#101
“All of you, except for Pol, just need to protect me desperately. I’ll do my best to preserve your lives as well. However, there’s one thing: if anyone reveals the whereabouts of Pol and the child, I will never forgive them. Keep in mind that all of your families will be implicated.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
The knights and servants answered solemnly, as if making a vow. Only after receiving their commitment did Enrique nod and add:
“This is confidential information that only those who heard my words in this room should know. You must not disclose it to your colleagues or anyone else.”
“Not even to Duke Duvain?” asked one of the guard knights. Enrique nodded firmly.
“Of course not. Especially not to our Shamier commanders, including Duke Duvain. You must remember this.”
Everyone nodded again at Enrique’s earnest request. Only after receiving their assurance several times did Enrique let out a sigh.
It was natural not to tell even Duke Duvain. For him, the safety of Enrique, the crown prince of Shamier, would be more important than the child in the womb. If a time came when he had to choose between the two, he would surely choose Enrique.
Rationally, that was right. Enrique knew it too. He was still young and healthy, so he could have more children. But despite knowing this, Enrique wanted to protect the child first.
This decision was regrettable to his father, who had raised Enrique with great care and love. But it couldn’t be helped. Enrique was now a parent too. He couldn’t imagine exchanging the child’s safety for his own.
The best scenario would be if there was no need to make such a choice. Enrique fervently hoped that his instructions to Pol would never need to be used.
*
Boom-!
A thunderous sound that seemed to shake heaven and earth woke him up. The siege had been going on for over two weeks. By now, his nerves had become thick enough to sleep even on nights with such noises. But this sound was different. For some reason, he felt a chill down his spine the moment the boom sounded. When he instinctively opened his eyes wide, sure enough, a loud shout rang out from outside.
“The wall has collapsed! Defend! The wall has collapsed! Everyone defend-!!”
“Your Highness!”
“Your Highness…!”
The servants who were napping in the corner of the bedroom suddenly got up and rushed to the bedside. The knights also put their hands on their sword hilts, on high alert.
“Go check the situation outside and report back,” Enrique said, pointing to one of the knights. He bowed his head and disappeared outside. In the brief moment the bedroom door was open, Enrique could see Shamier knights gathered in groups, guarding in front of the room in the corridor.
After waiting anxiously for a while, the bedroom door finally opened. The knight approached quickly and began to speak.
“A part of the wall has slightly crumbled. It hasn’t completely collapsed, and repair work has begun under Duke Duvain’s command.”
“Any intruders in the castle?”
“Not yet.”
The knight deliberately added the word “yet.” It meant there was a high possibility of it happening soon.
“I see.”
Enrique let out a sigh of relief and lay back down on the bed. He then gestured to the tense servants to return to their sleeping places.
“If the enemy barges in here, the situation will be over and there will be nothing we can do. It’s not that bad yet, so let’s get some sleep. We need to wake up early tomorrow to take care of the wounded.”
The servants nodded and returned to their sleeping places in the corners. Their bedding spread out in various corners served as their sleeping quarters. Seeing their miserable state, Enrique felt sorry for them. They were supposed to be royal servants. When had they ever experienced such hardship? He planned to give them ample rewards when they returned to Shamier.
It was while he was tossing and turning in bed. Suddenly, a feeling like his stomach was severely cramping, along with an unfamiliar pain, struck his abdomen.
“Mmm…”
Enrique let out a soft sound while clutching his stomach. Pol, who had been dozing off in an armchair right next to him, alertly caught the sound and jumped up.
“Your Highness? Your Highness? What’s wrong?”
At Pol’s fuss, the servants who had gone to bed all got up at once. Enrique was about to say a word about what all the commotion was about, but he bit his lip as another wave of pain hit him.
“Is your stomach hurting?”
At Pol’s words, the servants began to brighten the room’s lights as if on cue.
Enrique, experiencing childbirth for the first time, couldn’t tell if this was just stomach cramps or if the baby was trying to be born.
“My stomach… ugh… hurts.”
