I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 154

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Side Story Episode 4
The finest future Kalien could ever envision was a life as Rosien’s companion. Nothing else held any meaning whatsoever.
Yet Rosien had never given him anything that could cause him harm.
Even if circumstances forced such a situation upon him, if it came from Rosien, Kalien would gladly drink poison without hesitation.
“When will the child be born?”
“Probably six and a half months from now. Since this is my first pregnancy, I’m not entirely certain, but they say my belly will swell much faster from here on.”
“…I can’t believe it. It’s still smaller than half a fist.”
“I know. We’ll find out soon enough, I suppose.”
Kalien, who had been silently moving his lips, suddenly pulled Rosien into a tight embrace.
There is nothing meaningless about anything connected to you.
Whatever world you show me, it will be beautiful.
* * *
A month passed, then two, and before long three months had slipped away. Rosien found her increasingly heavy body difficult to support at times.
Perhaps because the child was born of the world’s most brilliant sorcerer, or perhaps because it carried the blood of Kalien, whose existence had been established through countless trials. The child was extraordinary even in the womb.
“Kirges and Wynyak have never had particularly good compatibility to begin with. I’m quite curious which bloodline the child will inherit more strongly….”
Railo, who had come directly to the Kirges Residence to examine Rosien, furrowed his brow and said, “Hmm.”
“But the belly has swollen quite a bit for the gestational age, and the fetal energy seems excessive for a single child. Are you sure there’s only one?”
“There might not be just one?”
“We’ll need to wait for it to grow larger to be certain…. But twins are a possibility. You’re in for some hardship, Kirges. If they’re twins, they could be born earlier than expected.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been researching sorcery to reduce the pain in preparation for such cases.”
Rosien answered with confidence.
Knowing well that childbirth entailed considerable pain, the sorcerers of Kirges had been busy for months researching spells to reduce labor pain to half or less.
“What I meant was, you’re going to have quite a time managing Wynyak.”
Kalien’s face went pale as a blank sheet of paper.
His belly was already swollen more than expected, causing him no small amount of worry, but twins instead of one?
He couldn’t believe that her small frame could carry two babies, and could childbirth even be possible?
“If it’s too difficult, wouldn’t it be better to stop, Rosy?”
The day he uttered those words, Rosien struck him soundly on the head. She scolded him harshly, telling him never to say such things again.
Still unable to ease his mind, Kalien remained anxious and followed Rosien around all day long.
Whenever Rosien paused in her steps or even slightly furrowed her brow, he would whisk her away to the inner chamber and lay her down.
Today too, Rosien, who had been brought to the bedroom in this manner, waved her hand.
“Wait… just a moment, Kalien. I’m fine, so calm down and give me your hand.”
Rosien placed Kalien’s hand on her belly. Instead of the thin, soft sensation of before, he felt her swollen belly, now grown somewhat firm to the touch.
Under normal circumstances, it would have felt merely wondrous, but with Rosien’s complexion unusually pale today, his feelings were entirely different. Kalien ground his teeth.
“If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have created it. You’re suffering far too much for nothing. Damn it….”
Kalien, who had been venting his frustration, suddenly stopped.
A strange sensation transmitted through his palm. Something inside Rosien’s belly wriggled and moved, then gently pushed against Kalien’s hand.
He thought it was an illusion, but it wasn’t.
Rosien burst into laughter.
“It seemed to start moving a few days ago, and today it seems to be in an especially good mood. Can you feel it, older brother?”
“…Yes.”
“That’s the baby moving. Isn’t it amazing?”
“Yes….”
“The baby likes hearing father’s voice often. Talk to the baby, Kalien.”
Talk? What was I supposed to say?
Kalien stared blankly down at the mysterious something tapping against his palm.
After Rosien Wynyak pestered him several more times, he awkwardly opened his mouth.
“Uh, hel…lo.”
As if responding to his greeting, the baby gently pressed against his hand.
Kalien hastily withdrew his hand.
