I Became a Mother of a Sub-Male Son

“…But you won’t tell me where you’re going?”

 

“To see a performance at the opera house.”

 

What opera house?

 

“Why are you there?”

 

“Because sometimes covering up bad memories with something else is the way to go.”

 

Without realizing it, she turned her head again. The Duke’s dark red eyes were looking directly at her.

 

“I don’t know why you look at me like that.”

 

“It’s a bit unexpected for the Duke to say something like that.”

 

“…Verka, that’s what my sister said to me. I never thought I’d say those words to someone else.”

 

“Oh…”

 

“Those bugs were of no use to you. So just forget about it.”

 

She stared at him. How was this…

 

“Are you really worried about me?”

 

“Tell me honestly. I won’t make fun of you. OK?”

 

“…Stop talking and just walk.”

 

“Then please at least tell me why we’re walking instead of going by carriage.”

 

As she continued to chirp next to him, she heard him sigh. She knew it seemed like he was bothered, but strangely enough, she felt excited and started speaking hesitantly.

 

“…Because if you walk, bad thoughts can become dull.”

 

“…oh.”

 

“Now that I have answered, stop talking.”

 

The Opera House seemed to be quite close. Seeing as it arrived quickly.

 

“Have we arrived?”

 

He nodded.

 

‘The building is bigger than I thought.’

 

“It has to be because it is a place that most nobles go to see.”

 

The Duke said. He headed towards the entrance, pulling her in. The staff member standing in front confirmed the ticket and let them in at once.

 

There were a lot of people in the lobby that came in earlier. She looked around with a curious feeling. She had never been to a performance venue like an opera house before possessing that body, so it was quite unfamiliar to her. She was so busy with life that she didn’t have time to enjoy hobbies or anything else. Because she just lived and got caught up in work. To think in her life, she had been to places like this. Even though it came from possessing a character in the book.

 

The Duke climbed the stairs with familiar steps and headed to the second floor. Most of the seats on the second floor were covered with curtains, and it looked like the upper class seats where nobles sat. He walked to the seat in the middle of the royal seats that looked best and sat down. She also sat down next to him. At the same time, his and her hands, which were holding each other, naturally moved away.

 

“It will start in a little while.”

 

“Yes.”

 

She nodded and was busy looking down.

 

“Excuse me.”

 

A person who appeared to be an employee came towards them and set out wine and refreshments on the table. As she waited and ate the small cake, the lights in the concert hall suddenly dimmed. Looks like they’re about to start now. She focused her attention on the stage below. The red curtain slowly rose, revealing the actors on stage. Except for one actor who wore a black mask, all of them were wearing white masks. The person wearing the black mask in the middle started singing.

 

[Ah, my God!]

 

Starting with that, each actor sang. As she continued listening, she felt like she knew what the opera was about. It seemed to be a story of an impossible love between God and man. She guessed she leaned her upper body forward without realizing it because the content was unexpectedly exciting. She could see that the Duke’s hand gently grabbed her shoulder and made her sit back down. He clicked his tongue and gave a light bruise.

 

“Do you think you want to be the main character, not those actors?”

 

“I’m sorry. I was so focused that…”

 

After whispering softly to the Duke, she straightened her posture again. She was a little embarrassed, so she deliberately didn’t look at the seat next to her. After watching the performance for a while, she felt thirsty and reached for the wine sitting next to her. She turned her head at the touch of lukewarm warmth, not wine. The Duke was also reaching out his hand to drink wine, and her hand was slightly overlapped with his hand. He quickly withdrew his hand from another embarrassing situation. As she turned her head and tried to look at the stage, she felt gazes from the side.

 

Why did he keep looking at her with embarrassment? She mumbled to herself and fiddled with her wrists, trying to concentrate on the performance. As time passed, the performance reached its end.

 

[I have made a decision for the person who will soon disappear.]

