Married to the Villainous Duke

Chapter 29

The news of Estelle's pregnancy spread like wildfire causing letters and gifts of congratulations to come flooding to Blanchard Castle. As Dr. Ludovic advised her to temporarily stop working on her duties as Duchess of Blanchard because the first trimester of pregnancy is usually when the woman is at highest risk of having a miscarriage, she spends the next days sitting at home and opening letters and presents.

"More keep pouring in every day, my lady!" Delia says as she and Estelle's two other personal maids bring in another batch of flowers, gifts and letters in the Grand Duchess' office.

Estelle chuckles, "at least this gives me something to do."

"You are truly loved by everyone, your highness," Delia tells her with a smile.

"Do you need any refreshments while you go through your gifts, my lady?"

"I'm alright, Delia. Thank you for carrying these. The three of you must be tired so please take a rest and I'll just ring the bell if I need you."

"Thank you, your highness," her maids bow and leave the room.

Estelle starts going through the letters, feeling excited to read their contents. She spots the Imperial Seal on one envelope and opens it first. I already received letters from Mitch and Tisha so I guess this must be from Crown Princess Yulya?

She's surprised to see that it's actually from Crown Prince Henrik.

Dear Grand Duchess Estelle,

I send my warmest congratulations to you and Grand Duke Nikolaidis. I pray your pregnancy will be safe and smooth. I hope me and my wife's gift will be to your liking.

Best wishes,

Crown Prince Henrik Ludington de Ghesquire

Short and straight to the point. I wonder what gift the Crown Prince sent? She gets up and looks for the Prince's gift. She finds a large purple box tied with a black ribbon that has a card with the Imperial Seal. This must be from Prince Henrik, Estelle thinks and unwraps it.

She sees a silver chest inside and opens it, revealing a delicate silver tea set encrusted with colorful gems and a black velvet pouch containing strong smelling tea leaves.

The Grand Duchess reads aloud the card that came along with the gift, "Jarley tea leaves are said to be good for pregnant women."

"This is so unexpected," she says to herself as she closes the silver chest.

The Crown Prince is surprisingly a generous giver. The tea set and the tea leaves looked extremely expensive. They must cost a fortune.

Estelle returns to her seat, feeling conflicted about receiving such a nice and extravagant present from a man who tried to kill her husband just a couple of weeks ago.

She continues reading through more letters, delighted to see that some commoners also sent out congratulatory letters to her. She feels extra special receiving so much attention and care, not only from family and friends but even from strangers she's never met. Looking at the pile of letters in front of her, the Grand Duchess knows she has a lot of thank you letters to write but she doesn't mind. She has plenty of time to spare.

She takes a break from opening letters for a moment to rub her stomach. Her baby bump still hasn't started to show as she's only about seven weeks pregnant but she already feels a connection to her unborn child. She smiles to herself, thinking about her baby growing in her body.

I can't wait to meet you and shower you with love and care, little one. I wonder who you'll take after? Me or your dad? But it doesn't matter who you'll take after because I'll always love you unconditionally, my little one.