Synopsis and Starting Chapter Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90 - Light And Shadow>
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112 - The Morning Comes>
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118 - After The Storm
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
Chapter 128
Chapter 129
Chapter 130
Chapter 131
Chapter 132 -
Chapter 133
Chapter 134 - Epilogue 1.3
Chapter 135 - Epilogue 2.1: Traces Of Life
Chapter 136
Chapter 137 - Epilogue 2.3
Chapter 138
Chapter 139
Chapter 140
Chapter 141 - Epilogue 4.1: Ever After>
Chapter 142 - Epilogue 4.2
Chapter 143 - Epilogue 4.3
Chapter 144 - Epilogue 5.1>
Chapter 145 - Epilogue 5.2
Chapter 146 - The Most Romantic Weekend>
Chapter 147 - Short Stories 1.2
Chapter 148 -
Chapter 149 -
Chapter 150 -
Chapter 151 -
Chapter 152 -
Chapter 153 -
Chapter 154 - Short Stories 3.1: Unexpected Things Happen>
Chapter 155 - Short Stories 3.2>
Chapter 156 -
Chapter 157 -
Chapter 158 -
Chapter 159 -
Chapter 160 -
Chapter 161 - Short Stories 5.1: The Man Behind The Mask>
Chapter 162
Chapter 163
Chapter 164 -
Chapter 165 -
Chapter 166
Chapter 167 - Short Stories 6.2
Chapter 168 - Short Stories 6.3
Chapter 169
Chapter 170
Chapter 171
Chapter 172
Chapter 173
Chapter 174
Chapter 175
Chapter 176
Chapter 177
Chapter 178
Chapter 179
Chapter 180
Chapter 181
Chapter 182
Chapter 183
Chapter 184
Chapter 185
Chapter 186
Chapter 187
Chapter 188
Chapter 189 (End)
Categories Genre: All, Completed, Fantasy Status: Completed ______
Total Chapters in book: 189
Estimated words: 290059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1450(@200wpm)___ 1160(@250wpm)___ 967(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 290059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1450(@200wpm)___ 1160(@250wpm)___ 967(@300wpm)
______
LIST OF LAST 10 CHAPTERS:
Page No. 189 Page No. 188 Page No. 187 Page No. 186 Page No. 185 Page No. 184 Page No. 183 Page No. 182 Page No. 181 Page No. 180 Page No. 179 Chapter 138
Chapter 138:
A few months before the empress gave birth to Princess Beatrice, Princess Liliana’s wedding took place.
Bina wanted to attend the event, but it was impossible. She was heavily pregnant at the time and the emperor and the empress were only allowed to attend their own children’s weddings and no other.
Bina instead visited Liliana’s quarters before the wedding to give her a wedding present in person.
Bina felt sad at Liliana’s departure. On top of that, Liliana was also taking her two younger sisters with her. Liliana and Clodys were both raising Roselia and Margaret and they were only too happy to take them into his home.
One of the reasons Liliana wanted to keep her sisters near her was because of the impending birth of Bina’s child. Although they were pardoned for their mother Katleyanira’s treason, the castle was still a dangerous place for the princesses who were still in line for the throne. They could be considered a threat to the newborn heir.
In addition, Roselia was engaged to the prince of Genoa. In a few years, she would leave Cransia and Liliana wanted to keep her near as long as possible.
After the wedding, Liliana became the new Marchioness Toruka.
The next time she visited the castle was two months after Bina gave birth.
***
“Welcome, Princess.”
Bina smiled brightly and greeted Liliana. She bowed respectfully and replied, “Please call me Marchioness.”
“… Of course. Thank you for coming, Marchioness.”
Bina understood why Liliana emphasized her changed title. She smiled gently and took her hand to lead her into the baby’s room.
The new princess’ room was inside Bina’s personal bedroom. Inside Bina’s room were messy with numerous baby toys and a crib.
Liliana’s eyes widened. “You created the princess’ room within your own chamber?”
Bina smiled awkwardly. “Yes. Everyone told me this was not the royal way, but… I decided to do it my way. This is how things are done in my homeland.”
“I… see.”
Liliana looked around the familiar empress’ room, which used to belong to her mother Katleyanira. It looked so different now. Katleyanira had three children, and she has never allowed them to stay in her room. Not even her precious twin brother who died at a young age.
High born ladies always had nannies to take care of their children. They also never breastfed them. The goal for the ladies was to recover quickly from childbirth and prepare for the next pregnancy as soon as possible.
Bina was doing the opposite.
Bina took the crying baby from the crib.
“My baby. My Trice. What’s wrong, honey?”
The baby princess whined for a short while, but Bina could calm her down quickly. Bina smiled and showed the baby to Liliana, who exclaimed, “Princess has your highness’ black hair.”
Bina looked at her baby lovingly and replied, “Her eyes look just like his highness’.”
The black-haired and green-eyed princess was so young yet already showed unusual intelligence. Knowing the emperor and the empress, Liliana knew that this princess would be very smart.
She complimented her. “She will grow to be a beauty just like you, your highness.”
Bina’s eyes widened and shook her head empathically.
“No way. It would obviously be better if she resembles his highness.”
“Pardon?”
Bina explained to the bewildered Liliana, “Objectively speaking, the emperor definitely is more beautiful than I am, right? If it was a son, I guess it would have been okay to resemble me more, but for a girl, it would be better to look like the emperor, so she would have a better chance of becoming a beauty. Well, I guess it never hurts to be pretty, so even a son would benefit from resembling the emperor.”
