Chapter 534: One Stack of Misunderstanding
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 534: One Stack of Misunderstanding
Valentina and Anastasia were not blood relatives.
Of course, since the ice fairy race itself was derived from a single being known as the Spirit King, one could argue they were blood-related if you went back a few thousand generations.
In any case, though they weren't connected by blood, Valentina cherished Anastasia more than a real daughter.
She once bought the entire ownership of a mine just because Anastasia had casually mentioned that the gems extracted there were pretty. She even built five-star hotels all over the world in Anastasia's name, so she could travel with her friends when she eventually made some.
For the record, Valentina considered all of it to be Anastasia's, so even while traveling the world to raise money for her treatment, she didn't sell off even a single ruble's worth.
To Valentina, Anastasia was that precious, incomparable to anything else in the world.
If Belmoras hadn't contacted her first, she might have even made a contract with a demon to save Anastasia, even if it meant committing the atrocity of slaughtering the Russian people.
Perhaps it was because her innate emotions were naturally faint.
Valentina's maternal love, which she had realized late in life, was incomparably stronger than that of other women.
And now, she was having a second child.
“My child is in here...”
Valentina slowly caressed her lower abdomen, her expression complicated.
It was truly ironic.
Although it was an unwanted pregnancy, she didn't have the slightest desire to terminate it, no matter what it took.
In fact, she even felt a sense of repulsion at the thought.
The fetus hadn't even properly implanted yet, let alone started to quicken.
Nevertheless, in a corner of Valentina's heart, the unfamiliar emotion she had felt when she first met Anastasia began to softly blossom.
When she woke up in the morning, her mind was filled with worries.
Pregnancy was a far more serious matter than losing her virginity.
“...What should I do?”
Faced with a dilemma for which she could find no easy answer, Valentina ruffled her hair in frustration.
She knew instinctively.
If the child was born, even if it was Kang Hyun-woo's child, she would pour out an infinite, unconditional love for it.
Moreover, she couldn't raise the child without a father, so she would eventually have to accept Kang Hyun-woo as her husband.
It was a choice she could only describe as insane, even to herself, but it was as good as a predetermined future.
Rationally speaking, aborting the child was the right thing to do.
At this stage, it could be terminated relatively easily with a specially made drug.
But she didn't want to.
No, she couldn't.
“...No.”
The mere thought of aborting the child made Valentina reflexively wrap her arms around her lower abdomen, as if to protect it.
It was a heart-wrenching display of maternal love.
After agonizing in the bathtub for a long time, Valentina finally made a resolute expression, as if she had made up her mind.
She immediately left the bathroom and headed for Anastasia's bedroom, where she ran into Kang Hyun-woo.
A thousand thoughts ran through her mind.
Why did you cum inside me without permission?
How are you going to take responsibility?
What am I supposed to tell Anastasia?
What should we name the baby?
She wanted to voice her complaints right then and there, but Valentina couldn't say a word.
She was at a complete loss as to where to even begin.
Besides, what if Kang Hyun-woo told her to get rid of the child?
Thump—
The mere thought made Valentina's heart sink.
‘...I can't let this go on.’
After her brief meeting with Anastasia, Valentina returned to her room and quietly steeled her resolve.
It wasn't in her nature to sit back and do nothing, and above all, she needed to have a sincere conversation with Kang Hyun-woo to give the child in her womb a better life.
“Hoo...”
Arriving in front of Kang Hyun-woo's room, Valentina's face was tense.
Her heart felt like it was about to explode, but she took a calm, deep breath and somehow managed to compose herself.
She deliberately didn't use magic because she couldn't rule out the possibility that it might harm the child.
Of course, the hypothesis that magic power had a negative effect on expectant mothers had been completely refuted by scholars and doctors around the world decades ago.
The usual Valentina would have used magic without a second thought, but now that she was carrying a child, the "what if" scenario kept circling in her mind.
‘...Once I open this door, there'll be no turning back.’
Nevertheless, Valentina did not hesitate.
Her pride didn't matter.
Making a decision for the child whose gender she didn't even know yet, she knocked cautiously on the door.
Knock, knock—
*
“Tower Lord?”
I tilted my head as I looked at the Tower Lord, who had opened the door and entered.
Why is she here all of a sudden?
There was still plenty of time before sunset, and since we ate our meals separately, there was no reason for the Tower Lord to come all the way to my room.
“...”
The Tower Lord stared at me without a word.
It was a repeat of the awkwardness I'd felt at lunchtime.
Feeling awkward for no reason, I dried myself with a towel, threw on some clothes, and got up from the bed.
“Uh... why don't you have a seat?”
Again, there was no reply, but regardless, the Tower Lord obediently sat on the guest sofa.
I took a kettle and a tea bag out of my inventory and sat opposite her.
‘...What's this?’
Looking at the Tower Lord's face, she seemed nervous for some reason.
