Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Edelgard's eyes fluttered open as dawn filtered through the curtains. She yawned and nuzzled into Hubert's check. She felt him stir and he ran a hand through her hair. "Good morning, my-- Edelgard," he murmured, kissing her head.   "Morning, Hubert..." she muttered back. She had slept fine, but she felt a bit sluggish for some reason. Oh well. She'd just ignore it. She was fine. She yawned again and kissed underneath his chin.   "So what would you like to do today?" he asked quietly. "Another lazy day or should we go out and do something?"   "I should probably do something today... I shouldn't spend all of my time lazing about." Yeah. She really shouldn't spend all of her time just laying around even if it did feel kinda like she wanted to do it again. She needed to start getting back in shape and laying around reading or just being in bed wouldn't do her any good. Plus, who knew what she'd be allowed to do while pregnant? That still loomed in her mind. She wasn't looking forward to it, but she had no real choice in the matter. If she hadn't chosen Hubert, she might have been paired with Ferdinand or somebody far, far worse... Ferdinand wasn't a bad man; he could just be a bit obnoxious about his moral system of being a noble. He had proven his worth and loyalty to the Empire after his wretched father had been removed from his post.   "All right. Want me to order breakfast while you get ready for the day or should we wait until after you do your practice?"   "I'll eat afterward." Yeah. She didn't necessarily like training on a full stomach. It could make her feel a bit nauseous and such. She leaned up and kissed him softly before climbing out of bed. She got dressed and pulled her hair back out of her face. They headed down to the training grounds and she started running through drills for about 45 minutes until she got extremely winded. Sweat dripped down her face and she wiped her brow, feeling a little bit nauseated already. Something was definitely off with her. She didn't feel quite right.   When she sat next to Hubert, he frowned at her. "Are you all right, my-- Edelgard? You're awfully pale. I mean... You're already on the pale side but even for you..." He put a hand on her forehead and his brows creased. "I think you're running a fever. You probably shouldn't be doing much of anything for the next few days at least. Do you feel anything else?"   She frowned. "I feel a bit nauseous..." It didn't seem like it was anything severe if she was sick. But yeah, it probably was best to just take it easy even though she didn't want to. What a mess. This sucked. She just wanted to be active and take advantage of her time off the throne. She couldn't be pregnant yet by any means since she was not fertile, so it had to be something like a stomach bug. "I might not be eating much the next few days."   "We should probably stay in our room. I won't leave you." He smiled at her and she nodded, smiling a little in return. She knew he wouldn't abandon her no matter what. So they headed back up to their room where she changed back into her night clothes and settled under the covers. He ordered them breakfast and she picked at it, her stomach roiling in protest of any food. She tried to get down what she could, but it really wasn't much. She just really didn't feel too good... And she could feel her body temperature climbing a bit.   After the failure that was breakfast, she cuddled up to Hubert and closed her eyes. She felt not so good... Whatever it was had definitely sunken into her system. He rested a hand on her forehead and it turned cold which felt welcome in the Adrestian heat. And the fever compounding it wasn't helping either. Her vision blurred a bit from the combined external and internal heat. "Is this helping at all...?" His voice was quiet.   "A bit... I feel faint..." Whatever this was had hit her like a wagon full of bricks. She felt so faint and uncomfortable. The heat wasn't helping anything at all either. She wished the whole room could cool down, but there wasn't magic for anything on such a scale. She would just have to be miserable until the fever broke.   "Would you like me to put you back to sleep for a nap? I can go get the healer and see what's wrong..." He was incredibly concerned. She couldn't blame him. She wasn't really one to get sick. Then again...maybe it was just stress. She was so prone to stress and the looming reality of having to get pregnant... That might be driving her to sickness. She didn't want it at all, but she had absolutely no choice in the matter... She didn't want a child or children yet... She wanted to have them on her terms but yeah, there was absolutely no choice in the matter...   "Yeah, that's probably a good idea..." She was roasting. She needed something to help break the fever... Hubert put a hand on her forehead and she slipped into darkness for what felt like only a moment until she felt hands on her. She froze and opened her eyes where she saw Hubert and the healer standing over her. Hubert put a hand on her head and smiled at her. "It's okay. It's just us." She nodded and sat up, though her head spun. The healer went through a basic checkup with her and frowned.   "I think it's just stress induced... I don't think it's going to get any better until the issue is out of the way." Edelgard frowned at his words. She still had several weeks until she'd be fertile... She'd have to talk to Hubert to see if he had anything. He did prescribe her some tinctures and teas that would make her feel better and help with symptoms. After he was done, he left. Hubert settled next to her again and she rested her head against his chest, eyes closing.   "Sorry for making you worry..." She rarely ever got to this point, but the weeks of stress had definitely taken their toll on her. She'd gotten to the point of stress-induced sickness a few times before in her life. If she got this bad while just thinking about getting pregnant...how much worse would it be if she'd been on the throne and with child? There was no real way around any of this... She was trying to do her best to not think about it, but it hung over her head like fog in early morning hours.   Hubert ran his hand through her hair and shook his head. "I understand... You're doing something you don't want to do..." He was quiet for a few minutes until he spoke again. "I...might have a solution that would help get this out of the way even sooner..." She blinked and looked up at him. What was he talking about? Something to get it out of the way? She had no idea what he meant.   He sighed. "Well. There are spells that let same-sex couples conceive, yes? In theory, it's not limited just to same-sex couples. And it has absolutely nothing to do with a woman's fertility... It can be used at any point to conceive children." Oh. Oh. That...made a lot of sense. She knew vaguely that such spells existed, but she hadn't thought of them outside of any context but the one that they were meant for. So she could get pregnant right away without any worries about trying to time it... It would guarantee she got pregnant to her knowledge.   "Does it guarantee pregnancy?" She really wasn't fond of this idea either, but she might just continue to get worse over the following weeks health wise. She couldn't handle being sick that long. She'd go absolutely stir crazy and there was no telling what would happen to her fertility rates if she was sick for weeks on end. She had worried herself absolutely insane... She hadn't realised just how badly she could stress herself sometimes...   "It does, yes. It doesn't prevent the potential for miscarriage or anything like that but it gets around needing to try to time things. And...if you use it multiple times, you can potentially have multiple, though I doubt you'd want that..." She frowned at the consideration. She knew multiples carried huge risks. She had honestly prepared for the possibility due to the spells he'd be using which would increase the likelihood of multiples. She knew it'd be a lot of hard work, but she'd have the support of staff and a wet nurse to help her with things. So it wouldn't be as if she were a single mother attempting to care for a bunch of children on her own.   She squeezed her hands together and looked down at them. "Honestly... I was prepared for the possibility when you brought it up due to the magic you'd be using... If I had twins...it would also help shut the adivers up even more. It'd be two children to House Hresvelg. But I know multiples carry risks with it... I wouldn't want to go above two." She didn't know much about it in truth, but she knew that multiples did carry some risks. She hoped that she wouldn't run into any major risks with this decision. But she did look up at Hubert. This wasn't just her decision... "What would you think about it?" They would be his children just as much as they'd be hers.   He let out a breath. "Well... It'd be chaotic and difficult, no doubt about it. But you're right that multiples carry risks. I really worry about the toll it'd take on your body. You've grown and filled out more but...you're still tiny, my-- Edelgard. And it's recommended to hold off on sex for about a week after using the spells, so that's another consideration. But my main worry really is you..." He kissed her head. She nodded. She probably would be at risk of some sort of issue due to how tiny she was even if she had filled out more since having the Crest of Flames removed. She'd grown five inches and put on more weight, though her muscle mass had greatly decreased due to how little she'd been exercising and keeping up on her combat training. "But you are right... It would shut the advisers up if you had multiples. If it's what you want, then it's what we'll do."   She sighed and nodded, resting her head against his chest again. "Yeah... It seems like the best idea..." She knew she was really rushing into this, but she'd only continue to get worse over time if she didn't act on this as soon as possible... She didn't want to be down for several weeks with these symptoms. They'd only get worse too. She had some energy right now, but it wouldn't be there as the days wore on. She just...couldn't handle not getting pregnant until she was certain about it.   "Very well... The spells are a bit complex and I've never practiced them before--obviously--so it may take me some time." Hubert started to weave the spells, his voice low and pretty much incoherent to her. She couldn't really identify what all he was doing since he was muttering to himself the entire time. But, eventually, she felt two pulses of energy go through her which made her shiver. There was a sensation of...more to those pulses. She was pretty sure she could identify what it was. "Do you think it worked?"   She nodded. "Yeah... I do... I felt two strange pulses of energy." She rested a hand on her lower abdomen. So it had begun... She...still really wasn't sure about any of this, but there was no going back now. She knew there were herbs that could end pregnancies but...she couldn't risk that, not now, especially not when she was so stressed over it. She closed her eyes and rested against Hubert, her heart hammering in her chest. She was pretty sure she was pregnant now... With twins, no less. By her own choice. Pregnancy in and of itself was absolutely terrifying due to how fraught it was, but there was no getting around it. She just hoped the two lives developing in her wouldn't miscarry or anything like that... House Hresvelg was in shambles and she was the only person that could carry on the house... She shouldn't have been the one to do it, but she had no choice in the matter.   Hubert wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. "I know you're afraid, but I'll be by your side every step of the way. I'm not going to abandon or leave you. You know that, right?" He kissed her head.   She gave a small nod. "It's one reason I chose you as my husband... I know you won't abandon me no matter what. You'll have to be on the throne in my stead, but I trust you with it... I trust you with everything I am, Hubert." She pulled away just enough so that way she could lean up and kiss him. It was a heated kiss, trying to convey her confidence and trust him. He returned it with heat of his own, pulling her close as he did so. They broke for air, both a little short of breath. "I know you'll be loyal until the very end." She still wasn't sure how to handle the consorts though... She knew he didn't want to share her, but with her body and desire to not be pregnant for the better part of a decade to produce an "acceptable" amount of heirs... Well, she didn't have much choice. Only two children would make the advisers keep pushing her to have more and more children. She didn't want that... She absolutely needed help with childbirth, but she wanted to at least be sure she could get along with the potential consorts...   She yawned, though, and felt her head droop a bit. "Do you want to take a nap? When you're sick, rest is really one of the best things you can do for your body."   Edelgard nodded. "Yeah... That's probably a good idea..." She yawned then laid down. He also did as well, holding her close to him.   The rest of the day was her fading in and out of consciousness. He tried to get food into her at designated meal times, but she just didn't feel up to eating too much. Though she knew she'd need to eat more, what with two lives inside of her now... She just felt mildly nauseous thanks to the stress-induced sickness she'd managed to land herself in. Though, from what Mirjam had said...she was fairly likely to feel rather queasy as she got later into her pregnancy. She was not looking forward to any of this, but there was no other choice.   As the sun began to set, Hubert kissed her head. "Should I assume you don't feel up to a bath tonight?"   She nodded. "Yeah... I just don't feel like it... I want to sleep." Not bathing one night wasn't going to kill them. Hubert didn't protest and gave her a soft squeeze. He put a hand on her head and she felt gentle darkness take her, though his warmth remained wrapped around her.