Waiting, Part 6
“H-hehe. A-anyway, I’m happy.”
“…….”
“Just like you said back then, husband, you’re going to get me pregnant. ♥”
At that adorable, lovestruck look, Valdes shivered all over. He had not exactly been holding himself back, but restraint had been impossible from the start. He swept Serenia into his arms and raced back to the bedroom in a blur, and before long the countess’s chambers were filled with the sticky heat of lust and cries of rapture.
Literally all night long.
When dawn came, the dining room still bore countless traces of what had happened there, while the two of them had simply vanished. No one had seen them go into the bedroom, and with the estate sealed by magic, not a sound had leaked outside. But there was only one place a man and woman could possibly have disappeared to together, so the rumor spread quickly among the servants.
Everyone kept their mouths shut, of course, but the commotion had already started when the pair vanished from the dining room without so much as a word. Even without anyone saying a thing, rumors were bound to travel from mouth to mouth.
Unlike the first night Valdes and Serenia had spent together, the mansion had long since returned to normal, and a fair number of servants were on duty even through the night. Before, they had been sneaking around in secret or using Valdes’s room, so no one had caught on, but that was no longer the case.
“Whoa, that’s insane...!”
“Quit gawking and get off shift already. ...Wait, what is?”
“The temperature-control magic circle is still running.”
“……It’s seven in the morning.”
“Exactly.”
“Man, that’s nuts.”
At the estates of great nobles, or in royal castles, there was usually a magic security room. It was the place where all the various magic circles installed throughout the massive building were checked and maintained. Working in shifts around the clock, the staff here were often bound by contract magic as well, so there was no chance of secrets leaking out.
Even so, the bedroom had burned with such ferocity that the servants in the security room had nearly fainted from shock.
That fire of lust finally went out about thirty minutes after the shift change in the magic security room.
“…….”
“Mmm...”
Hours after the bedroom had fallen quiet, Serenia was the first to open her eyes.
“Ahh, h-ha...”
A faint moan escaped her as she felt a throbbing sensation from below. She had no idea how much he had poured inside her, but even after waking from a long sleep, semen was still leaking out of her. Not in a small amount, either.
And that was not the only thing on her mind. Because she had been desperate to get pregnant, she had taken most of Valdes’s release deep inside her womb, but some of it had ended up on her face, body, and breasts. On top of that, both of their sweat and other fluids had soaked through them as they moved again and again through the night.
She had fallen asleep in that state, so her entire body felt sticky.
She had also drunk every drop of water kept in the bedroom, but there had simply been so much liquid expelled that her throat still felt dry and scratchy. Valdes had tried to moisten her with magic, but there was no helping the sense that it was still not quite enough.
On top of that, the bed was still damp in places, and there were plenty of other things tugging at her attention.
But even among all that, there was one thing that mattered most to her.
Serenia’s palm slid over her lower abdomen.
Our baby...
It had not even implanted yet, and still, for some reason, she felt as if she could sense a tiny pulse there. Something separate from the beat of her own heart. She knew it was only her imagination, and yet she could not hide the blissful expression on her face. Because there was no doubt that a fertilized egg—one that would soon grow into a child—was there inside her womb.
Valdes had confirmed that much through the Yin Crest.
He had not even used one of the magic methods nobles often employed to encourage pregnancy, and yet after only a single day, he had gotten Serenia pregnant through sheer force of semen. The quantity alone was enough, but the thick, vigorous sperm—so potent it seemed almost inhuman—had played a huge role as well.
A child in here... Hehe, this is kind of a strange feeling.
It felt profoundly new to her.
A dream she had longed for over ten years was finally becoming reality.
Strangely enough, the man beside her—her husband, and therefore the child’s father—was not the same one she had imagined all those years ago.
In fact, it had been a very long time since she had thought about her ex-husband at all. She had nearly forgotten he even existed. Right after she had thrown him out of the mansion, she had thought of him a few times, but it had not taken long for her to stop caring. The social circle had quieted down quickly, and thanks to the happiness Valdes had brought her, it felt like a waste of time to remember that piece of garbage.
In any case, since the child had not even implanted yet, it was too early to call it a pregnancy. Still, she thought she would need to be careful from here on out. Just because her own body was strong did not mean the child in her belly was, too.
“What are you doing?”
Valdes, who had opened his eyes a little later, asked her as he watched her stroke her stomach.
“I’m just so happy... ♡”
“…….”
It was a strange answer to the question, but not one he couldn’t understand.
If anything, it showed just how badly she had wanted a child.
He suspected that among all the women around him, Serenia—excluding the Demon Queen—wanted a baby more than anyone else. Having suffered for more than ten years because of fertility problems, it was only natural. Still, seeing her smile so brightly now that she had finally conceived made him happy in turn.
“Come to think of it, the rumor’s probably already spread everywhere.”
“Huh? What do you mean—ah...”
Serenia, who had been resting her head on Valdes’s arm as a pillow, took a moment to understand what he meant, then let out a soft groan of realization.
“W-well... I-I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“What’s the problem? It’ll take some time before your belly even starts showing.”
“And even if I have a child out of wedlock... there won’t exactly be many people who can say anything.”
Even as she said that, Serenia shot him a sidelong glance, and there was a faint note of disappointment in her eyes.
It was because of the word out of wedlock that she had brought up herself.
Now that she had achieved what she wanted, she had started to worry about what came after. She was delighted to be carrying the child of the man she loved, but officially, the child had no father. That could not be helped, since Serenia had divorced and never married again after that.
“Worried?”
Valdes quickly saw through the concern hiding beneath her words.
“A-a little...?”
“I’m sorry about that. The wedding probably won’t be possible until after the war is over. It’ll be a joint one, though. And I probably won’t be much of a father, either.”