Of course, it was more likely that I was just imagining things.
“Coffee or black tea, which do you prefer?”
“...Either.”
“Then I'll make some black tea with mint choco—”
Glare—
“...I'll have coffee.”
Despite my killer joke meant to lighten the mood, the Tower Lord just reacted as coldly as usual.
I quietly tore open a packet of instant coffee.
‘Is she on her period? She seems to be in a worse mood than usual...’
Thinking it was her period, it made some sense why she'd been spacing out this morning before rushing to the bathroom.
And why she seemed strangely uncomfortable.
‘So, did she come to tell me that it'll be difficult to have sex for a while because of her period? Tsk, that's a bit of a problem...’
As I've said before, Anastasia doesn't have much time left.
If we postpone the treatment until the Tower Lord's period is over, we might have to force the cure while Anastasia's condition has worsened.
Of course, it's not like I enjoy having sex with a woman on her period.
But this was an emergency.
The Tower Lord looking at me so tentatively, unlike her usual self, was probably because she was finding it hard to bring up the subject.
The psychological repulsion of having to have sex with a man during her period versus her responsibility as a parent to save her daughter.
If she had to choose, the latter was obviously the priority.
But when do things in life ever go as planned?
‘She probably came to ask if there's another way.’
Unfortunately, there was no other way.
Even if I tried to supplement the deficient yang energy with prostitutes, it would be nowhere near enough, even if I had sex with those sluts day and night.
High-purity yin energy, by definition, must not have had frequent contact with yang energy.
The prerequisite was that the woman had to be a virgin or have had at most one partner.
And that one partner had to be me.
After a moment's thought, I glanced at the Tower Lord.
Given the situation, her complex feelings were written all over her face, which was very unlike her.
‘Haaah...’
My head was a mess, too.
I wanted to wait for the Tower Lord to bring it up herself, but something like this needed someone to be direct and firm.
It was fine even if she ended up hating me for it.
I'm used to... being the bad guy.
“...Tower Lord.”
I looked the Tower Lord straight in the eye and continued.
“I'm truly sorry, but I don't think that will be possible.”
“?!! Wh-what do you mean...”
“You don't have to pretend you don't know. I already know why you've come.”
Seeing the Tower Lord's obvious bewilderment, I nodded to myself.
Yep, she's definitely on her period.
‘Then again, how many women in the world can openly say 'I'm on my period' to a man she's not close to?’
The Tower Lord stared at me blankly, as if she'd received a great shock.
They don't call her face a weapon for nothing; seeing her like that made my resolve waver a little.
‘...It's a bit awkward for me to say this myself.’
I hesitated for a moment, but I had to be the one to say it.
It was probably a method that the Tower Lord, whose sense of chastity was so strong she hadn't even received the blessing of infertility, would be reluctant to use.
“Hoo...”
I scratched the back of my head out of habit.
I could already clearly see a future where all the favorability I'd painstakingly built up would be slashed away in chunks.
“If you're that against it... there is a way to get rid of it.”
“...What?”
The Tower Lord's eyes widened.
“You know about it too, don't you, Tower Lord? Cleansing the uterus with magic power—”
KWAAANG!!
“Keoheok?!”
In that instant, an irresistible force of magic sent me flying backward into the wall.
The highly concentrated magic power of an archmage tightened around my neck, threatening to snap it at any moment.
In this completely incomprehensible situation, the Tower Lord was glaring at me with murderous eyes.
Just meeting her gaze sent shivers down my spine.
My instincts were screaming.
Run now if you don't want to die.
This wasn't the WWE.
This was a battle to the death, more brutal than the UFC.
An 8th Circle Archmage, one of only three in the entire world.
And the one who might be the strongest of them all was unleashing her full killing intent at me.
“How, how could you say something so... so vile?!!!”
K-k-k-crack—!!!
As the Tower Lord exploded in tearful rage, the surrounding area instantly froze over at a speed incomparable to before.
This wasn't simple ice magic.
Every labored breath I took felt like it was freezing the very yang energy inside my body, and my Immunity to Cold and Heat was rendered so useless I felt like I was about to die of hypothermia at any second.
Even as I shivered uncontrollably, I was dumbfounded.
For a mage who hadn't received the blessing of infertility, cleansing the uterus with magic power to avoid menstruation was a fairly well-known technique.
Of course, it wasn't exactly beneficial to the body.
You could think of it as being similar to taking birth control pills.
Still, for a mage, the body would naturally recover with a combination of meditation and rest.
However, some people felt repulsed by it, which was why I had brought it up as carefully as possible.
But... was it something to get this angry about?
“N-no... it's not that difficult a thing to—”
“...For you.”
Drip—
At that moment, a hot tear streamed down the Tower Lord's pale cheek.
Like a wife hurt by her clueless husband's words.
“...I am truly disappointed in you.”