When Sienna heard that stupid command of Carl, she yelled in an annoyed voice from her bedroom.
“Oh, come on! It doesn’t matter if the weather is good or not! What the hell! Ugh! The weather changes several times a day!”
“I see. The weather is beyond control, so tell me something else. I ran to the Elf’s forest and took a bath because I shouldn’t bring in bad spirits with me.”
Hain responded with great joy at Carl’s words.
“Well done. On this blessed day, bad energy should not be around. I also took a bath in the bathtub with the holy water from the Holy Empire. I wish the Empress and her son good energy.
“I’m proud of you.”
Carl looked pleased, but Pavenik said with a look of astonishment.
“Is that the holy water I gave you before?”
Hain nodded with a dissatisfied face at Pavenik’s words.
“Why? Do you feel sorry you gave them to me now?”
“No, I brought it for you so you can use it when you aren’t feeling well… Why didn’t you save it for when you are sick? It was so heartbreaking to see Miss Hain in pain at that time.”
Hain smiled and replied, knowing that Pavenik didn’t say so because he felt sorry for using holy water to herself.
“You got me five bottles of holy water. One bottle was enough. One of the remaining three bottles will be given to the Empress after her childbirth, and the other bottle will be used for the heir’s first bath. I’m going to leave one bottle just in case, and use it later if he gets sick.”
“What a waste. You should use it…”
Carl glared at Pavenik. Pavenik changed his words urgently.
“No, you know that. How hard it is to get the holy water… It’s not because it’s a waste to use it for the Empress and the heir, but because the holy water is for the sick.”
“I wonder where you got five bottles of precious holy water.” Commented Carl.
“I paid for it. You know, I’ve saved my little salary, and I’ve spent all my money on it. Do you know how hard it is to get it in the black market? I’m not good at that…”
“Black market… Is there a lot of holy water there?”
“Not at all. I barely managed to get it there, too. They said that all the objects in the world were gathered there except for the emperor’s head. It wasn’t until I really went through the entire market that I was able to collect five bottles. In the past, when a bottle came out, a merchant association bought it out with five pieces of gold so didn’t even get released on the black market, but two or three years ago, the association stopped collecting holy water and finally, it started going around.”
“Anyway, if you look carefully at that place, you can find the holy water.”
“It’s hard to find even there.”
“Then I’ll have to check it out myself. I didn’t like the place called Black Market, but it’s better. I don’t like the idea of a market that doesn’t pay taxes. I’ll use that excuse to store up some holy water in the palace.”
Pavenik regretted bringing up the unnecessary story.
‘Dang it, now the black market might disappear.’
“Found it! This one.”
While Carl and Pavenik were talking about the black market, Hain looked at books and found good ways to give childbirth.
“It’s a method used by the royal family of Tallinn, which allows the god of war to bless the child with good luck. Plus, the mother can give birth faster and get out of the pain!”
“God of war, that sounds nice.”
Carl liked the god of war who reminded him of his nickname. And most of all, this was the best they could do for the mother.
Whenever he heard a groan of pain coming from the bedroom, he felt uncomfortable. It was exciting to have his own child with Sienna, but he didn’t know it would be so painful.
“Yes, what can I do?”
“All you have to do is stand on your left foot. There is a saying that the god of war has only one foot, but is faster than ones with twelve legs. So if you stand on one foot like the god of war, he thinks you’re one of his people, and he’ll bless the child that’s born.”
Carl nodded silently. Pavenik, who thought it was funny that his emperor was willing to do some superstitious act that he could not believe in, asked.
“You’re not really going to do this, are you? The Emperor has dignity. The god of war is not a fool, just because you’re standing on foot, he’s not going to think you’re one of his people. He’d think you’re making fun of him.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to try.”
“You’re really going to stand on your left foot until the empress has her baby? Are you all right? Well, I won’t stop you. Do as you please.”
“Are you all right?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m asking if you can stand on your left leg. It’d be fine if you’d been training regularly.”
“What? Do I have to do it, too?”
“Of course you should. It’s what everyone in this room has to do.”
“What?”
Not only Pavenik, but also the imperial doctor, who was standing beside the black curtain, looked at Carl.
“The more people who do it together would get more blessings.”
“I think I’ll have to go back to deal with the backlogged work.”
Pavenik said, shaking his head with a tired face.
“It’s already backlogged, so another day’s delay won’t ruin the Leipsden Empire. We need someone to run errands, so you stay here.”
“I’ll send another knight or administrator besides me…”
“But you know Sienna. If someone she doesn’t know comes in here, my wife’s mind may become uncomfortable, so you stay here.”
Having failed to beat Carl, Pavenik’s shoulders fell.
“Do you want me to do it too?”
Hain asked, shining her eyes. Carl shook his head and said no.
“Don’t you have to look for other tactics besides this? Work hard on what you have to do.”
“Yes, sir!”
So Hain was left out. The imperial doctor and Pavenik looked at her with envious eyes.
The imperial doctor suddenly raised his hand. It has been thirty years since he graduated from the academy, but he was as quick as he was in those days when he reached out to ask questions.
Carl nodded his head and allowed a question.
“Do I have to stand on my left feet too? For your information, I’m standing here to deal with any emergency that might happen to the Empress.”
Carl nodded with a troubled look.
“Yes, it’s important to prepare for any emergency. It’ll be a big problem if you get tired in advance and can’t do what you really need. You can just stand there.”
The face of the imperial doctor shone with joy. On the other hand, Pavenik’s face was crumpled with discontent.
“No, no.”
When Carl suddenly shook his head, the imperial doctor looked uneasy, and a smile rose on Pavenik’s face. But it was only for a moment.
“I’ve heard it takes a long time from labor to birth. Don’t just stand there and relax and sit over there comfortably.”
“Your Majesty is standing on one foot, and I can’t…”
“No. Be polite later and sit over there. I will have to stand here with Pavenik on my left feet.”
“If you’re going to leave him out…”
Pavenik held out his lips like a duck in Carl’s scary eyes and raised one leg.
Carl was restless. His complexion turned blue whenever he heard a painful groan beyond the black curtain.
He urged the doctor or the midwife so that Sienna was not in pain. But perhaps because she lived a long life, the fearless midwife said, “Do you think giving birth is taking a sh*t? Don’t distract me for no reason and be quiet.”
Scolding Carl and shutting him up.
Carl wanted to scold her for talking to him that way, the emperor, but until Sienna gave birth to a healthy child, the room’s most powerful person was not Carl, but an old midwife.
The interval between the painful groans grew shorter and shorter, and eventually, there was a tremendous scream. Carl was worried if someone was hurting Sienna beyond that tent. Anxiety really drove him crazy.
