The Price of Breaching the Contract - Chapter 89

The Makari Castle in late summer was enveloped in a heat even more suffocating than usual. Even in the North, hot days were hot.

Servants bustled through the corridors carrying basins filled with ice, and windows were thrown wide open in an attempt to draw in as much of the mountain breeze as possible. However, on this day, the castle’s temperature was rising not because of the weather, but due to tension and anxiety.

“Hurry, more water!”

“The midwife has arrived! Escort her carefully!”

The corridors were filled with the sound of maids running, and servants with tense faces hurried up and down. Yulania, the mistress of Makari Castle, had started labor almost a month earlier than expected.

Inside her bedroom, towels were soaked with sweat and replaced repeatedly, and her groans subtly permeated even beyond the windows. With ragged breaths, pillowcases drenched in sweat, and irregular waves of pain, Yulania desperately braced herself.

Santia paced back and forth in the hallway right outside. Every time he heard Yulania’s painful sounds, he instinctively turned his gaze towards the door. And he repeated the act of going back and forth in front of that door several times.

He wanted to go inside, feeling like he could be of some help, but Joel and the midwife consistently stopped him.

“Duke, it’s alright. Even though it’s an early delivery, it’s a common occurrence.”

“Ha, a common occurrence? Does this situation look common to you?”

Santia’s voice held suppressed emotion. Joel wiped away sweat and calmly said,

“The Duchess is in good physical condition, and the baby’s condition is also not bad. More than that, it would be more helpful if you waited outside now. Childbirth takes several hours, even if it’s short.”

However, such words could not calm Santia. His restlessness intensified as time passed. His fingers were clenched into fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and his lips were sealed shut as if they were burning.

“Ha? Yulania! Yulania!”

The name he muttered was difficult to distinguish as a prayer or self-reproach.

Joel checked on Yulania’s condition several times and came out again, but the situation was still just labor. Santia approached him as if he would grab his collar, but when Joel spoke calmly, he eventually sank back down.

“There’s nothing we can do but wait now.”

“Wait!”

“The baby is moving healthily, and the heartbeat is clear. And the Duchess is holding on.”

Mireya and Vihan were quietly watching the situation near the door, preparing water or giving instructions to the maids. Everyone was sparing with their words. Santia’s anxiety was so clearly revealed that no one dared to add anything.

Around the time the sun hung overhead, a short scream leaked out of the room once more. Santia widened his eyes at the sound and jumped up. Vihan carefully blocked him this time as he tried to approach the door.

“My lord!”

Santia looked at the door with trembling eyes, eventually leaning back against the wall. Some might have recalled his more threatening appearance on the battlefield. But now, he was a helpless man who could do nothing, with the one person he wanted to protect at all costs right in front of him.

Santia couldn’t just pace in the hallway, so he eventually leaned his back against the wall and slowly sat down on the floor. This moment was much more suffocating than when he roamed the battlefield in heavy armor. He tore at his hair with his fingers and quietly, almost forcibly, controlled his breathing. The groans of pain coming from inside, the busy footsteps, the sound of carrying water, and the short, urgent screams of the maids crossed countless times, driving him crazy.

Several hours, like a day, passed, and suddenly all the sounds disappeared. As if silence had gagged them.

At that moment, Santia felt like his breath had stopped. The eyes that looked up at the door were mixed with fear and anticipation. And soon the door opened and Merilyn ran out. Her breath scattered rapidly.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

Santia jumped up. His voice cracked.

Merilyn put her hands on her chest, caught her breath, and smiled with tears in her eyes.

“Oh, no! Duke, congratulations! It’s a very pretty daughter. You can go in now!”

As soon as the words were finished, Santia pushed the door open. As he stepped in, breaking the silence, stillness remained in the room, and a faint sunlight streamed through the open window. In every corner, maids were carefully moving with damp cloths, and Joel wiped his hands and stepped aside.

At the center was Yulania, lying on the bed. Wet hair stuck to her forehead, her cheeks were flushed, and her whole body was soaked in sweat. But she had a faint but clear smile on her face.

“Santia.”

The voice calling him was very small, but it rang loudly enough in his ears to cover all the noise in the world.

He approached. His heart beat wildly. Only after seeing that her body was safe did the strength leave his shoulders, and the fear that had filled his chest slowly dissipated.

But soon another bewilderment covered him.

“It was definitely, a daughter.”

He turned his head as if groping in the air, but he couldn’t see any being that he could think of as a person anywhere in the room.

Yulania nodded with a faint smile. And she carefully lifted a small bundle wrapped in white cloth, gently held in her arms, and said.

“Look here. It’s our baby.”

When she slightly lifted the cloth, a small, red face was revealed. The baby’s eyes were tightly closed, and the appearance was small and delicate, so quiet that you wouldn’t notice it was breathing unless someone told you. The lips were small, the nose was small, and the hands were small. Everything was so small that Santia felt his vision blur for a moment.

“Is this really a person?”

Santia almost stepped back. He was someone who had never feared any bloodied monster on the battlefield, but now he was frozen like a stranger standing before a being he had never seen before.

Yulania burst into laughter.

“Yes, it’s your daughter. Very small, very pretty.”

Santia inadvertently bent down and looked a little closer. The baby’s small chest was faintly rising and falling, and the face was crumpled, but somewhere he vaguely felt familiar features.

“Such a small being is alive?”

“Of course. She just came into the world.”

Yulania very carefully pushed the baby a little towards Santia. Santia stopped without touching even a fingertip. He was too afraid to touch such a small life.

Yulania called him gently.

“Santia.”

He barely raised his head. She was smiling softly.

“It’s okay. The baby can understand your voice.”

“Is that so?”

“Talk to her.”

Santia slowly lowered his head and looked at the baby. At first, no words came out. He felt choked. But Yulania whispered softly.

“Say hello. As her father.”

Only then did Santia take a breath.

“Hello.”

The small mouth twitched, and the fingers waved in the air. At that moment, something flowed from Santia’s eyes. He didn’t wipe it away with his hand, he just smiled.

“She’s really alive.”

“Yes. She’s, our baby.”

And only then did Santia kneel down and carefully sit beside Yulania and the baby. He was amazed that the baby didn’t burst into tears, and he couldn’t believe that he was feeling the small, fragile breath next to him.

His gaze did not linger long on the baby. Santia, who was immediately captivated by Yulania, who was a mess with sweat, arranged her tangled hair.

“Really, thank you so much for your hard work.”

He was dazed and couldn’t believe that she had been carrying a life. When Santia’s gaze turned to Yulania’s flattened belly, she nodded as if to confirm.

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