A smile formed on Lord Richard’s face when he remembered the good times he shared with Queen Victoria. And since that fateful night, he had been having sex with her for God knows how long. The smile on his face dissipated and a sad expression settled on his face when he remembered the worst. But why would this happen to him?

****

A Few Hours Ago In Victoria’s Room

"Are you alright?" Lord Richard asked a surprised Queen Victoria. His gaze fell on the bones on the floor and table and on the untouched rice and soup. Why was she suddenly this gluttonous? As far as he could remember, she had never acted like this before.

He took a few steps towards where she stood, his probing gaze never leaving hers. He could see the fear on her face when he approached where she was. But why should she fear him? He was not a monster!

"I don’t know what’s happening to me," she said after a while. I just feel nauseated, and have craving for meat. I am also switching moods easily. I just can’t help myself," She said with dropped shoulders.

A frown settled on Lord Richard’s face. Everything that she had said rang a bell in his mind. His heart beat in anticipation and fear when he considered what was running in his mind. No! That couldn’t be! He screamed at his mind.

"You need to see a physician. Maybe it’s just a minor disease," he told her and that also eased his mind. Damn! Why would he ever think of such a thing in the first place. But the stakes were high considering the fact that he did it raw. He raked his fingers through his hair and reminded himself to calm down. Maybe he was just overthinking.

"Richard?" He hear Victoria call her softly. His head whipped to her and what he saw made him nearly jump out of his skin. Victoria was falling! He acted swift and caught her by her wrist and waist before she could kiss the cold floor.

"Your Majesty?" He called as he placed her on the bed. Oh no! She was unconscious, again! Maybe what he thought was true after all. No! It couldn’t be! That could not happen! No! He had to confirm it. He raked his fingers through his hair for the nth time before he stormed out of the room to fetch the chief physician.

The chief physician was watering some of the flowers around his office when Lord Richard walked in with a worried face. This alarmed the chief physician. He placed the can on the ground and found Lord Richard pacing nervously in his office.

"What happened? Is everything alright My Lord?" He asked. Lord Richard halted on his tracks when he noted the physician’s presence in the office. He bit his lip and took a breath to calm himself down.

"It’s the queen," he said in clenched teeth.

"What about her?" The physician asked in a nervous-stricken voice.

"She is unconscious, the second time in a row today. I don’t know what’s wrong with her," he said. The physician looked surprised but he was quick to regain his composure.

"I’ll go check on her," he said, and in one swift movement, he picked a box that was placed on his desk before he dashed out of the office headed to Victoria’s quarters.

"Wait!" Lord Richard wanted to protest but the physician was already gone, so fast that Lord Richard thought he was Crescian. He shook his head before he followed him to the queen’s chambers.

"What happened to her?" The physician asked as he examined the unconscious queen on the bed. Lord Richard stood closely, leaning on the bed’s frame.

"She just fell, unconscious," he simply said, shrugging his shoulders. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Had she eaten anything before?" The physician enquired without looking at Lord Richard. He was lifting the queen’s lips as he ran something that looked like a cotton wool in her mouth and gums.

Lord Richard stared at the leftovers of food that were on the table. Would he really tell the physician the truth? Truth be told, he also wanted to know what was wrong with Victoria, and disclosing information from the physician wouldn’t help at all.

"Yes," he said. And after a while of silence, he let out a sigh before he added," Before she passed out, she told me that she has been craving for specific types of food, having mood swings, and experiencing a nausea."

The chief physician lowered his glasses a bit at that information. He wrinkled his nose before he focused on the queen’s pulse. Lord Richard would see a frown settle on his face now and then. He was placing two of his fingers on Victoria’s wrist and a frown would settle on his face every time. This made Lord Richard curious.

"Is she alright?" He asked at last. The physician gestured him to wait when Victoria suddenly stirred from her ’sleep’. She squinted her eyes to the surroundings before she spotted the chief physician by her side and a worried Lord Richard standing not too far away from where she was. The chief physician smiled at her and this made her more confused.

"Congratulations Your Majesty," the chief physician begun with the same smile on his face. Congratulations for what? Queen Victoria was now confused. What had she done to deserve a comment from the chief physician? Had she saved a life or made a lifesaving herb?

"You are pregnant!" The words left the physician’s mouth in an instant, and the room grew eerily silent. "How I wish His Majesty was still alive to see his third child!" The physician added with a solemn look, a thrill evident in his voice.

Apart from the chief physician who was happy, two beings in the room were completely at a trance. Lord Richard had expected this to be true by why did it feel this way? Wasn’t he supposed to be happy that Victoria was going to have a child, his child! He looked at her and their gazes met, holding secrets of the untold truths!