Chapter 144
Proofreader: somnium
At Artizea’s brief remark, the doctor panicked.
He thought she would be delighted to have been given the news.
Or, she could have panicked. She married at a young age, and even if she didn’t, she didn’t have a family of her own, and he thought that she might be sad because of the current situation.
Then he thought hard about how to comfort her.
Although she has a weak constitution, he was trying to reassure her that she could give birth healthily enough if she nurtured it from now on.
However, Artizea didn’t make any facial expressions that the doctor anticipated.
Her cold face, as if she was wearing an ice mask, did not reveal the reaction that a sick person should naturally show.
“Go away.”
Artizea spoke again.
The doctor dared not linger any longer. He could not even talk about meals or medical care.
So he politely bowed his back and walked out of the room.
Thud.
The door is closed.
Artizea’s body began to tremble as if it had waited. Alice quickly closed the door tight and ran to the front of Artizea.
Her expression remained suppressed, but she couldn’t suppress all her emotions.
Alice pressed Artizea’s shoulder between the cushions. It was because she was afraid she would fall again while trying to get up.
“It’s okay, miss.”
“I’ll have to get an abortion medicine, Alice.”
Artizea whispered in a low voice so that it could not be heard. Her hand, holding Alice’s wrist, trembled like a tree.
“I think Rye knows a pharmacist. Oh Rye’s not here. Then another way…….”
“Don’t, miss!”
Alice said firmly.
“Your doctor said it, too. It’s a baby who had come with difficulty. He said you might never get a second chance!”
“Bu, but…….”
Artizea looked up at Alice with a terrified face. Tears streamed down from her blue eyes.
“How can someone like me become a mother?”
“You can do it, it’s okay. The doctor said you could give birth to a healthy baby.”
“No, I… I, you, you know, Alice, how I grew up.”
Artizea stuttered in a trembling voice.
“I don’t know what a proper mother is.”
“No one knows what being a mother is before she has her first child.”
“Bu, but, this one has a high likelihood.”
“You can’t do that. You don’t hate the baby, do you?”
At Alice’s question, Artizea trembled astonishingly.
She had never even thought about it. She had never thought of such a possibility in her life, so Artizea could not even imagine herself raising a child. She never thought about likes or dislikes.
“I, I am not a complete person. You know that, don’t you?”
One day, a flaw will pop out of nowhere.
Artizea knew that she did not know how to love properly.
If it’s against adults, she’s fine. It would be over when she was abandoned.
But if it was her own child, it was different.
She wasn’t sure that she could be a different mother than Miraila. Miraila didn’t even give birth to her because she hated Artizea and wanted to beat her. She had a heart to love.
But in front of Artizea, Miraila just can’t handle herself.
How can Artizea herself guarantee that she is not the same?
Artizea knew that she was a person who could be much more ruthless and cruel than Miraila.
“I’m sure I’m going to mess up the child. I, I’d rather it not be born…….”
“I will raise it!”
Alice screamed out loud.
Artizea looked at her in surprise. Alice hugged her tightly.
“I will raise it. If you are not confident, I will raise it for you.”
“That, but…….”
“I wasn’t a very educated person who learned a lot, and our house was not that harmonious or anything like that…….”
“Alice…….”
“But I can still raise children. Do you know that I raised my youngest brother?”
Artizea nodded her head as Alice made eye contact with her.
“I can’t make the baby a noble or raise it to be as smart as Miss, but I can love it. Sophie is here too.”
“However…….”
“I think Sir Marcus will be able to help with the teaching.”
A light returned to Artizea’s eyes.
But her trembling did not stop. Cry leaked out of her throat like a painful scream.
“But, still, what if it looks like me? What if it resembles my mother? What if it resembles my older brother?”
“What’s wrong with you, Miss? And you’re not the only child!”
“Even more so, I can’t let it be the child of a woman like this……!”
Artizea said desperately.
＊＊＊
At that time, Cedric was at the Chancellor’s residence.
He felt like he wanted to be by Artizea’s side, but he had too much to do.
There was a meeting with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Home Affairs early this morning today.
He had rarely been involved in internal affairs until now, but he suddenly intervened in the name of the imperial family, so it was difficult to coordinate.
Fortunately, he had gotten used to it with Baron Yetz’s incident last year. Otherwise, it would have taken longer.
And after it was over, he had accepted Chancellor Lin’s request and had come to drink tea.
The servant politely set the tea down on the table.
Cedric took the long-necked glass and went to the window. He was grateful for the chilled tea.
“Please don’t think I’m rude, Chancellor. After sitting all morning, my body aches.”
