In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 297

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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This Life, I Will Become the Clan Head

Side Story Episode 39

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

I heard that fetal movement from the first child is usually difficult to notice.

But with such vigorous kicking like this, there’s no way we could miss it.

“The baby probably wanted to let mommy and daddy know. ‘I’m here, and I’m healthy.'”

After stroking my round, swollen belly several times, Peres finally opened his mouth.

“…Yes. Very vigorous, and seems very healthy too.”

A painted-like smile spread across his lips like watercolor as he spoke with relief.

It was a face that made even my heart feel at ease just watching.

Peres slowly moved closer to me.

And carefully pressed his lips to my belly.

It was the exact spot where the baby had been kicking vigorously just moments before.

“Hello, little one.”

He had massaged or stroked my belly before.

But this was the first time he had spoken directly to the baby like this.

My heart felt touched for a moment seeing him smile and talk to the baby in my womb.

“Can you hear daddy’s voice?”

Then amazingly, the baby kicked again, tap tap.

“The baby seems to be listening. Quick, quick, say more.”

At my urging, Peres pressed his mouth even closer and whispered.

“Little one.”

Tap tap.

“It’s daddy.”

Tap tap.

“Stay well in there and let’s meet soon. Don’t make mommy suffer too much. Okay?”

…Tap tap.

“Pfft. What’s that, Peres. That’s the first thing you wanted to say to our child?”

“That was the most important thing to me.”

Peres answered quite seriously.

“Alright, alright.”

I stroked Peres’s black hair, tousling it.

“But I don’t think you need to worry about me too much.”

“Why?”

“Look right now. The baby is moving so hard, perfectly timed to tell you not to worry so much.”

It wasn’t empty words.

My unsettled heart from earlier had been completely cleared by Mother’s diary and the baby’s movement.

“Let’s not worry. Not me, and not you either.”

I made eye contact with Peres as I said this.

“So now you need to sleep soundly at night, Peres.”

“You… knew?”

He smiled bitterly.

“You wake up in the middle of the night and sit there staring at me blankly, then stroke my belly several times before going back to sleep. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

There were no signs of this in early pregnancy, but it had been happening every day since entering the second trimester and my belly started growing.

If I left it alone, Peres would become even more anxious as the due date approached.

“If you keep losing sleep like this every day, what are you going to do later? At least one of us needs to conserve energy. Childcare is a long-term battle, Peres.”

When I said this again, Peres reluctantly nodded.

“…I understand.”

“That’s right, good boy.”

I spoke as if talking to a baby and tousled his hair once more, making Peres chuckle helplessly.

“Yawn.”

Maybe because I had cried my heart out and felt relieved.

Drowsiness suddenly hit me all at once.

I should go to bed and lie down.

Just as I thought that.

My body felt like it was floating, and before I knew it, I was in Peres’s strong arms.

It was so stable that I didn’t even need to wrap my arms around his neck.

His movements were as light as if he were carrying a single book.

“Hmm.”

I caught sight of his red eyes looking straight ahead and his sculpture-like profile.

Behind that, my gaze lingered on the first button of his shirt that he had probably unbuttoned in the carriage on the way home, and his hair that I had tousled.

This appearance of a man who was always perfect from head to toe was something only I could see.

“You know, Peres.”

Sleep was gradually approaching.

“I asked Estira today. She said I’ve completely entered the stable period now.”

“That’s a relief.”

Peres smiled brightly.

Ah, this guy is so frustratingly slow to catch on.

“That’s not what I mean. Since it’s really the stable period, things we couldn’t do before are okay now. …Do you know what I mean?”

No answer was needed.

Peres’s footsteps, which had hesitated for a moment, became incredibly fast.

At the same time, the relaxed smile was disappearing from his handsome face.

“What are you thinking about so seriously?”

“I’m calculating the shortest route to the bathroom.”

Ah, there’s no stopping him.

I giggled for a moment and then pointed with my finger.

“Going through that door would be faster.”

Feeling his footsteps become even more urgent, I buried my face in Peres’s chest.

And as I slowly closed my eyes, I thought.

That truly, with this person, I could accomplish anything.

* * *

For a first child, the pregnancy period went smoothly.

At least that’s how Estira evaluated it.

Though I suffered from all sorts of symptoms that came as my belly gradually grew.

To think these were the relatively smooth processes.

I realized each time that bringing new life into the world was far more amazing than I had thought.

And today was 2 weeks before the due date.

It was the last day Peres would go to work before his paternity leave.

“Be careful on your way to work, and if anything happens, you can postpone your leave by a day or two. You know that, right?”

“I can’t help but worry. I’ll finish everything today and come back, Tia.”

Even though there was still time until the due date.

Well, Peres had originally planned to take leave starting a month before the due date.

Though he reached a compromise for 2 weeks before after his assistants’ tearful persuasion.

“I’ll be going now.”

Peres greeted the family who were having breakfast together and left the dining hall.

“Take care.”

I even waved my hand with a smiling face.

After confirming that Peres had completely disappeared from sight, I dropped my smiling expression.

I placed my elbows on the table and looked over my family members.

Grandfather, Father, Shannet, the twins, Creny, and even Cleribane.

These were people I had deliberately called to sit here.

“Well then, now.”

