My Ex-Boyfriend Gave Birth to My Child? What Does That Mean? - Chapter 42

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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 Got Pregnant with My Child—What Does That Even Mean? Episode 42
* * *
I woke to the smell of food.
I’d been craving a bowl of soup, and the timing couldn’t have been better.
Warm soup.
I preferred soup that wasn’t chunky—the kind where everything had stewed down until it was soft and broken apart. My father used to get stomach pains when I was young, and this was a dish that had often graced our table back then.
“Soup…”
The moment I opened my eyes with a small sound, my gaze locked directly with Leon’s. His beautiful face was something I could never quite get used to, no matter how often I saw it, and without meaning to, warmth crept up my cheeks.
Leon’s expression grew smug, and he opened his mouth.
“Sleep well?”
“I’m hungry.”
When I sat up, a tray of food was neatly arranged on the small table by the bedroom.
Including the soup I loved.
Leon seemed to instantly catch where my eyes had drifted, and he picked up the soup bowl and handed it to me along with a spoon.
“Be careful—it’s hot.”
“Mm-hmm.”
I gave a half-hearted reply and took the bowl from his hands. I didn’t even bother with the spoon—I just brought the rim straight to my lips and drank. Why would I care about propriety in front of Leon Voltaine?
While I was soothing my dry throat with the warm broth, Leon Voltaine suddenly dropped a bombshell.
“So you’ve been seducing Vivian Rochewell this time around? My fiancée is truly remarkable.”
“Cough!”
If I hadn’t already swallowed, I would have sprayed it all over him.
I glared at Leon and handed him the empty bowl.
“Why would you say something like that?”
“That’s what the situation looks like. Otherwise, how else would that obsessive germaphobe be treating patients at my fiancée’s home?”
“Vivian is someone with a noble purpose. I want to help with that. And while we’re at it, I was hoping to ask about treating our people… but what did you just call me?”
“A pervert.”
“You didn’t say that in front of Vivian, did you?”
Leon didn’t answer my question—he just smiled. But his face was far too beautiful to actually punch.
“Don’t upset her! We’re going to need her help going forward.”
“Fine.”
With a casual reply, Leon cleared the soup bowl away and then dove backward onto the bed, pulling me down with him.
Long arms and legs wrapped around me.
“I can’t breathe…”
“Aren’t you curious about my affairs?”
“The royal family’s business will come up anyway, won’t it? I’m not curious at all.”
Leon’s eyes narrowed.
Those beautiful eyes glared at me as if they might pout at any moment. And then…
“…The second prince is wondering whether the eldest might be behind this situation.”
“Oh!”
I wanted to pretend I hadn’t heard that!
* * *
The moment Vivian Rochewell saw Leon Voltaine’s face, her serene expression crumpled without mercy.
Her snow-white gloved hands clenched into tight fists. They were the kind of fists that looked ready to fly at the man standing beside me at any second.
“Leon Voltaine.”
“Asceticism addict.”
The moment they exchanged those words, whoosh—wind swept through.
It was actual wind. It passed in front of my eyes so quickly I couldn’t even see it properly.
Vivian’s fist, seized at the wrist right in front of Leon’s jaw, was trembling violently.
Wait.
Did she actually throw a punch?
With technique that perfect?
“Leon! What are you saying to the High Priestess!”
I scolded Leon first.
He said he wouldn’t upset her! He said he wouldn’t upset her!
I felt like I might cry.
If Vivian Rochewell decided to just walk out of here like Noel Erdan from the Sacred Hospital—”Ugh, how disgusting, I’m done”—then there’d be no way to find a skilled doctor who could care for Cyril and the patients.
Of course Leon probably had his own backing to fall on, but still—he was someone I’d personally gone to great effort to bring here!
Leon pouted openly at my reproach. His expression said: What’s the problem with calling an asceticism addict an asceticism addict? A truly fearless and stubborn man.
I really wish he’d develop at least one thing in the world to be afraid of.
I planted my hands on my hips and raised my voice as if making a proclamation.
“The High Priestess is someone I brought here myself! If you lay a hand on her, I won’t forgive you.”
Leon’s face darkened, and he fell silent for a moment.
And then, surprisingly.
“Vivian Voltaine. I apologize for my rudeness.”
After releasing her wrist, he lifted his chin slightly toward her and offered the words of apology.