“It is understandable. Neither the Judiciary nor the Ministry of Home Affairs are passive, so you must be upset.”
“I was prepared. In fact, it is impossible to eradicate human trafficking with a short-term military deployment.”
“Failure becomes responsibility, and bureaucracy avoids responsibility.”
Chancellor Lin said so.
He felt a sense of responsibility as the head of that bureaucracy, but also because he wanted to make Cedric aware of the difficulties of capital politics.
“It would have been more difficult if His Majesty had not issued the Imperial Decree.”
“Fortunately, I have that decree in my hands now. If he’s not going to let it go on forever, this’ll have to start at some point.”
Cedric continued.
“Now is the best time to avoid the reproach you will receive while weakening the punishment of the Dowager Marchioness Rosan.”
Most of the citizens, frightened of being entangled in treason, held their breath and watched the progress.
But not everyone forgot their courage.
There were also small demonstrations, angered at the fact that a pregnant woman who was weak in body and was assaulted, blamed themselves for trusting such a person, and criticized the temple.
Conversely, there were many who were angry with Cedric and still trusted Bishop Akim. Some thought that treason was just an excuse, and that the Emperor finally moved his army to protect Miraila.
The army suppressed both sides.
Nevertheless, right and wrong did not change.
Those who did not forget the essence of the case quietly gathered in front of the judiciary.
This was after learning that Miraila’s trial was divided into heresy and criminal trials.
Cedric felt the need to answer them.
So he went to the protesters yesterday afternoon. All the shiny insignias and cloaks were taken off, and even the simple armament that he always wears was also released, like when entering the imperial palace.
[“The trial will be fair. The judges will give reasons for every ruling, and there will be no unjustified presumptions.”]
Cedric promised succinctly.
[“Everyone who buys and sells humans will be punished. The perpetrator’s property will be seized and will be used to protect victims. Children who lose their parents will return to their parents’ arms, and children who are sold from their parents’ hands will be returned to their parents’ homes and will receive adequate protection to prevent being sold again.”]
And Cedric politely knelt down on one of his knees.
[“I will leave a righteous world to the children. I promise in the name of the Imperial Family and Evron.”]
Anyone could understand that Cedric’s own children were included in the “children” he was talking about.
Chancellor Lin thought that he would never forget the incident for a long time.
In the long history of the empire, there was one or two where the imperial family did kneel before the citizens.
But it was the first time one had made an oath about the future.
Chancellor Lin said.
“It is never a wise choice.”
“Chancellor.”
“It must have been difficult not to intervene at all because there was a problem with the Grand Duchess. But you don’t have to come forward like this. If anything goes wrong, the blame will be poured out on Your Grace.”
It was a pity that Chancellor Lin said that.
“To be admired by everyone means to do nothing. I know it now.”
As Cedric answered, he gently rolled the curtains up on the window.
There were citizens who had not yet been disbanded.
But now it was very different from the previous crowd. They were gathered not to protest, but to watch.
Cedric did not force them to disband. Instead, he mobilized some of the central army to protect them from clashing into the security forces.
The officials seemed to be under considerable pressure there.
Cedric said softly.
“At the end of the day, I will have to push ahead the way I see fit. I just hope it can make more people understand.”
“Even if the public opinion is so, what do you plan to do with His Majesty? His Majesty doesn’t say anything because you have to deal with the Dowager Marchioness Rosan right now, but when things are all settled and forgotten, it’ll come back to you.”
“That can’t be helped either.”
Cedric said.
Chancellor Lin said as he sighed.
“You are very determined.”
“You keep trying to stop me. I was told that Chancellor was determined to not immerse himself in lust, and thus became a bureaucrat.”
“There was a time when I had that determination when I was younger.”
Chancellor Lin said.
“Something like me is pretty good. I am already a failed bureaucrat.”
“A word of humility.”
“I choose to hold my breath and compromise under His Majesty. However, Grand Duke is different from me, who is only a subordinate, and from Grand Duke Roygar. Unlike the public opinion of the social circles and the support of the upper class, the support of the military will present a psychological threat to His Majesty.”
When Grand Duke Roygar first began to establish his powers, the emperor still had the shortcomings of the Empress.
He would not have thought that raising another successor to keep his legal wife in check would come this far.
But now things are different.
Cedric said.
“That kind of power relationship is a good thing. Because I think I have to do this now.”
It was when he told such a story.
The Grand Duchy’s messenger has arrived.
“Your Grace, Grand Duke Evron, the Grand Duchess has awakened.”
Cedric took a deep breath. And he said to Chancellor Lin.
“I’ll be on my way.”
“Oh, you should.”
“Excuse me.”
He stepped out at a quick pace. And ran out.
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