Chapter 26
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The Reason for the Sense of Discomfort
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I put off sleep and was walking down the hallway.
In my hands was a tray.
On it sat a cup filled with freshly squeezed red strawberry juice.
It was all because Kara had woken up suddenly, craving strawberry juice in the middle of the night.
'Guess she's hungry after all that dancing.'
What could I do if Yeppi wanted some?
Fortunately, there were leftovers from making the fake frost strawberries.
While delivering morning sickness meals during the day, I'd gotten friendly with the cook and learned how to make juice too.
I'd put some real skill into it and whipped up a refreshing glass on my way back.
But then.
"Gaaah!"
A gut-wrenching scream echoed through the hallway.
"Whoa!"
I nearly dropped the tray.
The source was Ronas's office.
'An enemy attack?'
I tensed up for a second, but what followed was even more horrific than an assault.
"Why is this receipt still here? Where did it go wrong?!"
A wail of despair.
The pitiful cry of an overworked office drone drowning in overtime.
It didn't feel like someone else's problem.
'Ronas... I thought he overdid it with the dancing earlier.'
I glanced down at the tray in my hands.
Then I headed back to the kitchen and grabbed another cup.
I scraped together the remaining ingredients, tossed in some ice, and ground it all up.
Crunch crunch crunch—
In an instant, I'd made another serving of strawberry juice.
'Yeah. Shared suffering from late-night work calls for some camaraderie.'
I placed two glasses of juice on the tray and headed to Ronas's office.
Creeeak.
I quietly opened the door to the office and saw Ronas's back, his head buried on the desk.
"......?"
Ronas lifted his head.
A massive shadow loomed in the doorway.
Me.
In my hands was the tray, topped with two cups of red drink.
"B-Barg...? You're still up...."
"Kara woke up craving strawberry juice all of a sudden. I made an extra while I was in the kitchen."
I stepped inside and plunked a fresh glass of juice down on Ronas's desk.
"Drink up. Sugar's the best for late nights."
"Ah...."
Ronas's eyes trembled.
He took the juice like it was the elixir of life.
The sweet-tart strawberry scent stung his nose.
"Th-thank you...."
"Hang in there. Sorry I can't help more."
"No, no. Your thoughtfulness is more than enough."
Ronas gulped down the juice, voice choking with emotion.
He looked so pitiful and grateful that...
"...Um, Barg."
"Yeah?"
"Would it be okay if I called you 'bro'?"
His sudden confession made me chuckle.
"I'm pretty sure I'd be the little brother here..."
"Even Father calls Gorgon 'bro,' and he's older...."
"Well... I won't say no, but not in front of others...."
"Anyway, thanks, bro."
Tears of gratitude welled up as Ronas picked up his pen again.
I turned to leave Ronas behind and head back to my room.
That's when my eyes caught a letter set aside in one corner of his desk.
Amid the piles of official documents, a single antique envelope stood out.
Unlike the others, it bore the Eisen Baron's personal seal, crisp and clear.
And the recipient was...
「To. Young Master Kairun von Northguard」
'Huh?'
I froze.
I'd heard Ronas handled all official territory reports and letters to the grand duke's family.
Was this one written by the baron himself?
'Could just be a mentor checking in on his student...'
A strange sense of incongruity washed over me.
Not suspicion about the letter itself, but like a puzzle piece was missing.
An instinctive feeling that I was overlooking something crucial prickled the back of my neck.
'...Feels like I'm missing something.'
As I narrowed my eyes at the letter...
The ice in Kara's strawberry juice was already starting to melt.
Just like that, the tangled thoughts in my head vanished.
'Kara comes first right now.'
I shook my head vigorously and hurried back to the bedroom.
The scratch of pen on paper, like a laborer's song rousing the dawn, lulled me like a lullaby.
Morning sunlight streamed through the window.
"Mm...."
Kara stretched and opened her eyes.
Whether from last night's dancing or the late-night strawberry juice, color bloomed in her cheeks.
I gazed at my lovely wife and planted a light kiss on her lips.
Mwah.
"Good morning, dear."
"Mm... good morning. Your breath smells like strawberries."
Kara mumbled, rubbing her eyes.
"Same to you. Did we devour a whole strawberry farm last night?"
"...We sure did. Guess I danced too hard."
"You did. All night long."
We giggled at each other.
On the bedside table sat the empty strawberry juice glass from the wee hours, one left over.
A single dried red juice stain clung to its rim.
I pulled Kara's waist close and asked with exaggerated flair.
"So, what would our queen like for breakfast today? Just say the word, and it's yours."
Kara pressed her ear to her belly dramatically, then burst into giggles.
"Mm... Yeppi says to let Daddy rest after making juice at dawn."
"Aw, our Yeppi's so sweet. Already thinking of Dad."
"But Yeppi's sulking. Says Daddy only kisses Mommy and never him."
Kara pouted playfully.
I burst out laughing, threw back the covers, and kissed her lower belly.
"Sorry, Yeppi. Daddy loves Mommy too much. Here's a make-up kiss."
Kara stroked my hair, beaming with happiness.
I wished this peaceful morning could last forever.
But time marched on mercilessly.
Two weeks until academy enrollment.
Eisen guard buzzed with final preparations.
The Eisen Baron scurried about resolving dorm issues.
With no precedent for married couples enrolling together, he was hunting for special clauses or screening roommates.
Kara and Alina pored over childcare books in the study or learned practical tips from the head maid.
Alina had become Kara's shadow, trailing her like a guard knight and tending to her every need.
"Sis! Drink this! They say lots of water!"
"Thanks, Alina."
