บท 9: Piece of News
The castle has been in disarray and guards are all over the place. Even the maids couldn't find the chance to rest or find time for themselves as Alfred made everyone pitch in for Elaina who had been missing ever since the other day. It was kind of understandable for everyone as well the urgency of this matter so they didn't make any protests on this kind of treatment happening. Empress Elaina is a very important person in the kingdom and someone who has changed the kingdom for the better after Alfred has taken his seat.
Thanks to her wisdom and her level-headedness, she was considered the perfect empress by many, and the fact that she handled many businesses all by herself without the help of her husband, many valued her more than her husband. So after learning about the disappearance of the empress, everyone is now eager to find the missing empress.
It's already nighttime but there is still no news regarding the missing empress. Alfred sat on his seat, fatigue looming in his eyes and his body devoid of energy after spending almost the whole day finding any sort of traces of her wife, but he also knew how thorough Elaina could be in doing things. He already knows that she might have already taken some precautions and plans to erase traces that could lead to her location right now.
"Elaina...are you despising my actions? Aren't you glad that your sister also agreed to be part of our life?"
He shook his head for a bit. He was quite certain that with Elaina's understanding, she would immediately know what he wanted but it seems he was wrong in a big way.
While he is trying to rack his brain to think of some other places that might give some clues to Elaina's whereabouts, Selena comes in with a tray of food and place it in front of Alfred's table.
"You should eat some food, hon. I know it is a tough task to find my sister right now but you shouldn't ignore your health either. What are you even going to do once you find her if you can't even take care of yourself? She might even criticize you in the process."
"You are right. Thanks. I am just so occupied with my thoughts of finding my wife and tracking her down but she was thorough to the point that I am not sure whether I truly know her or not," Alfred properly sits on his chair and pulls the tray of food near him.
"Knowing my sister, she always does the unpredictable making her a unique person that even our parents can't understand. Even I couldn't guess what she was thinking. It was like she had been secretly calculating all her actions and she had all of it under her control."
"That's why I love her. For being herself. For being a person that cannot be predicted so easily. And the fact that she left no traces felt like she had already planning this for about a year. Selena, perhaps you have any idea you can think of that your sister might choose to flee towards? Any places that she used to stay, maybe distant lands or hidden places she might go?"
Selena shook her head. "If I had known, I would immediately tell you. Even our parents are unaware of where she might be."
Just as they were trying to brainstorm on her whereabouts, a few knocks shifted their attention. Selena immediately acted normally like a secretary would since their relationship had yet to be revealed in public.
"Come in. The door is open," Alfred said as he put a mouthful of food in his mouth.
One soldier enters the room. He gave a salute to Alfred and a bow to Selena before he gave out his report.
"Your majesty, someone is currently here that was looking for the empress. She said she was the doctor of the person named Elaina and after we informed her that she was the empress, she immediately requested to seek an audience with you sir as she has some information regarding the empress."
"Doctor?" Alfred then remembered that Elaina said the other day that she experienced a bit of migraine and felt bad that day when he visited her. Most likely, this doctor is the one who checked the health of his dear wife.
"Let the doctor in and lead her here. I will be waiting."
The soldier gave a salute and went back outside to fetch the doctor looking for Elaina.
"Is something bad happening to Elaina? Maybe it was serious even?" Alfred frowned, worried about the situation of Elaina.
"I am a bit nervous but I hope that what we are thinking is not real," Selena is worried as well.
It didn't take long for the soldier to return, this time, with the doctor that he reported earlier.
"Your Majesty, the doctor that I mentioned is here."
After leading the doctor inside, the guard saluted once more before he went outside and left the three.
The doctor bowed down nervously in front of Alfred.
"I g-greet Your Majesty."
"Don't be nervous, come have a seat."
Selena grabbed a chair, put it in front of the table, and offered it to the doctor which the doctor accepted and she nervously seated herself while under the stare of the emperor.
"You said you have a piece of news for the Empress. Are you the one who examined her the other day?"
"Y-yes, Your Majesty. And I apologize that I didn't recognize Her Majesty immediately. She didn't have any guards and she looked like a casual warrior when she went for a checkup," the doctor revealed, still nervous at the presence of the emperor in front of her.
"I don't blame you. She does that most of the time and even other people who should have known her would not recognize her due to her appearance, so don't be scared about it. So? What is this matter that you are saying that you have some information about my wife? You know where she went?" Alfred immediately went to the point.
"I apologize Your Majesty but I don't know where she has gone to, nor I do know her current whereabouts. However, this matter does concern her since I have reviewed the data result that came out after she made her visit there to my clinic," the doctor then pulled out a few papers from her sling bag and handed them to the emperor.
"Data result? What is this?" the emperor frowned.
Selena recognized this immediately as she had seen this many times from her female friends.
"Your Majesty, this is a pregnancy result. This one is a result conducted when I checked Her Majesty after we learned that she was pregnant."
"What?! My wife is pregnant!? How come I didn't know about this?"
"Yes, your wife is pregnant, Your Majesty."
Alfred couldn't believe what he just heard. His urge to find Elaina has intensified as a result of finding this piece of information.
"However, Your Majesty...I have some bad news."
"Bad news? What do you mean?" he frowned. His heart also skipped a beat after learning that there was something else.
"As you can see, the result is not that clear just yet since the baby has just started developing so I didn't know about it just yet but after I reviewed it again, I realized that what Her Highness Elaina was carrying in her belly is not just one baby, but two babies."
Selena was shocked and Alfred couldn't believe his ears.
"You mean..."
"Yes, your Majesty. She is pregnant with twins."
"This can't be..." the two were in disbelief after hearing this.
"Which is why I rushed to her address after my work was done after learning this new matter to inform her about this. I didn't know she was the empress so I apologize about this sudden news, Your Majesty."
Alfred grits his teeth. No wonder the doctor was in a rush. After learning the news, this is indeed a bad thing for Elaina now that she is currently pregnant with twins. There was a stigma about twins that said they were the harbinger of misfortune. It was also said that if the twins were successfully born, the parents must choose which child must remain and which child must be sacrificed to break the curse in the process. If the parents do not comply, the church will brand them as heretics and they will be punished. No matter what punishment it is, they will call it the Divine Retribution for being a heretic, and as for the kids, both kids will be sacrificed in the process since they will be branded as unholy by the church.
"Does Elaina know this beforehand?" Alfred asked.
"No. I just learned about it after I reviewed it which is why I came rushing to inform her about this. As much as I don't agree with the laws of the church, we can't do anything about it on them which is why I wanted to at least make her learn about this matter and at least save the babies from the cruel fate."
With this information, Alfred is more determined to find his wife than ever especially since his wife is now pregnant with twins, he is now afraid for the safety of his wife and soon-to-be children.
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