Chapter 5
Inside the envelope was a ledger recording the quantity of mana stones mined over the past month from the Hildern Mine in the southern mountains.
“Even though the development has only just begun, it’s already this much. Better than I expected. Just how much did the Duke exploit this in my previous life?”
In her past life, Estelle had been the first to discover the mine as well.
But it had been taken away by the Duke of Astria as the price for negotiations on Kaian’s behalf.
This time, however, things were different.
She had poured nearly all the money she obtained from secretly selling off discarded valuables she had taken out of the imperial palace into developing the mine.
Because she had invested with knowledge of the future, the results were an overwhelming success.
Even a small portion of the profits was enough to provide a home and living expenses for her and her child.
Duke Astria… If you knew that the source of wealth that belonged to you in the last life now belongs to me, how much would that narrow heart of yours ache?
A cold smile briefly appeared on Estelle’s lips.
In this life, she had no intention of giving anything away ever again.
“At this rate, I’ll secure the funds for developing the cure soon.”
Now it was time to find the genius who could create that medicine—Sordan.
Once the child is born, it will be difficult to move around for a while. I need to finish as much as possible before then.
While preparing to establish a trading company and building the foundation for research on the cure, Estelle also carefully made preparations for childbirth.
An ordinary noble lady would have struggled to live alone without a husband or guardian.
But thanks to the experience of her second life, she adapted quickly.
Time flew by like an arrow.
And before she knew it, four years had passed since her return.
“When will His Majesty arrive?!”
“Your Highness the Empress Consort, I apologize, but His Majesty is currently at the temple…”
“Ha! My son’s life has been hanging by a thread for four days! And the Emperor is still at the temple’s infirmary?!”
Standing before the young prince’s chamber, Estelle cried out angrily at the Emperor’s attendants.
The image of the perfect Empress Consort—always composed and graceful—was nowhere to be seen.
Her once radiant hair had long since become dull and tangled.
Her swollen eyes were a mess, stained with tears.
“If the Emperor will not come, then let me go in instead!”
“You must not, Your Highness! You are not alone! For the sake of the child in your womb, you must steady yourself!”
“Aeir! How frightened the prince must be! That tiny child… how could he possibly endure this alone without his mother or father—”
Just as Estelle was pleading with the chief attendant guarding the prince’s door—
“Your Highness the Prince!”
“Your Highness!”
A dreadful cry erupted from inside the room.
“Why… why are they crying like that? Illness can be treated. Why would they weep like that…?”
Estelle was a woman blessed with exceptional judgment and a brilliant mind.
Of course she understood the meaning of those sorrowful cries.
She simply wanted to deny the tragedy until the very end.
The door that had seemed as though it would never open finally creaked apart.
From inside emerged Keron, the prince’s physician.
His head was bowed deeply.
“Your Highness… I am deeply sorry.”
He knelt at Estelle’s feet.
“No… there can’t possibly be anything for you to apologize for. You will cure Aeir, won’t you? As if to prove it! Isn’t that right? Speak! Tell me you have found a way to cure the prince’s illness—quickly!”
Through the small gap in the open door, she could see Aeir’s pale face lying upon the bed.
The child looked so small and fragile.
As if he might open his eyes at any moment and call for his mother.
But then—
A white cloth was placed over the child’s face.
Thud.
Estelle felt as though her heart had fallen into a deep abyss.
The blood in her body turned cold and still.
Slowly, she sank into a freezing ocean so deep she could scarcely breathe.
“—Hah!”
In the middle of the night, darkness covering everything, Estelle jolted awake from the nightmare with a sharp gasp.
Despite the cold February air, sweat ran down her forehead.
My baby… Aeir!
Without even taking time to calm herself, Estelle lit the lamp and rushed to check Aeir’s bed.
Her heart dropped.
“Aeir!”
The bed where the child should have been was empty.
“Mom?”
At that moment, a small voice sounded behind her.
Aeir stood near the doorway, his sleepy eyes half-open.
It seemed he had gone to the bathroom.
Ah… so it was just a dream. Thank goodness.
As Estelle pulled him into her arms in relief, she could feel the child’s warm body.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all. Our Aeir has grown so much. Did you go to the bathroom by yourself?”