And I...
"Aaaah! Lord Barg! You don't chop with brute force! Use a wrist snap...!"
"Why won't this cut?!"
Thud! Thud!
In the mansion kitchen.
I wore an apron comically small on my frame, like a bib, taking a cooking lesson.
Mangled radish chunks littered the cutting board.
The kitchen knife in my hand looked like a toy.
The strawberry juice at dawn had been easy—just smash with ice and strain.
"Hoo...."
I wiped sweat from my brow and gripped the knife again.
'I have to do this.'
Academy dorm food might not suit her.
For Kara's morning sickness, I needed basic cooking skills.
And for childcare, baby food too—I couldn't rely on others forever.
I focused intently, imagining it was food for Kara.
But every time I tried, memories from dawn haunted me.
My knife hand paused.
That letter in Ronas's office last night.
「Recipient: Young Master Kairun von Northguard」
It could be just a private note from mentor to student.
But...
'......'
The Red Vision I'd seen when Gorgon nearly got assassinated.
That chilling, ominous sensation had faintly returned when I saw that envelope.
Back then, standing on the stage of impending tragedy, it was vivid. Now, no clear vision—just nausea-like incongruity.
'Am I overreacting? Or did changing the future create new variables...?'
Thoughts spiraled.
Thud. Thud.
Irregular chopping sounds rang out.
"Barg, could I trouble you for some tea?"
A familiar voice came from the kitchen entrance.
The Eisen Baron.
He sighed heavily as he entered and slumped into a chair.
Unlike his usual impeccable self, his tie was loosened, exhaustion plain.
"My head's killing me."
I set the knife down and brewed some tea.
"What's wrong? You look worse than during Kara's first morning sickness. More academy nonsense?"
"Ha, Barg. You've gotten much better at small talk. The old you would've just asked 'What?' bluntly."
The Eisen Baron chuckled and took the cup.
"...The dorm issue, as expected."
He sipped the hot tea and continued.
"Dorms are strictly segregated by gender, so even for a married couple, sharing a building has no precedent. They're digging in their heels."
"About what we figured."
"It's not just that. They even countered, 'If she's pregnant, wouldn't delaying enrollment a year be better?' Not wrong, so I was stumped."
My expression hardened at that.
"Delay enrollment...? No way."
"Exactly."
The Eisen Baron nodded.
"Truth be told, His Grace the Northguard Grand Duke pushed hard for your enrollment... not entirely out of pure goodwill. Miss this chance, and he might change his mind."
The grand duke wanted our tribe as hostages.
Unlike the original, the current pretext was friendship, but delay it and he'd find another excuse.
No matter how flimsy, a pretext is a pretext.
Backing down would spawn headaches.
The Eisen Baron eyed me seriously.
"And frankly, after birth... childcare will leave no time for academy."
"......"
"Seeing your chemistry, one kid won't be enough... more siblings on the way, and this year's your only shot. But that logic didn't sway the stubborn dean."
He loosened his tie in frustration.
The empire's top administrator was stumped by the academy's thick walls.
'Dorm issue, huh...'
I crossed my arms, deep in thought.
We had to break through.
For Kara and the baby.
And to prepare for the future.
Then, an idea flashed.
"Baron."
"Yes?"
"If we can't change the rules... why not sidestep them?"
"Sidestep how?"
"Not the dorms."
His eyes widened.
"You don't mean... living off-campus? Academy requires full dorm residency."
"No. Inside the academy, but not dorms."
I grinned.
"Like... faculty housing."
"......!"
The Eisen Baron pushed up his glasses.
His gaze sharpened again.
"...Clever idea. A student in faculty housing..."
He pondered, then slapped his knee.
"It could work. There's an empty annex on campus—used as caretaker quarters, now a storage shed. Repurpose it as 'Special Research Student Housing'..."
I could almost hear the calculations whirring in his head.
"Barbarian intuition cuts sharper than a deskbound administrator's logic sometimes."
But his face darkened again.
"Still... the roommate issue remains. For a couple, it'd need a two-person setup, but academy rules won't hand over a room on a husband's word alone..."
"So we need another student assigned."
"Not from the grand duchy, so pairing with unfamiliar heirs from other territories feels risky... If they question Kara's status and start rumors, trouble."
"Got it."
"If we had a trustworthy professor, I could ask as dorm supervisor... but Ronas has no faculty connections."
The Eisen Baron sighed deeply.
"Dropped out mid-term, saying 'theory's worthless, practice matters.' Missed marriage prospects, burned bridges with favored professors... Ha... Why'd he inherit my stubbornness."
He muttered ambiguously about his son and set down the cup.
"No way around it?"
"There is. I'm writing to the young master—while checking on him, I'll ask Young Master Karl von Northguard for help."
"......!"
'Karl von Northguard.'
The moment that name left the baron's lips, my face went cold.
"Unlike Ronas, Young Master Karl graduated top of his class—thick as thieves with the faculty. I'll see if he knows a reliable female professor or supervisor."
The Eisen Baron spoke hopefully, missing my expression.
But I heard nothing.
Alarms blared in my head.
The knot in my gut unraveled.
'Karl von Northguard...'
In the original novel The Illegitimate Son's Snowflower Path...
Kairun's brother, Karl...
Was the decisive trigger shattering Kairun's psyche.
Right before Kara and Kairun's academy enrollment in the original.
Karl, despairing over his paralyzed lower body and his father's coldness...
Committed suicide in front of his brother Kairun.
This shock twisted Kairun into a warped perfectionist with a hair-trigger temper.
'Wait. The timing...'
Two weeks before enrollment.
Right now.