 

One of the main actors’ monologue-like lyrics continued, and then the stage went dark. Soon, a small light suddenly illuminated, revealing the appearance of a gorgeous sword. But why did the more she watched the performance, the more she felt a sense of déjà vu? It’s like something she had heard a lot… 

 

While she was thinking for a moment, her mind flashed when she heard the words ‘Pezetion, my god’ heard on stage. Pezetion was the god associated with the sword that the Duke gave to the Emperor as a birthday present. So, the current performance was an adaptation of the story of the Pezetion and the only remaining believer.

 

[No. Damian, Damian!]

 

A cry that was unknown whether it was a song or a scream followed. The believer on stage sealed Pezetion that was about to disappear in the sword he made by sacrificing himself. Despite Pezetion’s screams, the believer continued with the ritual and collapsed, bleeding. The stage went dark again, and only the center light came on. The lyrics continued, not from the main actor, but from a supporting actor wearing a robe.

 

[The god I serve can finally ascend to the position of the sun. Ah, what a happy thing this is]

 

After meaningful words, the curtain came down and the play came to an end. The last supporting character’s words remained in her mind. Those were the words that Pezetion muttered after he fell into eternal rest. Didn’t it seem as if he made Pezetion sacrifice himself to make some ‘God’ he served ascend to the position of the sun?

 

She looked down blankly at the stage where the curtain had come down. Then the Duke’s voice was heard.

 

“You didn’t really like it?”

 

“No. It was fun. But I was a bit surprised because I didn’t expect that the scene in the performance would be a phegetion.”

 

“That’s because the rumor that the item I presented to Your Majesty at the banquet was the sword of Pezetion spread throughout the nobles and became famous.”

 

“Oh, was that something like that?”

 

“I heard that most of the performances are related to the Pezetion Fortress God.”

 

She stood up and followed the Duke who got up from his seat. As she was leaving the concert hall, he asked her.

 

“Is there any more place you want to go?”

 

“…Um, I don’t know.”

 

“You can’t, can you?”

 

When she said as if she was not going to go in or anything like that, the Duke started walking towards the store. That sight was a little funny, so she laughed secretly and quickly followed him. As expected, the inside of the store was gorgeously decorated with princess-style lace decorations, and led them to a corner seat. It wasn’t completely blocked from the outside, but there was a screen on both sides so it seemed like she could eat comfortably.

 

“May I take your order?”

 

The menu had a lot of different types of desserts written on it. It was a time when she was groaning and thinking about the names because they all seemed delicious no matter what she looked at.

 

“Please bring me one of everything on the menu.”

 

…huh? What?

 

“All right.”

 

It wasn’t until the employee who took the Duke’s order picked the menu up that she came to her senses.

 

“Did you order everything?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Even I can’t eat all that dessert.”

 

“Then you don’t have to eat it. What’s the problem?”

 

“No, that’s not what I’m saying…”

 

In the first place, she didn’t think he would be able to understand what she was saying since the wealth he owned was the difference between heaven and earth. In the first place, the way he spent money was different. She and the Duke.

 

“I understand. Anyway, don’t say anything even if you can’t eat it all.”

 

“I think it would be weirder to say something.”

 

“Still.”

 

Instead of answering, the Duke took a relaxed stance. After a while, the staff brought out many types of desserts. Seeing all the desserts laid out on the table was dizzying. She have no idea what to eat first. She looked around the table and tasted a simple cake topped with strawberries. It wasn’t as good as the dessert she had at the Duke’s House, but it was quite edible. There were too many other desserts to eat a whole piece of cake, so she decided to just eat one bite at a time.

 

“Don’t you eat it, Duke?”

 

“I hate sweets.”

 

“Still, the cake here is quite delicious. Since you’re already here, try it.”

 

The Duke shook his head, picked up the glass in front of him, took a drink, and then scrunched up his face. When she looked to see why he was doing that, it turned out that the drink he had was chocolate milk. She secretly laughed and tried the cake with blueberries on top this time.

