Chapter Twenty-three

Birth

Yifan opened his eyes and sleepily reached his hand out, only to find the space next to him cold and empty. Panic gripped his entire being and he immediately sat up. His racing heart, however, instantly slowed down when he saw Yeonhwa by the window, staring at the horizon while the tendrils of the morning sun begun creeping onto their land.

He slowly got out of bed and walked towards her, curling his arm around her waist from behind. Her dainty hands intertwined with his large ones as they rested on her swollen stomach, only a few weeks away from when she was due to give birth.

“It’s still early. What are you doing already awake?” he asked, his voice still raspy from sleep.

“It’s always nice to watch the sun rise,” Yeonhwa smiled as she leaned back into her husband’s embrace.

They stood facing the window in comfortable silence, simply content with watching the sky slowly switch from the hazy purple of dawn to bright orange as the light from the sun gradually touched their land.

“Maybe you should get yourself a concubine,” said Yeonhwa suddenly, to which Yifan immediately frowned.

“What are you even talking about? Why would I ever think about getting one when I have you?” he asked, clearly upset with the ridiculous suggestion.

Yeonhwa turned around as Yifan loosened his arms around her, and faced the Emperor.

“Politically speaking, it is a wise decision. You’d be able to form allies and strengthen diplomatic bonds with other states,” she paused, lowering her gaze, before composing herself again.

“Besides, this birth, our child… my life. Everything is so uncertain, I just…” she trailed off, before Yifan shushed her.

“Have you so little trust in me that you do not believe that I will find a way to ensure the safety of you and our child?” he asked, gently cradling Yeonhwa’s face.

“You know that’s not what I mean. Don’t put words in my mouth,” she pouted.

Yifan chuckled as he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Yeonhwa’s lips and rested his forehead against hers.

“I won’t let anything happen to you or our baby, Yeonhwa. I will do everything in my power and beyond to ensure that,” he whispered.

“But you don’t know that, what if something goes wrong? What if…” replied Yeonhwa, before Yifan interrupted her.

“There’s no use worrying about things that have not happened yet, my love. Besides, aren’t you the one who promised me that I wouldn’t lose you? You said that we’d go through this together, remember?” he smiled.

“Yes, but what happens when I fail to protect that promise? What will happen to you?” she asked.

The question was met with silence, because despite everything they do to ensure that nothing bad happens, they are not the ones who decide their fates. They cannot expect things to go the way they planned it to be all the time. Fate has a cruel way of playing with their lives, and they would not be immune to its clutches no matter how hard they try. Yifan was well aware of this, as was Yeonhwa.

“Then, my love, we will cross that bridge when we get there,” said Yifan, after releasing a heavy sigh.

“But for now,” he smiled softly, “we can only hope for the best.”

-

The day of the birth was getting closer and closer, and Yeonhwa was getting so round that she could barely get out of bed. She did, however, give her best efforts to try to walk around and help Yifan with certain errands that did not require too much movement, as advised by the royal physician and midwife, but anybody can tell that she was getting weaker by the minute.

They began handling official affairs in their own bedchamber, because Yeonhwa was too weak to even walk to the office. She had little to no appetite, and she was way too thin for a pregnant woman as far along as she was. Sometimes, her breathing was labored, and she would close her eyes for a long time before she recovered enough to breathe normally. Her hands trembled even when she held a piece of paper, and her skin grew paler with every day that passed.

Yifan tried to deny it. He refused to believe that Yeonhwa was withering away right before his eyes. He talked and worked with Yeonhwa normally despite the cree