“I came as soon as I told His Highness. I wanted to inform you all as soon as possible.”
The three wings stared blankly at her.
“Her Highness is going to be a mother? She’s pregnant? Really? My goodness! How is this possible!”
Julia instinctively grabbed Leticia’s hands. She jumped up and down, then quickly regained her composure.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness! I was so happy that I lost my mind for a moment!”
“It’s okay.”
“Congratulations! It’s a great joy for the royal family! Oh, Sir Sigmund. Thank you so much! Thank you, Goddess! Thank you for everything!”
Julia smiled with tears in her eyes.
“How happy will Madam Mano be when she hears this news!”
“Right?”
“Of course! No wonder Victor thought he was pregnant. She kept wanting to touch his belly!”
“Sir Victor?”
Leticia burst into a clear laugh. Next was Banessa. He stared blankly at the two, then muttered dazedly.
“Julia. Is this a dream? Is that what it is?”
Then he pinched his forearm very hard. He immediately swallowed a scream.
“Hup.”
He rubbed the bruised spot he pinched too hard and urgently asked.
“You’re pregnant? Does His Highness know too? Have you seen a doctor? When did you find out?”
“It’s been a while. Kailas felt the presence of the child first, and the doctor confirmed it.”
“The doctor confirmed it…”
Banessa half muttered, half mumbled. So, it really was pregnancy. A baby had come to his two masters!
“Your Highness. Congratulations from the bottom of my heart.”
“Banessa, are you crying?”
“Congratulations. Both Your Highnesses have suffered so much until now… finally…! Ugh.”
Banessa’s face turned red as he tried to hold back tears and rubbed his eyes with his sleeve.
The sight of their large colleague trying to hold back his tears made Julia laugh out loud.
It was around this time that the princess snapped out of her shock.
She looked at Leticia as if she couldn’t believe it.
‘The saint is already pregnant?’
As soon as she planned to capture Leticia, things turned out this way. Unlike the two wings who couldn’t contain their joy, the princess couldn’t laugh.
“…A great joy has come to both nations. Congratulations.”
Still, she couldn’t keep frowning, so she quickly smiled and offered her congratulations.
Leticia, unaware of the princess’s complicated feelings, smiled brightly.
“Thank you for your congratulations.”
Julia and Banessa chattered amongst themselves, ignoring the princess who was right beside them.
“Your Highness. Is it okay for you to be out in this cold weather in the early stages of pregnancy?”
“That’s right! You must go inside immediately. Let me carry you. Hurry.”
“No, let me carry you. My back is more comfortable than Julia’s.”
Leticia giggled.
“I appreciate your concern, but I can walk just fine. Besides, I need to inform the other wings as well.”
“You intend to go in person? No, that’s not possible! They are scattered all over the capital!”
Banessa hastily tried to stop Leticia.
“Just wait a moment. I will set the palace on fire. Once they see the fire, they will come running.”
“Yes, now that you mention it, the second wing is the closest, right? Fire and wind. Perfect. As soon as they arrive, they should get to work. The flames will reach the sky.”
The wings from the principality excitedly discussed plans to set the imperial palace on fire. The princess pressed her throbbing forehead and forced a smile.
“…Sending messengers would be the quickest way. Please rest comfortably in the palace and have the royal physician examine you again.”
“Messengers, that’s a good idea. Your Highness, did you hear that? You don’t need to lift a finger. Let’s go inside.”
“Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll bring it right away! How about strawberries?”
“Haha, Julia. Where would you find strawberries in this winter?”
“If we make them, we’ll have them! I heard the empire is very rich! They only have money, so let’s take it all!”
Leaving behind the festive atmosphere, the princess returned to her palace. Her mind was a mess, not knowing what she had been thinking.
‘What should I do?’
Leticia seemed to have a deep maternal instinct. She would never want to be separated from her child.
‘There’s no way the principality’s royal heir would come to the empire.’
After pondering for a while, she found no sharp solution.
‘Then the empire would have to give up the saint.’
As she reached that conclusion, she felt all strength leave her shoulders. The princess sighed heavily and bitterly smiled.
“It can’t be helped.”
The sudden reality was overwhelming. She wasn’t confident she could handle it. The empire without the goddess’s power was something she had never experienced or imagined.
“But what can I do? I can’t change it. I have to accept it.”
Still, the princess quickly accepted reality. Compromising with reality was her greatest strength.
“Perhaps, this is the punishment for what the empire has done all this time.”
The princess laughed weakly and slumped her shoulders.
As someone who had to lead the empire, she desired Leticia, but she knew it was without conscience.
Luckily, the royal family had continuously awakened wings, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been surprising if they had been abandoned long ago.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t have stopped at abandonment. I might have ruined the empire.”
Moreover, Leticia had the power to turn curses into reality. If Leticia decided to attack the empire, it wouldn’t last even a month. Knock, knock.
“Your Highness. His Majesty urgently seeks your presence.”
“The Emperor?”
The princess, who was trying to steady her mind, asked in surprise.
She wondered why the Emperor, who was recuperating from injuries sustained in a fight with Rehir, would summon her suddenly.
“Understood. I will go at once.”
The princess quickly got ready and followed the chamberlain.
She had no idea why the Emperor, who was supposed to be resting, had called for her.
Entering the Emperor’s bedchamber, she found him frowning deeply.