“…”
Bina sounded sincere, but Liliana couldn’t agree with her as it would sound like an insult. She just smiled awkwardly.
After chatting for a little while longer, Bina suddenly handed the baby to Liliana.
“Now, try holding her.”
“Y, your highness!”
Liliana was surprised but took the baby into her arm. The small warm body felt wonderful. The smell of the new baby was lovely. Looking at the adorable baby sucking her thumb innocently, Liliana felt all her worries disappear.
Bina was impressed as she watched Liliana.
“You are a pro! I am still very awkward at holding my own baby.”
“Oh… I took care of my sisters, so I have some experience.”
The baby seemed like she was falling asleep when suddenly, she started to look uncomfortable.
Liliana quickly realized it and asked Bina, “I don’t think she is hungry… Does her highness have a favorite toy?”
Bina was impressed at Liliana’s intuition. She brought a silver rattle from her side table and shook it in front of the baby.
Beatrice quickly started to laugh. Liliana smiled at first but soon started to cry. Bina became shocked at Liliana’s tears. She put the rattle down and handed the baby to the nanny, who took her to the next room.
Bina sat down with Liliana at the tea table and asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“…”
Liliana shook her head quietly, but she couldn’t stop crying. Bina felt awkward and all she could do was to hold Liliana’s hand and wait for her to explain.
It was the right decision. After crying silently for a long time, Liliana finally stopped and calmed down.
Bina asked again thoughtfully, “I’m not sure what is wrong, but… If you want, won’t you tell me? There is a saying in my homeland: if you share sadness, it shrinks, while when you share happiness, it doubles.”
“…”
After a long hesitation, Liliana finally answered, “Two days ago… I called for a doctor because I wasn’t feeling well. And… I was told that I am with child.” Her voice was trembling nervously.
Bina was surprised. “How wonderful…! Congratulations.”
Liliana shook her head sadly. She wasn’t crying anymore, but she still looked very distressed.
“… No. I realize it is a good thing, but… I felt fearful rather than happy.”
“Pardon?”
Bina couldn’t understand. She knew women could get emotional during pregnancy. In fact, she was as well, but Liliana’s reaction was unusual.
“I… am scared. I know with the birth of the princess, my sisters and I automatically lost our positions in line for the throne. So… I know there won’t be any more tragedies, but… I hope bad things don’t happen again, but…”
“Princess Liliana… I mean Marchioness.”
Bina finally understood what Liliana feared. She tried her best to make Liliana feel better. Liliana looked just like the way she was when Katleyanira was still alive. Liliana used to be always anxious and timid, but after her mother’s death and the marriage to her love, she seemed to have recovered from her traumatic childhood. However, now… She was back to her nervous self before the rebellion.
“Liliana…”
“…”
Bina felt sad at how Liliana couldn’t even feel happy for her baby out of fear. She held Liliana’s hand.
“Liliana.”
“… Yes.”
“You aren’t Katleyanira, right?”
“…”
“Look at Princess Roselia. She is growing up to be a happy, innocent, young woman, and it is all thanks to you.”
“Do you… think so?”
“Yes. You will never become a mother like Katleyanira, so please don’t be so worried.”
Liliana patted her still-flat belly and murmured, “I’m still… afraid. This baby has my mother’s blood. It doesn’t matter what the baby’s legal name is on a piece of paper… You can’t erase blood.” Liliana’s red hair shined sadly. “That is why… I’m afraid. If this baby resembles my mother even a little bit…”
Even Bina flinched at the thought.
The kingdom was enjoying a long-awaited stability and with Princess Beatrice’s birth, the royal family now had a legitimate heir.
However, unfortunately, she gave birth to a princess and not a prince. Because there had never been a female ruler, things were still very uncertain.
On top of that, the mortality rate of newborns was very high in this world. Normally, any empress would have tried to have as many children as possible, but Lucretius was firm on not having any more children after seeing Bina’s difficulty in giving birth to their princess.
Bina felt uncertain, and she understood why Liliana felt anxious. However, despite it all, Bina wasn’t overly worried. Bina smiled gently but confidently as she said to Liliana.
“There is no need to worry.”
“… Your highness.”
“I am not worried at all. Think about it. A baby raised by you can never be anything like Katleyanira. You, a kind and gentle woman, will never let that happen.” Bina wiped Liliana’s tears and continued, “So don’t worry about a thing and get ready to have your beautiful baby. Whenever you feel anxious, just go and nag your husband.”
“… alright.”
Liliana finally smiled. She looked so lovely and sad that Bina started to get angry at Clodys.
What was he doing, making his wife feel this upset?
“Did you tell your husband yet?”
Liliana shook her head. “… As soon as I heard the news, I became so anxious that I didn’t have the courage to tell Clodys.”
Bina said to her firmly, “When you return, that is the first thing you need to do. Also, tell him how anxious you feel. Talking about it make you feel better, right?” Liliana nodded as Bina continued, “When you tell your husband, you will feel even better, so don’t suffer alone. Now, look at you. Your makeup is ruined.”
“… T, thank you, your highness for listening to me.”
Total Chapters in book: 189
Estimated words: 290059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1450(@200wpm)___ 1160(@250wpm)___ 967(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 290059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1450(@200wpm)___ 1160(@250wpm)___ 967(@300wpm)
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