TPOP 78

Chapter 78

***

Diana lay asleep, her face pale. Her labored breathing sounded unusual.

After hesitating for a long moment, the attending physician spoke cautiously.

"I believe we should inform His Highness first. We haven't told this girl yet... From her reaction, she seems completely unaware. She thought it was severe menstrual cramps, so we didn't explain further."

Emile immediately covered her mouth with her palm. The implication of the physician's diagnosis was clear.

Hugo, too, struggled to find words. After a long silence, only one sentence emerged.

"...How long has it been?"

"It must have been early. At most, about a month... The exact timing is impossible to know. Perhaps there were subtle changes only she noticed, like a change in appetite. As you know, she hasn't had a moment's peace lately... That might have contributed. We did take care with the ointment used for her wounds, just in case."

"......"

"She must rest completely for now. His Highness may not be aware, but this girl is a sickly one."

"Is the exact cause... unknown?"

The physician took a deep breath, as if preparing his answer. His gaze, as if asking how he could not know from the report, held a hint of pity.

"Did I not say she was a patient? For the past fortnight—no, from the moment she lost her sight to that vile poison, she was already a patient. Moreover, didn't she take all the infertility medicine I prescribed during that time?"

"The medicine would have been taken since last month, and she hasn't taken any for the past fortnight... The exact time of conception."

"What good is searching for a fetus that's already vanished? If we try to find the cause, it's endless. Locking a sick person away in this dark place without even opening the door—how could anyone endure it, no matter how strong they are? And she hasn't been eating properly either!"

The attending physician snapped in an agitated voice. The elderly doctor had been summoned here daily for ten days, enduring as much as he could. This was less about loyalty and more about his duty as a physician.

As Hugo rubbed his forehead in frustration, the attending physician whispered urgently.

"Don't try to shield His Highness. Even if his innate disposition isn't sound, he must still exercise sound judgment…!"

The commotion woke Diana, who blinked her dazed eyes.

The sounds of unfamiliar voices filled the space near the bed. Diana instinctively pressed herself closer to the wall. Her arms lacked strength, so she couldn't move much.

"Who's there,… Doctor…?"

Poor thing. A deep sigh escaped Hugo's lips.

How could it not be pitiful? Her lowly birth didn't justify this suffering. Moreover, as the physician said, the sudden miscarriage was likely influenced by the medicine he had given this child through Emile.

Hugo checked the empty doorway and lowered his voice.

"Do you remember my voice?"

"...Your Grace ?"

Though they'd never spoken directly, the maid recognized Hugo's voice immediately.

There was no time for a long conversation. Once he reported this to the Crown Prince, the chance to speak privately with the maid would be rare.

"Do you want to leave?"

"......!"

"Then come to the villa. Do whatever it takes to return to the villa. There's no possibility here."

Diana blinked rapidly, then frowned. Her stomach cramped painfully. Her unusually severe menstrual cramps and throbbing headache made her mind hazy. Yet she understood the order to go to the villa clearly.

"If you wish to leave, I will find a way."

"......"

"Staying here any longer won't do either of us any good."

Emile swiftly stole a glance between her legs. Diana, who had been blinking slowly, let her eyelids fall. Hugo sighed deeply and gave his orders.

"I'll go to His Highness first. This child... Wash her body, change her clothes, then move her to His Highness’s bedroom. Open the windows, draw back the curtains. Let her sleep soundly."

The servants bustled about. Emile carefully wrapped her arms around Diana's shoulders and lifted her. She had lost weight so much in just a few days that Emile could easily lift her alone.

"What's all this commotion?"

A sharp voice cut through the air at that moment.

A long shadow fell from the doorway. It felt as if the temperature of the air had dropped sharply.

All the bewildered gazes turned toward the doorway.

The master had returned.

Felix, whose facial features had grown twice as sharp in just a few days, scanned the bedroom interior with his gaze. Noticing the crowd gathered around the bed, so dense Diana herself was obscured, he twisted the corners of his mouth.

