“Phew…”
Bina put down the piece of the document she was reading and massaged her back.
Yulia, who was pouring the empress a cup of herb tea, said to her, “Please, you need to take a break, your highness. You are working too much, especially in your condition.”
“Really…?”
Bina wondered if it was true. She actually had much less work to do now than when she was the first wife. Of course, at that time, many things were happening.
She was, indeed, feeling tired, so Bina decided to follow her maid’s suggestion and took a break. She asked Yulia to organize the scattered pieces of documents and went to her bed to sit against a cushion.
“Ahhh. That’s much better.”
Her belly was big now. Soon, she would enter her eighth month. The baby was active, and Bina had been feeling much better. Her morning sickness and nausea improved greatly by the fifth month.
However, despite the huge improvement, she still exhausted herself easily. Her body felt heavy and even a light activity or work caused her back great discomfort. Her pregnancy was announced immediately after her coronation, so her duties as the empress were temporarily removed. The only work she did was a little paperwork.
The amount of work the emperor had to accomplish as the ruler of the biggest kingdom was incredible. Now, he was also taking on her work. The plan was for Bina to take over the empress’ duties right after her coronation. However, because of her pregnancy, she now worked even less than when she was the first wife.
For the first few months, she did suffer from severe nausea. Officially, she recently had a miscarriage due to the poisoning they planned earlier. It wasn’t true, but other than Lucretius, Lowson, and Samantha, everyone else thought this was true. Because of this, they were wary of Bina’s ‘second’ pregnancy.
Bina was getting frustrated as everyone treated her like a fragile glass ornament.
She chose to become Lucretius’ empress because she was ready and willing to take on everything that came with it. However, when the time came, her empress duties were taken away.
She was especially frustrated with Lucretius. When she was his first wife, he often studied and tested her, but now, he treated her like she would break with the slightest touch.
… Of course, she knew it was because he cared for her greatly. She was happy to be the recipient of his love and attention.
She could understand why Lucretius acted this way. Just as this was her first pregnancy, this was also the first time Lucretius had a pregnant wife.
As well… Bina was very unwell during her first trimester. She was having horrible nausea during the first few months. She had to stay in bed most of the day like a corpse. At the time, she couldn’t do any work at all. Lucretius ended up taking on all of her work on top of his.
Bina felt grateful and apologetic at that time. Now that she was doing much better, she felt like he should let her do her duties!
When she asked for them, Lucretius insisted she should not work at all until she gave birth. After a month of fighting, they came to a compromise and Bina was able to retain a small part of her responsibilities.
“But now… if I show any tiredness, he would take my work away again.”
She sighed.
She realized she would only get her full duties back after the baby was born.
Within a few minutes, Bina fell asleep. It was true that she got tired very easily.
When Yulia came back, she saw her lady sleeping soundly. Yulia smiled.
It was such a peaceful afternoon.
***
After the nap, which was now part of her daily routine, Bina took a bath with help from her maids and ate a small snack. She then went for a light walk.
Bina was a young mother-to-be. She was much younger than the average age of first-time mothers in Korea. Therefore, she knew very little about pregnancy and childbirth. She regretted this fact. It would have been better if she read a book or two about it when she was still on earth.
Of course, it was too late for that now.
When she first learned that she would have a baby, her immediate reaction was that of joy. However, much worry followed quickly.
It made sense. This world was very different than in 21st century Korea. The state of medical technology especially was of much lower in quality.
Even within the royal family, who received the best medical care in the kingdom, the child mortality rate was very high. Women also died frequently during or after childbirth.
This was why Lucretius didn’t have any male siblings. In fact, there hadn’t been excess of male heirs in this royal family for many generations.
Many female heirs died as well. There were three empresses before Empress Beatrice. Among them were four princesses who all died at young ages.
It was no wonder Bina was anxious for herself and her baby.
‘I should have read at least one book on pregnancy when I was on earth, or ask my mom about it.’
Again, it was no use regretting the past.
Lucretius saw Bina sigh a lot lately. When she thought he wasn’t looking, she would hold her belly and sigh worriedly. One night around dinner time, Lucretius found a time to visit Bina’s chamber. He sounded concerned.
“Are you worried about something?”
Bina turned her face away from him. This was her habit when she didn’t want to talk about something, and Lucretius knew. However, he wouldn’t let her off that easy. He had seen her sigh several times now when she thought she was alone. This had gone long enough. He had to know what was wrong, and he needed to fix her problem.
Lucretius gently nudged her face towards him. She resisted slightly but gave in without much fight. It seemed like she wanted to talk about whatever was bothering her.
“…”
She didn’t say anything, but she also didn’t look away. In the last eight months, Lucretius learned how to deal with Bina when she was like this.
He stopped pestering her with questions. Instead, he lifted her to have her sit on his knees.
“Gya!”
“The baby must have grown much since yesterday.”
Bina pouted. “Are you telling me I got fatter than yesterday?”
“Not at all!”
Bina narrowed her eyes. “Liar.”
Lucretius smiled softly and patted her cheek.
“You weighed like a feather yesterday, and now, it feels like I’m holding a feather and a half.”
“You are such a diplomat.”
Lucretius chuckled, but he replied seriously, “I’m just relieved. Do you know how worried I was when you were actually losing weight during the first five months? Around that time, you seemed to get lighter every day. It used to scare me.”
“I… I guess…”
It was an awful first trimester. Bina threw up more than she ate. It was strange to see her belly was growing when she barely ate anything, although, at the time, Lowson was worried it wasn’t growing fast enough.
Compared to then, Bina was doing much better now, and she was growing within the normal range. She was still on the smaller side, but Bina couldn’t help but want to look her best.
A husband having an affair with another woman while his wife was pregnant was such a common story in this and her old world. Her husband especially was the emperor of this kingdom. In fact, it was legal and recommended for the emperor to have many wives. Bina was sure there must be many women trying to seduce him.
Of course, Lucretius had so much work, and when he wasn’t working, he spent all his time with her. Therefore, it was unlikely he had the time to have an affair.
Lucretius hugged her tighter lovingly and kissed the back of her hand soundly. He then whispered, “Are you by chance worried that I might become interested in other women because you are rounder…? Is that why you have been sighing so much? Oh, my dear empress…”