 

‘Well, this is fine too.’

 

As she was tasting more of this and that, the green tea flavored pudding really captured her appetite. It was quite good as it was not too sweet and moderately bitter. She thought even the Duke could eat this. The desserts that were prepared all looked so sweet that he didn’t even touch them. After thinking for a moment, she scooped up the pudding a little with a new spoon. It was a long time coming, and he probably came all the way here thinking about her, so she wanted to pay him some attention.

 

“Try some of this. This pudding isn’t too sweet and it’s okay.”

 

“It’s okay.”

 

She looked at the Duke for a moment and held the spoon close to his mouth.

 

“It tastes really good. Just this once.”

 

When she lightly touched the Duke’s lips with a spoon, his mouth slowly opened. She put the spoon into it. Then the Duke tasted the pudding and frowned.

 

“As expected, it’s sweet.”

 

“But it’s better than everything else, right? Try eating more.”

 

“Wasn’t it just now? You asked me to try it just once.”

 

“Me?”

 

As she blinked as if she had never done that before, he gave her a look that seemed absurd. Then he suddenly lifted a spoon, scooped out some pudding, and offered it to her. He did the same thing she did to him.

 

“W-what is it?”

 

“I thought it would be fair if you felt the same way I do.”

 

The Duke continued to hold out spoons to her with strangely burning eyes.

 

“…That’s Okay.”

 

“I have no objections.”

 

“No, it’s really okay…”

 

She waved her hands and refused, but the Duke paid her no mind and forced her to eat. When the situation turned the other way, her face suddenly seemed to heat up. What could she say, she was a little embarrassed…

 

“Eat.”

 

Despite his continued urging, she had no choice but to open her mouth and swallow the pudding. She was so dazed that she was confused as to whether the pudding was going down her throat or not. He asked  to feel the same way he felt,  the Duke also felt this way.

 

“How do you feel?”

 

‘Me?’

 

“Oh, whatever. It’s nothing.”

 

“Okay?”

 

“Yes, of course.”

 

With all his effort, he was a nonchalant person and his lips were soft. He nodded and stuck out his head again, making her even more devastated.

 

“Then it’s okay to keep feeding you.”

 

“Huh? That’s not what I meant…”

 

“Eat.”

 

She unconsciously opened her mouth as the spoon was tapping on her lips, and she finally came to her senses.

 

‘Oh no. I ate it again without knowing.’

 

Up until now, she was in charge of the situation, but at some point she got caught up in it. Trying to come to her senses, she also offered the pudding to the Duke’s mouth again.

 

“Duke, eat first. Then I will eat.”

 

“No, you first.”

 

The Duke shook his head. When she saw him holding a spoon to her mouth to eat first, she felt ashamed and wondered what he was doing.

 

“…Shall we stop?”

 

“…Sure.”

 

The Duke answered slowly, put down his snappoon, and slightly turned away from her. As she felt like he was trying to avoid eye contact, she was even more reminded of what she had done and her fever rose.

 

‘It’s crazy, it’s crazy. In what spirit did I come up with the idea of feeding pudding to the Duke?’

 

Feeling embarrassed, she tasted all the desserts they had prepared for no reason. She put down her spoon only after eating about half of the dessert on the table.

 

“I’m so full I can’t eat anymore.”

 

The Duke’s gaze was suddenly directed to the table.

 

“You managed to eat half of it.”

 

He looked at the table in slight surprise.

 

“Honestly, it’s a bit of a waste. There are a lot of things I couldn’t eat.”

 

“There’s a difference. It’s also unbecoming of a noble to show too much appetite. It’s as if he was a commoner.”

 

She was slightly startled by the sudden sharpness.

 

“…What kind of strange thought is that?”

 

She smiled and handled the situation flexibly.

 

“That’s just the way it is. If you finish eating, just get up.”

 

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Translator Note: