The Baroness Misbehaves
Chapter 266: Congratulations

Chapter 266: Congratulations

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When Madeline opened her hazy eyes again, the first thing her blurry vision took notice of was the familiar ceiling. Blinking spontaneously till her vision eventually adjusted to the light of her surroundings, Samantha could hear soft whispering voices speaking right beside her.

"I think she’s awake!"

"Is she?"

"Ah! Thank heavens!"

"Don’t frighten her, she needs to calm herself first." Said a concerned voice followed by the soft clicking of footsteps.

Among the mixed voices that kept murmuring to themselves, two voices sounded familiar to her ears, and when she turned her head to see who it was that conversed by her side, Elaine was sitting at the edge of the bed, her hands stretched out as she palmed Madeline’s left cheek, and she asked.

"My dear, how are you feeling?"

"Mother?" Madeline’s eyes widened momentarily when Elaine’s concerned face appeared before her vision, and she froze. For a second she believed it was a hallucination that might have been triggered from the side-effect of the barrier spell, but when she felt Elaine’s comforting palm on her cheek, waves of different emotions clouded her bleeding heart as she involuntarily sat up on the bed, hugging Elaine who impulsively returned her hug as the young woman suddenly began to weep hard in her arms.

"I’m so sorry, Mother. Can you ever forgive me?" She cried as instant tears slipped from her closed eyelids, hugging the woman tighter at the thought of being unable to save Cassian. "I failed you, Mother, I made you a promise and I couldn’t bring your son back to you. I couldn’t bring Cassian back to you. I’m so sorry." Madeline’s body trembled in grief, and her heart ached upon realizing Cassian’s death was not a dream.

Elaine, who was trying her best to cease her emotions could feel her walls breaking as her own eyes pooled with tears, but she immediately blinked it back and gently pulled Madeline away so she could look into the young woman’s devastated eyes.

"None of what happened was your fault, dear, it wasn’t in your control, so don’t blame yourself." Elaine shook her head, assuring Madeline that she wasn’t blaming her for what happened in the slightest. Regardless of whether she blamed her or not, Madeline couldn’t come to terms with the fact that she had lost Cassian forever - just when they were finally planning to spend their lives together, he vanished like his presence had only been a figment of her imagination.

If she could go back in time, maybe it was possible to bring him back to her - maybe she could fix this, but how is that possible? Will she be able to bear it without Cassian??

"Mother is right." Inna, who had been amongst them also moved closer to the bed where Madeline was laid, and the sight of her had Madeline embracing her too, feeling undeniably happy to see Inna was alright. "My body still aches and you’re squeezing me in the wrong places." Complained Inna whilst Madeline had to release her from her tight embrace.

"Inna...."

"We have good news for you." Inna, who wanted to lighten up the sad mood genuinely smiled through tears, but Madeline didn’t believe any news would be good if Cassian wasn’t the news.

Inna exchanged glances with her Mother as if seeking permission, and when Elaine gave her the go-ahead, Inna held Madeline’s hand in hers and eagerly announced.

"You’re pregnant! Maddie."

Madeline was already dulling at the news, she gave no reaction at first, but when her brain finally registered Inna’s words, her morbid face slowly turned to look at Inna as if she had seen a ghost.

"What?" The words barely came out audible, and she glanced at Elaine who nodded her head as well. "You’re expecting and only a few weeks gone." Elaine added as she watched Madeline’s glazed eyes pool with tears.

"I’m.... P.... pregnant??" Madeline’s hand instinctively reached for her stomach, and the shock in her eyes was yet to vanish. Looking down at her still-flat stomach, another round of tears welled up in her eyes but this time around, Madeline was stuck between crying and laughing.

"I’m pregnant?"

Elaine nodded as she had to convince Madeline over and over again that she was indeed pregnant. When she arrived at Whitebrige since she could no longer wait for Richard to draft those letters, her husband had gone to speak with the King to make a deal concerning Cassian’s safety when he eventually returned, so he couldn’t come with her to Whitebridge.

She had been accompanied by a few guards to keep her safety in check, as per Richard’s demand. Fortunately, she was brought to this Palatial building by a servant who worked here after she requested for Cassian and Madeline.

Her heart had been joyous when she heard they were staying here, but the happiness died quickly when she saw her daughter who informed her about everything that had happened, including what happened to Cassian. Orson and Elian were busy getting their own treatment, and she stayed with Madeline who had been unconscious all day.

The weight of her son’s death had brought tears in her ears, so much so that she cried in front of her daughter for the first time, but she couldn’t shed a drop no more since she had to be strong for the ones who were more broken, especially Madeline whose fate had eventually turned her to a widow.

It seemed like all hope had been lost when she saw the state Madeline was in, but when she got informed that daughter-in-law was presently carrying her son’s child, a ray of hope had been lit inside her despondent spirit. She was going to be a grandmother, and Madeline wouldn’t have to be alone.

If Cassian was here, he’d be more than happy to hear this.

"I’m going to be an Auntie, I’ve always wondered how it feels to be one." Uttered Inna when she returned with the female physician who had been looking into Madeline.

"Your body is not in a good condition currently." The female physician mildly told her after running a second check-up. "You’re over-stressed, and there might be some serious complications if you fail to take proper care of your health. You’re a Fae, so the day of the delivery may not reach nine months in total since the baby is likely to grow quite rapidly, so don’t be surprised if the day of the delivery date comes about eight months from now - this is why you need to more conscious of your health, you’re not taking care of just yourself anymore, but the baby in your womb."

"There’s nothing to worry about, I’ll take good care of her." Inna assured the female physician, "hand me the prescriptions, I’m a second-hand physician myself. I won’t let anything happen to my little nephew/niece, and the upcoming Mother."

"You’re more excited than the one who’s going to bear the child." Elaine joked at Inna’s over-joyous commentaries, and the young lady shook her head. "Mother, it’s Cassian’s child, I need to take care of it else Cassian would visit my dreams with cutlasses."

At this point, Madeline had to smile at herself as she once again felt the little thing that was now growing inside of her. If Cassian was here, they’d have shared in this joy together, he always went on and on about how she would behave if she ever got pregnant, but in his absence, it feels so.... Lonely hearing this news without him.

"Congratulations." The female physician wholeheartedly congratulated Madeline who acknowledged her pleasantries with a nod.

When the physician finally left, Inna kept Madeline company as she serviced the weak woman with whatever she needed, and Madeline was just starting to feel slightly better when the door to the room opened, and the smile on her lips dropped when Osvaldo stepped in, dragging along with him an injured Abbot who staggered in, dropping to his knees.