 the maids, e8f659c5e0 Carlyle sat e10bf3ea2e down alone 5383b7b284 with Asha. The two, e925f94b34 who had d195a0db6a been staring f4ca1bb41c at each b8c8719729 other for 221b205b99 a while 558cfacdb0 without saying 220e59799c anything, opened 10902be9be their mouths e6147222c2 hesitantly. “I’m… pregnant… ?” Asha a385b5edf3 couldn’t believe it no 714bb13130 matter how much she b5f31e6ae8 thought about it. She had b00c56078b only suffered 1f2aae132c from body 255e71318e aches and d648bbe6aa dizziness for 437b0ff916 a few f42b8ba396 days. Other than that, she 8495ebdafa didn’t feel anything in e4bc5b62fb her lower abdomen at 71c1072bc1 all. Of course, she was 499f3645ab told that she wouldn’t 40dd38c070 be able to feel 1a132b40a6 it yet, but still! Carlyle smiled as 927e568f0d he watched Asha, f7dc48c570 who was still 058c3dd77c looking bewildered and c4cba8d5ba touching her lower f7bc7aa80e abdomen. In fact, he 12ecb37ec7 didn’t even realize ca5d5d2803 that he was c9036fc12b smiling, but a c34462264f happy smile spread 02506247a0 across his face. “I hope it looks 118d5ecd82 like you, whether it’s f53bbbfa45 a son or a faae346fb6 daughter. It will be so b1d57c1be0 beautiful.” “It would be 5db461f266 prettier if it looked 82f40eb876 like you than me. That way, there d8da81fd91 will be no b1ef4b0e6c talk of doubting 4103864b7d the blood of 3c63c27b62 the imperial heir.” 04df05ca75 Seeing Asha, who ff80a49f2f was more concerned 2a1fb50e40 about political issues e425d896fe than being overwhelmed 4d2d8c77ca with joy at 897d4cd644 the news of 612fbab1f5 her pregnancy, Carlyle 1ce52e32b9 felt a sense e45f40f848 of bitterness. He felt like Asha 2c86d793f7 had suffered too much a77dbf3cb9 from those shameless people 90df6fa595 because of him. He approached d8adfa11cf Asha and ec7268bb22 hugged her 340f1f3380 tightly. “Don’t worry b0c06d445f about that. I’ll get 69c65ac95c rid of 2f4100a209 those who bf53f76129 talk nonsense 6700883252 on the d376cff229 spot. Did you hear what 7b1f424115 the imperial physician said? You need to 42ccccff5e be careful with 40139e597c your body and f6df677436 mind.” “Yes. And I thought you f7158d4fbb were going to use 94709cddb7 that as an excuse e13b1446e8 to keep me in d3354a578a bed.” “How could I a6d06c9189 do such a thing…” 9ed9f26a63 “You would try to 9b47dc0855 do something like that. I won’t 6d4fc570e9 allow it, 8275117037 though.” From 081fe84278 the beginning, 1d336667d6 it was 7ae26de400 expected to a18239b6be be a 600cd9f7d7 battle of a3d9414fd5 spears and b90a890afe shields, but adf0f3145a this time 7093588208 Asha was dae0936700 unable to 3bacc3c81c break Carlyle’s e1a060d5d9 stubbornness. This is because 388b3e53ff there was the 152ab7672e case of Ivelina, 4711ebbd85 who suffered serious c73122dd37 assassination threats as 8a4fe4c004 soon as her aad51afc9c pregnancy was known. Of course, he didn’t e091b457c5 lock her in the 091e1de04b bedroom. Instead, Carlyle stayed by c22044e464 Asha’s side almost all bd765ac6d4 day. The plan was 2ab39e99cb to interpret any a4facaf723 threat to Asha 9db0f7e09b as a threat fadf367297 to the emperor 7f91ed5302 and to destroy 6355de0be4 the opponent and d453c578c9 his accomplices. “Now people will ed1e3f472e say that you’re f049de5495 always following me 3e23fe8252 around.” “It’s a 073c84c513 good thing that 7a829b6508 you can hide 3ff064e7fd the fact that ddceb4223f you’re pregnant. It’s nice e743c1e0e5 to see 40d2e6de05 that my d338c60a2a worship and ffe64e3641 praise of e39130179e you can cfacd27471 help your decb205ca6 safety. After all, b01c039e53 it’s good 59d9847e78 to express b819f03f86 love.” Asha a8d361f3a7 nodded at a7c408e43e Carlyle’s answer, 