I Became a Mother of a Sub-Male Son

…Black smoke?

“Even though the accompanying wizards set up a defensive barrier, the black smoke continued to block the barrier.”

“So?”

“The wizards and knights who inhaled the smoke began to collapse, complaining of pain. And you, Duke?”

“It wasn’t as bad as them, but I almost fell.·

“Are you okay now?”

She immediately looked around the Duke’s body. He looked fine on the outside, but she was not sure how he was inside.

“It’s okay. More than that…”

The Duke paused for a moment and gently shook the jewel in his hand.

“Then, suddenly, light began to leak out of this gem. At the same time, all the black smoke disappeared.”

She couldn’t help but be surprised by those words. The gem she gave him made the black smoke disappear? 

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Something felt strange. The jewel in front of her was given to her by a white bird, and she only gave it to the Duke because she felt like she should give it to him. And that jewel saved the Duke and all his companions. It was as if the bird knew in advance that an attack would occur.

“Are you sure this jewel was given to you by a white bird?”

“Yes. I’m sure.”

“Do you remember when I said before that I needed to investigate the Phezetion in detail?”

“Have you found out anything?”

The Duke got up from his seat and took a book from his desk, which he held out to her. After receiving it, she looked at the book carefully.

“This is a copy of the old book that contains the information about Phezetion that I mentioned earlier.”

The copy contained information that was familiar with Phezetion. The content was not much different from the description in the original work.

“You might think this is all you know, but if you look closely, there are strange parts.”

[After Phezetion has entered eternal rest.]

When she looked at the very last page, she felt like the make-up was completely cut off.

“…Is there more to this?”

“When I looked at the old book before, there were no torn parts at all. However, the makeup was cut off unnaturally.”

The Duke took the copy from me and without hesitation tore a few of its pages. Soon he began to arrange the torn pages one by one on the table. Like putting together a puzzle. The moment he finally took his hand away, he realized that the makeup was connected to the matched pages.

“Are you saying that the contents of the old book were mixed up from the beginning?”

“After the Phezetion was put to eternal rest by the last remaining believer, the records were not actually finished.”

The Duke pointed to the end of a page that ended unnaturally and the beginning of a page.

[After Phezetion has entered eternal rest]

[An unknown source of light emitted from the Karmadan Temple. That light attracted many believers, and Karmadan became even more powerful.]

As I continued to read it along with the page the Duke had attached to the side, it flowed very naturally.

What is this? It’s like…

“Are you saying that Karmadan’s increased strength has something to do with Phezetion falling into rest?”

“I’m not sure, but I think so.”

“But Karmadan is the god worshiped in the Rubir Temple.”

“Yes, very unfortunately.”

The corner of the Duke’s mouth twitched.

“If it has anything to do with the reason why the number of believers in Phezetion has decreased, I can’t help but think that there is something to it.”

“For example, they deliberately weakened the power of Phezetion to make Karmadan’s power stronger.”

She nodded. The Duke seemed to have the same thoughts as her. It seemed like she needed to make contact with the Holy Sword of Phezetion as soon as possible. She was even more convinced than last time that she would most likely see an illusion if she came in contact with the holy sword.

It feels like she could see something right.

“Duke, do you remember how I told you that the power of the statues weakens every time I go to the temple?”

“Okay.”

“He also said he saw a vision of a white bird there. What do you want to say?”

“This is the Holy Sword of Phezetion that the Duke gave to His Majesty as a gift some time ago. Is there a way to contact him separately?”

“Holy sword?”

“Yes. If all of this is definitely related to Phezetion, I think it would be best to contact the Holy Sword, which is the only remaining source of Phezetion’s energy for now!”

“You’re assuming something will happen like when you come into contact with a stone statue.”

“Yes.”

The Duke thought for a moment and then said.

“I heard that Fezerion’s holy sword is scheduled to be displayed at the Temple Management Museum during the seasonal festival that will be held soon.”

“You mean exhibition?”

“You know that maintaining the holy sword in a temple is usually common, right?”

“Yes.”

“However, if it is not the holy sword of the god they worship, they cannot strongly claim ownership, especially if it is not the temple that discovered the holy sword first.”

The Duke continued with a reminiscing look in his eyes.

“When I discovered the holy sword, it seemed like the temple wanted me to hand over the holy sword in its entirety. At that time, I had a strange feeling. Normally, unless it was the sacred sword of the god in charge, they wouldn’t covet it that much.”

“No matter how holy a sword it is, it is useless unless it matches the nature of the god they serve, right?”

“Yes. That’s why I gave it to Your Majesty, rather than handing it over to the temple. Once the ownership of the holy sword is transferred to Your Majesty, the temple will not be able to completely do anything about it.”

“But this time it is being exhibited at the Buvir Temple Museum.”

“I heard that the temple requested His Majesty to display the holy sword during this seasonal festival. Since it is common for the temple to manage the holy sword, they used that as an excuse.”

