Chapter 15 - A Way Out

"What should we do? Have you thought of anything?" Chris asks Seungmin and Jisung, his voice hopeful and his heart pounding.

"I don't... I don't know what to do." Seungmin replies dejected, his eyes slightly glossy and tired after so many sleepless nights.

"I couldn't find anything either..." Jisung shakes his head, his demeanour downcast.

"At this rate, there would be no way to stop the execution from happening..." Chris rubs his eyes, as a small knock on the door gets him out of his trance.

"Your Highness, I have come to report to you." Nora, the maid responsible for bringing food and water to the dungeon and cleaning the bucket, bows politely in front of the Emperor.

"How is she doing?" He asks, painfully aware that it's already the 4th day Aristia's been locked up.

Three more days to go, and she would be executed. Chris doesn't want to think about this at all. He's filled his days and nights with work and meetings, and tried to think about anything else, with little success.

He finds himself getting easily distracted and worrying about her well-being, but there's nothing he can do. She committed a crime and must be punished for it accordingly, and neither him, nor his advisors, are able to find any loophole to somehow absolve her of her punishment.

"I'm afraid she's not doing great, Your Highness." The maid replies. "She hasn't eaten much in the past few days, and she's been throwing up repeatedly, even when not much food has been consumed. When asked about it, she mentioned that she has stomach cramps, and that eating is making her sick, even though I've made sure to only serve fresh foods."

"Thank you, Nora."

He thinks the maid's words over in his head and decides he simply can't let Aristia suffer this way. Sure, she was wrong about going behind everyone's backs and signing a peace treaty with the enemy, but she will already pay with her life, so why torture her any more than that?

He beats himself up over having sent her to the dungeon at the officials' request, and commands Hyunjin to go check on her while anxiously waiting for a report back.

"Your Highness," Hyunjin enters the room with haste, "her Majesty is currently unconscious. Her body temperature is very low, and her complexion doesn't look good. I'm afraid that without proper treatment, she might pass away."

"What?" Chris immediately stands up in shock, heading directly towards the dungeons to her cell.

As Hyunjin has said, her body is ice cold to the touch, but despite this, she's sweating profusely, and no matter what he says or how he moves her limbs, she stays unconscious.

He shakes his head in denial and picks her up in his arms, taking her to his room and instructing Hyunjin to treat her to the best of his abilities.

As he's trying to give her medicine, Chris decides to stay right next to the bed, wringing his hands in worry in his lap, since he is sure he wouldn't be able to focus on anything else anyway. He puts his trust in Jisung and Seungmin that they'd continue to work on finding something, anything to exempt Aristia from the impending execution, and he simply watches his wife breathe in and out.

~

Hours pass by and Aristia finally opens her eyes.

"Hyunjin...?" She mutters, her voice faint, barely audible.

"Your Highness, I will help you sit up so you can drink an herbal tea. It will soothe your stomach pains and make you feel better." Hyunjin speaks gently, trying to not startle her.

"I don't... I don't want to... wake up..." She manages to get out weakly and closes her eyes again, but Hyunjin shakes her awake and helps her sit up despite her silent protests.

"You have to drink this, come on." He instructs and places the cup against her lips, helping her drink little by little.

Chris watches the whole scene with concern, and Aristia is so out of it, she can't even notice he is in the room with them, nor that she is no longer in a cell. He recalls seeing her in a similar state after her father's abuse, but at least that time, she was more or less physically fit.

Now, not only is the light in her eyes completely gone, but she looks like she's about to faint at any moment.

"How are you feeling?" Hyunjin asks her, and it appears the tea did wonders, as she seems a bit livelier. "I've also sent for the maids to bring you some soup."

"I don't... I don't think I can eat, Hyunjin." She says, her eyes closing again. "I think I'm sick. Every time I smell food, I get so nauseous, I immediately feel the need to throw up. And I'm so dizzy..."

"When did these symptoms start? Once you went to the cell?"

"No... a few days before that..."

"Your Highness, when have you last had your period?" Hyunjin inquires further.

"Can't... remember... ugh... it's so bright..." She shuts her eyes and covers herself with the duvet.

Hyunjin throws Chris a hurried look, before looking back at Aristia who's already falling back asleep on the soft pillow.

