Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Snowman in the Spring Breeze
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The next morning.
Warm sunlight streamed through the window.
"Mm..."
Kara stretched and opened her eyes.
Her face was glowing with health, making yesterday's hellish morning sickness feel like a lie.
It seemed eating the hometown foods her father Gorgon had sent as a midnight snack had actually settled her stomach.
I sighed in relief and tried to get out of bed.
"Where are you going?"
Kara tightly grabbed the hem of my clothes.
"Just getting some water. Want some?"
"Yeah..."
Kara nodded with her eyes half-closed.
"But... my arm feels too heavy."
"...?"
"Our baby says... they won't drink unless Daddy feeds it to them."
I couldn't help but chuckle.
'Liar.'
It wasn't like yesterday when she was truly too sick to move.
Her complexion was good, and above all, her sapphire eyes sparkled with mischief.
This was blatant babying.
Normally, I'd snap back with, "What, no hands of your own?" but for some reason, it didn't bother me.
No, it was downright adorable.
"Yes, yes, as you command."
I poured water into a cup and held it to her lips.
Kara lapped it up like a kitten and smiled in satisfaction.
"Tasty."
"Does our Empress need anything else? Shall I massage your shoulders?"
"Hm... Later. For now, just stay by my side."
Kara used my arm as a pillow and closed her eyes again.
I brushed her hair back and thought to myself.
Morning sickness hell is over, so now it's full queen-servicing mode, huh.
Not a bad morning.
Especially since she smiles like that.
Then, my gaze lingered on Kara's belly.
'But... how long do we keep calling our baby "our baby"?'
Honestly, until the chaos yesterday, it hadn't fully sunk in.
Her belly hadn't shown yet, no visible changes.
But after Kara suffered through the nausea and I ran like a madman to fetch strawberries, it finally felt real.
The fact that our child was breathing inside that flat stomach.
'We can decide the real name later with Kara... but we need something to call it right now, don't we?'
A pet name.
The name you call the baby while it's still in the womb.
'What would be good... Something strong? Something pretty?'
I gazed at the sleeping Kara, lost in pleasant deliberation.
After lunch.
I was taking a stroll through the mansion to aid digestion.
Eisen Baron's youngest daughter, Alina, grabbed our hands and dragged us somewhere.
"Sis! Bro! Come quick! I have something to show you!"
"Where are we going?"
"It's a secret! You'll see when you follow!"
The place Alina led us to was the underground ice storage where the strawberry chaos had unfolded yesterday.
The heavy iron door swung open, and cold air poured out.
"Ta-da! Look here! It hasn't melted yet!"
Alina pointed to a corner of the storage.
There, snow was piled high in white heaps.
It was the Norheim snow that Gorgon had packed tightly as both cushioning and coolant when sending the food.
They'd sorted the food but kept the snow in one spot, reluctant to waste it.
"Ah... snow."
Kara approached the snow pile with delight.
She scooped up a handful of the cold snow.
It chilled her fingertips.
It was exactly the temperature of her homeland that she'd missed so much.
"They say the empire gets warmer the further south you go, so it's hard to see snow... Nice to see it here."
Kara smiled as she fiddled with the snowball.
Alina, fiddling with the snow beside her, looked wistful.
"I want to make a snowman..."
"A snowman?"
"Yeah. I read in a book, you roll snow into a person shape. But it's spring outside... It'll melt right away if we take it out, right?"
Alina mumbled glumly.
Making a snowman in the empire's inland during spring was an impossible dream.
But.
"Why not? We can just do it."
Kara's eyes gleamed.
"Dear? It's still spring, even if the breeze is chilly. It'll turn to water the moment we go out."
I tried to stop her, but Kara already had the eyes of a warrior.
"That's why we make it fast. Before it melts."
She grabbed Alina's shoulders and declared solemnly.
"Alina. Sis and Bro will make you a snowman. But we need a plan."
"A plan?"
"Yeah. Speed battle."
Operation: Rescue the Spring Snowman.
First, the storage is too cold for a pregnant woman and a kid.
Load the snow into a cart and move to the shaded entrance awning where the sun doesn't hit as much, then work there.
Assemble the snowman as simply and quickly as possible.
Time limit: about 10 minutes.
Finally, move the finished snowman back into the ice storage before it melts for permanent preservation.
'Of course, the baron or Ronas will complain about wasting space...'
"Snowman! Snowman!"
Seeing Alina bouncing with joy made me think her teary eyes could convince the baron and Ronas somehow.
The shaded spot in the mansion's backyard.
As I pulled out the cart full of snow, Kara and Alina waited with serious expressions.
"Ready? Time limit 10 minutes! Any longer and it'll turn to slush!"
"Got it! Start!"
"Start!"
With my signal, the operation began.
I scooped up a huge handful of snow with my massive hand.
Crunch.
Thanks to my grip strength, it packed into a solid ball in seconds.
"Body done! Now the head!"
I set the giant snowball on the ground, and Kara swiftly placed a smaller one on top.