“Dana. The chamberlain just told me something utterly ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous, you say?”
“They say the saint is pregnant?”
The princess hesitated. The Emperor clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“What are you staring at me with those wide eyes for?”
The princess clenched her fists. A foreboding feeling filled her chest. She desperately hoped it wouldn’t come true.
“Why didn’t you inform me of this immediately? Were you planning to send the saint back to the principality?”
The foreboding feeling was spot on.
“Nonsense! We must keep the royal consort here! Now that Josephina has lost her power, we need the saint for the empire to survive!”
The Emperor’s eyes shone strangely.
His eyes looked as if he were under the influence of drugs, but he wasn’t.
There were no drugs in this room, and Kailas’s holy power had completely healed the Emperor.
Everything went black before her eyes. The fact that the Emperor was sober meant that these were his true feelings.
“The new saint is incomparably stronger than the fake Josephina. If we utilize the power of the wings, the empire will become stronger than ever before.”
“…Are you planning to rely on the saint’s power? Haven’t you always been wary of the divine palace?”
“Of course, I have. But now my son and daughter have become wings. What are wings? Positions devoted to the saint for life. As a father and an emperor, I must take what is rightfully ours!”
The Emperor scoffed.
“The new saint will have no choice but to accept our demands. She is the royal consort of the principality! For the backward principality to develop, it must rely on the empire’s help. She will have no choice but to cooperate with the royal family! Persuade the saint by any means necessary. If she remains stubborn, you may threaten her. If the saint must return, at least keep the wings in the empire. Make sure to use the power given by the goddess properly.”
“How am I supposed to threaten the goddess’s sole representative?”
“There must be a way! After all, the saint is still a person and must have weaknesses!”
The Emperor grew irritated.
“What is the greatest weakness of a pregnant woman? Her child, of course!”
“You want me to target the saint’s child, the royal heir of the principality?”
“Royal heir? Don’t call it that! Because of that child, the empire is held back!”
The Emperor shouted. He then clicked his tongue.
“If it weren’t for the healing wing, I would have gotten rid of the child. Well, there might still be a way. The healing power doesn’t resurrect all the dead, does it? There might be a way to get rid of the child without the saint knowing.”
Even the faintest glimmer of hope crumbled.
A terrible despair filled her heart.
The princess took a trembling breath.
She knew the Emperor was not a good father.
Yet, because she was his daughter, there was a bond of blood.
As a princess, she felt an obligation to support the Emperor well.
She knew how much she had benefited from being born into the royal family.
She believed the only way to repay that was to lead the empire well.
That’s why she wanted to hold onto Leticia even more.
She wanted to cling to her, knowing it was shameless.
But now it was all over.
Leticia would leave for the principality, and the empire had to find its own way to survive.
Yet the Emperor still wanted to hold Leticia’s life hostage.
He even considered killing the unborn child.
It was disgusting.
Her earlier confrontation with Banessa now felt even more horrifying when she saw herself reflected in the Emperor.
She could not hesitate any longer.
“Your Majesty, you are spouting nonsense at great length.”
“What did you say?”
“I said, you are spouting nonsense at great length. So much so that I don’t even know where to start correcting you.”
The Emperor blinked in bewilderment. Her demeanor was too calm for such harsh words.
“Dana. I must have misheard you because I am still recovering. Please say it again…”
“Your hearing is fine. It seems your head is the problem. But it’s not because of the injury. You are just as you’ve always been.”
The Emperor gaped. The royal physician attending to the Emperor gasped in shock. Regardless, the princess continued.
“Did you say you would threaten the saint? That you want to kill her child? Your Majesty. Are you in your right mind? Do you still not grasp reality? Or do you really wish to die?”
“Dana!”
“The empire cannot defeat the saint! Only wings can face wings! Which wing would defy the saint and help the empire?”
“You and Calisto are wings!”
“Calisto and I? Ha. Do you really think the two of us can threaten the saint and harm her child?”
The princess burst into laughter. After a long bout of laughter, she abruptly stopped and looked at the Emperor coldly.
“Fine. Let’s confirm it.”
“What?”
“Wait a moment.”
The princess strode to the window. As soon as she flung it open, a one-eyed beast flapped its wings and approached from outside.
“Relay what I say to Calisto immediately.”
“Keeeeek!”
The beast let out a shrill cry before flying off into the sky. The princess, watching it disappear, closed the window and turned back.
“What did you tell Calisto?”
“Ask him yourself. He will be here soon.”
“…What?”
“I told Calisto exactly what you just said, Your Majesty.”
The princess looked the Emperor straight in the eyes.
“I told him that you plan to harm the saint to monopolize her power. That you even intend to harm her child!”
“What, what did you say!”
“Why are you so agitated? Didn’t you believe Calisto would help you?”
“Dana! Have you truly lost your mind!”
“Stop spouting madness, Your Majesty! Surely you don’t want to ruin the empire!”
The princess rebuked him fiercely, glaring at the Emperor.
“Stay quiet until the saint safely leaves the empire. Don’t even think about doing anything foolish! If anything happens to her, I will never let it go.”
“And if you don’t let it go, what will you do!”
“This is your final warning. From this moment on, cease all interest in her. Don’t even think about laying a hand on her! It would be wise to take this warning to heart, for your own sake.”
The princess’s eyes grew cold.
“Unless you wish to go down in history as an Emperor deposed by his own daughter.”