"I hadn't realized so many of you wished to die in my palace."

The maids, startled by the anger radiating from each syllable, hiccupped.

Hugo stepped forward, his face set in a rigid expression.

"There is something you must know, Your Highness. It concerns Diana."

***

A heavy silence hung in the bedroom.

Diana was fast asleep. Her breathing was uneasy.

Occasionally, she would frown and groan, or shiver violently, repeatedly burying herself beneath the covers.

The physician advised that she would run a fever and suffer severe body aches for the next few days, recommending absolute rest. Hugo added from the side.

"He said once she gets sufficient rest, there should be no problem with her recovery, so Your Highness needn't worry too much. He mentioned it's impossible to know exactly when she conceived. Only that it hasn't been more than a few weeks."

The Crown Prince remained expressionless. The violent rage that had surged the moment he saw the bloodstains soaking Diana's skirt and the bedspread abruptly halted at the physician's cry.

"What did Diana do?"

Since then, Felix hadn't uttered a single word.

Hugo couldn't fathom his nephew's reaction at all. Judging by his usual disposition, he was likely to dismiss it casually as none of his concern, but since it involved that maid, things might be different. Perhaps he had received some kind of shock.

However, the question that came after the silence was unexpected.

"Can she get pregnant again?"

"Excuse me?"

"I asked if her womb was damaged or not."

The attending physician, equally speechless, managed to reply.

"It will certainly be difficult in the near future. But if she recovers well somehow... it shouldn't lead to infertility."

"I see."

That was all. Without an apology or farewell to the tiny new life that had grown unnoticed, hidden from everyone, that was all. He didn't seem particularly regretful.

Felix's gaze lingered only on the side profile of the crouching woman. Hugo felt foolish for having worried about him just moments before. He didn't know if it was possible to separate thoughts of the woman and the fetus, but at least it seemed possible for his nephew—how fortunate! At times like this, his coldness was frightening.

Felix shifted his gaze to the bloodstained blanket.

"It's a pity, though."

Hugo felt a twinge of unease at his nephew's quiet murmur. A pity for the firstborn? After all, it was the child of a lowly maid, destined never to be recorded in the royal family tree…

But no further words followed, and the emotion the lost life stirred in him ended there.

Felix asked flatly.

"What about Diana's identity cleanup?"

"...It's almost complete. The identity Prince Eisen fabricated was quite elaborate. They kept the Escalif surname intact and merely filled in the gaps of her empty childhood. However, quite a few commoners in the district where the Depierre mansion stands recognized that child. Seems she was quite famous in that area."

"Famous? Why?"

"They say there was a beautiful blind maid. Many young men wanted to catch her eye. It became a talking point that none succeeded. As long as her appearance doesn't change, she can't completely hide her origins as a servant."

It meant that no matter how much she was adorned or concealed, it would be impossible to place her beside the Crown Prince. It also implied that the poor child should be spared further torment and set free.

Felix tilted his head back, his eyes narrowing and widening. A fleeting, complex emotion flickered across his night-like irises, but it lingered only briefly before vanishing.

"Don't say a word to Diana."

"Pardon?"

"Not a peep about the miscarriage. Treat her and restore her to normal within a week."

Even as he spoke, he surely knew how absurd it was to demand a woman who'd just miscarried be fully recovered within a week.

The attending physician cautiously suggested.

"Among the foreign delegations still staying in Karman after the coronation banquet, there is a physician renowned for his skill. I am acquainted with him. He is the royal physician of Ormance, the Queen's personal doctor. I believe he is staying in Karman with the Prince. Why not ask for his help? When it comes to women, he would be better than me."

"Bring him."

Felix answered curtly, pressing his temples.

Ever since hearing that unexpected news, a noise like bell ringing kept pounding his head. Cracks were forming in the ancient bedrock, which should never have collapsed.

Snap. Crack. Steel-like tree roots snapped, solid rock split apart.

Craaack.

Something inside him was cracking.