Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 36: Just the beginning
"Let’s go to Lady Evelyn’s courtyard. Esther, you should come along too," Luciana said.
Dora and Esther followed, carrying the snacks and beverages. Dominic also followed them, trying to keep a 10-meter distance like the princess consort had instructed.
~~~
Lady Evelyn’s courtyard,
"Greetings to the princess consort," the maids chorused when they saw Luciana.
"Rise, rise," Luciana said in a bored manner.
"Where’s your mistress? Won’t she come out and greet me?" Luciana asked.
"My lady is suffering from severe morning sickness and is resting in her inner chambers. I’ll tell her of your arrival right away," Ellen said and ran into the room to call Lady Evelyn.
About 10 minutes later, Lady Evelyn sluggishly came out looking like she was on the verge of dying.
’What was the princess consort doing here? Did she come to apologize for yesterday’s incident? Even though she was still angry because of Rhoda’s punishment, an apology from the princess consort wouldn’t be bad; it would alleviate some of her resentment at least,’ Evelyn thought and smiled inwardly.
"Greetings to the princess consort; I’m sorry for my tardiness; the pregnancy has been tough, and I’ve not been having it easy. The physician said male babies are quite troublesome even in the womb, and now I believe his words," Evelyn said. She had a gloating look on her face as if she wanted to rub it in Luciana’s face that she was pregnant, and it was a male child, for that matter.
Evelyn’s words made Luciana’s mind wander to yesterday’s incident; when she had arrived at the courtyard, it was said that the imperial physician had already come and left; could it be that Evelyn had already paid off the imperial physician by this time in her previous life?
Because for her son to have been swapped with Evelyn’s daughter, it meant the imperial physician and the midwives had been bribed. It didn’t have to be all of them, just a few important ones. She already knew Evelyn would give birth to a female; could it be that Evelyn had been planning on conceiving a male child from the beginning?
This could mean that even if she had not conceived a male child, Evelyn would have found a male child to pass off as hers because she remembered what the imperial physician had said in her previous life after he read the pulse of Evelyn’s pregnancy; he said it was a male.
It seems she should begin investigating the imperial physician’s relationship with Lady Evelyn.
"I don’t think the imperial physician read it correctly. Besides, it’s still too early to tell the sex of the fetus, but trust me, I’ve been in contact with several pregnant women, and I can tell at a glance that Lady Evelyn is carrying a female child," Luciana said, and Evelyn’s face contorted in anger for just a brief moment before returning to its usual gentleness.
"I understand the princess consort, but I know you are no physician, so I chose to believe the words of an expert like the imperial physician," Lady Evelyn said gently, but one could hear the subtle hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Sure, sure, why don’t you have a seat? I heard about your severe morning sickness, and I was so worried that I came to visit you with some snacks and beverages," Luciana said and gestured to Dora.
"You can start serving it."
"Right away, my lady," Dora said and began to open the lids and poured the beverage into the cups they had brought along from the princess consort’s courtyard.
Lady Evelyn saw everything and felt apprehensive. ’Could it be that the princess consort is planning to give her something to make her miscarry? But would she be bold enough to do something like that in broad daylight? She wouldn’t dare,’ she thought and gave Luciana a fake smile when she smiled at her.
"Go on, Lady Evelyn, you first," Luciana said, and Lady Evelyn shook her head.
"No, princess consort, your position is undeniable; I can’t drink before you. Please, you first," Lady Evelyn said with a voice full of flattery.
"It seems Lady Evelyn doesn’t have memory loss, so tell me if you know I’m in a higher position than you, why have you still not done the needful? You have yet to come to my residence to greet me. Do you think you can do anything you want and ignore the rules because you are pregnant?" Luciana said, and Evelyn clenched her fingers underneath the table, hiding it from view.
However, on her face was a fearful and apologetic look,
"Forgive me for my impudence; it’s just that my morning sickness had been severe, causing me to postpone coming to greet you on several occasions; I hope you don’t take it to heart and forgive me this one time," Evelyn said pitifully; she looked like someone on the verge of crying.
Luciana smiled warmly at her with the demeanor of a mother looking at her stubborn child.
"I completely understand, Lady Evelyn; I will not hold it against you..."
"Thank you, thank you, princess consort, I’ll make sure something like this never happens," Lady Evelyn said, interrupting Luciana. Luciana noticed how she cut off her remaining sentence with her fake show of gratitude and smiled. She picked up the cup, took a sip of the beverage, and also picked up some of the pastries and bit into it.
"Try it; I told the kitchen to add something extra special for you and the baby since it is very important for you to bear a healthy baby," Luciana said, and Evelyn’s hand that was holding the cup about to lift it to her mouth trembled.
’Even though the baby in her womb was not Nicholas’ child, she couldn’t afford to lose it. She must safely give birth to this child so that she can get more opportunities to get close to Nicholas in the future by using the baby.
If she loses the baby now, the probability of getting such a good opportunity to make Nicholas think they have slept together might not present itself, so she must protect this baby in her womb at all costs. It was her ticket to becoming pregnant again with his real offspring in the future.
"You see, I’ll be the legal mother of the child in your womb; I might even request from the prince to allow me to raise her. After all, she would call me mother," Luciana said, and Evelyn calmed down quite a bit.
’Ha! It seems the princess consort wants to take her child away from her. But how could she allow that to happen? If the princess consort requests to raise her baby, won’t the prince move into her courtyard and stay there permanently? He’s already with her all the time; won’t that make them one happy family? No, she would never agree!’
"I’m grateful for the Princess Consort’s care and concern for my unborn baby, but I think it’s too early to talk about that. Maybe we should wait a little longer until I give birth," Evelyn said with a gentle smile on her face as she finally began to enjoy the snacks and beverages.
"Lady Evelyn is being modest; it is never too late to show how I care for the baby as its mother. I remember you said you went for a walk with Concubine Yvonne yesterday, right?" Luciana asked, and Evelyn’s heart skipped a beat.
’Why is she asking about yesterday’s incident all of a sudden? Does she want to take revenge on her for what happened to her maid? Hadn’t she been let off after only 10 lashes? Why was she so petty?’
"Ye...yes, princess consort, I went for a walk with Concubine Yvonne yesterday," Evelyn said, stuttering.
"Good, due to your severe morning sickness, it is good to occasionally take walks to serve as a form of exercise in your early stages of pregnancy, so I have decided. Take walks every morning within the prince’s manor, and to make sure you don’t skip, you should come and greet me every morning on your walks; it is for your health and the child’s," Luciana said.
"My...my... Um, Princess Consort, I don’t think I need to do that; the prince’s manor is so large, and the imperial physician said it’s best to rest more in my condition; he’s a doctor, and I think we should follow his advice instead," Lady Evelyn explained in a demure voice, stammering in between.
"Lady Evelyn doesn’t know, but I’m quite knowledgeable in medicine. So trust me, my method is healthy and far more effective; I can even tell when a scented petal is not only used for bathing but has other side effects, like causing barrenness in women, for instance," Luciana said, and a crash sound followed.
Lady Evelyn had dropped her cup, and the broken pieces were scattered all over the floor.
Luciana inwardly smirked seeing her frightened expression.
"Oh my, Lady Evelyn, what happened to you? Are you alright? You look so pale. It’s like you’ve seen a ghost," Luciana said with a voice full of concern and a look of worry on her face. But inwardly, her smile was as wide and bright as the skies.
’This was just the beginning.’
