Chapter 69 [Bonus Chapter] Am I The One Who Is Cursed?
Note:
Thank you Readingfairy for gifting a castle to this book today. I decided to publish this bonus chapter for you. ^^
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The sudden crash surprised some of the patrons and they looked at the tavern owner and Sophie. The tavern owner clicked his tongue and shook his head. "It's not my fault! She suddenly fell down on her own!"
A couple of the people nearby immediately helped Sophie up and were looking at the young woman with a hint of concern. "Are you okay?"
"What happened?!"
"This woman suddenly fell down weak-kneed!"
"Is she all right?"
"What's wrong? There's nothing terrible with the food, right??"
The noise would get to Sophie and she quickly darted away from the person who helped her up. She quickly moved away and lowered her head while tears stung her eyes.
"Thank you so much, but I really need to get going now." Everyone was stunned to see the beautiful woman suddenly had tears streaming down her cheeks. They were wondering what happened.
Without another word, Sophie pushed away from the crowd of both spectators and observers and ran as fast as she could back to the inn. When she came back into her room, she fell on her bed and started to cry.
An unbearable amount of pain filled her chest and she howled for a moment as she buried her head in the pillow. She tried to stifle away the sounds to not disturb the other people in their rooms, but her chest heaved and wracked out sobs.
"No! No!" Sophie sobbed and her shoulders kept shaking. "Oh... Nic... why??? Why is this happening to me??"
She felt extremely empty and broken at the same time as if her heart was split open. After everything that happened, Sophie thought she could finally be happy with Nicholas and spend her days with him as husband and wife.
Was she too naive to think that she could actually be happy?
Why was it that the people that Sophie cared about continued to leave and disappear from her life? Tears trickled down her eyes and she hiccuped as she looked at the empty room. "I… am I the one who's actually cursed?"
Losing every loved one she ever knew, felt like a terrible curse.
***
When Sophie woke up later that day, she realized that she had fallen asleep after crying so hard and now she was dehydrated. It was a situation that seemed so small and unimportant when compared to what happened to her husband.
A part of Sophie didn't want to get up from bed or even move at all because the information about Lord Ferdinand and his nephew dying when she was only staying in the inn in Hauntingen filled her with sorrow.
It sapped all the energy and will in her to do anything.
Did anything matter now that her husband was dead? A painful smile flickered on Sophie's lips and yet she slowly got up and moved. She would get a glass of water from outside of her room and then walk back inside to sit on her bed.
Even though everything right now hurt so much, she still forced herself to get up and drink water. However, suddenly, as if her body couldn't even stomach ingesting anything, Sophie started to sputter and coughed out the water that she drank.
"Ah..." Another tear slipped down her cheek.
Was it so painful that even her body lost the will to live? She rubbed furiously at her cheek and tried to drink down the water more slowly this time and gulped it down.
After emptying the glass, she held it and only stared at the empty cup.
"What am I going to do next, Nick?" Sophie's voice croaked and she hoped that a funeral would come so she could actually attend. However, the death of both Lord Ferdinand and Nicholas already happened over a month ago.
Even if there was a funeral, it was already over and she knew that it would be impossible to find the grave. Or even if Sophie could ask, people would think that a commoner was not fit to visit a noble's grave.
What were the chances that if Sophie got in contact with Nicholas' parents that they would blame her for what happened to their son? Maybe they wouldn't even acknowledge Sophie as Nicholas' wife because they would think that it's irrelevant.
They would probably be livid to know that Nicholas married a peasant like her.
"Would they think that I only came for their money?" a painful smile came on Sophie's face. "That's what Aunt Helga used to think about my mother and now I'm thinking that Nick's parents would assume the same."
Sophie found herself incredibly alone and not sure of what to do right now. A part of her longed to go back to Hauntingen because it was her home but there were so many recent and happy memories with Nicholas that would spring up in her head.
"It's more inexpensive to stay in Hauntingen than here at Hastings," Sophie said to herself. "I've made sure to avoid the places and stay in a cheap inn, but if I encountered my aunt or cousins, they'd make my life a living hell again."
A sad smile formed on Sophie's face when she realized how she managed to keep herself busy by thinking of all of these things.
"What am I doing? I am supposed to mourn for longer and yet here I am making plans on how to leave when I just found out that Nick's...." Sophie's eyes stung and she couldn't even finish her sentence. She went to her bed and laid down to look at the ceiling and stare at it blankly.
She couldn't sleep anymore.
A part of Sophie always kept herself going and moving, never letting things stop her or let them get by. She was devastated when she lost her parents and now she was devastated again.
It was as if someone had torn a piece of Sophie's heart and refused to give it back to her and she would forever feel like there was something missing inside of her.
However, a part of Sophie was always going beyond and trying to overcome the challenges. The fighting spirit that never gave up, was still there and Sophie hated it right now.
"Nick, I… I'm so sorry that I couldn't be there for you. I wish that you were here with me and..." Sophie curled into a small ball inside of her bed. She just wanted to mourn and try to release all of the pain that was inside of her heart.
***
When Sophie woke up once again, she would find herself feeling sick that even though she skipped a meal and barely ate at the tavern, she immediately went to the bathroom and vomited.
Sophie retched and then heaved even though there was nothing to spew out. There were so many things happening and she found herself in a state of mess.
What was wrong with her? An uneasy feeling settled on her stomach and she decided to go visit a physician.
The local practitioner in Hastings was a kind and aged doctor who looked after both the residents and travelers that passed through the town. When Sophie came to the small clinic, she was given a seat as some preliminary conditions were checked.
"Ah, dear… how about we go through your symptoms first, okay?" the physician said. "Let's see, we have vomiting, extreme nausea, and even weakness. You said you almost fainted on the way here too."
"Yes." Sophie bit on her lip worriedly. If she hadn't caught herself from falling, she would have stumbled and fallen on the ground.
"Alright. Let's see, have you been traveling lately?"
"I've come all the way from Hauntingen to here."
"I see. It's quite far from here. Do you experience, maybe, motion sickness? Did you encounter anything strange or weird while you were on the road? A plant or something in the trees?"
"Um, no?" Sophie had no idea why that was related to anything she was experiencing but she let the physician do his work until suddenly the physician asked her a question that made her pause.
"When was your last menstrual cycle?"
Sophie's eyes widened at the question and she stared at the physician. The past month had been such a blur with her constantly waiting for Nicholas that she didn't even pay attention to anything else.
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From Missrealitybites:
Poor Sophie. Now... the question is, do you think Sophie is pregnant?
1. YES. It's good that she is carrying the heir to the throne.
2. Gosh, I hope not. The girl has suffered so much.