Very far away, in another part of the world, the heavy snow fell onto the land hard, as if saying one of its final goodbyes to the land.

Yes. Even though this was the first week of Spring, the snow still fell hard.

And like the gloomy weather, several people found themselves feeling a bit down and worried as well.

~Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Some began pacing around impatiently, while others sat in a daze, biting their nails hard.

But of course, there was also the group of people who kept looking out the window fearfully too.

Their bodies tightened from time to time, with clenching muscles seized against their jaws.

Everyone's heart drummed loudly the quieter the room felt.

And from time to time, they would look at the closed doors ahead, with full worry in their eyes.

What was this?

What was going on?

Why were they all standing or sitting in worry?

Well, the answer was simple.

Mother Kim was in Labour!

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-The Royal Palace, Capital City, Baymard-

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~Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock!

The massive clock ticked loudly, adding to the tension in the already choking room.

Everyone stayed as silent as a mouse but failed to hear anything going on within the other room.

Lucius, who was the most panicked, couldn't help placing his ears by the door anxiously.

'Is she okay?

Does she need to see me?

What's happening to her?

Dammit! Why did I agree for the Royal medical room to be sound-proofed?

Lucius' mind worriedly webbed out outlets questions like Spiderman.

But the most annoying thing was that he couldn't hear a thing!

This just made his imaginations go wild instead.

Mother Kim had refused for him to be there in the birthing process.

She said she didn't want him to see her in that state. So he had no choice but to follow her wishes.

She requested for Mother Winnie instead.

Mother Kim didn't want Lucius to see her pooping and farting while pushing the baby out.

It was a natural and normal thing that occurred, but it was so embarrassing.

And from her past experience of having hundreds and hundreds of people watch her push Landon out, she was a little psychologically scarred too.

.

The many nobles and ministers took several seats and watched it all as if watching a show while writing their reviews as well.

The birth of any royal, be it favoured or not, belonged to the empire and not the woman in question.

It was a political event that had drastic implications for the future of the nation.

If a girl came out, no one would be able to lie and say it was a boy in the end.

There was hardly any foul play.

Also, they saw the pain of childbirth as the natural retribution that the heavens had bestowed on women for whatever reason.

So after childbirth, they would analyze her waste to see if she had taken any herbs prior to or during delivery.

That's right. During this time, they weren't supposed to eat any greens or vegetables.

Just bread, water and things like that.

And if they found any herb traces in the woman's waste during childbirth, they would assume she took herbs that would relieve her pain.

Preposterous!

What the heavens, ancestors or the world itself had given to these women as discipline must be thoroughly fulfilled.

It was believed that any woman who didn't want to take on this pain was a stubborn one that would one day go against her husband.

Of course, in different places of the world, the analogy and stories differed as well.

But, the main point always remained.

Many assumed that the pain during childbirth was there to keep women under men forever, while others believed it was some trial phase instead.

Either way, every place had its own general belief, with some accepting pain-relieving herbs or potions while others rejected them.

In Adonis, the women were forced to read Holy Adonis scriptures during childbirth, promising never to think and always follow the men sheepishly.

It was believed that only when they earnestly prayed and read the scrolls out would their pain be taken away.

Of course, kne should know that woemb were supposed to know poetry and made love poems.. So they had some fare degree of literacy.

And even if they were purely illustrated, they had been taught to recite the words In the scrolls like nursery rhymes.

So it didn't matter whether they could read it not. They knew the prayers or incantations to say.

After all, all women had to know these things since it was taken as an essential part of childbirth.

They also knew all the main rules that women had to abide too.

Again too many people, the gender of a baby could be influenced by diet, use of herbs, options and several other things.

So if the Physician had earlier said it should be a boy but a girl came out instead, then the woman was to blame for eating things that turned the boy into a girl before delivery.

It was all her fault!

And to further crucify her, if they kept a sewing needle in her urine and it rusted after 3 weeks... Then she was guilty! 

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Anyway, all these were important points to consider for them.

So needless to say, everyone was interested in the outcome of a royal delivery.

That's why the hundreds and hundreds of people in the room watched every detail carefully.

That said, anything Mother Kim released during childbirth would be collected and kept aside.

And after the entire birthing process, they would check how much she left out.

Of course when it came to farts, they believed that nobles didnt fart but allowed the gas to pass through some unknown means.

So if they heard any loud farts, then the woman in question was too pleasant-like and not noble at all since she farted through the normal holes in the body.

Nobles passed gas out through other regions.

That was just facts!

Well, Mother Kim was a peasant herself, so the loud farts she produced when birthing Landon had caressed more and more people to look down on and bully her even more.

The spectators recorded everything down, as well as what they thought it smelt like.

Royal and Noblewomen silently released gases that were not too fragrant at all.

In fact, many had never even known if noblewomen had ever released gases during childbirth at all since they didn't hear or smell anything at all.

The room only smelt like sweat, which should be.

And after collecting her poop and urine in a bucket, mother Kim had been mocked by how much she released while birthing Landon.

Needless to say, from her past experience, she never wanted Lucius to see her in that pooping, farting, sweating, peeing and pushing state.

It was just too embarrassing.

Fortunately, due to the painkillers she took earlier on, she didn't have that much pain as she recalled when birthing Landon years back.

And, she ate healthily too, so she didn't feel dizzy, faint or weak like back then.

This was a good start.

Nonetheless, this was still childbirth, so...

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!~"

"Queen Mother, Queen Mother... Push! Push!"

"You can do it, Queen Mother. Push!"

"Grhhhhhh!!!!~~~~"

Mother Kim and everyone else fought for the baby to be delivered.

Meanwhile, the little softball within Mother Kim's belly suddenly shook in confusion and vigilance.

Eh?

Where was she?