Choosing the Baby’s Father From the Following – Chapter 25

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟓
Phoebe glared at me with tears welling up in her eyes.

“But it’s Ren-nim, right? If it wasn’t Ren-nim, why would he help him avoid the doctor? You’re not even on good terms with the Grand Duke!”

My maid was too sharp.

So I had no choice but to utter a line like a character in a messy drama.

“Because, even Ren……”

My eyes closed shut in embarrassment.

“Because even Ren doesn’t know!”

“Huh?”

Phoebe’s green eyes wavered in shock.

“No, then why would Ren-nim…… Surely, you don’t mean he’s not sure if he’s the father or not? How could he……”

She cried out in a hushed voice.

“Your Highness! Are you saying that others think so too? Who? Is it Grand Duke Callisto?!”

They say to kill two birds with one stone.

I didn’t want to make Phoebe cry twice, so I gritted my teeth and answered.

“……Erni too.”

“Your Highness!”

But I guess I was wrong.

Phoebe screamed and collapsed to the floor, crying again.

“Did I, did I serve Your Highness so…… so poorly……”

It seemed to be a variation of ‘Did I teach you so poorly?’

I timidly apologized.

“It’s not Phoebe’s fault……”

Actually, it wasn’t my fault either, but Phoebe yelled.

“I should have known when you suddenly gave me a vacation!”

Aha.

Now I knew how I had managed to spend the night with the three of them, avoiding the leech-like Phoebe.

“Huuh……”

Phoebe sat down and cried for a while, then suddenly jumped up.

“Then, the reason you collapsed earlier, could it be……”

I stroked my still flat stomach and said.

“The baby seems to be fine. I was just a little dizzy earlier, and Ren already has all the medicine I need……”

Phoebe narrowed her wet eyes shrewdly.

“Then, what about when you felt sick in Heim?”

“Ah, no, that time I was really trying to avoid the Lord of Heim.”

Then she resolutely wiped away her tears.

“My, my mind. This is not the time for this.”

Phoebe grabbed me with her tear-soaked hands and led me to the bed.

“Come here, Your Highness. You should lie down and rest.”

I smiled sadly at my maid who was trying to take care of me even in this unbelievable situation.

“Quickly!”

Phoebe urged.

Of course, the barrage of questions continued even after I lay down, but it was clear that I had gained a valuable ally.

‘I couldn’t tell Phoebe from the first day because she was crying and making a fuss……’

I should have told her sooner.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

The next morning, Helena came to me and apologized.

“I think I failed to properly serve Your Highness. I’m so sorry.”

Her pretty, protagonist-like face was swollen.

‘Was she slapped by Phoebe?’

Or maybe she cried alone because she was upset.

Phoebe glanced at me with a more resentful look and then excused herself for a moment.

‘I can’t blame Phoebe, since it happened because of me……’

Feeling sorry, I took Helena’s hand.

“Helena, you’ve done nothing wrong but faithfully follow my orders.”

But Helena, who had been quietly bowing her head, tilted her head and looked up at me.

“……Your Highness?”

“Huh?”

Then she awkwardly removed her hand from mine.

‘Is she afraid of getting burned again by being close to me?’

I felt bitter at Helena’s changed reaction and withdrew my hand.

Helena tried to break the awkward atmosphere and continued speaking.

“I heard that His Highness the Crown Prince…… shortened his stay at the monastery to a week. So he’ll be leaving in four days…… and I heard that Her Highness the Princess has been forbidden from taking walks outside.”

I laughed awkwardly.

“Yeah. I don’t know what kind of nuisance this is, coming on a trip with good intentions.”

Then I asked cautiously.

“Um, yesterday…… did you get scolded by my brother because of me? He’s not a bad person, but he can be a bit radical at times……”

I did my best to sugarcoat the rudeness Lurik might have committed.

“He’s been away from me a lot since we were young…… so he’s worried. If my brother was too much to you, I’ll……”

Apologize.

I was about to say that, gathering my courage and taking Helena’s hand again.

Helena stared at me blankly with her hand held.

Her gaze met mine and instantly filled with shock, so I had no choice but to stop talking.

“Helena?”

This time, Helena didn’t shake off my hand.

Instead, she held it tighter as if to confirm something and looked straight at me.

“Your Highness, just in case, I’d like to ask.”

“Huh?”

“So, by any chance……”

She hesitated for a long time, then spoke with tears in her eyes.

“I really don’t know why. But I feel another life inside Your Highness. No, right? I’m, I’m going crazy, right?”

Could she sense the pregnancy with her divine power?

I didn’t include any pregnant characters in the novel, so I didn’t even think of that possibility.

‘I shouldn’t have held her hand.’

I had no intention of burdening Helena with my pregnancy.

If she had started to awaken, even in a small way, after meeting Lurik, there was no way to know how she would react to my pregnancy.

‘Even if Helena already had a prophetic dream, that dream and the current situation are very different.’

The current Lurik had not gone on a rampage, nor was he imprisoned.

Not only had the younger sister, who was the trigger for Lurik’s rampage, survived, but she was now carrying a new life.

“……Helena.”

When I called her cautiously, Helena suddenly flinched and let go of my hand.

“I apologize, Your Highness. I misspoke. Please forget what I said.”

“Helena, I……”

But before I could say that it was okay, she fell to her knees.

Then she clasped her hands together and began to cry and beg.

“Please forgive me, Your Highness. I have committed a grave sin against Your Highness, who is unmarried. Please forgive me……”

Her face was so confused that I couldn’t help but think.

‘Would it be okay to tell her about the pregnancy?’

After all, Helena hadn’t built a good relationship with Lurik yet.

‘So I think it might work if I tell her the truth and get her on my side first……’

So I whispered softly.

“If what you said is true, can you keep it a secret?”

Then Helena gasped and looked up at me with a pale, frightened face.

“True…… you say?”

“I also asked you to keep it a secret.”

She couldn’t possibly say she wouldn’t in front of the Imperial Princess.

Was it because of the weight of the secret?

Helena staggered to her feet and nodded.

“I can keep it, a secret.”

But her face was still full of shock.

I couldn’t bring myself to continue talking about Lurik, so I smiled weakly and asked.

“But to feel another life inside me…… how is that possible?”

I wanted to give her a hint about the divine power she possessed, but Helena just shook her head with a blank look.

“I…… I don’t know, Your Highness. It’s just that I felt so strongly…… that I had to ask impulsively. I’m sorry if I surprised you.”

Then she hurriedly added.

“I had a terrible headache yesterday and couldn’t sleep. Maybe because I didn’t sleep well and wasn’t feeling well, I had strange thoughts on my own, and maybe it just happened to coincide with Your Highness’s situation.”

To coincidentally guess that an unmarried princess was pregnant.

It seemed like a far-fetched excuse with an absurdly low probability, but Helena seemed to have trouble accepting what had happened to her.

“Yeah, maybe.”

I answered like that for now and gave Helena a lot of chocolate, cookies, and other treats.

“Take these and eat and rest. I shared my secret with you, so if you have any worries, come to me anytime. I’ll keep your secret too.”

Would this make her come to me when she remembers her past life?

I sent Helena away, picturing a hopeful future.

Although I ended up regretting it very much.

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