The Obsessive Male Lead Is Obsessed With Me! - Chapter 169

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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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Episode 169
Eight hours was a long time, certainly, but for a first-time mother, it was still early to be giving birth.
Perhaps she would need to wait at least another two hours?
‘I wish I’d come earlier and waited with her, then gone into the delivery room together.’
At least there was one mercy: the Pope had entered the delivery room with her.
No matter how important the birth of an Imperial heir was, there was no real need for someone of the Pope’s stature to be present at a delivery.
But because Cecilia had received a Divine Oracle, the Pope had entered the delivery room both to ensure she gave birth safely and to inscribe the oracle that would come for the newborn onto a stone tablet.
‘With the Pope’s Holy Power, the pain of childbirth should be eased somewhat.’
Sophia kept her anxiety hidden as she stared at the tightly closed delivery room door.
And time passed.
“Chirp!”
Ruda suddenly stretched and straightened on Lionel’s palm, where until now he had done nothing but breathe.
At the same moment, the delivery room door swung open.
“It’s the Princess! Her Highness the Princess has been born safely!”
“At last! At last she’s arrived!”
“How is the Empress? Is the Empress well?”
“She is well. The delivery room is being tidied, so please wait a moment longer.”
From the brief opening of the delivery room door came the sound of people moving busily inside.
In the meantime, Melania calmly cast Purification Magic on everyone. Cleanliness was essential before approaching a newborn and a mother who had just finished giving birth.
“You may enter now.”
“Cecilia!”
“Dear child!”
“Cecilia!”
As the door opened, people poured into the delivery room like a flood.
From Cecilia’s perspective, cradling her newborn while leaning against the head of the bed, it truly felt like they were pouring in.
Though she had only just given birth, Cecilia, revived by the Pope’s Holy Power, broke into laughter at the sight of her teary-eyed family.
“You’ve all been so worried waiting. The baby was born safely. Look.”
“Hard work? You’re the one who worked hardest. What hardship did we endure?”
“Oh my, dear, your face has swollen up like a balloon!”
While the Duke and Duchess wiped their tears, the first to take the newborn was Belrose.
“Waa-aa! Waa-aaa!”
“My goodness, what a powerful cry! My first niece will surely become a strong knight in the future.”
“What? With a voice so clear and bright, she should take up oratory and debate. Without question. She’ll be a great scholar.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“You’re the one being ridiculous!”
“Waa-aa!”
“Oh, our little niece, peek-a-boo!”
While the aunt and uncle busied themselves with playful antics, Lionel knelt on one knee beside the bed, gently caressing Cecilia’s cheek and hair as he asked with concern.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine. The Pope blessed me with Holy Power, and I drank Holy Water too. I’m perfectly well! I could eat right now!”
“Chirp!”
“Then I’m relieved.”
Though Cecilia said she was fine, Lionel could only feel at ease by examining her himself, scrutinizing every detail of his wife’s face.
Cecilia, rather than criticizing him for being fussy, let him look as much as he wished.
When she thought he’d looked enough, she pointed at the empty air above them.
“But look at our baby’s oracle.”
“The oracle…”
“That’s right, the oracle!”
“Our first grandchild… or rather, what oracle has been granted to Her Highness the Princess?”
In the Imperial Family’s lineage that had passed down through generations, before an oracle could be inscribed onto a stone tablet, its content appeared floating in the air.
Therefore, the inscription could not be completed until the Imperial Scribe had recorded it, and everyone could see the oracle’s content hanging in the air.
[She shall be beloved by all.]
“Ah…”
“That’s wonderful, isn’t it?”
“…Yes. It truly is wonderful.”
“Ha-ha-ha! Beloved by all! Our granddaughter, or rather, Her Highness the Princess, will surely become a remarkable person!”
“As expected, a knight…”
“As expected, a scholar…”
While the Duke and Duchess rejoiced tremendously, Belrose and Albert mumbled quietly to themselves, and finally the Imperial Scribe finished recording.
“Now we shall proceed with the stone tablet inscription.”
“Yes, Your Holiness. We are grateful for your service.”
As the Pope manifested Holy Power to transform the oracle shimmering with golden light in the air into stone, Cecilia spoke to Lionel.
“You should hold our baby too.”
“Ah, yes. Your Majesty, please hold Her Highness the Princess. She is in excellent health.”
Belrose approached Lionel and carefully handed over the child she had been cradling.
Lionel received the tiny infant—smaller than his own forearm—with his entire body tense, as though holding a porcelain doll that would shatter at the slightest touch.
“Waa-aa, Waa-aaa!”
“The child… won’t stop crying.”
“Newborns are always like that. Just wait a little longer and she’ll calm down.”
Cecilia spoke gently to the bewildered Lionel, encouraging him while holding the infant.
“Call the baby by her name. You decided on a name for a daughter, didn’t you?”
Lionel carefully spoke the infant’s name.
“…Penelope.”
“Waa-aa, huu-ung…!”
“Pip.”
If a girl, Penelope; if a boy, Philippus. The childhood name for both was Pip, something Lionel and Cecilia had decided together after much deliberation.
And so, having heard that name called many times a day even while in the womb,
the infant’s crying seemed to quiet, as though she recognized her own name.
Soon, her trembling lips stopped hiccupping, and at their tips, something subtle curled upward—to her parents watching intently, it looked just like a smile.
“Cecilia, did you see?”
“Yes, I saw.”
“Our child… Pip.”
“Chirp, chirp-chirp!”
Lionel’s eyes, flooded with emotion, began to redden.
Watching his tears—something he could never have imagined before, now so natural—Cecilia smiled and reached both arms toward him.
“Come here, love. To us.”
Lionel drew the child close and carefully entered his wife’s embrace.
While the others looked away to spare the Emperor his tears, Cecilia held both her husband and child in her arms at once.
At that very moment, someone shouted from outside the delivery room.
“Your Holiness! The stone tablet of the Empress in the Central Temple has shattered!”
“Ah, so it’s the future Sage King whom the Princess represents!”
“A future Sage King is born! Let us spread this joyous news throughout the entire Empire at once…! By the gods, I’m overflowing with joy! I shall donate ten billion gold to the Central Temple!”
“Let us hold a festival! A festival!”
The joy at the safe birth of the child, the joy at having confirmed the birth of a future Sage King,
Everyone celebrating with one heart and mind—and yet only Cecilia tilted her head in confusion.
‘Now that I think about it… my oracle was “shall embrace,” not “shall bear,” wasn’t it…?’
Cecilia gazed intently at the child and husband cradled in her arms.
“Cecilia? What’s the matter?”
“…Nothing. Nothing at all.”
The thought crossed her mind that the identity of the ‘Sage King whose name shall echo through history,’ as the divine voice had proclaimed, might be slightly different from what nearly everyone expected.
‘Well, either way, it doesn’t matter.’
Whether the Sage King whose name shall echo through history was her husband, her daughter, or perhaps both—what did it matter?
For both of them now, no stone tablet of oracle existed. The destiny ordained by God for Lionel and Cecilia ended here.
And yet it did not matter.
“Lionel. I have felt love once again.”
“Where did you feel it this time?”
“In this very moment.”
Holding her newborn daughter safely in her arms, nestled in the embrace of her wife who had safely completed her labor—
“I am profoundly happy.”
The man who had once been like a doll, unable to express any emotion, could now smile brightly and say such words.
Though history would not record it, they could be certain that the life they would build together with the one they loved, from this moment forward, would be far more precious and joyful than any destiny arranged by God before now.
Solely, on the foundation of love.
-End-

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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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