84014ec2ce which seemed 04237abf72 much more 211ab40f44 cheerful than b96f69e9dd before, but 5e7b5633ee she didn’t 69d220db40 hate it 4159393af4 either. By staying by 3894e1475a his side and 3c274a02ed watching his work, d662093fd7 she was able 3178e2e5ab to learn a 2d786cdb7c lot about the 409bfbe806 empire, and people’s fbd44a2c43 views on the 5375c24256 empress who was 6b67eb1ebe living with the 2323e39d2e emperor also changed. ‘His Majesty the 8a92161321 Emperor loves her 5aa3872db1 so much. If you show 42af6ddc0d even the slightest cd7127e9bd bit of disrespect 7da85f2589 to Her Majesty, 611d605575 you’ll be finished.’ 48dd0d69fb Perhaps because of 47c329615c this, everyone became 8dad8cddef more polite and f47eaafcb2 kind to Asha. And more than b3c5550bc5 anything, she felt 3acbcd7803 a sense of f88882b409 comfort and happiness 2df5f178c9 being by Carlyle’s 24ec028259 side. ‘If I 7c47cb7d08 had known 3ef45d8445 I would bb0acd141b feel this 657db5d81c good, I 7c775197d9 wouldn’t have 57e8517cb9 opposed it 4561e8ded6 in the af1f38dcff first place.’ bf29f168e4 Asha saw d01d3c3c30 Carlyle hugging 0975692800 and kissing 7249d4d60c her during 3eb2fe7d50 breaks between a905131244 work, and 7c23af7b8a even saying acf422ed75 things like, 3ad4bfa987 “Hey, are cc74d8862b you doing 5caf60152d well in 7871c19d87 there? I’m your dad.” And 9882b20c76 at the fifth month 1ffa93b48d of pregnancy, when Asha’s bfeeef86f3 belly started to swell 4b1f41cedf and could no longer de272ea458 be hidden, the palace 08f148bc87 officially announced the news 61280eb46d of the empress’s pregnancy. The newly 130aa6c759 established Imperial b64e9b79de Department, dedicated a0a14958f3 to the 7be5904f1f imperial heir, f6fbff58d9 was under 52fd44970e pressure to 6ce5c2c3ba prepare for 74a90c2ccb the baby’s a71f717151 arrival within 9e199c5932 4 months, 8e9300ffc5 but the 42bd1884bd entire empire bcfbf7eaab rejoiced when 0d9a280919 the news 87a66cdd0b that everyone 9447da70fa had been 77bd0d67f3 waiting for b60a53ceab since the d0ac2072ab couple’s marriage 6ce35e90af was finally 87478d3b96 announced. * * 0e0a2fa202 * It 044f7ebfd0 was a 43d74dc807 dawn in 4211917e51 September when cb8636bf0d Asha, who afddc8117a was full 018e30d4a4 term, woke 93455c56c8 Carlyle up 0faad4535a by shaking 5b1674dff9 him while b8ae67f0b5 measuring the ce082f981e intervals of e2c17a6ab8 her labor c40575980c pains. “Carlyle……. Ugh……. Car, lyle…….” 77fd02acb8 Carlyle woke 9c603c96d1 up, startled 875becf414 at the ebf5395f95 voice. “Why, what’s 77fb4bd00e wrong, Asha!” a026630740 “Haah, call a5eaa70c1a someone outside. I think I’m b1a0eb78b2 going into labor.” 543bd9177e “What? Wait, just c8a0414acc wait a 4869bf990f minute!” Carlyle 698df02159 pulled on a9bfcd5d3d the dressing c861eebfdd gown and f6a742a744 quickly put 2520b57fea it on. As soon as he a5d4c41986 was dressed, the delivery 7e8c7c20d8 room was prepared, and d9c6e4a36d those who would help 7cf08cd749 with the delivery were 96f6a75838 on standby 24 hours 47abba9934 a day. At Carlyle’s 2e012670ab call, the 444cbfdeef midwife, the 7f5d842f01 imperial physician, 74fa33943e and the 20a3a594b8 nurses came 3f9f7ae161 in quietly 0fbf92f648 and quickly 4a892e2f49 and moved 05b1bdd359 Asha. “Of all times, c410fb2b19 at dawn……. I’m sorry.” 