Spring in My Grasp - Chapter 57

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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(57) I Love You

As my pregnancy reached full term, I had to set aside my work in the Vegetable Garden and await the birth. I spent my days in quiet anticipation on the Bed, oscillating between fear and hope, often occupying myself with embroidery. Alexis, sensing that my time was drawing near, began returning from his duties frequently to check on my condition. Yet, as cruel fate would have it, the moment arrived when he was away.
“It’s time.”
I spoke those words one afternoon, my voice trembling uncontrollably. Lea gasped in alarm, dropping everything from her hands and rushing to my side.
“Butler! Butler!”
At Lea’s urgent cry, the Butler came running. Together, they moved with grave urgency, escorting me to the Birthing Chamber. The Butler hastily summoned the Physician and the Midwife. Already standing by, they sprang into action with practiced efficiency to assist with my delivery.
“It hurts so much….”
Tears streamed down my face.
“Alexis….”
Seeing tears flow from my eyes—eyes that were always bright and spirited—Lea cried out in anguish from beyond the door.
“Send someone to the Master at once! Tell him the Mistress is about to give birth!”
Though chaos erupted around me, I was consumed entirely by my own agony. The pain was unbearable—far worse than anything I had imagined. I clenched my teeth and gripped the Bed sheets with all my strength. Yet I had to endure. This child, so long anticipated and cherished. Our child—mine and Alexis’s. Blood trickled from my clenched lips.
How much time had passed? My labor was proving difficult. The Physician and Midwife tended to me with growing concern.
“We anticipate a difficult delivery.”
Difficult delivery… The words struck me like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. How many hours had I already endured this torment? Then the door burst open, and I heard footsteps rushing in.
“Alek….”
I could barely form the words.
“Alexis….”
I felt the man approach me, his hands urgently cupping my cheeks.
“Rowan, I’m sorry. I know it hurts. I’m sorry I was late.”
“Ha… sob… sob….”
My breathing came in ragged, fragmented gasps. Tears continued to stream down my face. Alexis felt his heart constricting.
“Let me help you right away.”
His voice was filled with urgency. He concentrated, attempting to channel his holy power to ease my suffering. Yet something was terribly wrong. No matter how much he channeled his power toward me, it simply scattered and dissipated before reaching me.
‘Why.’
Alexis, bewildered, gathered his power once more.
‘Why won’t it work!’
His hands trembled at the sound of my anguished cries. His holy power refused to reach me. He couldn’t comprehend it. He had used this power to restore crumbled buildings, to save lives, to heal soldiers. So why—why wouldn’t it work now?
“Stop, please!”
Madame Elrose, who had been wiping my sweat from beside me, finally noticed Alexis’s actions and cried out in alarm, stopping him.
“No matter how sacred the power, it cannot aid Rowan in this way!”
Though our time together had been brief—merely a couple of months before my labor—Madame Elrose had grown fond of me. At first, she had thought me an absurd woman, but somehow, she found me endearing. Those afternoons spent with me and Lea in the Glass Garden had been impossible to resist. Now, Madame Elrose devoted herself wholeheartedly to assisting my delivery.
“Why won’t my power work?”
Alexis murmured in bewilderment. Madame Elrose shook her head.
“Do you not understand why, even in the Royal Court, holy power is not used to aid childbirth?”
Alexis’s gaze turned toward Madame Elrose.
“This is not a wound. It is the birth of life itself, and therefore not something that holy power can heal.”
Madame Elrose spoke.
“During childbirth, holy power cannot heal at all. Perhaps after delivery, but not now. Only Rowan’s own strength can endure this.”
Having finished speaking, Madame Elrose quickly turned and approached Rowan. Alexis stood frozen for a moment, then swayed. This cannot be. His face contorted in anguish. All those people he had healed and restored—and yet this power could do nothing to ease the suffering of the wife he loved most. Helplessness enveloped him entirely.
