Left with no other choice, Franz and Mariela spilled the beans a week later. She needed the excuse to stay in her chambers. Apparently here, like in 1800s England, it was normal to stay in bed for the entire duration of a pregnancy.
I couldn't even imagine that. I had coworkers who kept teaching right up until their water broke.
One particularly eventful school year a teacher started going into labor right there in the staffroom. Her husband was called imdiately and the vice principal was given the honor of driving her to the hospital.
I felt bad for the substitute they called in who had to explain to all those little first graders what happened to their teacher. That must have been super awkward.
Franz left Sir Marino guarding Mariela's door when he made the pregnancy announcent at dinner. I nearly jumped out of my skin from the deadly aura Sigmund gave off under a thin veneer of false politeness.
Rosenia seed miffed that she hadn't realized it when she ca to visit but other than that I couldn't sense much hostility from her. The king and queen exchanged nervous glances but that was the extent of it before they offered congratulations.
Al was as nonchalant as usual when it ca to matters involving his family. He didn't really care what happened to any of them. I couldn't bla him but it was still sad.
The entire atmosphere was so awkward that I took it upon myself to be the one to break the silence after the bomb was dropped. "Congratulations, Franz. I wish peace and good health to your first child."
"Thank you, Katie," he said with a hint of relief showing through his stoic expression.
I stomped on Al's foot under the table so he would say sothing. He caught my drift and coughed before speaking. "Yes, many blessings on your child."
The queen finally spoke up though her words belied her true thoughts. "This child will be a blessing to the kingdom of Annalaias. Please pass my congratulations onto Mariela."
"Welcoming the next generation is sothing worth celebrating," the king said gruffly. "When is the child expected to be born?"
"Early sumr," Franz said a bit stiffly. He was probably nervous that he would be asked why he had held off the announcent so long.
Rosenia smiled sweetly though I knew there was venom in that smile. She was preparing to put on a show.
"Dear , that ans she must be halfway through her pregnancy. We could have celebrated the news so much sooner. Isn't that right, Father?"
The king scowled. "Indeed. The announcent should not have co this late."
"Forgive , Father, Mariela and I wanted to be sure the baby was stable first so we would not disappoint any of you were it to be a false alarm."
It was a decent excuse. They might actually buy it. I watched the king's expressions closely as he thought it over though I pretended to be interested in my soup. It looked like he couldn't publicly fault his son no matter what he personally thought on the matter.
The king harrumphed and thoughtfully sipped his soup before answering. "Very astute of you. No matter. Sigmund, Alpheus, when do you plan on joining your brother in continuing the bloodline?"
Al seed startled at being addressed. It wasn't sothing that happened often. The king most likely only did it to hide the fact that he wanted Sigmund to have an heir first.
"The ti will co soon, Father," Sigmund said soothingly. "It is my responsibility as the crown prince."
He said this with a snide glance at Franz. He definitely believed that his position was being threatened. Oh boy. Interfamilial conflicts in this palace were about to get much worse.
I didn't expect my husband to speak up at all but Al surprised by casually remarking, "Sigmund and Franz have greater obligation than I at this ti. They have been married longer and are older than I am."
It seed harmless on the surface but Sigmund would definitely see it as a dig at him personally. After all, he was the oldest and had been married twice as long as Franz had.
Was Al playing with fire on purpose? That wasn't like him.
I couldn't tell if that barb was ant to support Franz or was simply because he hated Sigmund. My money was on the latter but the crown prince wouldn't necessarily see it that way.
What was Al doing? Hadn't he been the one who told to keep my head down until we could get out of here in the spring?
Being the forgotten prince sotis had its benefits. No one replied to his questionable comnt and the rest of the al continued in silence.
"Want to tell what that was about earlier?" I asked once we made it back to our room and I was busy changing out of my stiff princess dress into sothing more comfortable "I an, he totally deserved it but"
Al sighed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let them get to . I was feeling petty and wanted to rub salt in his wound."
So I was right. Still, it was a reckless thing to do.
"Al, do you really need Sigmund to hate you anymore than he already does?"
"What can he do to that he hasn't already?" he asked with a shrug.
I could think of a lot of thingsI had read way too many books with both fictional and historical accounts of royal family conflict ending in death. My imagination may have run a bit wild and I panicked, running out to hug him only partially dressed.
"He could kill you!"
Al turned redder than a tomato as he felt the mostly bare skin of my back from catching as I launched myself at him. I was only wearing a half corset and a skirt. "Actually, I think you're more likely to kill right now than he is."
"Huh?"
I realized what I had done and squeaked in mortification before sprinting back behind the screen. "Sorry!"
"Do you want to beat Sigmund out for an heir so badly?" he teased.
Now my face was the one that was red. "Shut up! I wasn't thinking clearly for a second because I didn't want you to die."
"That may be the most romantic thing you've ever said to ."
I was about ready to tear my hair out. Why did he have to tease like this?! My virgin heart was not equipped to handle these kinds of taunts.
"I take it back. You can go ahead and die now."
I heard him trying really hard not to crack up. Jerk.
"You wound , my love," he said as seriously as he could after getting a hold of himself. Wait, I was wrong. He started cackling again.
"You're the worst!" I yelled, erging fully-dressed from behind the screen to push him onto the couch, where he continued laughing. "Why do I even like you?"
"Probably because I'm so handso."
I threw a pillow at him and huffed. He popped up from behind it a mont later, grinning. He really was handso. A handso idiot.
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