"Alina! Eyes and nose!"
"Here!"
Alina handed over twigs and pebbles she'd gathered.
Kara began designing the snowman's features with a serious face.
But...
"Uh... Sis?"
Alina tilted her head.
"Why does the snowman look... angry?"
Under Kara's hands, it wasn't turning into a round, cute snowman...
It was becoming a rugged, muscular warrior snowman with prominent trapezius muscles.
Fierce slanted eyes, mouth set in a firm line.
Like a barbarian warrior commanding the snowfields.
"This isn't just any snowman. It's our tribe's guardian deity, the Yeti. It has to look tough."
Kara said proudly.
Her tastes are unique, that's for sure.
That's why she married me?
But Alina loved it. "Whoa! It looks strong!"
Then.
"Oh? The sun's out!"
The spring sun, hidden by clouds, began shining through the awning.
Crisis.
"Eek! The Yeti's sweating!"
Alina screamed.
The snowman's surface glistened as water droplets formed.
The carefully sculpted traps were starting to melt.
"No! My Yeti!"
Kara stomped her feet and yelled.
"Barg! Phase 3! Evac op!"
"On it!"
I took a deep breath.
Then lifted the entire two-ball snowman, which had just been finished and was already melting.
'Hup!'
It was heavy.
But weight wasn't the issue.
One wrong move and it could crumble.
'If it breaks, we're done. Handle it like an egg... but fast!'
I cradled the snowman and dashed toward the ice storage.
"Out of the way! Snowman coming through!"
A huge man crossing the garden, angry-faced snowman in his arms.
Chased by a beauty and a little girl.
"Run, Daddy Snowman!"
"Almost there! Go, Barg!"
Passing servants gawked, but no time to care.
We burst into the storage entrance like the wind.
Back in the cool ice storage.
"Hoo..."
I carefully set the snowman down.
Thanks to the cold, the melting surface began freezing solid again.
We stood side by side, huffing on our hands, admiring it.
A rough but valiant snowman stood proudly among the food jars Gorgon sent.
A little Norheim in the heart of spring, in the empire's underground storage.
"Wow... It really won't melt. We made this, right?"
Alina poked it curiously.
"Yeah. Probably won't even in summer."
Kara leaned her head on my shoulder.
"We'll show it to our kid when they come. Tell 'em Mommy, Daddy, and big sis made it."
"Sounds good. Hold strong till then, Yeti."
I patted what I figured was its shoulder.
As Alina tidied around it, Kara and I stepped back to gaze.
Suddenly, I recalled what Kara said earlier.
'Yeti... Yeti...'
The snow mountain native, the giant of the plains.
Strong, sturdy, unyielding to any cold.
"Yeti... Yeppi..."
I mumbled unconsciously.
"...?"
Kara giggled and looked at me.
"What, hubby? Throwing a tantrum? 'Yeppi' doesn't suit your size."
"No, that's not it."
I turned to face her.
My large hand gently cupped her hip, thumb carefully rubbing her still-flat lower belly.
It was warm.
"Pet name."
"...Huh?"
"For our baby. How about Yeppi? Tough like a Yeti, pretty like my wife."
"..."
Kara's eyes widened, then her face flushed red.
"...What? That's so childish."
"Don't like it?"
"No..."
Kara shyly shook her head.
Childish, but her heart raced anyway.
Barg's warmth seeped through her hip and belly.
His sincerity, his love for the child, came through clear.
"...I like it. Yeppi."
Kara whispered, pressing her forehead to my chest.
"It's tacky, just like you. That's why I love it."
"Haha, a compliment?"
"Of course."
We embraced and laughed quietly.
The cold ice storage felt warmer than anywhere.
The warmth of family.
And the new name, 「Yeppi」, filled the space.
That was when.
"Yeppi?"
Eisen Baron and the retainers, who'd come down after hearing about the snowman commotion, must have overheard.
Alina's eyes sparkled as she asked.
"Is that the baby's name?"
"Yeah. Not the real one yet, but what we call it in the tummy."
Alina bounced with joy at my answer.
"Wow! Yeppi! So cute! Hi Yeppi, it's big sis!"
Alina was already greeting Kara's belly nonstop.
Ronas, meanwhile, frowned but turned his reddened face away.
"Ahem. Very... straightforward naming. Pretty and Yeti..."
The childish name felt awkward on his tongue.
But the head maid and servants reacted differently.
"Oh, so cute! Rolls right off the tongue!"
"Master Yeppi... or miss? Anyway, grow up healthy!"
Everyone blessed us in unison.
Behind that heartwarming scene.
Eisen Baron was slyly hiding something behind his back.
I sneaked a glance at the paper.
'...'
Eisen Baron had apparently stayed up pondering pet name ideas.
But before the powerfully childish 「Yeppi」, they couldn't compete, so he was quietly scrapping them.
'Sorry, Baron... I win this round.'
I savored the victory inwardly as I watched his bittersweet smile.
Our first spring in the empire was arriving.
With Yeppi.