I slowly clasped my hands together, interlocking my fingers.

“Shall we begin the Lombardi family meeting?”

I could see the shoulders of the family members sitting around the dining table flinch slightly.

“I’ve finished eating, so I should get up now.”

Grandfather attempted to escape.

“Sit down, Grandfather. I won’t let it slide today.”

“No, I’m getting old so it’s not easy for me to sit for long periods…”

“You went on a 2-night, 3-day hunting trip and just returned yesterday. Stop making strange excuses and sit down.”

Today, no matter what happens, I was going to speak my mind.

“Ahem.”

Seeing Grandfather’s attempt fail against my perfect blockade, I could see the others who had similarly been gauging their escape angles give up.

I took a sip of water and spoke again in a calm voice.

“Today’s meeting will discuss the baby room situation.”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it a situation.”

Grandfather said while subtly avoiding my eyes.

Taking advantage of that opening, Giliou and Meylon also added a word or two.

“Right. Tia is being too strict.”

“This could happen in any household. Right?”

“Something that could happen in any household?”

Ah, I was trying to stay calm.

“Exactly which household has five baby rooms for a child that hasn’t even been born yet?”

I didn’t attach the word ‘situation’ for no reason.

“Even for Lombardy, this is too much – four cribs and one room completely filled with toys!”

“But, Tia.”

This time it was Father.

“We already reduced it a lot because you asked us to. There are still more gifts from Chesayu that we haven’t brought over, which is disappointing…”

“Even Father…”

Where did the Lombardy that disliked luxury and waste, living simply and frugally compared to other nobles, disappear to?

“Grandfather, please stop making cribs. Don’t overdo it if your shoulders are bothering you. And Father, unless you’re planning to bring every storybook on the continent to the baby room, stop collecting them. The same goes for you, Creny.”

Father and Creny had a strange compatibility.

Both being second to none in Lombardy when it came to loving books, they were filling the baby room with all kinds of books.

“Well, there’s a set of children’s storybooks I ordered from the Eastern Continent. Could you just accept that one?”

“Me too, Sister. I custom-ordered a storybook with a music box that plays when you open it. Just that one, please…”

“…Fine. Just those.”

Next were Shannet and the twins.

“…Thank you for generously preparing pure cotton baby clothes and handkerchiefs, Aunt.”

As expected, someone with experience was different.

“But we have enough clothes now.”

“Yes, I was planning to stop soon anyway. Next time, we can call a designer when the child grows up a bit.”

…I’ll let Shannet slide for now.

I turned triangular eyes toward the twins beside her.

“Giliou, Meylon. You two are aware that you’re the ones who filled an entire room with toys, right?”

“This is all for the baby that’s going to be born. There are no other children of the same age in the manor, so how bored would they be?”

“Right. At least there should be plenty of fun toys to play with. We’re all thinking of the baby.”

“You two are really too much.”

“We’re too much?”

The twins opened their eyes wide as if they felt wronged.

“Isn’t that right? Just because there are no children of the same age in the manor, you’re trying to make do with toys. You’re not even thinking about playing with the baby yourselves.”

“Ah…”

“That’s true.”

The twins scratched their cheeks awkwardly.

“So instead of buying more toys, how about learning from Estira how to play with newborns?”

“You’re right. We don’t know much about babies yet.”

“We absolutely can’t make them cry or get hurt while playing with them.”

“Yes, good thinking. And if you bring even one more toy, I’ll ban you from entering the baby room.”

“That’s too much!”

I could hear the twins saying something after that, but I listened with one ear and ignored it.

I had remaining targets.

“Cleribane.”

“Yes, Master.”

“You know that newborn babies can’t even open their eyes properly, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then why are you already writing lesson plans, making teaching materials yourself, and even decorating a classroom?”

Actually, among the people gathered here, Cleribane was the most severe case.

A person busy running the Lombardi Guild was already preparing to become the child’s teacher, cutting into his sleep time.

“In the Master’s case, I met you late so it couldn’t be helped, but for the baby to be born, I want to provide gifted education directly from infancy…”

“Cleribane.”

“Yes, Master.”

“You must have a lot of free time these days.”

At my cool words, Cleribane’s blue eyes began to shake rapidly.

“It’s not that I have free time, but rather that education is that important…”

“Since you seem bored from lack of work, it can’t be helped. Take on the role of Deputy Lord during my maternity leave.”

“I’m sorry… what did you just say?”

“Deputy Lord position – I’m telling you to take it, Cleribane. Then you won’t have time to talk about gifted education for an unborn child.”

“…Master.”

I finally smiled on the face I had deliberately kept expressionless and nodded.

Grandfather had me.

And I have Cleribane.

“…Thank you for entrusting this to me. I will live up to your trust.”

I smiled refreshingly at Cleribane and wiped my mouth with a napkin.

Having handed over the deputy position to Cleribane, all preparations for entering maternity leave were now complete.

All that remained was to rest comfortably and wait for the baby.

“Well then, I’ll go to my room now…”

But as I was getting up from my seat, I stopped while gripping the table.

“…Tia?”

I had been feeling a dull ache in my stomach since morning.

“Whew.”

After taking a deep breath, I asked Shannet.

“Aunt, could you please call Estira?”

“Could it be…”

“Yes. It seems labor has begun.”

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