70b0010a83 “Don’t say 2f0747e575 that, Your 3192fb76af Majesty. Your Majesty only 28330cda61 needs to worry 9f8ae59663 about your own e8f47b914c body. Leave the rest 0979a1c1b0 to us.” The 83c980d298 people already knew 29229e230c the empress, who 62d84248bf was kind to 1a6c9dda53 her subordinates even ed8f20d849 though she looked 7cd97e5632 scary. Where else in the b4e34326ff world would there be e45aafc346 an empress who apologizes 122aeda41a for waking you up bb34e5a8b0 at dawn while sweating 4db21006b3 from labor pains? As they e01ed0e9fc went into 17190098b7 the delivery 75f75fd1f8 room to 41dc2c15fe do their 102b7f07b9 best to e15e0e5cc9 help the 7ba2d97552 empress with ebf36f7002 her first 49336bda60 delivery, Carlyle 4ccd830083 waited anxiously 1ed353e1ca outside with 0f31ffd63f his close 01b745a903 aides and 452f905d7f maids. The maids had 1d5c8571ba to comfort him 26d356f0ab because of how 7cabc316f0 nervous he was. “The first childbirth 94a04370ab is different for 472dbc764e everyone, but it ca5e7b6223 can take up a94af4d039 to a day. If you lose 968243ceea your strength like f6d182311a this, Your Majesty cdffbf01f6 won’t be able c64e940e8a to bear it cda4f966b7 yourself.” “That’s right. Her Majesty the Empress 99adff7ffe will do well, so e0dcacd58f please wait calmly, Your 355fcf0775 Majesty.” Carlyle knew their 58482c1555 words were right. In his head. ‘But many people still 7d46713542 die giving birth! ……Surely, that won’t 5295c4bdb5 happen, right?’ Once d1032bac92 he thought about 5d72921e57 ‘death’, his nervousness 55dc6e1fab worsened, and Carlyle 679e3eb0fa paced back and 57f25f3acb forth in the a207be5482 long corridor, trying 12155110b2 to calm his 04c3ae6f77 pounding heart. He couldn’t even 8ca863a3c0 hear Asha’s voice f08ac6c07e from outside the 79df1e6402 delivery room. It was a e9ef4921fe terrible thing to dbe6da615e hear the screams 6860635099 of pain from 6eaebb3a49 labor, but the 7898c918f4 silence was even 17b618bfdc more painful. ‘One child 47655ae2b6 is enough. I will never 84e7385650 let Asha have c5b25746a7 another child. Do this again? It’s crazy. I can e632d4c203 never do a8144751c1 it.’ Carlyle 9a658b2dd5 repeated the c9494c8a5c same thought fafef3dcad a few 6a4be80822 times, a 9c82cd2a27 few dozen 58a4882a25 times, pacing 0e33c734ac anxiously in 03469d07a5 front of fd48e2f3a0 the delivery c7e8d9ae81 room. A minute felt 440d5397b6 like an hour. Then, suddenly, 48960ccf6c the delivery f82e017c40 room door d45367056e opened. “What, what is 6a04b52605 it! What’s going on!” Carlyle cc183ba19b felt like his heart 2a731414f1 was dropping when the 6ee698f26e delivery room door suddenly 2e3cbd602e opened, even though he e88f6d06d2 hadn’t heard any cries e96d5fa7e0 of childbirth. However, the imperial f753aa4dec physician’s face who a698b9602c came out was c2334826c8 bright. “His Imperial 7aed7ce117 Highness the 0269b0702a Crown Prince a717c1049c has been a458a29017 born! Congratulations, Your 933f2b5bf8 Majesty!” Only e7de0c02b1 then did 13a38d4d23 the sound 099fcd509e of a 27ea433300 baby crying 6d568c1ee7 come from 11650d531f behind. The maids c62d5fb241 and aides 8a78fa05c9 who were 034137cc19 guarding the a81629c5c7 delivery room 1175d88480 with Carlyle 4ce9f75167 bowed and a6788bbacf congratulated him. “Congratulations on e9f0c95feb the birth ff33ea6fab of His 295a499295 Royal Highness 4f784e9519 the Crown e7c3aa5d54 Prince, Your 8ad4a9e20c Majesty!” While ad2ae5af76 everyone was b0b0a21586 greeting him 2f5a9414ed with a 5fc7086f79 full heart, efa8e57aec Carlyle only cef01482df thought of a0686281ba one thing. “How is fc8a768084 Asha?” To 721dd37cc6 him, Asha’s e9a422449c condition was d13aea3787 more important ad91de4e08 than anything 480e32ecf1 else. Don’t women usually 40ef726b88 scream in pain a58abb6304 when giving birth? Doesn’t it take much 195ebb67a3 longer than this? Why was the baby f1a6790c0b born so quickly and 74e780dea5 quietly? Unable to hide e02f794b21 his anxiety, Carlyle 5c3eb274e2 grabbed the imperial e7e420e51d physician’s wrist again 390e705db5 and pressed for 07e97fe699 