## CHAPTER 150
As soon as she finished speaking, the maids rushed into the hallway like arrows.
Marischen and the nanny, who had stood stiff as if paralyzed, hurried to the bed.
Talia gazed at their pale faces with terrified eyes, and then clutched the hem of the dress of the Oriental woman who was adjusting a cushion under her hips.
"W-What is happening? Is there a problem?"
A flash of compassion crossed the woman's dark face.
She answered calmly while holding the back of Talia's cold hand:
"Do not worry too much. We will just... monitor the situation for the time being."
It was an answer that avoided the details.
Talia gasped as if someone were suffocating her, and pulled the hem of the woman's dress even harder.
"The baby... The baby is fine, right?"
The woman did not answer.
Talia pulled her sleeve with greater vehemence.
"I am asking you if my child is fine!"
"You must not move like that!" The woman quickly pressed her shoulder down. Her dark eyes, shining with determination, firmly captured the attention of Talia, who was filled with anguish and terror. "Take a deep breath. You must be strong for the sake of the baby."
Talia gazed at her resolute face with eyes flooded with tears, and then inhaled deeply.
'If I do that, will I really be fine?'
She wanted to ask, but the woman had already hurried to a corner of the room to gather piles of washing linens.
As Talia followed her movements with bloodshot eyes, Marischen held her pale hand tightly.
"I-I will apply a healing enchantment on you."
Her face was also pale.
Talia clung to the healer's hand with desperation. Very soon, a warmth spread through her body. However, the miracle did not occur; not all problems were solved with magic.
The lower part of her belly, which had previously ached like ice-cold needle pricks, began to contract violently, as if it were being squeezed.
Talia let out a sharp groan and curled up.
Tieuran rushed to her side and adjusted her so she could lie flat again.
"No more amniotic fluid must come out! Please, you have to endure the pain."
Talia tried with all her might to follow the instructions. Nonetheless, the pain was so sharp that it was extremely difficult for her to remain still. She bit the quilt while gasping violently.
At that instant, the door burst open and a middle-aged woman, dressed in a black nun's habit, entered hurriedly.
"Step aside."
The priestess approached the bed, pushed Marischen away, and immediately lifted the hem of Talia's dress up to her thighs.
Her wet underwear and her leg wrapped in loose bandages were exposed, but she had no time to feel shame. Talia clenched her lips against the pain, which was becoming increasingly intense.
Meanwhile, the priestess removed her underwear and inserted her fingers into her body after separating her knees.
Talia did not even have time to be alarmed by this shocking action, as the priestess turned around and shouted:
"The cervix has already begun to open. The baby is coming out."
"It is too early!" The nanny's scream pierced her ears like a needle.
Talia wrapped her arms around her belly as if she wanted to protect it, despite the chaos reigning in her mind.
She was right. It was too early. Wasn't her due date three months away?
Talia shook her head quickly.
"No. Stop it. Stop it by any means!"
"Since the water has broken, there is no turning back. We must get the baby out quickly," the priestess sentenced in a severe tone, and signaled the maids waiting by the door. "Place a screen around the bed. And you, bring the first-aid kit from my quarters. It should be arranged on the shelf."
The maids mobilized in an orderly fashion, following the priestess's instructions.
Talia contemplated that chaotic scene as if it were a nightmare. Then, she closed her eyes tightly upon feeling another wave of unbearable pain.
The pressure in her belly was increasing. Talia was now fully aware. The baby was trying to come out.
The terror caused by this certainty was so overwhelming that Talia could not even notice the sharp pain in her waist. Only one thought filled her head.
'Will the baby be able to live if it is born now?'
Even Talia, who was ignorant about matters of pregnancy and childbirth, knew that the survival rate of premature babies was not high.
'How much will the baby have grown inside my womb?'
She touched her belly, which had hardened like a stone, with trembling hands.
Until half a day ago, she was worried that the baby was too big. She had even felt a certain remorse for eating without restrictions. But now she deeply regretted not having been able to feed it more.
She should have eaten and eaten with all her strength. She should have nourished it so that it would be strong enough to resist any situation.
"You must not lose consciousness! Your Highness, you have to hold on."
Someone placed a cold cloth over her face.
Talia opened her eyelids abruptly at the frigid sensation and realized that she had kept her eyes closed.
Talia contemplated the bleak ceiling, where the candles flickered, with bloodshot eyes, and then lowered her gaze slowly to examine those around her.
She scanned her gaze over and over, without stopping, among the priestess, Tieuran, Marischen, the nanny, the housekeeper, and several maids who were standing at that moment; however, she could not decipher what it was she was looking for.
The instant she was about to open her mouth to ask something, another wave of ghastly pain invaded her. This time, it was a pain sufficient to freeze any thought.
Talia suddenly lost all patience and began to wave her arms and legs violently. A heartbreaking scream erupted from her open mouth.
At that precise moment, a voice was heard that, like the roar of a beast, pierced through the wall:
"Step aside."
"Your Excellency the Duke, the Duchess is giving birth. For you to enter the room now goes against customs..."
The voice of someone pleading urgently was heard, followed by a cry of pain, and suddenly the door swung wide open, revealing a man dressed in a black military uniform between the dividing curtains.
Talia extended her arm toward him as if she were drowning and crying for help:
"Varkas..."
Varkas approached the bed and leaned toward her.
Talia clung to his warm neck, moistened by sweat, with desperation. His tense face appeared faintly in her vision blurred by tears.
"Help me, Varkas... Help me... It hurts so much."
He held her tighter within the arm that enveloped her at her plea intermingled with weeping.
Varkas asked the priestess harshly, while embracing her with a strength that almost suffocated her:
"What is happening?!"
"The birth canal is opening smoothly. However, the baby is not descending..."
Once again, her belly contracted violently, causing all sounds to drift away overwhelmingly.
Talia wept silently while tearing at the thick, coarse fabric that wrapped around his robust body. It was as if the lower part of her body were being crushed alive.
"Your Highness, you must push down now. You must push the baby out!"
Talia shook her head in desperation.
"I do not want to. I cannot. I am afraid. It hurts too much. It hurts!"
She looked at Varkas with a tone of supplication. She stared at him fixedly, as if clinging to him would solve everything.
In her vision blurred by tears, his face looked paler than usual. The silhouette of his face remained right over the bridge of her nose.
"You are fine. Talia, you are fine, so do not cry."
He wiped the tears from her cheek with his rough hand and let out his voice, strangely low.
Talia frowned with a distorted face.
She was not fine. Nothing was fine. However, she wanted to believe she was fine if he told her so.