“…….”
“Still, I’ll do my best. Before the war, and after it too.”
After listening to him in silence, Serenia smiled softly. Then she turned over and wrapped both arms tightly around Valdes, speaking in a voice full of laughter.
“It’s okay. I was prepared for all of this the moment I fell in love with you. Well, I was shocked far more than I’d expected, but... even so, this much is something I can handle.”
“Yeah. Thanks. ...Still, we’re both late now.”
“Mmm... Well, that can’t be helped. Since we’re already late, should we just skip work today?”
Looking at Serenia’s bright smile, Valdes scooped her up in his arms and carried her toward the small bathroom inside the bedroom.
Warmth stirred within Serenia’s estate, but outside, a knight was casting a glacial stare toward the mansion.
“…….”
They still haven’t come out.
The Ma-in’s brown eyes trembled.
Don’t tell me Countess Bernstein, too? ...No, I can’t be sure yet. She is that man’s teacher, after all. Maybe she doesn’t know. But if she does...
On the first day she had arrived in the Ulsro Kingdom’s capital, Jurina had taken an inn near the royal castle. Mari, who had hired her and brought her all the way here, had offered her a room as a guest, but she had refused. She had told Mari it was because she could not accept so much from her, but the real reason was different.
She wanted to stay away from the hands and eyes of Valdes’s people who would inevitably be around the royal castle. In the end she would have to go inside, but until then she wanted to investigate and track Valdes more freely from the outside. There was no doubt in her mind that Ulsro would be crawling with his subordinates.
So she had found an inn and wandered around a little distance from the royal castle. Then, when she saw Valdes coming out, she hurried after him.
And the place she reached was Countess Serenia Bernstein’s estate.
Jurina hid nearby and watched the place continuously. Unfortunately, the mansion stood on a street lined with noble estates. That meant she could not simply pay some vagrant or mercenary to keep watch in her place.
Without highly polished skills, she would be discovered quickly even if she hid. So she resolved not to move until dawn if she had to, and kept watch over the place without budging. The result was that she really did end up pulling an all-nighter.
“Damn it.”
Jurina muttered a curse, tormented by her suspicion of Serenia.
She was tired. She was hungry, too.
It had been a mistake, but she had never imagined they would stay inside this long. And yet she had not wanted to give up halfway through after waiting so long already. Thanks to that, she had ended up having to hide carefully for well over half a day.
“I’ll fall back for now. Rest a bit... and start over.”
Grinding her teeth, Jurina forced down the rage and bitterness deep in her chest and slipped quietly away from the street.
The dungeon of the Great Mage Robert.
“Haah... I wonder when Lord Valdes is finally going to come...”
Vilma closed the book she had been reading and murmured to herself.
“I thought he’d come right away if I contacted him, but he’s taking much longer than I expected.”
It had already been several weeks since Robert had awakened.
And yet Valdes showed no sign of coming. Because of that, she had been killing time by reading the books that were still left here and practicing magic. At first, it had been quite enjoyable. After all, the reason she had run away from home in the first place was because she wanted to be alone.
So she had been happy to get some time by herself, but the feeling had not lasted very long. Reading the many magical tomes Robert had left behind was fun enough, but for some reason, she still felt lonely. Even Vilma herself had only just realized that she was the sort of person who got lonely this easily.
For one thing, she was not just anybody—she was Wilhelmina de Desac, the First Princess of the Dezac Empire. Of course, from the moment she was born, she had been surrounded by countless people and loved by all of them. On top of that, she had possessed enough magical talent to become a disciple of one of the four elders of the Imperial Magic Tower.
That was why, even though she had wanted to be alone, she had never really had the chance.
It’s not just Valdes... I kind of miss Irena right now, too.
With her cold, sharp tongue, the succubus secretary of Valdes was still deeply kind beneath it all. It was the sort of feeling that made Vilma wonder if this was what having an older sister would be like. There had been a few women in the empire who had felt sisterly, but for some reason, Irena gave her that impression especially strongly.
...Is it because of the Yin Crest?
Vilma tilted her head and looked down at the lower abdomen hidden beneath her clothes.
It had been given a provocative name—the Crest of Obedience—but in practice, it had only truly exerted its power once, the moment it was first engraved. That memory was so vivid it would not fade easily. Even now, with the crest lying quietly dormant, she still found herself thinking about it from time to time.
“Sigh... I guess I should go downstairs.”
Lost in her thoughts, Vilma let out a breath, left her room, and followed the secret passage down into the basement.
What had once been nothing but Robert’s research facility had now been partially remodeled into a prison. And naturally, the one locked inside was the dungeon’s original owner himself: Robert. Or rather, the former Great Mage, now reduced to a female homunculus and stripped of all his powers.
The first thing that greeted Vilma when she arrived there was Robert’s sly, unpleasant laughter.
“Heh-heh... Looks like you’re plenty bored yourself, girl. The fact that you keep coming here every day says it all.”
“I-I’m not! It’s not like that at all! I’m just monitoring you!”
Vilma shouted in a fluster, right on the mark.
But Robert only snickered and mocked her. The sight was utterly unfit for someone with the appearance of a young woman. Vilma had found it rather awkward at first, too, but by now she was more or less used to it.
“Um, Lord Robert. I have something I want to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“Why did you want to be born again?”
“…….”
Vilma had genuinely been curious about that.
Why would Robert, revered in the empire as a hero and a Great Mage, go so far as to commit horrific and cruel experiments that erased countless lives just to be reborn in a new body? To someone as innocent as her, it was impossible to understand.
“You’re one of the greatest people in the empire—no, on the entire continent. Even if you are fairly old, you could still have lived another few dozen years easily...”
“Yes. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Huh?”