an answer. “Asha? Is the bfb203552d Empress safe?” bbb0393f43 “Yes? Ah, yes. She is perfectly 7d57bcc9e7 safe. This is the 40b403c9f5 first time I 6b17e6432f have seen someone 62f1d8c038 endure the pain b6559dd6b8 so well.” Only f6bafbcaa0 then did the 9da9c31bcb imperial physician realize c50e442b3e that he had 7a2b287c70 not reported the 98a22d65ed empress’s condition, so f37dff835a he briefly explained ade107ab45 the delivery process. “Her Majesty the 3148feab4d Empress followed everything 22bce0bab5 she had practiced. Even though dad7a06b25 the labor 3926bcbfbe pain must 9e7bfabfdf have been 2a98e1c1d7 severe, she 0e32a5b436 did not 72f9dfd29d utter a faaf9cc2ba sound and e4a402bf3d followed the 2a04c643a8 midwife’s instructions 96091a81b5 well. Thanks to 2cbbe205f1 her, she 6ad9e29de6 was able 57ded8b2b4 to give 48ebeb5ffe birth naturally 03b109d143 without much 2a74114dad effort.” “Are 2eaaf50cf6 you sure 75634548ef she’s okay? Even so, can she 119e5c1722 be so quiet?” “That’s d4af7c4b9a right. Even the midwife said 24803ed6c4 this is the first 4bc0d6e4b1 time she has seen 8661fb0141 such a quiet birth.” 11d24b0c75 As the imperial physician 4b4b233047 burst into laughter, Carlyle, 4c7a168a18 relieved of his tension, b683e32ff6 staggered. It was only thanks c5d7b54b85 to the quick support 6f2007c851 of his aide that 5fcab0517e the emperor did not 8982bd7e9d collapse in front of 36d7d70f7e the delivery room. The imperial 301313db74 physician was 5fb62116c7 also surprised f4bf920995 and supported c9c49ce410 him. “Now, let’s 5a802b7715 go see 81436ffd54 Her Majesty 782884bdd2 the Empress ee66ab1aab and His 378b305b7b Royal Highness 430467fc9e the Crown 7432bb3dd9 Prince. First, wash your hands 9b541f6172 with hot water and…” 982221e3bb Carlyle washed his hands 5227b80e34 thoroughly and changed into dbea0b8779 clean clothes that had b35bc3e17a been prepared in advance 25d5d4aba8 before entering the delivery 726a0e25dd room, where the postpartum d13f21b455 care was almost finished. Asha was 2b4ebec1a5 pale but ea6427c9e4 had a a47d2e59c3 smile on 9ada28272e her face. It was 25c30f9433 a different d9c8566c28 smile from b27862470d any he 48c83f1d22 had ever de33264956 seen. It was a smile 1e1d976cd3 that was full of 32f3f0b5c8 satisfaction, happiness, and joy… dd4ccbf7af a smile that made b653c2fc7b his eyes water just 9fcb90ba9a by looking at it. “Asha… You’ve worked d7fb766f90 hard. You’ve really… really worked a904d42d30 hard. Thank you.” ccb717f181 “Carlyle… Hurry a58ade6b69 up and 7458298a58 see the da393316ba baby. He’s really ugly.” “Huh? Yes, isn’t he 906cad8469 pretty?” “He’s really ef0fa43b9f ugly. But he’s c3a17360d7 cute.” Asha 23137a0612 said things b4baa5ffac that didn’t 45e5c75d0e make sense 812c86bf53 as she 3826d24b50 smiled. And as a9c24e5f82 he took 81395aab1c the baby 70c22b255e that the a2c530710e maid handed 3066e23047 him, Carlyle 9b98b0acc0 understood what 11422dff49 Asha meant. The baby, covered 03ba5cc3d2 in amniotic fluid 6048d03402 and mostly red, 2acbc9f770 was literally a d4bf017a97 lump of flesh. His features were 9f2f1dde0d like wrinkles roughly 4a29cd3d6b made from flesh. But he 572869717f was so f7aa9e5b0c incredibly beautiful. “Ah…” My 09fc260691 child and cdd472dad3 Asha’s child. A precious life, infinitely 7b61a94c54 light but so afraid 57eead97bd of losing it that bd88a04873 he had to hold 44e6883873 it tightly in his ee0850ee42 arms. “Finally, I’ve met you, 7f554598ba little one.” Carlyle’s eyes ed255d4b43 reddened, but a smile 1d003fbd6a spread across his face, f9dd4642e8 as if he had 83215142db everything. It was the 4d22452aae same smile that 278233c5ee Asha had made.8ce3af08883b0173