“The baby seems to like its older brother. The energy has stabilized quite a bit.”
“…Yes.”
“Doesn’t the older brother like it?”
“I like it too….”
The sound of my own voice felt unfamiliar. I had yet to name the emotion dwelling somewhere between joy and anxiety, surprise and discomfort.
When confused, Kalien instinctively moved to embrace Rosien Wynyak, but he realized he could no longer hold her breathlessly close because of her swollen belly.
To quench the thirst that resembled his anxiety, Kalien covered her lips, biting them gently.
As he parted her lips as usual and delved deeper, Rosien Wynyak gently pushed him away.
“Don’t do that, the baby. The movements became a bit rough.”
“How is that possible? How would they even hear?”
“They can hear everything, apparently.”
Kalien’s eyes gleamed with fresh mischief as he glanced at Rosien Wynyak’s belly.
“Then let them hear.”
“What? Hey…!”
As if declaring that competing with Rosien Wynyak was a battle without victory, he caught her turning head and kissed her again.
The dissatisfied ripple that had been undulating subsided sulkily. The nameless emotion from moments before faded, and Kalien grew somewhat triumphant.
* * *
The remaining three months passed like an arrow.
The day the children were born, the weather was overcast all day. As labor began, the sky turned pitch black and a downpour ensued.
It was the first time Kalien had seen so much blood spilled by Rosien Wynyak.
Even though the sorcery she had devised herself covered the entire ceiling and walls of the delivery room, it could not completely eliminate the pain. While Rosien Wynyak writhed in the agony of childbirth, there was nothing Kalien could do but grip her hand tightly, his face drained of all color.
Only after that night had passed did a robust baby’s cry shake the mansion.
The moment Rosien Wynyak confirmed the children were born, she lost consciousness from exhaustion.
“It’s only natural to be tired. It was quite a difficult birth…. I will look after her, so recovery will be swift. There’s no need to worry.”
Only then did Kalien breathe properly. His hand, gripping Rosien Wynyak’s limp hand, trembled.
Railo sighed after confirming the babies’ faces.
“Goodness, Kirges. Your wish was not granted. The children are the spitting image of their father.”
Railo placed the firstborn in Kalien’s arms as he stood rigid as a statue beside Rosien Wynyak.
“The first is a boy. The second is a girl. The boy has blonde hair and the girl has black hair. While in the womb, Kirges’s resonance was stronger, but now that they’re born, Wynyak’s resonance is overwhelmingly dominant. In any case, congratulations.”
Kalien struggled to maintain his composure. The weight in his arms was impossibly light, and the baby was so small. The girl was slightly smaller than the boy.
The wrinkled face, damp with amniotic fluid, resembled a wet chrysalis far more than any human being.
Kalien pressed his ear gently against the swaddling cloth. A faint but unmistakable heartbeat resonated within.
“…Alive.”
Unlike Kalien himself, whose soul was patched together haphazardly and whose mana twisted chaotically, this child bore no such marks. When he carefully unwrapped the cloth to examine the tiny limbs, there were ten fingers and ten toes, perfectly formed and endearing.
The resemblance to Rosien Wynyak that Railo had mentioned was not immediately apparent. The bridge and tip of the nose bore some similarity to her, yet both twins favored Kalien more distinctly.
More precisely, they bore the face of Karga Wynack—the man who had once possessed a complete human form.
A wholly human child had been born between him and Rosien Wynyak.
That fact felt like a miracle of sorts.
“Once Kirges awakens, the children will need to be fed. I explained the methods to assist her last time—you remember them well, yes? …Wynack, surely you’re not…?”
Railo’s mouth fell open. Tears streamed down Kalien’s cheeks and jaw as he bowed his head low.
With the infant cradled in his arms, he had no hand free to wipe them away. Witnessing this, Railo’s expression softened with poignancy.
“Indeed, after centuries of wandering in circles, your life has finally found its true course…. Congratulations on becoming a father, Wynack.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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