Chapter 47
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: The Lady Who Wants to Make a Baby (17)
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“Uh...”
I’m not the type who likes trailing off, but this time, I had no choice.
Dia was showing a side completely different from her usual self, and what she was demanding was utterly absurd.
“...I want to give birth in a happy state.”
“You’re not even pregnant. What birth...?”
“We’re doing it today.”
Even as I tried to stall for time, Dia seemed to have already made up her mind.
It was probably because of my own condition.
Thanks to my abnormally high stats, I rarely ever got flustered, and this was the first time I’d shown any sign of it in front of Dia.
When someone who never gets rattled starts to falter, she must have felt like she’d firmly seized the initiative.
That’s why she was pressing me so aggressively now.
I couldn’t let myself get dragged in any deeper. I shook my head firmly and quickly schooled my face into a resolute expression.
“Before that, even setting aside dating, shouldn’t we talk about marriage?”
“If Ganeghan wants to discuss it, I’m all for it.”
“So... why exactly are we married?”
“You’re right. We haven’t gone through any of the formal paperwork yet. What I meant was more like a common-law marriage.”
“No, I even have some doubts about that common-law part.”
“Why?”
Dia, if anything, looked even more puzzled than I did.
“Isn’t this moving way too fast? We haven’t even done any proper dating yet.”
“But don’t we need to set a clear path forward? There’s a huge difference between running toward a known destination and just charging ahead blindly. Calling each other ‘darling’ so sweetly is all part of racing together toward that endpoint called marriage.”
“...Where on earth does that come from?”
“It’s just something that came to me naturally after reading so many books.”
I was left momentarily dumbfounded, and the conversation ground to a halt.
What should I do now?
Was this a bad thing? No, hardly. Dia was a woman who possessed all the beauty befitting a chapter 1 heroine.
You could tell just from her neatly combed hair, her tidy clothes, and the way she moved with an elegance that was still a work in progress.
How could it be anything but pleasant for a woman like that to cling to me about getting married and having kids? It was just a bit too sudden and headache-inducing, that’s all.
I knew Lady Overdose had at least ten chapters. Jumping straight to marriage like this? Not knowing exactly how the game was supposed to play out made me naturally cautious with my moves.
“You don’t think our relationship is somehow lacking to call it common-law marriage, do you?”
“No, no, that’s not what I meant.”
“Then... do you hate me now, after all this?”
“No. No. My head’s just a mess right now.”
“Isn’t a messy head proof that you don’t like me?”
Dia’s face, as she prodded me, took on a slightly downcast look.
That sparked an idea.
Should I just roll with this?
If I stuck to this attitude, Dia might end up a little disheartened and deflated, but at least it would prevent the disaster of making a baby right now.
“Hmm...”
I put on a deliberately grave expression and rubbed my chin.
Sure enough, Dia read my face and immediately started looking worried.
It was only natural. Love runs on ‘emotion.’ There are far more things it can’t resolve through pure logic alone.
No matter how logical or appealing the reasons, if the other person’s heart isn’t in it, they’re worthless. Dia seemed terribly anxious about that, suddenly starting to fidget and hem and haw.
“Ah, um... right! Ganeghan—no, honey! I have something to show you!”
Dia dashed to the bed in a panic, rummaged around, and came back with a single sheet of paper.
The paper had a list of the servants’ names, each one circled neatly on the right side.
“S-see these circles? Every time I asked if I was pretty and you said yes, I marked one. Th-this is pretty objective data, right? I’m not so ugly that you’d be embarrassed to have me as your wife!”
Seeing Dia this desperate did stir something in me.
She must have gotten all excited on her own, preparing these things diligently in anticipation.
I kept my expression firm and silently watched her. I wanted to see just how much she’d prepared, all the way to the end.
“Um... assets... assets? You took this job in the first place because you needed money, right? No worries there! I looked into it—as the second daughter, if I just ask, I can inherit at least fifteen percent of the Menesil family fortune! And with the heir’s permission, that jumps all the way to fifty percent!”
“Money isn’t the issue.”
“Uh... uh... I was just mentioning it for reference!”
Dia rummaged under the bed this time and pulled out a measuring tape.
She unrolled it at length, then pointed to a measurement with her fingernail.
“This is my hip circumference. It’s even wider than the ‘easy birth’ size marked in the books. So... our baby will come out nice and comfortably!”
“That’s only after going through the whole process.”
“The process? Ah... don’t worry about the process either!”
Dia scampered off and returned with her pillow.
It was laundered spotlessly, same as always. That wasn’t the problem.
...It was just extremely squished. Like it had been sat on by something heavy, over and over.
“I researched all sorts of positions that would make you happy! You can just lie there! Yeah, just lie there, and it’ll be over before you know it! I’ll do my very best!”
Dia’s face flushed bright red as she spoke. Her voice was even trembling faintly.
Of course it was mortifying. She’d cast aside her entire status as a lady to talk like this, all for one man.
Every word out of her mouth was practically a fresh confession. Seeing her bare her heart like this only made me more flustered.
I couldn’t even begin to fathom her feelings, let alone figure out how to comfort her.
No, to be more honest... her relentless persuasion was starting to shake my resolve, little by little.
“I mean it! I won’t make it boring with just one—I’ll try everything I know! It’s just that I don’t have practical experience, but in my head, I understand it perfectly!”
“I get it. I’ll think it over.”
“Even this... isn’t enough? Wait, did I miss something? Bust measurement? No. Um... should I talk about clothes?”
I had no idea what to say to that, so instead of forcing words out, I just shut my mouth.
Giving a half-hearted answer to someone baring their soul like this would only make things worse.
Then, suddenly, Dia hung her head and let her arms drop limply.
“......You hate it, don’t you? Someone like me. It’s disgusting, right? A drug addict talking about having a baby...”
Her voice was thick with guilt and remorse. The room’s atmosphere chilled in an instant.
I’d only meant to refuse the proposal, not drive her psyche into a corner. I jumped in right away.
“That’s not the reason I’m refusing.”
“No. You don’t have to hide it. Reading those books... I felt it more than anyone.”
Her face twisted in shame, anger, and self-loathing as she bit her lip. But that anger was probably directed inward.
“Every book says drugs are the worst. Worse than smoking or drinking. They can even cause birth defects in severe cases... I know. I’ve seen that warning over and over. No book had even a single hopeful story.”
Her fists clenched and trembled as she pressed on.
“That’s why I desperately hunted for anything positive about it, clinging to the tiniest scraps. Trying to cover up the flaws with whatever merits I could find. Because I like you, Ganeghan. I love you. You’re a doctor, so you’ll figure something out, I thought. I just want to love you and have your baby somehow.”
“Dia.”
“...Pathetic, isn’t it? You’re a doctor—you know the risks of drug addicts better than anyone. You’d never make a baby with one... I was the only fool getting my hopes up...”
“Stop. Stop talking.”
I pulled Dia into a tight embrace.
I just couldn’t face that heartbreaking expression on her face.
Yeah, I already knew Dia was the real deal as a lady.
Ending up with her would be the happy ending. Why was I overthinking it?
“We’ll make one right now. A baby.”
In the end, that’s what I said.