Queen Mother [The remarried empress]

[II] Delivery of the heir

A woman's pregnancy takes nine months; In total. It's something that every sensible person would have learned. Except for children, unless they were taught those lessons (if so, support for the parents).

Putting aside the mood swings, the strange cravings for certain types of things, the soreness of the ankles or pain in the back, there is one event that causes stress for the mother as the father (more for the mother): the due date. Indeed, giving birth to a child is stated to be one of the most painful experiences in a woman's life. 

That's precisely what her Majesty was living right now: she was trying hard to give birth safely, helped by the midwives, occasionally shouting and grunting out of pain. The Emperor was pacing back and forth, biting his nail, anxious and ticked off by the so-called tradition: the wife in one room giving birth, while the husband is not allowed to enter until the end.

He wished to take down that tradition. He wanted to be at his wife's side and give all the emotional support needed; it was one of the things he wanted to do as a soon-to-be father.

In his fantasy, he dreamed of doing so for Maria, whereas the latter had already expressed her refusal to carry his child. He had readily accepted, as he is, the one who obliged her to enter his harem; thinking about it, he felt guilty. After all, Maria is a woman of freedom who should not have been chained down to a place: that freedom is the exact price she had to pay. Thinking about it, it was odd that she didn't have grudges against him... He would have liked her to have some. He waited for it, but nothing ever came his way; he expected her to be angry and demand extravagant things, all his attention and complete obedience.

She asked none of that. Respect and loyalty to his wife and conscientiousness in his work, impartiality in the Court's affairs, and an attentive ear to his subjects and, that's all she wanted from him.

Several hours earlier, Maria was skimming through paperwork in her, bathed in the silence of her office; work usually done by her Majesty, but as her due date approached quickly, the work was delegated to Maria, who had the highest rank in the harem. 

Plus, it was serving as training before her (Maria's) coronation as the queen: it was like killing two birds with one stone. Each party gain something with this arrangement. However, there were some restrictions, until she is crowned queen: she can't access extremely sensitive information or appear in public with the emperor in public, at least not yet. But, all those are perfectly reasonable, so there was nothing to make a scene about; despite that, she knew the other concubines (mistresses) would.

After all, these women depend solely on the emperor. So, if they lose his favour, then they would lose all privileges, including their fortunes, jewels and connections. Which means that Maria being crowned is bad news for them, but it's like they could do anything at all; therefore, they could only accept it with gritted teeth.

Though, they prayed that Maria would not be too petty with them.

As Maria's coronation was approaching, so was the empress' due date: to not make the two events collide themselves, the coronation was pushed further back, so that the empress could give birth safely and recover enough to attend it.

And it brings us back to the empress' delivery day.

With the emperor was outside stressing out himself, the empress was busy pushing out the baby out of her with the help of the midwives, her personal maids and surprisingly Maria, who was tasked to relax the empress.

It is said that giving birth is one of the most painful experience in a woman's life, and it's something that no men will ever live; however at this exact moment, the muffled cries of the empress was enough to make the men outside the delivery room horrified. From hearsay, giving birth would be similar to have a burn of the 3rd or 4th degree.

After several laborious hours on the empress' parts, the cries of a baby finally sounded, which elicited a sigh of relief from the emperor and his close aid.

Entering, the Sun of the empire's gaze softened at the sight of his legal wife, focusing solely on her newborn baby sleeping, on her chest without a care in the world; It was a heart-warming sight but also made him reluctant to approach the two, in fear of shattering the peacefulness. 

Clenching his fist, so much that they turned white, and his finger nails digging in his palms, drawing crescent moons and threatening to draw blood, what made him stop was a simple tap on his arm. Snapping out of it, the emperor silently gasped: it seems that he unknowingly retained his breath.

Looking at the side, he was met with familiar lavender-coloured eyes. The slight nod from Maria was enough to persuade him and, then, made his move to stand with his wife and son.