Payback: Isekai

[Side Story] Gift of Life (2)

There was supposed to be an immediate order of containment within the palace, to keep the Imperial Consort's pregnancy as a secret. Although it was news that would cement the monarch's standing even more, there was also the risk of security. No one knew what people would do to the Imperial Consort and the unborn child if the news were leaked.

So before the Emperor felt satisfied with the level of security around the palace, they planned to keep the information within the inner circle of the palace.

They planned to.

But even if they wanted to do so, there was nothing they could do when the information was already leaking before the order was out. It was too hectic at that time, and the servants that were present in the room to hear the news were immediately sharing the flabbergasting news in the servant's hall.

Some servants and attendants that were clustering in the servant's hall immediately rushed out and relayed the news to their friends and masters, and the friends and masters immediately went out to their regular tea saloons or coffee houses, and well...once it reached the pubs and merchants, there's no going back.

So the news was spread already: The Imperial Consort was bearing a child due to the Goddess's blessing.

The Emperor's staff were...stressed. They were tasked to contain the news, but what should they do now but wait for the Emperor to chew them off? Fortunately for them, His Majesty was busy attending to his beloved husband's medical examination.

Now that they knew Yoohan was positively pregnant, they immediately called the court physician to check his condition. Jay, of course, wouldn't want to be excluded from this. He stared intently at every movement the court physician made to the point that the poor middle-aged man was drenched in cold sweats.

Yoohan had to put his hand over the stormy eyes to save the physician's mental health—after all, he still needed the man's service for the next five months.

"If you're going to disturb, just stay outside!" Yoohan scolded the Emperor, who finally settled down and opted to stare at Yoohan instead.

Which was still disturbing, but at least the physician's hands were no longer trembling as they hovered above Yoohan's abdomen, and the examination concluded quickly.

"It...truly feels like a miracle..." the physician was dumbfounded, staring at Yoohan—or rather, his abdomen—without blinking.

But of course, it only fueled the Emperor's annoyance. "Yes, I know he's a miracle. Now tell us his condition!" he commanded coldly, half from impatient and half because he still couldn't bear having other people stare so keenly at Yoohan's body—even if it was for medical purposes.

"Ah, yes, forgive me, Your Majesty," the experienced and smart court physician wisely averted his gaze from the Imperial Consort. He began his deliberation by removing the monocle sitting on his face, which was actually an artifact akin to a CT scan or MRI in Yoohan's old world.

Yoohan tapped on Jay's hand to calm him down while listening to the physician's explanation. So it seemed like indeed, there was something like a womb inside Yoohan, just without the ovaries or fallopian tube, that was made purely from mana. There was a channel connecting the womb-like organ with his mana core, which constantly supplied nutrients and energy. The changes that occurred inside his body and mana flow were what caused all those pregnancy symptoms, it seemed.

"Since it looks similar to normal pregnancy, then it is safe to assume it will progress like other pregnancies. With this in mind, the four-month assumption is correct," the physician ended his explanation.

Yoohan sighed in relief. Okay, so at least it happened after the wedding. Good. Lawfully acceptable for an heir.

"That being said," Yoohan frowned slightly when the physician continued, "we have to admit that Your Majesty's condition is something new, so thorough observation and careful examination need to be maintained at all times."