Love In The Palace

Child

"Ah." A small sharp piece of the cup cuts Shana's finger when she pushes herself up from her seat. Ruyo notices a drip of blood from her master's finger and drops to her knees, frantically holding onto her master's wrist gently and ordering one of Shana's servants to call for a physician. Shana's eyes, however, stay still on Crown Prince and Jade. Jade has regained her balance, though Crown Prince's arms are still on her, supporting her seemingly-fragile body.

"Cro-" Ruyo holds her lips open to call for Crown Prince, but she is cut off by Shana.

"No." She says. "There is no need to." She continues, almost whispering. Only Ruyo notices her master's weird behavior.

Jealousy. This is the first time she feels jealousy, ever. She has everything, high social background, intelligence, beauty, wealth, and now she is even the Crown Princess. She has always been the centre of the attention, always. But not anymore.

In Crown Prince's eyes, she is second to Jade, his Mistress.

Is she jealous for attention? Or is she...jealous because of Crown Prince? She herself is still trying to find out the answer. Her parents were never in love. They had a truce relationship, between their families. Nothing can ever blossom out of arranged marriage anyway, she thinks.

Then she remembers, that her marriage to Crown Prince is also arranged. Will they end up like her parents?

"Rowena. What happened to Jade?" His question only drives more jealousy out from her. However, she manages to swallow all of them, she cannot possibly show others that she can feel inferior to someone else too. Her confidence is one of her appeal.

"Mistress has been tired and has not have appetite lately, Crown Prince."

"What? Did you ask for Imperial Physician?"

"M-Mistress said no-"

"There is no need for Imperial Physician. It is just a small matter." Jade cuts Rowena before she can finish her sentence, for she is sure that Crown Prince may scold her for not taking care of her properly.

"No. Your complexion is bad. Get the Imperial Physician, now!"

---

The old man's long beard is greying, wrinkles are forming at the edges of his eyes. No duty is ever easy in the palace. Being an Imperial Physician has added at least ten more years to his actual age. Everyone living in the palace is driven by fear, fear is what keeps them living. Fear of death.

Thus no one dares to make a mistake, no matter how small it can be. He places a piece of thin white cloth over Jade's wrist and places his own fingers on it. He is silent for some moment and his sweat can be seen rolling down his temples. When he retrieves his hand, he steps back and immediately kneels amd kowtows.

"Your humble servant congratulates Your Highness Crown Prince!"

"What?" Jade asks, unable to comprehend the Imperial Physician's words. How can her unwell condition be so something joyful that the Imperial Physician congratulate her? She thinks.

She has never experienced it before, not even once. She has never seen it before either, an physician breaking the news to a woman. It is the first time.

"Mistress is pregnant. It should be almost two months." Those words leave echoes in her mind, for some moment.

How can she describe this feelings? It is weird. It is definitely indescribable. It feels like something is tugging at her heart. Her fingers are trembling when she slowly moves her hand towards her lower stomach. She is trying to feel it, the baby inside her.