Alexis clenched his teeth and pressed close to Rowan’s side. Her eyes had already grown clouded. She seemed barely conscious, lacking even the strength to look at him. At this rate, she could die in a difficult birth while still carrying the child within her. The air in the room hung heavy and perilous.
“Aaahhh!”
Then, as her abdomen contracted again, Rowan cried out. She screamed, then lost consciousness, screamed again, then lost consciousness—a terrible cycle that repeated. Alexis, hunched beside her, continued to hear her screams, his face already drenched with tears.
“At this rate….”
The Physician’s voice drifted faintly. Madame Elrose’s face was wet with tears as well. Lea was nearly sobbing. The room was filled with weeping. Only Rowan breathed in shallow, ragged gasps. A thick atmosphere of hopelessness pervaded the space. Alexis gazed into Rowan’s dimming, flickering eyes and spoke urgently.
“Do you know?”
His voice trembled.
“I love you.”
As Alexis spoke those words, tears burst from his lips.
“I’ve never told you before, have I?”
Rowan’s breathing came in ragged gasps, her eyes growing heavier by the moment.
“I was afraid to say it because it seemed like you didn’t love me as much as I love you.”
Alexis gripped Rowan’s hand tightly. Then he placed his other hand against her cheek.
“I love you.”
And then, almost miraculously, another cry tore from Rowan’s lips.
“Aaahhh!”
Her abdomen had contracted.
“Now! This is it!”
The Physician cried out.
“Push just a little more, my lady! The child is coming!”
Rowan screamed with all her might, her face flushed crimson. And then, as if some force suddenly surged from within her body, her lower body opened with her cry.
“She has delivered! She has delivered!”
The moment the child emerged, the Physician and Midwife rushed to receive it. The room filled with joy at the birth of a Holy Knight’s bloodline. But Alexis did not turn to look even once. Instead, he leaned over Rowan’s face as she breathed heavily, her eyes closed. A faint breath escaped her lips. He spoke to Madame Elrose.
“Now it’s possible, isn’t it?”
As if he had been waiting for nothing else.
***
News of the birth of a child in Valencion House reached the Royal Court first. Alexis’s child was a son. The King rejoiced greatly and bestowed another round of gifts, setting the gossips’ tongues wagging with fervor.
The Grand Cathedral did not overlook the joyous occasion of the honored Holy Knight. They sent sacred relics that would be good for the newborn to keep close. Word of a son being born to the rising power of Valencion House spread far and wide. Everyone spoke of how Valencion House, so favored by the King, seemed never to lack for blessings.
Yet on the other hand, Valencion Castle itself remained wrapped in quiet silence, despite the auspicious atmosphere that should have filled it. Alexis had requested leave from the Temple under the pretext of his wife’s confinement, and he remained at Rowan’s side. Had it not been for Alexis’s holy power, Rowan’s childbirth would have been far more perilous.
“You should go out now. The High Priest will think ill of you lingering here.”
Rowan sat upon the bed, sipping the warm medicinal tea Alexis offered her. He remained pressed close to her side, unwilling to stray even a moment. Though the Physician visited often, Alexis undertook most of Rowan’s care himself.
“Rowan, do look at the Young Master.”
At that moment, Lea and Madame Elrose entered, knocking softly, with the baby cradled in their arms.
“He is so gentle—he scarcely cries at all.”
Madame Elrose spoke. Rowan set down her teacup and opened her arms wide.
“Come here, quickly.”
The infant, swaddled in blankets, nestled into Rowan’s embrace. Her face grew luminous with wonder as she gazed upon him.
“And here I thought you’d cause me such agony—yet you bring me such joy?”
Alexis added a comment from beside her. Rowan glanced at him sidelong.
“You’re just as delighted, so don’t say such things.”
Then she turned her gaze back down to the infant.
“Even if it hurt, I would do it again without hesitation. I’m so glad I gave birth to you.”
The child’s violet-blue eyes, still unfocused, gleamed with an ethereal light. Rowan drew the baby close to her heart, pressing her cheek tenderly against his small face.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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