Enrique said calmly, trying to swallow his groans.
Boom-!
The sound of something hitting the castle walls rang out in perfect timing.
“Call for a doctor.”
Pol gave instructions to another servant and began urgently directing the preparations for childbirth. His movements were without a moment’s hesitation, as if he had thought about this hundreds of times.
“Argh…”
The stomach that seemed to be getting a bit better started hurting again. This was an unfamiliar pain he had never experienced before. Enrique instinctively took deep, big breaths while clutching the pillow. But the pain was so intense that his body curled up involuntarily.
“Your Highness, no matter how much it hurts, you shouldn’t clench your teeth. I hear it can damage your teeth.”
Pol, who had been giving various orders to the servants, came close, tightly grasping Enrique’s hand as he spoke.
“When giving birth, no one will criticize you whether you scream or squeal like a pig. Don’t bite your teeth, just yell out in pain as loud as you can.”
Pol spoke, mixing in a joke. It was to reassure Enrique. Even in the midst of pain, Enrique chuckled and lightly hit Pol’s head. Then he curled up again, clutching the pillow.
“Are you having contractions?”
The doctor burst into the bedroom, flinging the door open, and asked.
“…It seems so.”
Enrique barely managed to squeeze out an answer.
The doctor felt around Enrique’s stomach, asked a few questions, and then nodded. He then began to recite a list of items needed for the birth to Pol.
The servants’ movements became even more bustling. All the knights were sent out to wait outside the door. Enrique broke out in a cold sweat from the pain that came and went like waves. This was pain for which he couldn’t even take painkillers, so he just had to endure it raw.
With each wave of pain, the wound on his shoulder also throbbed. It seemed that his body was tensing up.
“If it hurts, just scream, Your Highness.”
Pol kept repeating. Enrique, feeling irritated, hit Pol’s head once more. No matter what, as the crown prince, he had dignity and majesty to maintain. Screaming at this level of pain was out of the question.
Time passed slowly and tediously.
The intervals between pains became shorter and longer. Enrique even thought about just cutting open his stomach with a knife and pulling the baby out. It seemed like that would be a relief.
It was around the time when dawn was starting to break along with the contractions.
Crash–!!
An ominous boom rang out, and the castle shook violently. It was a sound and vibration that made the hair on the back of one’s neck stand up. Even the servants who had become accustomed to the sound for a while flinched and hunched their shoulders.
Waaaaaah-!!
An enormous battle cry shook the dimly lit sky as dawn was just breaking.
“Stop them! We must stop them!”
Duke Duvain’s desperate cry echoed faintly.
Bang-!
The door flew open and a knight rushed in.
“Your Highness! The wall has collapsed! Enemy troops are rushing into the castle!”
The knight shouted with a miserable face. Everyone froze.
“The baby is about to come out, Your Highness!”
The doctor shouted. Enrique took one deep breath and looked at Pol.
“You remember?”
He asked quietly, and Pol nodded with teary eyes.
“Hold them off as much as you can. Somehow, just until the baby is born!”
Enrique shouted towards the knight. The knight nodded and ran out of the bedroom. Through the closed window, the sounds of fierce battle between allies and enemies seeped in. Enrique twisted his body in intense pain, swallowing his groans. He had to protect Anture’s child, the heir of Shamier. If he could protect the child, Anture would take care of the rest somehow. He had that belief.
Cold sweat poured down due to the extreme labor pains. The sky had turned bright yellow from how much he had endured. The sound of clashing metal, shouts, and screams from outside seemed to be getting closer and louder. Outside the window, the sun had already fully risen. A mere 3,000 soldiers were desperately shedding blood and flesh to protect the castle.
“Ugh, ah… Anture…!”
Enrique unknowingly called out Anture’s name while gripping the bed sheets as if wringing them. As the sky turned yellow once again, the pain that had been piercing his entire body suddenly disappeared. And then…
“The baby is born!”
The doctor shouted with a voice full of joy.
Waaah-!!
The strong cry of a baby began to fill the bedroom.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
