My Ex-Boyfriend Gave Birth to My Child? What Does That Mean? - Chapter 41

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

My Ex Dumped His Baby on Me, and Now What? Episode 41
* * *
The employees of House Autreha wore expressions of mild bewilderment at the sudden arrival of a group of priests, but regained their composure the moment I descended from the carriage alongside them.
At least I hadn’t been dragged here by the priests.
Rita, who had been waiting for me at home, hurried over and bowed respectfully before speaking.
“Master, where should I show our guests?”
“Take them to where the patients are resting. They’ll be examining them.”
“Ah, understood!”
Rita’s expression, which had been clouded with anxiety, brightened instantly.
She seemed eager. Without bothering to call another servant, Rita led the priests herself. The strain of her waiting showed in the barely concealed exhaustion on her gentle face.
Behind Rita, the expression of Grand Priest Vivian was grim. It was likely not specific to our house. For her, every moment outside her own quarters would be an ordeal.
“Here—this is where the patients are.”
As the door opened, a breeze swept through.
The scent of blood lingered in the room. Yet it was well-ventilated, and thoroughly clean, having been scrubbed with damp cloths to keep dust from rising.
After briefly surveying the patients and the state of the room, the Grand Priest spoke for the first time.
“Where is your sterilization area?”
“We’re conducting temporary sterilization in the adjacent room. We often need supplies on short notice.”
“I should see it.”
In the room directly beside the treatment area, a brazier burned with water boiling throughout the day. The employees wearing Masks continuously boiled and dried dozens of pairs of Gloves, large needles, and Clean Cloth.
The Grand Priest nodded as she observed this.
“I approve.”
With a single gesture from her, the priests who had bowed their heads departed toward the patients in the treatment room.
Soon, with just the Grand Priest and myself remaining, she regarded me in silence for a moment before speaking in a quiet voice.
“This is remarkably similar to my own methods. Lady of House Autreha. You don’t appear to suffer from Obsessive Cleanliness, yet you’ve arranged things this way. How?”
A probing question, woven into the sound of boiling water.
It was a good sign.
I quoted scripture in a measured voice.
“‘The works of the divine are not in wielding miraculous power, but in placing the right person in the right place.'”
Upon hearing my citation, Grand Priest Vivian let out a small, dry laugh.
“Of all passages, you chose that one.”
“It’s frequently cited in accusations that Magic constitutes Blasphemy, but it’s also a passage I happen to favor.”
I met her gaze directly as I spoke.
“I employed this method because I heard your account.”
“You mean my Blessing.”
“Yes. I was convinced that your Blessing wasn’t some miraculous power, but rather something that stemmed from your own actions.”
Vivian Rochuel crossed her arms.
“That’s hardly a sentiment the Grand Priest would favor hearing.”
“He’s the sort to preach that your Blessing is special evidence of the divine’s sanctity. But truthfully, his opinions matter little to me.”
“How impious.”
“I suppose I can’t help it—I’m a mage. What matters to me is something else.”
I looked directly at Vivian Rochuel.
“What of your convictions?”
I was so much shorter than her that I had to tilt my head considerably to meet her eyes.
“Don’t you suspect that your Blessing might actually be something with clear cause and effect—something logical? If that’s the case, then in our future collaboration, you’ll be able to see those results with your own eyes.”
The Grand Priest held my gaze in silence for a long moment, then let out a small sigh. She closed her eyes firmly, then opened them again, her expression now resolute.
Vivian Rochuel spoke in a decisive voice.
“From now on, we walk together.”
* * *
Night.
An uninvited guest who had slipped past House Autreha’s magical defenses and dared enter the master’s bedchamber spoke with a note of complaint.
“I told you. You have a weakness for beautiful things.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Emil.”
I lifted myself from the bed and shook off the drowsiness clinging to my eyelids. Only then did I speak to the beautiful shadow that had climbed through the bedroom window.
“I thought you said you wouldn’t watch our house.”
“Then you should’ve kept the kid’s mouth shut if you wanted it secret.”
“Did Lucian go down all right?”
“Why ask? Same old thing. The brat kept going on about his baby and finally threw a fit about wanting to sleep at his mother’s house before he was out. Took forever.”
Lion, who had deliberately climbed through the third-floor window, pulled me into his embrace and sank deeply into the bed. He murmured against my neck.
“How’d you get the kid wrapped around your finger like that? Now his old man doesn’t even cross his mind.”
His skin was cold to the touch. Mana Depletion—a recurring state. He’d looked unwell ever since the chaos erupted in the Capital, and today was worse.
I held him close and slipped my fingers through the soft black hair falling across my cheek, stroking gently.
Lion sometimes grumbled that I treated him like Lavalmonde II, yet he clearly enjoyed my touch.
“I suppose he takes after his father.”
“You talk well.”
He rested his head on my shoulder for a long moment.
After drowsiness had crept back to the edges of my vision, he finally spoke.
“Will you really accept her?”
“…I don’t know. I’m not sure what I want. But I can’t just leave the child abandoned, can I?”
I met his gaze—those deep blue eyes that held me so gently.
“What do you want to do?”
“That her mother is Lea Ocker is not even a problem.”
Lion spoke as though signing a death sentence.
“The problem is her father’s side.”
The child’s father.
I recalled the man I’d met in Cage 2. An aloof impression. A beautiful form sketched in ink in a single stroke. That man, who had faded into the darkness like watercolor bleeding, had spoken my name.
Had he heard it from Lea? Or…
“Should I tell them what happened in Cage 2?”
Lion nodded at my question.
“The Soleian Family needs to know.”
“And what happens after that, you’ll leave to the royal family?”
“That’s right.”
Lion muttered with indifference.
“It’s a country those bastards built. Whether they expose the truth to the world or bury it, that’s their problem.”
Lion showed his teeth against my neck, displeased at the length of his own words. Cool breath touched the hollow of my throat.
With urgent fingers, he undid the buttons of my dress one by one.
Heat began to bloom openly across the thin fabric, seeping through. His fingertips—moving faster than usual as they worked past the buttons—made my heart feel as though it might burst.
“Is there anything else you need to say?”
I opened my mouth to steady the frantic thudding of my heart, but Lion paid no attention. He brought his almost invincible beautiful face close to mine and whispered.
“There is something.”
“What?”
“You have too many buttons.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Should I wear a robe next time and wait for you?”
“You’re boasting. I know you won’t.”
Lion growled low, bracing his arms on the mattress as his shadow fell across me. My entire field of vision was filled with his chest.
Perhaps this wasn’t the right moment. But trapped between his firm arms, my heart raced like a girl’s.
My goodness. I was in love. With the man who had fathered my child.
Noticing my thoughts wandering, Lion’s mouth curved up mischievously. His beautiful lips brushed across my forehead, my ear, my cheek in turn—tickling.
When our lips finally met, I closed my eyes without fear of the darkness.

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