The Queen's Wife (girlxgirl)

30. A deeply rooted lie

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⚠️ uncensored swearing ⚠️

"The princess is pregnant, quite far along in fact. She won't be joining any of the events anymore but we'll continue the trip either way"

The royal trip was extended from three months to more than half a year with pretty short notice, requested by the crown prince to the king. Since the king still seemed in okay health, the crown prince did not see it necessary to return to the palace as early as possible, which was the original plan. With the reasoning of wanting to become more popular with the people, the king granted his son another six months, considering that they had already been two months on the road at that point. The crown prince added thirteen other major cities to his list, as well as fifteen important landmarks and places to visit. The people were, of course, overjoyed. The crown prince was seen as a prince of the people for changing his plans. But Adelio did it for entirely selfish reasons.

It is now the fourth month of their trip, a whole thirty days of extended time has passed from their original plan, and Margaret is pregnant with the crown prince's child. She is in fact nearly six months in, making it possible for her husband to state that she will no longer be joining any ceremonies. She will only be with them from behind the curtain from now on, as it is stressful to be in the limelight when pregnant, and that can not be good for baring sons. In reality it's because her stomach would show. Her very, very flat stomach, quite the opposite of what it should be. And perhaps because in the tent, or room, right next to hers and Adelio's, sleeps a healthy baby child, that will be claimed as her son within the next three full moons.

Maud is more than just nervous at this point.

She taps her leg against the marble floor, biting her lip until it bleeds. Outside the small waiting room she can hear her husband speak with more excitement and enthusiasm than he ever has before. But it's fake. She can recognise when he is being serious about something, and when he is not. Adelio sounds completely fake to her ears, as he boasts about his pregnant wife, but Maud knows for a fact that to everybody else he sounds completely genuine. Like very, very genuine. And the crowd outside erupt in loud cheers and congratulations for the crown prince, even lifting a glass in the child's honor. Adelio finishes his speech by saying, that whether or not it be a daughter or a son, the child will still be a treasure in his eyes. And that kind of brings her to tears, because in that moment he sounds the most genuine.

Maud is not going to act like she is miserable because of this. The child that is now asleep back at their current inn, is the greatest thing that has happened to her. She already loves him with all of her heart, and even though it is dangerous to be around him before he is announced to the world, as he is still supposedly in her stomach, Maud has spent a lot of time with him. Played around, fed him, changed him, held him when he cried, essentially helped his current nanny way more than she should've. And Adelio hasn't stopped her, for sometimes he too joins her, and the way that he looks at the child... no matter if it's all a scheme, all a lie, Maud knows that this boy is now their son. How could there ever be doubt about it, when they already love him so?

So for her son, and for her husband, she now sits in a waiting room behind a large ballroom in the Western province capital of Saltsea, covered in a veil and heavy clothing despite sweating so. It's autumn already, and the sun doesn't shine as intensely as it used to. However, her biggest cause of sweat and warmth recently has come from the nervousness that she feels about it all. That doesn't mean that she's going to back out, though. No way. Alaric is the future king of this country and also her son, there is no way she would give up that anymore, especially considering that he has no other family apart from them. If Adelio thinks all of this is necessary then so be it, Maud will trust her husband this once, as he has proven to be trustworthy. But the main reason she will see through this is because she knows that Alaric is now her son and she is responsible for his future. He was, after all, destined to rule the people of this kingdom.