Gracy smiled upon hearing Elena's reply, "Well then, I won't force you to have an abortion. Like you said, the child is innocent, and I believe, as a mother myself, that risking our own life for our child's sake is the duty of every mother in this world."
Gracy paused for a moment and continued, "Also, about your child's father, if my assumption is correct, he may be a member of the Nyxborn family of the demon world."
"Nyxborn family?" Elena asked in puzzlement. Her knowledge about this world was confined to the borders of the mountainous village where she had stayed earlier, so it was natural that she was unaware of the Nyxborn family.
"In Celestia, there are 12 continents surrounding the central continent called the Mother World. Among these 12 continents, 9 of them still have their royal heritage preserved until now. Although each of these continents is ruled by its own federal government now, in the past, they were under the care of royal families."
"Even now, the influence and power these 9 royal families hold could rival that of the ruling government."
"The Nyxborn family is one among these 9 royal families; they are the true rulers of the demon world," Gracy explained with a nostalgic look on her face.
Elena clenched the bedsheet upon hearing Gracy's words.
Gracy also noticed her unease and asked, "I have some old friends who are capable enough to talk about your matter with the Nyxborn family. As far as I know, although they are muscle-headed idiots who will fight over even minor disagreements, they are not ones to disregard one of their own."
"If you could inform them about your child, they might take you into their care."
Elena shook her head with a terrified look on her face. "No…we can't let him know about my child."
Gracy looked at the panicked Elena with furrowed brows.
"He said he was married and that he loves his wife very much. No matter what, he won't accept a slave like me," Elena explained in a low voice. "Powerful people like them will do anything to uphold their dignity. I'm afraid he will either kill me or force me to abort the child in my womb."
"Furthermore, even if he accepts my child, a child born from a slave like me will always be a disgrace to his name, and he won't be able to love my child. To the contrary, he might even hate it."
Gracy was stunned upon hearing Elena's words; she had not thought of such a possibility. "Fine then, let's just forget about that scumbag, Raven. Like you said, there is also a possibility that they will simply snatch your child from you, justifying that he is the child's father."
"Rest well, kid. Let's take things as they come," Gracy said, standing up from the chair with a wry smile on her face before leaving the room.
Slowly, days passed peacefully. Elena would work during the day in the art store, and she managed to increase her savings quite a bit as time went on. Day by day, her belly also grew larger.
But things got complicated in the sixth month of her pregnancy. Due to the poor health condition of her body and hidden internal injuries that even the doctors of Starshine City Hospital were clueless about how to cure, her body slowly began to collapse bit by bit.
Several veins below her waist were slowly dying, and her health was so poor that even speaking a few words had become tiring for her.
"Miss Gracy, we can't continue like this. You have to talk some sense into her. I know it is a bit cruel to do so, but now our only option is to preserve Elena's life. If you insist on keeping the child, we might lose both the mother and the child," an old lady, who appeared to be the same age as Gracy, said to her in an angry voice. She was the head doctor of the gynecology department of the city hospital.
Gracy looked at Elena, who was lying on the hospital bed with a pale face, and said helplessly, "What can I do? She says she has grown attached to the child in her belly, and even if it costs her life, she will save her child."
Clara, the head doctor, turned to Elena and said in a scolding tone, "Don't make a dumb decision based on sudden impulse. Most of the nerve endings below your waist are showing signs of complete damage. If we don't start treatment as soon as possible, you might become a cripple for the rest of your life."
Elena asked, biting her lip, "Can't we do the treatment without harming my baby?"
Clara shook her head. "We're not even sure what is causing all those internal injuries inside your body, so using plant magic or any medicine is out of the question. The only way is to use light magic to repair the damaged nerves before they are completely dead. However, this treatment will be harmful to the child. In the worst case, it will die, and in the best case, the child might be born with disabilities."
Elena opened her mouth to ask something, but Clara stopped her. "Now don't ask me to wait until you give birth to start the light divine treatment. Your body won't last until then. The only options before you are either to die with your child by deciding to give birth to it, or to preserve your own life by choosing an abortion."
"Even if you choose the first option, there is only a 5 percent chance that the child will survive. So think carefully and give me an answer," Clara said, starting to walk out of the room.
"I will go with the first option then. After all, there is a five percent chance that my baby will survive, right?" Elena said without hesitation before Clara could leave the room.
Gritting her teeth in frustration, Clara turned around and angrily shouted at Elena, "Damn it! Why am I even wasting my words on an idiot like you? Are you a fool? Can't you understand what I said? A 5 percent survival chance is as good as directly saying that the child won't survive, no matter what, you moron..."
"Fine then, we'll do as you say. It's not like I'll lose anything if you die; it's not the first time someone has died in front of me."
After venting her anger, Clara left the room without looking back.
Gracy sat down on the bed near Elena and asked in a gentle voice, "Will you regret this decision?"
Elena shook her head with a smile. "My baby is the most precious thing to my heart now. I would rather die without regret than live a life regretting not giving my child a chance to see this world."
Gracy smiled and placed her hand over Elena's stomach. "Your mother is bearing all these hardships for your sake, so make sure to look after her once you come out."