The entire courtyard fell silent, and the midwife opened her mouth, but she didn"t dare to raise suspicions against a chef who had cooked for the king. Furthermore, magic potions were far from delicious, and Miranda wasn"t even able to stomach any plain porridge, so it was very unlikely that she would"ve been able to drink a potion and keep it down.As such, all of the people in the courtyard were filled with elation again.
"I heard that even Head Chef Beate of the Ducas Restaurant wasn"t invited to cook for the king during his birthday banquet. Does that mean this Boss Mag is an even better chef than him?"
"I"ve also heard of Mamy Restaurant. It"s a relatively new restaurant, but it"s extremely popular, and there"s almost always a long line of customers stretching all the way out of the restaurant"s doors."
"If this Boss Mag"s chicken soup is this amazing, then wouldn"t all pregnant mothers have a much higher chance of smooth deliveries if they were to drink it?"
Everyone began to discuss spiritedly among themselves, and they were all quite curious about this Boss Mag. His chicken soup had saved Miranda from the brink of death, and he had even been invited to Rodu to cook for the king. Both of those things were quite extraordinary to them.
"Even after drinking the soup and eating the fried rice, the mistress still isn"t out of the woods quite yet; she could give birth at any time." The other midwife wore a solemn expression as she turned to one of the servants, and instructed, "Don"t just stand there and watch; go and prepare some hot water!"
The courtyard gradually fell silent again. Everyone"s expression had relaxed a little, but they were still feeling quite tense.
Miranda"s condition had improved significantly, but the true hurdle would arise when she went into labor.
Everything should be fine now, right? Harrison was also growing rather uneasy. He had full trust in Mag"s cooking, but it wasn"t medicine, after all, and he knew that Miranda had barely survived while giving birth to Angus.
Within the room.
After eating the entire container of fried rice, Miranda licked it clean before setting it aside, looking as if she could"ve eaten more. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were glowing; she was looking much better than most pregnant women did on the cusp of labor.
Gjerj took the empty container from her before carefully handing her a bowl of chicken soup. "Have some more soup."
"Sure. After this bowl, I want to drink two more bowls. My stomach has been completely empty during these past few days." Miranda nodded before eagerly accepting the bowl of chicken soup. She ignored the spoon, and pressed her lips against the rim of the bowl before chugging down its contents in mere moments.
"I"ll get you another bowl." Gjerj nodded with a smile before pouring another bowl of chicken soup.
Mag had given him a very large container with soup, and even after pouring out so many bowls, more than half of the soup still remained, so it was definitely going to be enough for a meal later that night.
After chugging down two more bowls of chicken soup, Miranda patted her stomach with a satisfied expression. It had been many days since she had last experienced this feeling of satiation and contentment, and her entire body was warm and full of energy. She was feeling so comfortable that she wanted to fall asleep.
Gjerj placed the bowl down before sitting at the bedside and looking at Miranda with a warm and gentle expression on his face.
As Miranda looked back at Gjerj, tears welled up in her eyes, and she whispered, "Thank you, Gjerj."
"Don"t be silly; I should be the one thanking you," Gjerj whispered as he scooted over and held Miranda in a gentle embrace.
A blissful smile appeared on Miranda"s face, but her expression suddenly changed as she laid hand onto her own belly with a painful cry. "Ah… The child… She"s coming out…"
"Hurry! Get the midwives to come in here!" A panicked expression appeared on Gjerj"s face, and he held onto Miranda"s hand tightly as he yelled, "I"m here for you, Miranda, don"t worry…"
"Get out of here; I"m going to give birth right now! Get them to bring hot water! Hurry!!!"
The two midwives who were already standing by the door immediately rushed in. One of them helped Miranda back into a flat lying position, while the other herded Gjerj and Parmer out the door in a rough manner.
Miranda forced her eyes open to look at Gjerj, who remained resolutely on the spot. "Argh! I… I"ll be fine…" she said in a determined manner through her pain, gasping.
Gjerj picked up Parmer and looked at the midwife with a serious expression as he said, "Regardless of what happens, save Miranda! Choose her over the child! Do you understand?"
"Alright, get out!" The midwife nodded as he shoved Gjerj out the door.
Miranda turned to the midwife with a pained expression, and whispered, "Don"t listen to him… If the choice has to be made, save the child…"
"Stop talking, Mistress; the child is about to come out! Prepare to pus.h.!.+ Where"s the water? Carry it over here…"
Miranda"s screams erupted from within the room, accompanied by loud words of encouragement from the midwives. The female servants hurried in and out of the room, bringing hot water and towels as required.
The entire courtyard was deathly silent. Everyone was looking at the room with tense expressions on their faces, waiting for the final result.
Miranda"s screams of agony were making them wince—it was very difficult to imagine what kind of pain could draw such screams from a woman who was normally so soft-spoken and gentle.
Gjerj clenched his fists tightly as the veins on his forehead bulged, and his breathing was also quite rapid.
Parmer had his palms together with his eyes tightly shut, seemingly muttering something in prayer.
All of the servants hung their heads with pained expressions, sympathizing with her pain and devastated by the fact that she could possibly die from this ideal.
The relentless screams erupting from Miranda"s mouth were making her throat become quite hoa.r.s.e. Right at this moment, her screams came to an abrupt halt.
All of the people in the courtyard raised their heads in unison with bewildered expressions on their faces.
"Wah!"
A delicate infantile cry suddenly sounded, and a female servant ran out of the room with elation as she announced loudly, "It"s a boy! Both the child and mother are safe and sound!"
"Yes!"
A wave of cheers instantly rang out as everyone exulted with all their might.
Gjerj was also completely overjoyed, and he felt as if all of his energy had been sapped away, almost causing him to collapse to the ground. Thankfully, someone noticed his unsteady figure, and reached out to catch him before he could fall.
"That"s fantastic news." Harrison also heaved a sigh of relief before murmuring to himself with a peculiar expression, "As expected, it"s another boy…"
"I don"t care; I love boys!" Gjerj snapped as he turned around to glare at Harrison.
Harrison shrugged in a nonchalant manner. "I like boys too. Looks like I"ve got another G.o.dson."
"Waah!"
Gjerj took a moment to compose himself, and was just about to enter the room when another infantile cry sounded from within the room. A chorus of two infants crying at once rang out immediately thereafter.
"Hmm?"
Everyone was dumbstruck upon hearing this.
"The mistress gave birth to another one! It"s a girl this time! They"re twins!"
Another female servant rushed out with joy and excitement on her face.
Gjerj rushed into the room and over to Miranda"s bed, and then gently encircled her body in his warm embrace as tears began to flow down his face.
"Gjerj, we have a daughter now. We should thank Boss Mag," Miranda said with a feeble smile on her face.