LUCIA

Chapter 109 Everything is as it should be

On the day of the King's royal birthday feast, the Queen showed up at an official occasion after a very long interval. Using the excuse of maternal stability, the Queen stayed indoors after the death of her brother, and rumors spread that perhaps the Queen had lost her child due to shock and was lying down at home in heartbreak.

However, the rumors were negated when the Queen appeared, calmly holding her bulging stomach that almost seemed mountainous. The noblewomen scrambled to approach Beth and gave her their greetings.

Lucia also approached Beth. The two of them had not met for a few months as well.

Lucia inwardly felt sorry towards the Queen. Her husband said that the Queen would not know that Roy had disguised himself as a dead man and escaped. She was much better off not knowing that, but seeing as the Queen was unaware of the exact details and suddenly lost her brother, she would be in pain because of the loss.

Lucia was even more sorry that she couldn't comfort the grieving heart of the Queen, who had to undergo this while she was pregnant.

"Have you been well, Your Royal Highness?"[1]

"Duchess, how have you been as well? It has been a long time."

Beth's voice was soft, unlike Lucia's fear that the Queen would confront her sharply. Seeing the Duchess cautiously revealing an apologetic look, Beth smiled.

'What has this person done wrong?'

After losing her brother, Beth resented the Duchess for a while. It wasn't because she thought that the Duchess had done something wrong, but because it was just a time when she resented everyone involved.

Her father had come to see her as she was confined to bed in despair and he looked like he had aged ten years.[2] Seeing him, Beth thought that her father was also suffering from the pain of losing his son, but her father told her a slightly different story from what she had guessed.

"You should forget about it now, Your Royal Highness. That boy...he did something, that's why he ended up like that."

"What...Father. What in the world are you talking about?"

"I cannot tell you the exact details. Just know that that boy, David, did not die without blame. You are carrying a precious royal body within you. Don't be too distressed and pull yourself together.'

"Father."

After giving a long sigh, her father said:

"It seems your foolish father did not do well in acting as a father."

Beth saw the years from the dropped shoulders of her father as he turned around. In that moment, he was not her always strong and reassured father. As she continued to dwell on the words that her father left for her, Beth felt a little resentful of her late brother.

'How is it that until you die, you drive a nail into the hearts of the people left behind?'

Beth thought of her baby and tried to shake off her brother's death, little by little. Katherine, whom she thought she wasn't in a very fond relationship with, came to see her everyday and offered her a lot of comfort.

When she felt the first movements in the womb after refraining from external activities and focusing on her child, Beth shook off all the remaining negative sediments in her heart. Her heart as a mother, wished to convey only beautiful thoughts to her yet to be born child.

"I've gained quite some weight, haven't I? When you carry a child, your body changes like this." (Beth)

"Rather, you look more at ease." (Lucia)