"We need to talk." He immediately says, looking back at the Emperor, who follows him outside the room with haste.

"What's wrong with her? Did she catch a disease or something in the cell?" Chris asks once they're outside.

"I don't think so, Your Highness... I'm not entirely sure about this, but all her symptoms are pointing towards a possible pregnancy." He says in a breath.

"What...?" Chris' eyes widen.

"What I'm saying is, Her Highness might be with child. I need to run some more tests-"

"That's not... that's not possible, is it?" Chris cuts him off.

"Apologies for my intrusive question, but... have you bed the Empress?"

"I did, but..."

"Then, it's entirely possible that she is currently pregnant, Your Majesty."

Hearing these words, Chris falls to his knees, covering his face with his palms flabbergasted.

This changes everything.

If so far, he was trying his hardest to find something, anything, a loop that would ensure she wouldn't get executed for her crime, he's now found it in the most unexpected form.

A possible heir to the throne.

"Are you alright?" Hyunjin asks with concern, bending down to check on Chris, whose expression is gleaming with happiness the moment his hands leave his face.

"Hyunjin, this is the best news you could've ever delivered. Please make sure she's getting better. I need to go."

He stands up and starts running towards his office, summoning all of the important officials of the court and relaying the information that Aristia is expecting, which postpones her execution indefinitely.

~

"Good morning, Your Highness. How are you feeling?" A young maid is smiling at her, and as Aristia sits up and looks around, noticing two other maids, she grows utterly confused.

"What is going on? Am I hallucinating?" She asks, taking in her surroundings and noticing she is in the Emperor's room.

"His Highness the Emperor has called for us to continue assisting you, Your Highness." Alice says but can't contain her excitement any longer and hugs Aristia tightly.

"What...? What day is it?"

"It's Monday, Your Majesty." Juliana bows, approaching the bed as well.

"But I was supposed to be executed yesterday... What is happening, girls? Why am I here, and why would the Emperor call back for you?" Aristia shakes her head in disbelief.

"Your Highness, although we are aware of the reasons, we are unable to disclose them. The Emperor wants to talk to you himself. I will inform him that you are awake so you could have breakfast together." Mari is the third maid to speak and bow, and the three maids immediately leave the room.

Aristia decides to go to the bathroom and freshen up, trying to piece together what happened in the past few days. She can't remember anything at all after the second day of her confinement, so she can't figure out why she is in the Emperor's room, or why she is even alive.

Moments later, Chris comes with haste and hurries directly to her, hugging her tightly.

"I don't understand-" Aristia starts but is cut off by his lips on top of hers.

"I'm so glad to see that you're awake and well enough to walk." He says, taking her face between his hands and brushing her cheeks softly with his thumbs.

"Chris, could you please tell me what's happening?" She frowns. Did she dream of the whole thing? Did she somehow turn back in time before she committed any crimes and betrayed his trust?

"Aristia, can't you recall anything from the past week?" He asks, and she shakes her head.

"I remember feeling sick, but..."

"Alright. Let's sit down first, and I'll tell you everything you need to know." He smiles and caresses her head once more, kissing her forehead and guiding her to sit down at the table. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah..." She nods. "But I'm feeling quite... queasy."

"The maids will bring us food in a moment, and Hyunjin prepared some medicine for your nausea, don't worry." He smiles again, placing his hand on top of hers and squeezing tightly. "In the meantime, what would you like to know?"

"Uhm... Alright... Why am I still alive? Wasn't I supposed to be executed yesterday?" She starts with the most pressing issue.

"Aristia, listen... you were extremely sick in the cell, so I had Hyunjin examine you, and... he had some suspicions you might be pregnant."

"What?" Her eyes immediately grow wide with surprise.

"He ran some more tests while you were unconscious and confirmed his suspicions. We will have a baby, my love." He kisses her hand and speaks softly.

"But... What about what I did? I betrayed you and committed treason. I forged official documents and stole the royal seal, and-"

"That's true..." He cuts her off, his smile faltering for a moment. "However, Seungmin, Jisung and I were already thinking of a plan to alter the officials' decision somehow and get you out of it, but we didn't know exactly how to do it. Everything changed the moment Hyunjin confirmed your pregnancy. Some of the officials who were adamant you'd be executed decided to turn a blind eye, others are still quite wary."

