My Ex-Boyfriend Gave Birth to My Child? What Does That Mean? - Chapter 11

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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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My Ex-Boyfriend’s Child Was Born to Me—What Does This Even Mean? Episode 11
The night descended like a storm, shaking me without mercy. I woke with a quiet sense of pride in the Concealment Magic Formula I’d cast. At least I’d managed that much.
Parts of me I couldn’t name throbbed, and my entire body ached terribly. The reason I could barely move was painfully obvious: a large arm was wrapped around my waist.
“I’ve done it…….”
I pressed my forehead against my palm, writhing in a distress I couldn’t put into words.
I’d actually gone through with it!
“You awake?”
At the sound of a man’s voice from behind me, I spun around sharply.
Leon Voltein looked remarkably unharmed. True, he wore nothing but his bare skin with careless ease, but the traces of magical depletion that had marked his face were gone entirely.
The dark circles beneath his eyes, the pallid complexion—all of it had vanished. His face was beautiful to a degree that felt almost destructive. I wanted to claw out my own eyes. When he smiled slightly, everything about what had just happened seemed to slip into irrelevance, and that infuriated me.
“Don’t you dare smile at me.”
“Then who should I smile at? The person who tormented me all night?”
“Tor—tormented—who tormented whom……! Look away from me, please.”
I turned my head away and wrapped myself in the blanket, fishing for my clothes from the floor.
They were thoroughly disheveled, stained in places.
While I debated whether wearing these ruined clothes or requesting fresh ones would better preserve what remained of my dignity, Leon moved first. With a careless gesture, he dissolved the room’s Concealment Magic Formula. Then he raised his voice lightly.
“Is anyone there?”
A careful voice came from beyond the door.
“Yes, Your Grace. It’s Siril.”
“Bring me a set of clothes. And bring a set for my lady as well.”
“Will you require assistance dressing?”
“No. We’ll manage on our own.”
I felt as though I might faint from sheer humiliation.
As I sat on the bed with both hands covering my face, Leon’s arm pulled me back down into his embrace.
“Sleep a little longer.”
In the arms of the broad-chested man, my mind spun. Throughout my past life and this one, the choice to engage in such wanton behavior before marriage had never once appeared in my thoughts as a possibility.
“Did you deceive me?”
“Why would I?”
“A mage of your caliber shouldn’t suddenly suffer magical depletion. It’s strange.”
Leon yawned and pulled me deeper into his arms. A languid voice brushed against my ear.
“Children aren’t made alone, are they?”
“Well, that’s true.”
“So I pushed myself rather hard…….”
He added with a drowsy murmur.
“As a side effect, once a month on a monthly cycle, my magical power drains in a way I can barely endure…….”
He finished with a tone tinged with amusement.
“It’s much better with you here.”
His black hair clung to the nape of my neck. The sensation of him nestling his head against mine, clinging to me like a child seeking comfort, felt overwhelming in its vividness.
“You promised, didn’t you?”
“Promised what?”
“That you’d protect me.”
I truly wanted to cry.
“……Please, don’t tell me any more secrets!”
* * *
When I emerged from the Guest Room fully dressed, two rows of newly hired servants stood before the door, waiting for us.
Rita, standing in the front row beside Siril, shot me a sly thumbs-up. I could almost hear her voice—That’s our mistress! I immediately wanted to faint.
I made an effort to appear as composed as possible and slowly opened my mouth.
“Where’s Lucian?”
To my question, Siril replied calmly.
“He hasn’t woken yet, miss.”
“Let him sleep. Breakfast time hasn’t come, so could you make sure he’s awake before then?”
“Understood.”
“Has anything unusual happened in the meantime?”
“An invitation has arrived that requires your immediate attention. It’s been placed on your Study desk.”
“All right. I’ll head to my Study.”
I moved my trembling legs toward the Study with difficulty. Leon, shameless as ever, tried to scoop me up and carry me, but I promptly smacked that rude hand in correction.
On the Study desk lay a single envelope sealed with red wax.
“Why would Countess Shastan send something to me…….”