“What did you say why you wanted to exhibit it?”

“They say they want to show the discovered holy sword to many people, but the truth is, they don’t know.”

“It sounds like an excuse. Like there was some other agenda.”

Not only was the reason for exhibiting it very trivial, but it was questionable that it would be exhibited at a seasonal festival.

“If it is confirmed that the Holy Sword will be displayed during the season, then it might be an opportunity.”

“How?”

“You can also attend this seasonal festival.”

“But it will be difficult for ordinary nobles to attend.”

“There is no problem at all if you attend with me.”

“That’s right. Then, I will attend as well.”

The Duke nodded. It was the moment when she was about to say that she was going to stand up because she felt like the story had come to a close.

Knock, knock.

A knocking sound was heard from outside, followed by a servant’s slightly embarrassed voice.

[The Duke and the master seem to have had a nightmare and woke up crying as they continued to look for the Duke and the lady.]

At those words, the Duke and she looked at each other at the same time. She had a nightmare again?

“I guess I should go see Lian quickly.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“Yes it is.”

She immediately got up from her seat and headed outside. The Duke also walked quickly, standing next to her. The closer she got to the room where the child would be, the more noisy she felt. Since the crying could be heard up to here, it seemed like the child was crying harder than last time. Did she perhaps have a much worse dream than the last time?

She quickly ran and opened the door where the child was.

“Lian!”

When she opened the lid, she saw a crying child on the bed. Several maids were fidgeting near the child. She felt like she was probably trying to comfort the child and failing. The child who saw me and the Duke got down from the bed and came running to her.

The child cried bitterly, each holding his collar with one hand.

“Ah, father, huh!”

“Delian”

When the Duke called the child’s name softly, the crying grew louder. She gently patted the child’s small back, hoping to comfort him.

“Good boy. Let’s do it, okay?”

“B-but, uh, Elia and ah, my father… Huh!”

“What dream did you have that our Lian was so surprised again, huh?”

No matter how hard she tried to comfort the child, he would not stop crying. At that time, the Duke, who was quietly looking down at the child, lifted the child up and held him in his arms.

She held her child and spoke to the maids.

“Leave now.”

“All right.”

Soon, the Duke and she were the only ones left in the room. The Duke was half-leaning on the bed and whispering something softly to the child. Then the child’s crying decreased, albeit slightly.

The Duke’s large hand slowly stroked the child’s back. As a little more time passed, the child’s cries became much quieter. It seemed almost genuine, with only the occasional sniffle being heard. Only then was she able to approach the child.

“Lian. Are you okay now?”

“Sniff, yes…”

The child nodded, leaning against the Duke’s chest.

“Can I ask what you were dreaming about this time?”

“Hmm. Elia and father…”

It was so loud that the child couldn’t continue his words properly. Then the Duke said, stroking the child’s back a little longer.

“Breathe in slowly. Yes, that’s right.”

Soon the child finally calmed down and spoke.

“A big gray snake chewed up Eli and my father and swallowed them all right in front of my eyes.”

“…Gray snake?”

Why did she think of the Marquis at that moment? Maybe it was because the marquis’s hair was silver-colored?

“Yes. It was a gray snake with purple eyes.”

Surprised by the sound, she looked at the Duke. His eyes were narrowed.

The Duke probably thought the same thing as her. After all, no matter how much she thought about a snake with a gray body and purple eyes, the only thing that came to mind was the Marquis. Was this a coincidence? The reason why a snake reminiscent of the Marquis March appeared in the child’s dream,

“Really? You must have been very scared.”

She gently rubbed the child’s tear-filled eyes. Then the Duke’s voice was heard.

“Delian.”

“Yes.”

“If snakes appear again in your dreams, think of me.”

“Father?”

“Yes. Then I will appear and kill the snake once and for all. It will not be able to harm anyone.”

“But what if my father still doesn’t show up?”

“No, it will definitely show up. So trust me.”

The child, who was quietly looking up at the Duke, soon nodded his head vigorously.

“Yes. Like that.”

But she still read the anxiety that remained in the child’s eyes.

“If you’re still anxious, shall we three sleep together again today?”

“Three of us?”

“Yeah. I felt relieved because I slept like that last time. I’m going to sleep like that again today. How about it?”

“I like it.”

“Are you okay, Duke?”

The Duke lowered his gaze towards the child and opened his mouth.

“Yeah, it doesn’t matter.”

“Well, since it’s late, let’s all sleep here together…”

Although it was a child’s bed, it was as wide and large as a Duke’s bed, so it was enough for three people to sleep together. After swearing, she wet a cloth and carefully wiped the child’s face. After a while, the child’s messed up face cleared up.

“Now let’s lie down.”

Like last time, with the child in the middle, he lay on the right and she lay on the left. The child closed his eyes while holding the Duke’s and mine’s hands with both hands.

As she waited quietly, she soon heard even breathing. When she turned her gaze, she saw the face of a child sound asleep.

 

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Translator Note: