Emmelyn grabbed her stomach and curled in bed. The pain was so unbearable that she couldn't hold it. Gosh... was this her karma for lying?

Dammit. This had never happened before.

"Aaaahhh...." Emmelyn writhed in pain as the old maid who was standing nearby suddenly turn to panic mode. She didn't know what happened.

This princess was fine just now. She could finish her meal and her medicine. Was she having the same pain as before?

Gosh.. where is that royal physician? She became so nervous. It's been almost one hour. Why wasn't he here yet?

"Aahh... it hurts... it hurts..." Emmelyn cried in pain as she curled like a ball on her bed.

The maid was pacing in the chamber waiting for the physician and her friend to return. She didn't know how to help Emmelyn.

"Please hang in there, my lady, the physician is coming," she said over and over again, trying to soothe the woman. However, her voice didn't sound convincing.

"Aaaahhh!!! Where is Mr. Vitas???" Emmelyn had now screamed her lungs out. She felt her stomach churned and stirred violently by an invisible hand.

This was something that she had never experienced in her life. Gosh.. maybe this was karma that came in tenfold for all the lies she had uttered in the past?

This was not fair!

She was not ready. The pain was so intense that now Emmelyn was crying out loud. She was in so much pain and her mind was suddenly worried by the fact it was her stomach that felt the pain.

What if something happened to her baby?

Oh my god... she begged internally to whatever gods were there to spare her baby from any pain. She wouldn't know how to continue living if something happened to Harlow.

No... no.. please, don't let anything happen to my baby...

Please... I will never lie again.

I will never trick people again.

But please... please spare my Harlow...

Emmelyn was crying so hard when the door to her chamber was opened from outside. The old physician entered with the other maid. His wrinkled face looked so worried.

"Your Highness..." He quickly sat on the edge of the bed and held Emmelyn's arm. "What happened? How do you feel?"

Emmelyn looked up with tears in her eyes. She tried to explain what she was feeling, but it was so hard to even say anything. She only writhed in pain and closed her eyes.

"What did you eat today?" He asked her. Before Emmelyn could respond, the old maid explained that Emmelyn was already in pain before she ate her meal and medicine.

"She complained of stomach pain before lunch, that's why Anna went to get you, Sir," she said. "After a while, she became fine and could finish her lunch and all the medicine. The pain returned around half an hour ago."

Mr. Vitas furrowed his brows and asked Emmelyn to manage her breathing.

"Your Highness, please work with me. Take a deep breath and then exhale... Try to think about only good things to distract your mind from the pain. I will check your health."

Emmelyn closed her eyes. She tried hard to imagine all the good things in her life which were only quite a few. Her first meeting with her husband. The moment he confessed his love to her.

The day that they decided to get married.

Their wedding day.

And the day when they found out she was pregnant.

Gosh... it was so hard to focus only on the good things when her body was in so much pain. She was scared that she would die, together with Harlow and they would never see Mars again.

That would be her biggest nightmare.

"Mr. Vitas... p-please..." She opened her eyes and looked at the old man with a pleading look. She begged the man with difficulty. "Please... help me..."

She gripped the man's arm with her nails. "I don't want to die..."

The old physician was calm and nodded with a smile. No matter what, he must be able to give reassurance to this pregnant woman.

"You will be fine, Your Highness," he said. He checked Emmelyn's pulse and her erratic heartbeat. His expression turned murky and then he let out a long sigh.

"What is it?" Emmelyn asked the physician urgently. "Is it a bad thing ?"

"No, Your Highness... it's not a bad thing," Mr. Vitas quickly smiled. He realized his sigh earlier must have made Emmelyn feel nervous that something bad just happened to her.

The old man turned to the two maids. "Please bring hot water and several clean cloths. It looks like Her Highness is about to have early labor."

"What???" Emmelyn was so shocked to hear the man's words. She was only seven months into her pregnancy. How could she was going into labor this early?

What would happen to Harlow? Wasn't Harlow too young to be out of her womb?

"Oh my god...." Emmelyn muttered in disbelief. "Oh no.... this can't be happening... This can't be happening..."

Mr. Vitas held Emmelyn's arm gently and tried to calm her down. "Your Highness, you must not panic. This can happen to a few women. We can deliver your baby safely."

By that point, Emmelyn's focus was solely on her baby, that she didn't even care about the excruciating pain in her stomach.

She was so worried that Harlow would be born prematurely and couldn't make it.

How could she face her husband and looked him in the eye if she couldn't protect their child?

Slowly everything became a blur. She could hear Mr. Vitas spoke but couldn't really grasp what he was saying.

The old man said something about a high stress level could trigger premature labor and that made Emmelyn blame herself. She should have been calmer and not stressed in her situation so Harlow wouldn't experience this shit.

But, how could she do that? Everything that happened in her life in the past seven weeks was so hard and difficult that she felt lucky not to lose her sanity.

She was accused of killing the queen, the mother-in-law that she loved dearly, and now she was locked up in prison, waiting for the trial and punishment that were most likely not going to be fair.

How could she stay calm and not stressed?