My Ex-Boyfriend Gave Birth to My Child? What Does That Mean? - Chapter 17

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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 fathered my child—what on earth is going on? Episode 17
Walking through the long corridors of the Royal Palace, I tried to recall the proper etiquette for addressing royalty. Just as I was grasping the thread of it, we arrived at a doorway.
The moment Leon reached to open the door—dark wood adorned with gold—it swung open of its own accord.
What emerged from within was a beautiful, tall woman with long silver hair cascading down her back.
That rare silver hair. Regardless of station, such coloring marked her as royalty with near certainty.
The woman, who had been staring at me as I hurriedly offered a bow, turned without a word and disappeared slowly down the corridor beyond. Despite her brisk pace, her posture was flawless—not a single fault to be found.
As I stood transfixed by her retreating figure, a man’s voice called from inside the room.
“Don’t mind her. Isabella’s been rather on edge lately.”
Isabella?
So I’d just bowed to the Kingdom’s only princess without even knowing her name?
Which meant the person speaking now was……
“Come in and sit down. Are you planning to keep me waiting?”
“I didn’t bring her here for you to see.”
Leon, frowning slightly and responding with disrespect, ushered me into the room.
“In any case, I’m going to show her. Stop being petty. Come in and close the door. There’s a draft and it’s cold.”
The space we entered looked more like a Royal Study than a Reception Hall. Bookshelves lined both sides of a large desk facing away from the windows, and papers and maps of every description lay scattered about.
As if expressing my own bewilderment, Leon Voltein spoke up.
“Are the attendants all dead? This study looks far worse than the last time I was here.”
“If you’re planning to complain, keep your mouth shut. Isabella drilled my ears off about it.”
“Listen to your sister.”
“I’ve already heard that, so that’s enough. You didn’t come here to lecture me, did you?”
Waiting for the right moment in their exchange, I offered a respectful bow to the prince before me.
“I offer my respects to Your Highness, the pride of the Kingdom. I am Irina Otreha.”
“Ah, yes. The woman of the hour!”
He sprang up from the desk and opened both arms as if to embrace me. Leon Voltein pushed his forehead back as he drew too close.
“Don’t joke around.”
“Don’t be so stiff about it. My, Lady Otreha! I’ve been wanting to meet you so badly!”
The embrace became a handshake. With both hands grasping my right hand and shaking it vigorously, the prince’s gleaming crimson eyes studied me intently.
Within them, a meaningful light kindled.
“Certainly…… you bear a strong resemblance to Lucian.”
My heart lurched.
Leon acted as though he hadn’t heard the prince’s remark at all. He dropped heavily onto the sofa and pulled me down beside him, then tilted his chin up and spoke.
“I came to show you the Incubation Chamber.”
“To Lady Otreha?”
“You don’t believe that I gave birth.”
The prince let out a chortle of laughter.
“So that’s why you came to meet me on a day when the contract doesn’t bind me.”
“That’s right.”
Leon Voltein continued, as if he’d just noticed my desperate expression of curiosity.
“Most of what I’m about is bound by a Magical Contract with the royal family. It’s a magical binding. Breaking it wouldn’t cause much trouble, but……”
“If ‘we’ were to learn that he violated the contract, things would get a bit inconvenient.”
The prince, cutting in smoothly, settled himself on the sofa across from us.
“To see the Incubation Chamber, Lady Otreha must also be bound by contract. You wouldn’t want to be unfairly suspected if the secret leaked, would you?”
“To be honest……”
“Go on, speak.”
“I just want to stand up right now and go home.”
To everyone in the world: please, I beg you, stop telling me secrets.
How many times must I say it before anyone listens?
The prince, hearing my answer, laughed heartily and drew out several documents, pressing them toward me.
“Here. Sign these.”
I signed my name on several sheets of paper inscribed with magical formulas, crying silently inside.
Glancing over them briefly, I saw they weren’t overly complicated spells—rather, the magic was designed so that if I broke the contract, the paper would change color. In other words, it was meant less for prevention than for exposing traitors.
