It was a very vivid dream.
I still remembered clearly how Queen ran like a penguin, and how the monstrous eagle clung to the throne.
Nian left after telling me that I looked tired, and my ladies-in-waiting left after telling me to go to bed to rest.
As soon as I lay down on the bed, I fell asleep again.
But this time I didn't dream about the monstrous eagle or Queen. In fact, I didn't dream at all.
When I finally woke up, it was already dinner time.
What was amazing was the story Heinley told me that night as we ate dinner together.
"I fell asleep while working during the day, and I had a very strange nightmare."
"What nightmare?"
"Well... I have a collection of jewels."
That much I knew.
It was evident that Heinley was very fond of jewels because he always presumed that his country was the capital of jewels. A variety of rare jewels were displayed in his room and in the meeting room.
"When I went into my room to clean the jewels, I found an unfamiliar egg among them."
"An egg?"
"Yes. It was gold mixed with green, even prettier than the jewels. It was so pretty that I cleaned it and warmed it with my hands. But out of nowhere, out came a baby bird."
A baby bird...
"It had few feathers and tiny wings, but it was lovely. So I held it against my chest and stroked it, but the baby bird whined for this and that jewel to eat. What terrified me was that I gave it all my jewels."
Heinley muttered with a pale face as if he was horrified at the mere thought of it.
"I think I went crazy in the dream. In any case, when I fed it the jewels, the bird grew so big that it became huge in an instant."
A huge bird... The monstrous eagle I saw in my dream came to mind.
As I nodded with a sense of déjà vu, Heinley shuddered and continued,
"Suddenly, the place changed. This time, the huge bird wrapped itself around my throne and asked me too. It annoyed me, but strangely I couldn't even reprimand it, so I quickly turned to My Queen for help."
The sense of déjà vu was even stronger.
Didn't it seem to coincide with my dream?
"I managed to get that huge bird away from my throne with My Queen's help."
Heinley shook his head and asked with a serious expression.
"Could it have been a premonitory dream that someone harbored hidden intentions against me?"
"I don't know, but... I had a similar dream."
"What? Really?"
When I told Heinley about my dream, his eyes widened.
While they didn't quite match, they appeared to be very similar.
Soon Heinley's expression became really stiff, so I deliberately reassured him with affectionate words,
"The dream we had is so similar that it seems we really have become a completely rapport couple."
I feared that he would regard this dream as a premonition and worry about a rebellion.
Of course, one must have a contingency plan to deal with a rebellion. However, one should worry when some signs of that can be seen, falling into that worry right now would only make one's mind fatigued.
"So you don't have to worry, Heinley. I don't think this is a bad premonitory dream."
Heinley put a hand to his cheek and spoke slowly,
"No, My Queen. I wasn't surprised by that..."
"Then why?"
"On a distant continent there is a belief that if a couple have the same dream it means a baby is on the way."
What?
His words made me laugh out loud.
"That's absurd."
"But a baby eagle appeared. Isn't that significant, My Queen?"
"Not at all."
I shook my head.
Heinley's eyes sparkled, I didn't want to disappoint him.
"I got my period last month. Don't you know?"
"Yes, but you shouldn't have gotten it again these days."
That's true, but...
"Even if I had a baby in my womb, I would be two or three weeks pregnant. You still can't know for sure if I'm pregnant."
On many occasions banquets were hastily held in the belief that the wife was pregnant, but in reality was not. I didn't want to go through the same thing.
However, Heinley remained positive.
"Then it could be. It could be that you're pregnant, My Queen."
I shook my head again.
The more hope one has, the more painful the disappointment.
Even if it was true that I was pregnant, I preferred to wait for a while to be sure.
"My Queen, why don't you let the palace doctor check you out?"
But for some reason, Heinley insisted.
Heinley used to obey my will most of the time, unless it was in bed at night.
When I frowned, Heinley apologized with great regret,
"I'm sorry, My Queen. But you work all day, sometimes until dawn the next day. If there's any chance you're pregnant, I think it's best to know in advance so you can take the necessary precautions."
"It's because there's a lot of work to do."
"My Queen, you have to rest properly even if you are not pregnant."
When I was in the Eastern Empire, the palace doctor also told me to rest.
Would it be different with the palace doctor of the Western Empire? No. It would be the same this time.
What would be different is that Heinley would take all the work away from me if the palace doctor said something like that.
Although that hadn't happened so far, it was entirely possible given how attentive Heinley was to me.
"My Queen."
Heinley held out his hand, calling to me in a gentle voice,
"Navier. Yes?"
As soon as I was about to flatly refuse, he immediately became Queen, and I remembered the baby eagle rubbing its cheek against my palm as if it were weak.
".... All right."
I wasn't thrilled about it, but reluctantly agreed.
"But don't get your hopes up too much, Heinley."
The next day, as soon as I changed my clothes after breakfast, Heinley called the palace doctor.
Fortunately, Heinley didn't tell the palace doctor to 'check to see if I was pregnant.'
He was worried that I was uncomfortable, so he told the doctor it was for a general check-up.
As the palace doctor checked me up, Heinley looked at me anxiously.
I was a little nervous, so I tried to think of other things.
On Whitemond, on the delegations that should have arrived on the Hwa continent, and so on.
Eventually, the palace doctor's hand descended to my belly.
Unconsciously, I stared at the doctor's lips.
At that point, the palace doctor slowly opened his mouth.
