Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 416: Fragile Term

Chapter 416: Fragile Term

"Damn it, Sirona!" Atticus burst out. "Just tell us everything already!"

Daphne didn’t yell, but it was a close call.

A small smile bloomed on Sirona’s face. "Congratulations, the both of you, you’re going to be parents."

Daphne felt the world shift under her feet. If she wasn’t sitting on the bed, she would have fallen to the floor in shock. As it was, her legs were shaky and she slumped against the pillows, speechless with shock. Meanwhile, Atticus was ecstatic. His smile practically split his face in two, and he looked like he was about to burst into overwhelmed tears or laugh himself into an aneurysm.

"Daphne! Oh my god! Did you hear her? We’re going to be parents!" Atticus beamed, leaping to his feet. Daphne nodded dumbly in response.

Oh god. She was really pregnant. There was no way around it. Her hand instinctively went to her flat belly. She was carrying Atticus’s child. A tiny smile bloomed on her face before she realized the implications.

She was going to bring a child into the world, a child that was half-Atticus, a man she now found herself having trouble trusting. Her face fell. What was she going to do?

"Daphne?" Atticus asked when he realized his wife looked less than happy at the news. "Are you... unhappy?"

Good lord, Atticus didn’t know what he would do if Daphne didn’t want the child. He could technically force to carry the child to full term, but that would destroy whatever goodwill there was in their marriage.

"Oh, I’m happy! Really, I’m happy that I’ll become a mother."

Daphne tried to infuse as much enthusiasm as she could into her words. It was easy― all she had to do was remember Princess Bianca’s little face and picture her with Atticus’s golden eyes and her blonde hair. Or perhaps they might have her blue eyes and Atticus’s dark hair.

"I’m just shocked that it happened so quickly," Daphne added. "And I’m more surprised you’re even happier than I am. Atticus, didn’t you say that babies were only good for vaulting over castle walls?"

"He did?" Sirona exclaimed in dismay, nearly smacking the back of her liege’s head with her palm.

Daphne nodded. "He also said he hated how useless babies were since all they did was cry and poop."

Atticus had once mentioned how much he hated babies when he was forced to endure a litany of crying infants in Vramid’s castle. He claimed they should have been shot out from the cannons.

"Well, of course I’m not vaulting our baby anywhere," Atticus said, wrapping his arms around her waist protectively, his bigger hand enveloping hers as he rested it on her belly. "And babies are useless, but I’ll accept that in my own child. Besides, any child of ours would never grow up to become useless. I wouldn’t allow it."

Daphne rolled her eyes. Her husband had not mentioned the cause of his happiness. Of course, royalty would love to have their lineage continued, but Atticus never struck her as someone who was intent on building a dynasty.

There was another reason she had not figured out yet, but that was fine. She would investigate on her own later, once she got the medication to tamp down her nausea.

Daphne asked, "Sirona, you mentioned there was bad news too," she began warily. "If me being pregnant is the good news, then what is the bad news? Is there something wrong with the baby?"

At her words, Atticus also froze. He turned to Sirona, a worried look on his face.

"Well, your pregnancy is very new, Daphne," Sirona began, and Daphne had a bad feeling when Sirona paused and sighed heavily. "Currently, the life force from your child is very weak― weaker than most of its compatriots at the same age. I hate to tell you this, but there’s a risk that it might not... might not be carried to term."

Daphne gasped, and her eyes widened in horror. No, this was impossible. She had only just gotten news of her child! No matter what she felt for Atticus, the child... the child was innocent, and they had to live.

Beside her, Atticus looked similarly distraught.

"There must be something we can do right? Sirona? To help the baby’s chances of survival?" Atticus asked anxiously.

"For now, I would suggest taking things easy. No stress, no more physical exertion than necessary, you must be as unburdened as possible," Sirona said, giving Atticus a warning glance. "That means you, Atticus. You better not make Daphne angry."

Atticus blinked at her seriousness and nodded.

"A pregnancy this early is highly fragile. In fact, more than half of the pregnancies don’t make it out of this period. Daphne, I can only urge you to be cautious. Your fall in the bathtub today didn’t cause anything worse than a bruised tailbone, but that might not be the case in the future. Do you understand me?"

There was a horrified silence at Sirona’s words, and Daphne could only nod glumly, her hands shivering in fear of the unknown. The odds were not in their favor.

How was she supposed to investigate Atticus’s workings like this? The results were bound to upset her, yet it would be outright ridiculous if she simply closed both her eyes to it. She had her unborn child to worry about, but Nereus and Zephyr were also her responsibility.

Sirona continued, "I’ll prescribe some tonics for you to take daily to nourish your body so that it’ll better support the child. Maybe you might wish to talk to Queen Lavinia for more advice. I might be a healer, but she’s a mother of four. There’ll be some things she can explain from personal experience that I would not be able to know."

"So I guess I’ll be looking for King Calarian for advice then?" Atticus added impishly. "Ah, I can’t believe I have to look him in the eye and thank him for all his jade toys. Sunshine, do you think those were fertility totems?"

Daphne choked. She did not want to think about them in context with King Calarian.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, it’s best if you hold off the intercourse these few months, at least until the unborn child is stronger," Sirona added. "Your bedroom activities are most likely too vigorous for them to endure."

Now, it was Atticus who choked at her words.

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