The lady of the Shastan Count Household, a woman close to the king himself, was a senior figure in High Society with whom I shared no connection whatsoever.
I opened the envelope and examined the letter.
The letter was an invitation to a Flower Appreciation Gathering being held a week from now.
On the surface, it was a cordial invitation, but this was…….
“An Invitation to the Guillotine, it seems.”
That’s right—a death sentence in High Society.
Leon, who’d been peering over my shoulder at the letter, murmured without concern.
He was right. The Countess Shastan was notorious as the enforcer of High Society.
She had a habit of summoning young noblewomen who conducted themselves poorly in society and pointing out their shortcomings.
Thanks to the authority and position she wielded, those who received such admonishment invariably sank from favor in society.
I could guess the reason for the invitation well enough.
She wanted to see for herself what manner of woman this noblewoman betrothed to a commoner actually was.
The Countess Shastan had summoned me for much the same reason in my past life, and I’d suffered tremendous humiliation.
“Gods. I thought this was already bad enough, but now I genuinely want to lose consciousness.”
“You can’t faint.”
“Pardon?”
“You need to start preparing right now. Surely you’re not planning to attend the gathering looking like that?”
“What’s wrong with how I look?!”
Leon, looking down at me, shrugged his shoulders.
I glanced down at myself. A plain brown dress. Hair left long and unbraided…….
Cold sweat trickled down my spine.
I couldn’t refuse an invitation from the Countess Shastan. Given the influence she wielded in High Society, declining would be tantamount to renouncing society altogether.
So if I were to describe my situation—
“……I absolutely cannot attend the gathering like this!”
Yes. This was a crisis.
I had no dress suitable for such an occasion. After graduating from the Magic Tower, I’d been too occupied with work to attend a proper ball in years!
On top of that, I’d pawned every last piece of jewelry I owned for gambling stakes.
If I appeared in such a state, the ladies wouldn’t even laugh at me.
They’d simply assume I was a servant!
“Two weeks is enough time to have a dress made, surely.”
Leon, oblivious to the gravity of the situation, murmured thoughtfully.
“If we pressure the dressmakers, they could have it completed within a week.”
Siril went further still.
Watching the two of them, utterly clueless, Rita suddenly demonstrated brilliant improvisation.
“Two weeks isn’t enough for a custom gown! I mean, yes, the Duke’s order would get it done, but the rumors would spread immediately. The nobility would seize on it—an unmarried man and woman, ahem, cough, well, in any case!”
Rita counted on her fingers, listing off methods that her mother had clearly employed before.
“Dressmakers always have garments they can’t deliver because of pointless complaints from clients. I’ll search through them for something that suits my lady. Once I have it altered properly, the original buyer won’t even recognize it. Not to worry—this kind of income is precious to them, so the dressmakers keep their mouths shut.”
As she rattled on, I found myself nodding. It felt far more practical than the alternative of pressuring someone to conjure a dress from nothing in two weeks.
“As for jewelry, you can wear what we have at home! You’ve hardly ever worn any of it outside, anyway.”
“Rita. I need to confess something.”
“……What is it?”
“I sold all of it…….”
“What?!”
This time it was Rita who collapsed to the floor.
“This can’t be……! You never even got to wear them properly…….”
“Rita……!”
“Those Ruby Earrings! Oh…….”
Leon, who’d been watching our little farce, tossed out a casual remark.
“You can just buy jewelry.”
“Well, yes.”
Rita’s eyes narrowed at my instantaneous change of position, but she picked herself up with a rustle, brushing dust from her skirt.
“But even if you buy a ready-made dress, you need to move today. Such stock isn’t always available.”
I pressed my fingers to my temples and spoke.
“But Lucian is home right now, and I’m hesitant to leave him alone.”
My concern was resolved more simply than expected. Leon Voltein opened his mouth without the slightest hesitation.
“Bring him along.”
I fell into thought.
An unmarried man and woman, technically unrelated, exchanging gifts of clothing—that could become somewhat, perhaps, awkward…….
So what of an unmarried man and woman going shopping together with a child in tow?
“That’s absolutely not happening!”

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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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