The atmosphere within the Royal Palace of Megaris was especially restless, the air thick with expectations and excitement.

Queen Esther Ivanov was giving birth to the second royal heir!

Since early in the morning, her servants were busy running about her residence. The royal physicians were going in and out of her chamber, causing even Great Lady Theodora to feel nervous at the sight of them. The previous queen arrived at the Queen’s palace as soon as she received the news, and she had been waiting outside her chamber for hours.

King Theron also suspended the morning session with the royal court at the Grand Palace, wanting to stay together with his mother to wait outside the Queen’s chamber, but as his presence made the physicians and servants more nervous, Great Lady Theodora told him to stay put and wait in his residence.

It was noontime, yet there was no news of the royal prince or princess is being born. Esther had been suffering labor pains for almost half a day, but the royal midwife was yet to see even the head of the King’s heir.

Meanwhile, King Theron was restlessly walking here and there inside his chamber while waiting to hear news about his wife. He had repeatedly pestered his knight, Sir Galien, as well as his aides to check on the situation on the other side of the connecting bridge.

‘Why is it taking so long?’

It was unbearable for him to think Esther was going through pain for hours. When Lady Clarisa was giving birth to Prince Keiren, it didn’t take this long, probably less than two hours, yet this time the wait was thrice as long and Esther was still suffering.

Unable to stand it anymore, King Theron left his residence and found his mother just leaving Esther’s bedchamber.

The previous queen had gone to check on her daughter-in-law who was lying in her bed while suffering with the pain. The royal midwife was comforting her with words, urging her to breathe and push, while her servants were wiping the Queen’s sweat with a soft cloth with Lady Tyra holding her hand to comfort her.

“Mother, how is Esther? Is she fine?” he asked worriedly.

“Why are you back here? Did I not tell you to wait? Esther is fine. It is normal for some women to take a long time to give birth, especially if it’s their first child. You must calm yourself, Theron. The midwife is skilled and the physicians assure that everything is going accordingly,” the older lady replied, sounding annoyed. Truth be told, she felt glad that her son was worried about Esther and was looking forward to the birth of the child.

The afternoon rolled in, and King Theron had put all his work for the day aside and stayed outside the door, even to the point of skipping his meals. Until his wife was relieved of pain, he refused to leave.

However, even when the sun had set and evening came, all he could hear from the other side of the door was Esther’s painful cries instead of the baby’s crying.

The older lady glanced at her son, who refused to eat even after he came to accompany her in the dining hall after she threatened him to join him in his vigil. Thanks to her action, the King relented and the nervous mood of the servants and the physicians serving the Queen lightened a bit. Being glared at by the King all those hours was no joke, and they nearly suffocated to death, fearing that the King would unreasonably blame them for the Queen’s suffering.

“Theron, starving yourself won’t relieve her of pain. Take at least a bite of bread.”

“I don’t feel like eating anything, mother,” he replied, continuing to stare at the door of the dining hall, as if his gaze could pierce and see what’s happening outside. “When will this be over?” he asked.

“The midwife says they are expecting the baby to be delivered soon,” she replied.

“I have been getting the same answers since the morning. If this midwife doesn’t know what to do, we can ask for other midwives—”

“Oh, shush! I know the wait is stifling, but they are trying their best. Everyone looks forward to Esther successfully giving birth, but it’s not in their hands. They can’t force the baby out. Esther and the baby have to endure this trial on their own. Esther is a strong woman and her body is healthy so there is no need to worry. She is strong enough to handle this birth.”

“Can’t she just use her power to get the baby out?” he asked, though he knew he was being impatient and silly.

Great Lady Theodora chuckled. “If it was possible, then she would have done so in the first place. No sane woman would want to ever endure this kind of pain for no reason. Be patient.”

He only sighed and continued to refuse to eat. Afterwards, he returned to standing outside Esther’s bedchamber, causing the already nervous servants and physicians assisting to be more flustered by his presence once more. His mother had to force him back to his own residence.

Finally, at the strike of midnight, there was the sound of a baby crying. After what felt like an eternity to everyone, the second prince of Megaris was finally born.

That was the child of the Devil, an existence who could not be easily born into this world. No ordinary woman could ever bear his child, thus successfully giving birth was out of the question.

Only Esther, another unique supreme existence, could become his child’s mother.

“Your Majesty!” King Theron’s personal servant went running to inform him. “Your Majesty! The Queen gave birth to a son! A son! Congratulations on having a little prince!”

His servant did not even get to see his facial expression as the King hurried out of his chamber to go and see Esther. At this moment, all he cared about was her.

“Waaaah! Waaaaah!”

But before he could even reach the Queen’s chamber, his ears already caught the loud crying sound of a healthy baby, and his footsteps slowed until he came to a stop.

Standing outside the door of the Queen’s chamber, he could hear neither Esther’s voice nor the noise of the people around him.  He could only hear the sound of the crying baby.

‘A son…She gave birth to a son…’

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