"This is... too much to take in. I don't quite understand what you mean, Chris. Were you truly willing to overlook what I did?" She frowns.

"I was." He kisses her hand again. "I promised you I will love you no matter what, haven't I? However, you know how politics are. Things are never that black and white. Since there are still some officials who want you to serve your punishment and be executed after you give birth, you would have to meet them and tell them your side of the story... your truth, and the motivation behind everything. Jisung and Seungmin have been working day and night on a speech, and I've been trying my hardest to make all of them understand that this treaty was not at all a bad idea."

"Do you truly think it wasn't a bad idea?" She asks quietly, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Mhm." He nods. "I think your idea was brilliant. I just wish you would've come to me first, instead of going behind my back."

His words are tinted with pain, his hold on her hand becoming tighter.

"I wish I would've done that too... I'm sorry for not putting my trust in you and for deciding to act on my own." She confesses quietly. "Chris, back in the Kingdom, I was the daughter no one wanted. A simple stain in the royal family. I simply feared that... I would become a stain in the Empire as well. What I wanted was to accomplish something on my own, to make myself be respected and have my own standing, but as it turns out, what I did caused the exact opposite."

"What you did earned you a spot at my table." Chris says, and her eyes widen in shock. "Even though the officials don't agree with what you've done, and even if I also doubted the treaty at first, after careful consideration, all I can tell you is that it was brilliant to think to do it this way, and the meticulous way you've crafted it was truly impressive."

"Are you serious?" She asks in disbelief.

"Mhm. However, how did your sister manage to convince the General to give up arms? I was honestly expecting them to attack even though we signed the treaty." Chris asks, curious as well. He wants to hear each part of Aristia's scheme, to understand the complexity of her thought process.

"My sister has poisoned the General following my instructions. I know it might be considered an act of cowardice, but-"

"Wait, what?" Chris cuts her off. "Is the General dead?"

"Mhm." She nods. "The treaty would've never happened with him alive."

"That's incredible! I will inform Seungmin and Jisung so they can add this bit to the official speech to the officials. I'm certain that once they all hear of this, they won't be able to comment much else on what you've done. You truly thought of it all." Chris exclaims in awe, finally seeing the sky clear up.

"I didn't think of everything. If I would've..." She shakes her head and tries not to think any more about it.

Instead, she decides to stand up, taking Chris into a hug which he is quick to reciprocate.

He pulls her onto his lap and holds her tightly, pressing a firm kiss against the back of her neck and feeling more relieved than ever that he can hold the woman he loves in his arms; that she is here, alive and breathing.

"What will I do with you, Aristia?" He asks softly, letting his head fall on her shoulder. "You're always fighting with me."

"I can't help it." She chuckles. "I'm truly sorry for everything. And I... I love you, Chris, and I'm sorry it took me so long to say it back."

"I don't think I can forgive you so easily." He teases. "You're going to have to apologise to me properly tonight."

Aristia bursts out laughing, her back leaning into Chan's chest, her hand travelling to her stomach, rubbing it slowly.

"A baby... I still can't believe it." She says, her mind preoccupied with worry. She knows how difficult her mother found it to conceive, and she assumed she would have the same fate, but there she was, pregnant not even a few months after starting to sleep with the Emperor.

Chris places his right hand on top of hers, on her stomach, and smiles in quiet happiness.

"I couldn't believe it either when Hyunjin told me about it. But I think this baby came at the perfect time, just when we needed it."

"Mhm, I guess." She nods absentmindedly. "When is the meeting with the officials?"

"I'm not entirely sure... Hyunjin suggested we wait a few months, until the risk of miscarriage is lower, so that you wouldn't stress yourself and impact the pregnancy negatively. There's enough time to prepare, so don't worry about anything at all, my love."

"Alright." She chuckles. "I'll try to just focus on myself and the baby for the time being."

Aristia turns herself to be able to kiss his lips, and then, the maids and butlers come with their breakfast foods, so she gets back into her chair and they begin eating together, talking and laughing about various subjects, just enjoying each other's presence.

~

(A/N) Y'ALL WERE RIGHT! SHE IS PREGNANT!

Love,

Storm