Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 415: Pesky Stomach Bug?

Chapter 415: Pesky Stomach Bug?

Before leaving Vramid, she distinctively remembered Sirona handing her some herbs and medication, including some contraceptives. Even up till now, that bag of herbs lay at the bottom of her luggage, untouched and forgotten.

All those nights of passion she had spent with Atticus had been without preventive measures― it was a miracle it even took this long, in that case!

Daphne began to nibble at the tips of her fingernails, anxiety quickly washing over her. Her monthly cycle had been off. She hadn’t had her time of the month in a while. In fact, she couldn’t even remember when was the last time it came for her.

She tried to convince herself that there might have been other explanations. She had a pretty stressful few months since she got intimate with Atticus― there was the Crown Conquest and Francessa Seibert’s machinations...

No, Daphne paled further. Those disasters happened before she was intimate with Atticus. She only started sleeping with Atticus after their second, real, wedding ceremony, and then they visited Reaweth.

Reaweth wasn’t a bed of roses, so perhaps her monthly cycles merely got delayed? Daphne sank back into the bathwater, trying not to scream at the sudden surprise.

Between Drusilla and Alistair, there was more than enough reason for her body to hold off producing a child. She had even spent days unconscious when she over-exerted herself!

If she was pregnant then, Nathaniel and Sirona would have figured it out when they examined her. Surely they would have let her know; that thought comforted her until she realized that there was a chance that she could have been pregnant and lost the child unknowingly due to stress and exertion. No pregnant woman should have been dueling Alistair.

Daphne sighed heavily. Deep down, she was simply trying to distract herself. She didn’t want to think about the alternative that was now looking more and more likely.

She could be pregnant with Atticus’s child, especially since there was a period of time where she and Atticus were intimate after Nereus’s rescue and the discovery of his stolen eye.

Such happy news would have caused her to be delirious with joy in the past, but now only filled her with quiet horror. She pressed down on her belly, half-expecting to feel a kick.

Of course, there was none. If she was indeed pregnant, the baby wasn’t big enough to do anything yet.

Perhaps she was panicking over nothing; this could be nothing more than a particularly stubborn stomach bug. Xahan’s food was oiler and spicier than what she was used to. Didn’t Atticus claim he also felt off? There was no way he could have been pregnant as well unless sleeping with the jade toys accidentally impregnated her husband.

She snorted in wry amusement; King Calarian would have a lot to answer for if that was the case.

Nausea once again began to flood through her body, and Daphne quickly rose from the tub to rush to the basin, only to feel light-headed from the sudden movements. Her foot slipped on the slippery floor of the bathtub, sending her body crashing back down into the tub with a heavy crash.

Daphne shrieked; water sloshed and splashed out of the tub, and she winced in pain as her tailbone hit the smooth surface.

"Daphne!"

She heard thunderous footsteps before the bathroom door was pushed open to reveal Atticus’s panicked face. No doubt, he must have heard her fall. Behind him was Sirona, who looked equally worried.

"Are you hurt? We heard a lot of splashing," Sirona added.

"I’m fine, don’t worry about me," Daphne said, realizing that not only was she nude in front of her husband and Sirona, but she was lying pathetically in the bathtub. Enough water had splashed out that it no longer offered sufficient coverage for her modesty.

She flushed and hurriedly shooed them away. "Let me get dressed, I’ll be right with you."

However, both of them stubbornly refused to leave her unattended. "It’s dangerous for you to be alone right now," Sirona said, coming to her side to offer her a bathrobe and a helping hand out from the bath.

"Why? I’m not a child," Daphne said, trying not to sound too defensive or confrontational. She made sure to get up more slowly to avoid a repeat of what happened earlier, waving off Sirona’s outstretched hand. "I’ll be fine, just give me some time. I can handle this."

"You might not be a child, but you might be with child," Sirona retorted simply.

Daphne’s eyes bulged out as she stared uncomprehendingly at Atticus. Daphne herself had just come to the conclusion of her possible pregnancy, how could Sirona arrive at such a hypothesis so quickly?

Was it mere medical expertise, or was there something more sinister at play?

"That’s not possible," Daphne insisted repeatedly, while Sirona took this chance to wrap the bathrobe around Daphne’s wet figure and escort her out of the bathroom. "I just have a sensitive stomach! So does Atticus!"

Meanwhile, Atticus’s mouth fell open and he gaped wordlessly, his head swiveling between Daphne and Sirona. It felt as though his entire world tilted on its axis and he could no longer make sense of words.

Daphne? Pregnant? So quickly? Were the heavens finally listening to his desperate prayers to grant him a bone?

"There’s only one way to be sure," Sirona said once Daphne had gotten dressed and was sitting on the bed. "I’ll run a few tests on you, and we’ll know if it’s a pesky stomach bug, or you have a bun in the oven."

Daphne gulped, but slowly, she nodded. Sirona’s hands started to glow purple again, and she waved them over her body. Daphne watched her frown and felt her heart sink.

Maybe there was no baby after all. Or was Sirona frowning because there was a baby? Or maybe there was a baby but there was something wrong with it. She couldn’t tell which was worse.

Just the very thought threatened to overwhelm Daphne, and she tried not to snap at Sirona to hurry it up. Next to her, Atticus wasn’t all that calm either. He clutched at her hand, and Daphne was surprised to find that his palm was sweating.

Instinctively, she squeezed his hand, hoping to give him some peace.

Finally, Sirona spoke.

"I have good news and bad news, which do you wish to hear first?"

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