Prince Adrian’s delicate eyebrow arched slightly as he reviewed my signature.
“The lady signs like a merchant. Ah, no offense intended. Neat. Very fine indeed.”
The prince had no idea how much his remark startled me. He slapped his knee sharply and rose from his seat with a cheerful spring.
Prince Adrian was like a mischievous child. With light steps, he transformed the study into a secret chamber and dark vault. Lifting the Dragon-Shaped Paperweight from the desk, he placed it on the corner of one bookshelf.
“The first contract is a Seal of Silence regarding this secret mechanism.”
The object, which had given off no magical aura whatsoever, found its place and in mere seconds began to radiate a dense wave of power.
The bookshelf trembled with a low hum and slowly rose, revealing a dark staircase beneath where it had stood.
Below was black, and nothing could be seen.
Prince Adrian opened his mouth with an unhurried tone.
“Come down.”
* * *
Beyond the long staircase and a couple of magical detection devices lay a room that appeared surprisingly cozy—quite the opposite of what I’d expected.
Most of the paintings on the walls depicted dragons or legendary beasts, which was peculiar in that there wasn’t a single portrait among them.
And in the center of the room, upon a broad platform.
A large golden sphere resting on an enormous cushion immediately seized my attention.
“The second Magical Contract is a Seal of Silence regarding the existence of this egg.”
Prince Adrian slowly caressed the egg, which formed a perfect sphere, circling it once. A corner of the golden, perfectly spherical orb was visibly cracked—as if a creature had broken through and hatched from it.
“Until recently, this egg still shone brilliantly, but ever since that child Lucian was born, it’s become nothing but a large ornament.”
“I… what?!”
“Shh. No matter how shocked you are, don’t ask questions or exclaim thoughtlessly. You might inadvertently violate the Seal of Silence. This is a very grave secret.”
It wasn’t I who answered the prince, but Leon’s voice.
“Don’t steal my moment to set the mood.”
“Is that what you should say in front of me? Do you know how many nightmares I suffered for days because you went and gave birth to this thing in my study?”
The prince cried out, then let out a startled sound and pointed an accusing finger at me.
“Don’t get the wrong idea! This fellow here—he suddenly barged into my study…”
The prince swung his fist passionately through the air, fumbled for words several times, then spoke with a sudden release, as if bursting with something long suppressed.
“He tore his own heart out with his bare hands!”
“It wasn’t a heart.”
“It looked like a heart! That blood, that scream, that terrible sound of bones breaking…!”
The prince, shouting as though screaming, gasped for breath and placed his hand on the ‘egg’ again.
“Ahem, anyway. It looked like a heart, but it was golden and luminous and round. At first it was so small—it could fit in the palm of my hand. That was, oh, a few years ago now. Tell me, Leon—how old is Lucian?”
“Four years old.”
“So roughly four years ago then. Since the child had already grown when he emerged, we decided to mark the day he hatched from the egg as his birthday. He was born four years ago, but Lucian only broke out of the egg very recently. So that would be… how long ago was it?”
“About a month.”
“Only a month? People say other people’s children grow so fast. Anyway, that’s how it is.”
The tips of my fingers began to grow cold. A month ago—that was also when something tremendous changed for me.
I returned to the past.
‘Could my Regression be connected to Lucian?’
The wildfire of questions had to be suppressed for now. Before me lay an insurmountable mountain of comprehension. And truly, a mountain of dizzying height!
I asked what I was most curious about.
“Can a person live after having their heart removed…?”
“My, Leon. Your lady truly has no sense of timing!”
The prince laughed with a glimmer of silver hair.
“The third Magical Contract—yes, this is the most important one. I hope you’ll be careful to ensure this fact doesn’t leak out.”
I stared at him, unable to smile or draw a deep breath.
His red eyes, full of playfulness, sparkled with a sinister gleam as if anticipating my reaction.
“Leon Voltaine is a dragon!”

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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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