Chapter 48 Whose child is this?!
Amarien's POV
Hold yourself together, Amarien!
Don't panic!
Don't panic!
“You will certainly be Queen when the emperor finds out you're with a child.” The maiden continued as if she had not just pierced me with the most damning words imaginable.
I'm pregnant?!
Really?!
How could I not have noticed!
The morning sickness, the nausea, the tiredness. It was all in my face all this while!
But no!
I can't be pregnant! I can't! Not when the emperor hasn't touched me. This isn't the emperor’s baby, it's Daevir!
I began sweating. I blew cool air on my face.
The emperor hasn't touched me!
No one knows this. Not even this maiden who dressed me. They all assumed he was obsessed with me because he had wet my flowers.
But they are wrong!
No one must know of this pregnancy. Because when they do, the news will spread wide, and Emperor Darian will know in no time.
How did I get here?! How did this happen?!
Corvin barged into the room that moment, cooing happily about the beauty of the silk I wore. I tried my best not to scream for help.
The maiden who dressed me was just about to leave when I pulled her aside and whispered in her ear. “Please tell no one what you saw till I confirm with the physicians.”
I didn't have to tell her. It's literally illegal to announce a concubine is pregnant with gossip. That type of crime could have one’s head chopped off.
The people who announce the baby are the Royal Physicians. The physicians announce to the Emperor first before they do to the public.
However, in recent times, gossip and rumours have accelerated the process. Once the palace officials suspect you're pregnant, they'll ensure the concubine reports for the Royal Physicians for a check-up and confirmations.
I think I still have time. To escape or something…I need to do anything to keep this baby from everyone.
I need to tell Daevir! He has to know.
I'm so confused right now. I don't know what to do.
Without warning, I barged out of the dressing room, sprang past Corvin and the rest of the maidens waiting for me. I darted out of the outer courts, tears welling in my eyes.
Daevir has to be the first to know!
\-
My mind snapped into one terrible conclusion.
If anyone finds out, I die.
And the child dies with me.
I ran.
There were no servants around me this time. Just my bare feet slapping against cold marble as I flew through the corridors, gasping, dizzy, tears spilling freely down my face.
“I need him,” I whispered between sobs, heart hammering. “I need Daevir. He’ll know what to do. He’ll listen. He’ll… he’ll save me.”
He had to.
He was the only person whose touch didn’t terrify me, the only one who ever softened his voice for me, the only one who had ever looked at me like I was something more than a cursed ornament.
But when I burst through the golden doors of the Imperial Banquet Hall—
I stopped breathing.
Every pair of noble eyes lifted toward me in horrified silence. But I didn’t see any of them.
I saw him.
Daevir.
My Daevir.
In his arms…
pressed against him, smiling up at him with flushed cheeks…
was Catherine.
My breath cracked.
His hand rested on her waist. Her fingers curled around his shoulder. Their bodies glided in a slow, tender circle across the polished floor as the orchestra played something soft and sweet… a melody that made my chest burn.
He was smiling.
At her.
And then worse, so much worse, he lowered his head and murmured something in her ear, brushing his thumb across the back of her hand like she was precious to him. Cherished. Wanted.
Something inside me shattered so loudly I swore people could hear it.
My pulse spiked with a heat so violent it hurt.
It was jealousy, sharp, acidic jealousy, slammed into my ribs like a blade.
Was I… too late?
Had he…
Had he already replaced me?
My mouth dried. My heart felt like it fell through the floor.
He held her the way he once held me in secret corridors.
He looked at her the way he used to look at me… with quiet hunger and unspoken longing.
How dare he?
How dare he hold another woman like that while I…
While I was carrying his child.
My hand flew instinctively to my lower stomach.
A child he didn’t even know existed.
A child he had put inside me with trembling hands and whispered apologies and desperate, breathless kisses.
My chest heaved.
“Daevir…” The whisper scraped out of me before I could stop it.
He didn’t hear.
He didn’t see.
He didn’t even look up.
Catherine laughed as he spun her gently beneath his arm. The sight of her fingers touching his chest sent a painful bolt up my spine.
I bit down on a sob so hard my teeth ached.
My vision blurred. My knees wobbled.
Why was he holding her like that?
Why was he smiling at her like that?
Why wasn’t he looking at me?
I stumbled a step forward, trembling.
I came here to tell him the truth.
I came here because I was terrified.
I came here because I needed him.
And he…
He was holding another woman as if she were the only one in the world.
My heart broke cleanly, brutally, without mercy.
The room spun.
I swallowed the scream clawing at my throat, spun around, and darted out of the room, tears blinding my eyes.