Chapter 79: Klaus’ Death

“Rose, are you okay?”

“Yeah… I’m, I’m okay…”

“Your Majesty, I beg you, please step away from Her Majesty the Empress…”

The midwife, who had been trying to separate Alec from Lara, suddenly stopped speaking in shock. Blood had begun to darken the sheets beneath Lara. The color was so deep and blackened that it barely looked like blood at all.

Alec trembled, glaring at the midwife, who now appeared flustered, her hands shaking as she looked at Lara.

“Ugh… Hic… My, my stomach…”

Lara clutched her belly, gasping for breath. The woman, who had been buried deep in the blankets, now writhed in agony. Two women, assistants to the royal physician, rushed forward. Alec’s bloodshot eyes burned as he glared at them.

“Your Majesty, please leave the birthing chamber for now—”

“What are you planning to do to the Empress?”

“We will do our utmost. How could we possibly not dedicate ourselves to her care? Please, I beg you…”

“Call the royal physician.”

“We have already summoned him. He is on his way as quickly as possible.”

The midwife tried to soothe him.

Lara suddenly let out a piercing scream. Alec, his legs shaking, gritted his teeth and grabbed her hand. Even as she screamed, Lara seemed aware of what the midwife was saying and tried to push him away.

“Your Majesty, you shouldn’t be here. Please, go. If you tend to your duties, the prince will—Agh!”

Another scream tore from her throat. The black blood spread even more rapidly. Alec shook his head repeatedly—he couldn’t leave her.

He needed to see his child born with his own eyes. He needed to see that Lara would be okay. If the moment came when he had to choose between Lara and the baby, there was no hesitation. He was ready to say without a second thought—he would save Lara.

“Rose…!”

“Go, I can do this alone. I can do this alone…”

“Let me stay by your side. Please. I can’t leave you.”

It wasn’t even a long distance—just outside the door, not all the way to his office in the outer palace. But even so, Alec couldn’t let go of Lara’s hand.

He was terrified that if he lost sight of her, she would disappear. That something would happen, and he would never see her again.

“I’m the Empress… I have to… I have to endure this…”

Lara shook her head, fear etched into her face, yet she still insisted on following etiquette. Alec’s eyes welled with tears. He bit his lip as he watched her struggle to stifle her groans.

“…Hurry. Just go.”

Lara pushed him away irritably. Only then did Alec stand. He could tell she was forcing herself to suppress her pain for his sake

Every time she swallowed a groan, the tremors in her throat tore at his heart. Alec tried to steady himself.

‘It’s our first child. First-time parents don’t know what to expect.’

Yes. That was why he was so anxious. It was his first time becoming a father—this was why it was so overwhelming. Maybe the second child would be different.

Then why did this feel so ominous?

The door to the birthing chamber closed. The moment Alec stepped outside, Lara let out a scream so raw it sent shivers down his spine. He clamped his mouth shut, praying for this nightmare to end.

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Premonitions never lie. It was an animalistic instinct.

Whenever things around him—his wife, his world—began to twist beyond his control, he always ended up crushed beneath it all.

Alec half-crawled forward, staring at the trembling midwife. For half an hour, there had been no sound from Lara.

Sensing that something had happened, he tried to enter the birthing chamber again, but the midwife was unyielding. The head lady-in-waiting also blocked his way, strict and unwavering.

Alec glared at her as if he would tear her apart and flung the door open.

The stench of blood overwhelmed him.

A pile of blood-soaked sheets lay stacked like a mountain—soaked through so deeply he couldn’t tell if they had been blankets or mere rags.

“What the hell are you doing to the Empress?!”

Unable to hold back his panic, Alec shouted.

The head lady-in-waiting tried to calm him down.

“Childbirth is always a slow, arduous process. Since this is Her Majesty’s first, it takes even longer. However, even if the prince does not survive, Your Majesty is still young, and there are many noblewomen willing to serve the empire—”

“Are you seriously offering such nonsense as counsel? Should I tear your mouth apart in front of the Marchioness of Offrege so you finally shut up?”

“I-I apologize, Your Majesty. I only meant—”

“Get out of my sight. If you speak one more word, I will have your tongue ripped out and displayed in the Offrege courtyard.”

The head lady-in-waiting fell silent.

Alec, seething with rage, tried to enter the chamber, but the two physician’s assistants blocked him again.

Why were they so insistent on keeping him out?

By now, it was past noon. There should have been some news. But there was no sound from Lara. No cries from the child.

He was going insane.

Waiting like this was worse than dying.

When he tried to push his way in again, the midwife begged him to wait just a little longer.

Alec threatened her—if anything happened to Lara, she wouldn’t live to see another day.

The midwife nearly sobbed as she pleaded for more time.

And then, half an hour later—

Alec had neither eaten nor slept in over a day.

He couldn’t think about anything else.

He had taken Lara’s screams as if they were his own punishment.

Let it end. Please, let it be over. Let both Lara and the child be safe.

Please, please… If there is a god, I will ask for nothing more. Just please…

“Your Majesty. P-Please spare me…”

“What happened?”

The midwife crawled forward, collapsing at his feet.

Alec froze, staring at her in horror. The woman wept, begging for her life.

Ignoring her, he rushed into the birthing chamber.

“My child? What happened to Rose?”

The physician’s assistants, who had been trying to keep him out, bowed their heads as if they had committed an unforgivable crime.

Alec blinked his dry eyes, searching for his child.

Lara was unconscious.

And then—he realized.

Hell had arrived.

The worst kind of hell one could experience while still alive.

“Y-Your Majesty… The prince… He’s not breathing…”

He couldn’t even ask what that meant.

The midwife, shaking, lifted something toward him.

A child with twisted limbs.

A child with black hair like his.

“My son… Why…”

That was all he could say.

The child lay still, eyes closed.

Not asleep.

Dead.

Ailec pressed his ear to the baby’s chest.

Was his heart beating? Was it not?

He checked again.

“…Klaus.”

There was no heartbeat.

Like a man possessed, Alec massaged the tiny chest, forced air into the small mouth.

He knew it was futile.

If he had been born dead, there was no saving him.

“At least look at me before you go. My baby… Just once, look at your father…”

Tears spilled down his face.

Desperately, Alec held his child against his chest.

Too small. Too light.

His heart, already wounded, cracked apart.

He turned to Lara.

She lay pale as a corpse, breath shallow.

“How is she?”

“She lost too much blood…”

The midwife bowed her head, shaking.

Alec sat beside her, placing the lifeless child on her chest.

Lara had dreamed of holding their baby.

She would never know.

And maybe that was a mercy.

He cradled Klaus to his own chest, breaking down into silent, wretched sobs.