"I am so sorry, your majesty," said the Chief Physician.
Mana just stared at the barely and emmer wheat.
No indication of sprouting barley nor that the emmer wheat germinated.
Meaning Mana was not pregnant.
Mana nodded, understanding what she needed to do.
"Thank you." she weakly whispered before the guards escorted her out of the room surrounded by her servants.
Walking out into the hallway, Mana dismissed her servants as she needed to pay a visit to her husband.
Her servants kneeled before leaving their Queen alone, as she requested. Mana let out a shaky breath before controlling her emotions.
Slowly, she made her way to her husband's courtroom, knowing he was alone at this time.
The guards bowed down at her nearing presence and opened the doors for her.
Mana entered the room and almost ran out had it not been for the guards to close the door.
Seto was in the corner of the room, alone as she predicated, reading over new laws for Egypt. He had his back turned on her.
"I assume you came here to give me your test results?"
Mana nervously twisted her hair as she replied, "Yes."
There was an awkward silence before Seto demanded, "What were they?"
Mana was glad he wasn't facing her. She didn't wish to see his expression.
"I'm not pregnant."
From Mana's perspective, she could see how Seto tensed up. His shoulder and back muscles were in a tense state before he lowered his head down.
"This is the second time," he argued.
"I know- but the Chief Physician said-"
"Are you infertile?" Seto asked, frustrated.
Mana glared at him.
"This is the second time we've tried, and you're still not pregnant."
"I don't want you to touch me again." he quietly added, but Mana heard it.
Her eyes narrowed as she seethed, "You think I have the desire for you to touch me as well?"
Mana let out a disgusted scoff.
"I think we're both aware that I never wanted to end up in this arranged marriage."
"Then why did you choose me?" Mana screamed.
Seto was silent. Getting angrier at this rudeness, Mana stomped over to him and grabbed his shoulder.
"There was no one else!" he managed to yell as he turned around to face his wife.
"Lies! There are many high-status women in Egypt. You could have harems at your feet! Why me?"
"You were going to be handed to that man!"
"What about it? I could have advocated for myself."
"The council was not going to let go of his deal. I promise you; you would have been his wife were it not for me-"
Slap!
Seto just stood still, too shocked to process the fact that Mana had just slapped him on his right cheek.
"How ignorant of you to think of yourself as my savior," Mana said, with loathing in every word.
With a final glare, Mana collected herself before walking out of the room. Seto didn't move from his frozen state until he heard the guards closing the door.
Seto's jaw set hard before he turned back to his work. He was furious.
"How dare she?" he thought.
"Why did you ever fall for a girl like that?" Seto talked to himself.
As he skimmed over a new law, he couldn't help but replay Mana's question.
"Then why did you choose me?"
Seto furrowed his eyes, angry at how Mana thought it was okay for her to slap him.
Angry at himself for letting his emotions loose.
Angry at the promise he made that day.
"It's not going to be easy, but this kingdom shall return to its former glory. And you will see to it that this occurs, Seto." the Pharaoh spoke slowly.
"What?" is all Seto could whisper.
"I will be leaving this world, and you will be taking the throne, for you are now king of Egypt." the Pharaoh continued, making Seto's stomach drop.
Did this request mean that the Pharaoh was about to take his own life during this fight?
No! No!
"What? But I- But you-"
"So let it be written, so let it be done." the Pharaoh chanted, turning to look at him.
"But after we've been through. This kingdom needs a strong leader to move us ahead." Seto pleaded.
"And who better to lead this nation than you, Seto?" the Pharaoh hinted.
"My time is running out, farewell King Seto." the Pharaoh managed to say before groaning in pain and limping towards the war scene.
"Pharaoh, are you alright?" Seto questioned as he tried helping him up.
"Yes, I will soon join the Pharaohs that came before me, and you shall rebuild the land of Egypt. Trust the light in your soul," Atem uttered in pain.
"The light in my soul?"
"And now I leave you this." Atem placed the Millennium Puzzle on Seto. "As proof of your right to the throne. Please preserve my father's dream, and maintain peace in Egypt." Atem muttered before walking away from Seto.
"Yes, my King," Seto vowed.
"It is you who is now King." Atem teased before coughing a bit of blood. With a final sigh, Atem stopped and looked back at Seto.
"One more thing," he spoke.
Seto looked at him, afraid at how Atem's expression looked worried and scared.
"Promise me you'll look after her."
"Damn." Set cursed at himself, lowering his head on the table.
Why was this so hard?
Much later that night, Mana ordered to dine alone as she said she wasn't feeling well.
Her servants didn't need to understand what that meant.
As Mana dined alone, she could hear their whispers behind the door.
"Again? Do you think the Queen is… infertile?"
Mana tightened her hold on her utensil.
"Do you think it's a curse from the gods? She was with the former Pharaoh, and it hadn't been long since he died. She quickly got into Pharaoh Seto's bed."
"In my opinion, she's more of a harem. Hmm, I think even the harems have a bit more dignity."
Mana felt sick to her stomach.
"Stop… please," Mana whispered weakly.
"Poor Pharaoh Seto. Egypt needs an heir, and for his wife to fail him, he'll probably need a second wife fast."
"I wouldn't be surprised if a harem becomes pregnant with his child first, then the Queen. You know what they say, infertile women aren't good in bed."
"Stop! I beg of you." Mana wept silently, suddenly feeling nauseous at the food in front of her.
"Poor Pharaoh, getting married to a witch like her."
Mana had enough and pushed the food out of the table. The servants and guards burst into the room with the number of plates, cups, and wine pitchers shattering on the floor.
"My Queen!" both guards yelled in concern as they helped Mana regain composure.
Mana narrowed her eyes on her servants.
"How dare-" she began but silenced at the entry of her husband.
"What is the meaning of this?" Seto demanded to everyone. It didn't take long for him to realize Mana had caused this scene due to the food stains on her dress.
"Clean this up." Seto scorned the servants before walking towards Mana and grabbing her arm.
Silently they both walked out the room, Mana whimpering a bit at Seto's tight grip.
"You're… hurting me," Mana spoke.
"Is that so?" Seto scoffed, continuing to drag her down the hall.
"Let me go. I don't want you touching me a single moment more!" Mana pleaded.
"Look at yourself! Is this how the Queen of Egypt shall behave?" Seto suddenly asked, turning to glare at her.
"I didn't want this! For all I care, you could have harems giving your heirs! Just leave me alone!"
"Your behavior cannot go unpunished!"
Opening one of the many doors, Seto pushed Mana inside.
"Until you can learn to mask your emotions and control yourself, you can come out. Until then, two guards will guard the outside of this door."
With that, Seto shut the door, leaving Mana inside the room.
Alone with her swirl of emotions.
Note(s)
"One test involved watering barley and emmer wheat with the urine of a hopeful mother-to-be. If the barley sprouted, the woman was pregnant with a male child; if the emmer wheat germinated, she was pregnant with a female child. If the urine had no effect, the woman was not pregnant." - Ancient Egyptian Society and Family Life
Author's Note(s):
Seto's flashback is from "Yu-Gi-Oh!" season 5, episode 47 In the Name of the Pharaoh. Of course, English dub as I grew up with it. (Thank you KIDS' WB)