“How good you look when you eat well.”

Everyone in the castle, including the servants, complimented her on every bite. As she pulled at the meat with even more excitement, she suddenly felt nauseous.

Christa jumped up and ran to the bathroom. There, she threw up, tears streaming down her face.

“Ha…….”

She washed her face with cold water and rinsed her mouth several times. She had to get out of here, or the maids would worry.

“Madam, are you all right?”

Sure enough. Hilda and Annette stood in the doorway with concerned faces.

“Oh, I’m fine.”

“We’re worried, especially since the doctor isn’t here…….”

Kenneth had been absent the entire time. It was unavoidable, as medical assistance was essential to the knights.

“Do you think, by any chance, that the Lady…… is pregnant?”

Hilda asked cautiously. Christa quickly waved a hand.

“Oh, no.”

“But you haven’t had your monthly visit yet…….”

Apparently, the servants in her care couldn’t help but notice.

“My ……it was always erratic.”

She tried to make it sound like it was no big deal. But it didn’t work.

“Just in case, let’s make sure we consult the doctor next time.”

“Yeah, okay.”

At that moment, a vague sense of unease settled in her chest.

‘No, there’s no way…….’

Her anxiety didn’t make sense. She was infertile, to begin with. This couldn’t have happened out of the blue. If that was the case, she should have had a child in her previous life.

But for some reason, her anxiety was unnerving.

The next day, she began to feel nauseous all day long. She couldn’t drink water without throwing up, and she could barely pass food without throwing up again. She was worried she was going to die from vomiting, and after a while, she started to lose it.

“If it’s a light food, maybe you can pass it up.”

Hilda slowly scoops the food into her mouth.

“T, thank you…….”

Her anxiety continued to swell. It felt like a sharp spear through her defenseless flesh. This pain isn’t real, so nothing should happen.

But the intense buildup of foreboding took her breath away. A lump crawls up her throat, and soon a feeling of anxiety overtakes her body, filling her lungs.

As she struggles to breathe, it feels like someone is shoving her head into her feet. Such ominous premonitions slowly drown her out.

What the hell is going on? What’s going on with her? It shouldn’t be. This is just a feeling. It’s just an illusion, a fantasy of floundering in cold, wet water.

She forces herself to breathe deeply, trying to chase it away. It’s the same cold depression that always follows her on cold days. But now she’s forgotten how to breathe, and it’s not easy. She coughs and coughs and coughs until she has to spit something out so she can breathe.

Christa was suffering from a slight fever. As the chill and heat ravaged her body, tears welled up in her eyes. When the body is weak, the mind is also weak, so she lies down on the bed and tries to sleep.

Mrs. Tatiana cautiously visited her in the late afternoon.

“Madam, do you happen to…….”

“Yes?”

Tatiana, who had been bringing her warm honey water, hesitated a few times before speaking.

“I was wondering if you are with child.”

“With child?”

Obviously, the maids had passed something to her.

“You mean …… me?”

Despite Christa’s questioning voice, the woman nodded, sounding somewhat convinced.

They don’t know that she’s infertile, so it’s easy for them to say something like that. Christa shakes her head in denial.

“That can’t be true.”

“The maids say you haven’t had your monthly visit lately, not since you came to Wishus.”

“Well, that’s…….”

She hadn’t had it but since they didn’t know that, she couldn’t think of anything to deny it.

“I have an irregular cycle.”

So she had to come up with something like this. Pregnancy didn’t make sense. But Tatiana wasn’t having any of it.

“Older women are usually more accurate about these things.”

“Ha, but…….”

At that moment, Christa’s mind raced.

She remembered Ragnar’s true intentions. A cold sweat broke out on her back. Her heart plummets to the floor.

“When the doctor comes back next week, be sure to show him your body.”

She puts a few more cushions around Christa’s waist. Suddenly, she feels a twinge of fear. So she grabbed Tatiana’s cuff.

“I…….”

“What’s wrong?”

She replies with a warm smile.

“I, I’m sorry, but…… this is a matter for Ragnar…….”

Christa paled and quickly shook her head. It wouldn’t happen, but she wanted to err on the side of caution.

She doesn’t know how her desperate eyes came across to Tatiana, but she was clearly troubled.

“It’s……. It happened to you last time, so I understand your concern.”

Tatiana interpreted this to mean that since Christa had miscarried the previous time she didn’t want to set her up for another unrealistic expectation.

She explained that it’s relatively common for a woman to miscarry early in her pregnancy. But in Christa’s case, it was a false miscarriage.

“Because my lady is very weak…….”

Then she stroked her hair with the sweetest smile in the world. At that moment, tears formed in the corners of Christa’s eyes.

“Oh…….”

“Oh, don’t cry like that, it makes me hate your fair face.”

Tatiana hurriedly pulled a handkerchief from her apron pocket. She was too embarrassed to say anything more under her warm touch. Her chest is tight with anxiety.

Tatiana would never guess why she’s crying now. She thinks she’s just feeling anxious, but her heart already feels like it’s breaking into a thousand pieces.

“You’ll be fine this time.”

Tatiana’s soft words cut through her heart like a sharp dagger. It was a pain that slowly burrowed into her flesh and she couldn’t get it out. Tatiana gently stroked her back; how could she understand this grief and anxiety?

“I’m sure the heavens will protect you this time.”

Christa broke down on the spot, not knowing what to do with the feelings she couldn’t confide in anyone else. Her tears fell in steady streams, but the dark cloud in her heart refused to go away.

“I, I mean, for now…….”

Christa sobbed desperately. Tatiana hugged her tightly and said, “Okay.”

“Yes, until you can settle down…….”