Vivian, who had just begun to draw out a fresh pair of gloves while muttering something that sounded like a curse, went rigid.
“Did I just…….”
“Yes, you heard correctly.”
Vivian seemed so shocked by the fact that Leon had apologized that she continued muttering to herself, “That man……?”
To be honest, I was startled too.
Leon had apologized!
But he wasn’t finished. Still wearing that somber expression, he continued.
“As an apology, I will join the Autrehe Family’s donation. I will contribute twice the amount my fiancée has pledged.”
Vivian’s face flushed as though she’d just received a confession of love.
“T-twice……!”
“It is my condition to strictly honor my fiancée’s terms.”
With her cheeks still flushed, Vivian Voltaine glanced between me and Leon, then grabbed my hand firmly.
“Lady of the Autrehe!”
“Yes, yes!”
“We shall continue together from now on!”
At that very moment, Leon, his face deeply furrowed in displeasure, pulled our clasped hands apart.
* * *
Today, Vivian Voltaine’s steps were light as she made her way back to the Temple.
It was late at night and she was exhausted, but there was no reason her gait shouldn’t be light.
The Autrehe Family’s donation was respectable. But the Voltaine Family’s donation?
‘The amount aside, the symbolism cannot be ignored.’
Leon Voltaine was a prime example of a royal minister who enjoyed the Crown’s trust, despite countless controversies that surrounded him.
Not to mention he was extraordinarily wealthy, possessing assets nearly rivaling the royal family itself.
Had his personality not been so abominable, far more people would have been desperate to secure his cooperation.
“High Priestess.”
As she descended from the carriage, a priest waiting at the Temple’s main gate approached her. He bowed respectfully and spoke with careful deliberation.
“The High Priestess wishes to see you.”
“At this hour?”
“She has been waiting for you. All the senior priests are gathered as well.”
“This isn’t a scheduled meeting day—how strange. Very well, I’ll go now.”
An itching sensation crept across her fingertips. Something unclean seemed to have transferred from the carriage door she’d just touched, and she desperately wanted to change her gloves at once.
But she restrained herself.
Even if she wanted to cut off her hands, she endured.
Vivian Voltaine’s daily life was an unending asceticism.
* * *
“High Priestess Vivian.”
“Your Eminence.”
Vivian bowed slightly and crossed her hands over her chest in salute. A soft satisfaction bloomed across the High Priestess’s benevolent face.
Below the dais where the High Priestess stood, six senior priests had gathered. They all looked displeased, as though they’d been summoned from their beds.
‘What trouble is she brewing today?’
Vivian maintained a respectful expression while concealing her true thoughts, waiting for the High Priestess to speak.
The High Priestess said nothing and left her standing there for some time.
The power dynamics within the Temple currently maintained a delicate balance.
Vivian Voltaine disagreed with the High Priestess’s propagation of her healing acts as miraculous.
Unable to expel Vivian, who had become famous, the High Priestess cultivated connections even to the royal succession struggle for the sake of power, and when Vivian pushed back more forcefully, their confrontation grew increasingly visible.
Moreover, the senior priests themselves maintained a roughly even balance between Vivian’s followers and the High Priestess’s subordinates.
As a result, whenever the two of them disagreed, matters never proceeded smoothly.
“I heard you received a donation from the Lady of the Autrehe. Is that true?”
So it was this.
It was largely what she’d anticipated, and Vivian answered quietly.
“Yes. She said the donation should be used only for the kingdom’s people who suffered damage from the Demonic Beasts’ disturbances.”
“Heh, a mage saying such a thing.”
“Whether a mage or not, money is money. If it can be used to help people, we should accept and use it.”
“Hmm, yet, as expected, mages are always…….”
The High Priestess, who had paused briefly, spoke once more.
“There’s a theory that Mages are Demonic Beasts wearing human form. I find that argument rather compelling, actually.”
“I don’t suppose you summoned me here to debate theology, sir.”
“True enough. But now that you’ve accepted a donation from the Autrehe Family’s daughter today, there’s a possibility our Temple’s stance could be perceived rather differently.”
“What concern do you have in mind?”
“That we might be seen as accepting money in exchange for turning a blind eye to the Mage’s blasphemy, for instance.”
Vivian fell silent for a moment.
When she spoke again, her tone had taken on a sharper edge.
“Are you asking me to refuse the donation, then?”

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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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