“Yes!! They said if I want to move up to the older class, I have to be able to go alone!”
“That’s impressive, my son.”
“Hehe. But Mom… can Aeir sleep a little more?”
“Of course. Mom will tuck you back in.”
Estelle laid Aeir back down on the bed and gently patted his shoulder.
Her hands trembled slightly because the fear had not yet faded, but the child quickly fell asleep again.
Estelle gazed endlessly at his sleeping face with tender eyes.
In the autumn of the year she left Kaian, Estelle had miraculously met Aeir once again.
For the first time, she felt grateful that the events of her previous life had repeated.
But the Black Sea Plague, which had taken Aeir’s life in the past, would surely return as well.
That fear constantly haunted her.
The moment she had lost Aeir in her previous life often replayed as nightmares.
She knew he was old enough to sleep in a separate room.
Yet she could never bring herself to do it.
Every time she woke from nightmares, she needed to check that he was safe.
Three months until the Black Sea Plague first appears. Less than half a year until it spreads across the entire continent… and I still haven’t found even the smallest clue about Sordan.
It was only natural for her to feel anxious.
If she could, she wanted to develop the cure immediately and eliminate the root of the nightmare.
If she could resolve everything before the plague spread to the southern region, Aeir would never have to suffer from the disease.
She had poured most of the funds from the mana stone mine into searching across Aren and even the entire continent.
Yet she found only people with the same name.
None matched the Sordan described in the novel.
Recently, because of her growing impatience, the nightmares had become more frequent.
If I were still the Empress Consort… would it have been easier to find clues?
Had the decision she made in this life actually put Aeir in greater danger?
Estelle agonized over that thought dozens of times every single day.
If the child were still the Emperor’s son—
Just then—
A sharp voice from the past echoed through her mind.
“Are you the only mother on this continent who has lost a child to the Black Sea Plague?”
It was Kaian’s voice.
“Stand up. Eat something. Protecting the heir in your womb is also your duty—as the Empress Consort and the mother of the Empire.”
“…The mother of the Empire, you say.”
“….”
“You are unbelievably cruel. The soil covering Aeir’s grave hasn’t even dried yet. What? You expect me—who couldn’t even protect my own child—to become the mother of the Empire? What exactly is the Empress doing that you speak only of my duty?!”
To Kaian, was Aeir nothing more than the Empire’s heir?
“Can you still call yourself an Emperor? A man who couldn’t even protect his own son—how can you be the father of an empire?!”
“Empress Consort, calm yourself. There is still a child in your womb that you must protect—”
“Do you regret losing the heir now that the child is dead?! If it’s the Empress Consort’s duty to produce heirs, then as the Emperor you should have protected that child!”
“Empress Consort! If you continue to behave like this, the nobles will begin discussing your deposition!”
“Enough! I have no intention of obeying the duties you force upon me any longer! If you wish, then depose me!”
It was the moment the last thread of reason Estelle had clung to while arranging her child’s funeral finally snapped.
“You say you will depose yourself as Empress? There are many ears within this palace. Do you understand how arrogant such words are?”
“I carry the blood of Astria—the blood you despise so much. Isn’t my deposition exactly what you have always wanted?!”
“I cannot send an Empress Consort carrying the imperial heir out of the palace. Therefore, if you wish to remain with the child, you will stay here as well.”
What Kaian wanted was simply an heir.
One who could be replaced at any time.
Whether that child was Aeir or not did not matter.
And in about two years, he would discover the existence of the son born between himself and the woman he loved—Diana.
They say he cherished her child dearly. At the slightest cough, he would turn pale, summon every physician in the palace, and personally nurse the boy.
The first time Estelle read that passage, she had wondered if it described a completely different person.
It was enough that I grew up feeling the deprivation of being compared to a sibling with the same father.
No matter how hard she tried, she had never received her father’s affection.
She did not want to pass that same pain onto Aeir.
Better for him to have no father at all than one who would see even his death as nothing more than the loss of an heir.
“My baby… Mother will protect you.”
Estelle steadied her heart once more.
Even if she had to stand alone—
In this life, she would protect her child no matter what.
If you want, I can also translate Chapter 6, where the story starts moving toward the search for Sordan and the coming Black Sea Plague—the plot becomes much more intense from there.
