Chapter 73. Conception! Implantation! Pregnancy!
Conception! Implantation! Pregnancy!
The Blanc Family. A martial house that guarded the eastern borders of the kingdom, maintaining their inherited combat prowess through generations of carefully arranged intra-family marriages.
They abhorred the mixing of outside bloodlines. As a result, every Blanc bore the same piercingly pale skin and cold blue eyes that made Knight Commander Rimeyer earn her moniker "The Ice Witch."
'The only exception to accepting outsiders into the family was those who possessed martial prowess surpassing their own.'
Only someone of Lucian's extraordinary caliber could break through their pride and earn the right to mingle bloodlines.
Yet here was Gerard, allowing—no, encouraging—his own wife to sleep with his cousin while he watched and enjoyed the spectacle. It defied all of Lucian's understanding.
"Hmm... Enough of this distasteful talk. How fares the eastern border?"
Lucian forcibly changed the subject before his stomach could turn further.
"Ah, speaking of which..."
Gerard brushed aside the question, his expression turning serious as he returned to his original topic.
"My wife's been making rather... difficult requests lately. When she's with another man—family or otherwise—she doesn't want me just watching or fooling around with some maid. She wants me to be with that man's wife simultaneously."
"...That's called wife swapping."
"Indeed. Never tried it myself, but... it's about matching energies, you see? The psychology of taking as much as you give."
Gerard swirled his wine glass, piercing Lucian with his gaze.
"Which brings me to a favor I'd like to ask."
"..."
"Ah! Not with Countess Rachel, of course. You're newlyweds, and she's rather conservative about such matters—she'd faint from shock. I've no intention of ruining a friend's marriage."
Gerard waved his hands reassuringly. His next words, however, were even more outrageous.
"Instead... what if I borrowed one of your cherished maids?"
"Excuse me?"
"You take my wife Iselinn, and I'll take one of your alluring maids. Those girls of yours are lovelier than most noble daughters. My wife would welcome the chance to experience the legendary 'Eckhart stamina'—she'd jump at the opportunity."
"..."
Lucian found himself speechless.
His head spun.
This childhood friend of his wanted them to drop their pants, swing their cocks around, and swap women like beasts in heat?
'Madness.'
It was no different from the offer made years ago by Barkan, the barbarian king of the south:
"Give me your priestess Sophia, and I'll give you my queen."
The only difference was that this came wrapped in a friend's "polite and jovial request" rather than an enemy's threat.
Lucian's possessiveness stirred. His women were his alone. Even the maids who'd shared his bed belonged to him. Hand them over to a friend?
And yet...
The image flashed unbidden—Gerard's wife, that sultry eastern beauty with her pale skin writhing beneath him, while Gerard took one of his own maids. A peculiar thrill ran down his spine at the thought.
"Hmm... I'm undecided. It's late—you should retire and rest."
Lucian coldly drew the line. He feared what his own reaction might be if this continued.
"Ah... Have I offended you? Then forget I mentioned it. You've grown unusually soft lately—my joke must've gone too far. Hahaha!"
Gerard laughed awkwardly at Lucian's stony expression and rose from his seat.
Yet his words lingered in Lucian's mind like a tantalizing afterimage.
Lucian staggered back to the newlywed chambers.
Rachel slept peacefully, oblivious to the world. Dressed in white sleepwear, she looked pure and lovely.
He slipped quietly into bed and embraced her.
Warm, soft skin. The familiar scent of lavender.
But Lucian's eyes gleamed in the dark as he held her.
'Swapping women...'
Gerard's words echoed like auditory hallucinations.
Pleasure shared with others. The thrill of taking and being taken.
It was forbidden territory Lucian had never explored.
Rachel's face overlapped with the sultry smile of Lady Blanc, then transformed into one of his maids being taken by Gerard.
"Haah..."
Lucian shook his head violently and gripped Rachel's breasts.
An impossibility.
Yet the more forbidden the fantasy, the sweeter its danger.
That proposal's sticky, tantalizing afterimage stained Lucian's night with restless desire.
[Sophia's Chambers in the Keep]
Knock knock.
Iseo carefully rapped on Sophia's door.
"Y-yes? Come in."
Inside, Sophia sat propped against her bed—pale complexion, forehead dotted with cold sweat, hands unconsciously rubbing her chest.
Iseo closed the door and took a seat beside the bed. Her gaze was both concerned and sharp, like a scholar's.
"Lady Sophia, if I may ask you a few questions?"
"Ah... yes, Miss Iseo. Please."
Iseo produced a small notebook from her pocket.
"Have you been experiencing unusual drowsiness lately?"
"Yes... my body feels heavy as waterlogged cotton. I keep needing to lie down."
"Increased sensitivity to certain smells? Like fish or grease?"
"Earlier... the scent of cookies suddenly made me nauseous."
"And your breasts... any swelling or pain when touched?"
"How did you...? Even my clothes brushing against them hurts..."
Sophia blushed and nodded.
Iseo closed her notebook. All symptoms pointed to one conclusion. After a pause, she asked the crucial question.
"Lady Sophia... can priestesses conceive?"
Sophia's eyes widened.
"Wh-what? Pregnancy?"
"I'm asking about biological possibility."
"Well... I've never read records of priestesses bearing children. We maintain lifelong chastity. But... when the former priestess trained me, she never said it was physically impossible. Just that we refrain because we devote ourselves to the gods..."
Sophia trailed off, realizing where this was going.
"Lady Sophia. Congratulations."
Iseo smiled faintly as she declared:
"You appear to be pregnant."
"Th-that's impossible."
Sophia clutched her stomach.
"But... Lucian said his [Sperm Retrieval Magic] is always active. That every seed is expelled immediately upon... release. How...?"
It was Lucian's proud, flawless contraception—no exceptions, not even for Sophia.
"Hmm... It's a mechanical spell. The failure rate is near zero. Unless..."
Iseo rested her chin on her hand, theorizing.
"Either your body nullified the magic due to its uniqueness... or external interference overpowered it."
Then, like lightning, a memory struck Sophia.
One passionate night with Lucian.
At the climax, as he filled her completely, she had forgotten all shame and cried out in her heart:
'O gods, grant me this man's child! Conception! Implantation! Pregnancy!'
Not a priestess's prayer, but a woman's primal plea.
And in that instant, deep within her womb, she'd felt something—subtle yet weighty—settle into place with a faint 'click.'
Unlike Lucian's usual releases against her cervix, this carried a distinct, rooting sensation.
"Ah...!"
Sophia's face burned tomato-red.
"You remember something?"
"It's just... well... Miss Iseo. I'm ashamed to admit that during... intimacy... I may have prayed for conception. Sob..."
She couldn't lift her head.
Iseo nodded. The puzzle was complete.
"That explains it. [Divine Power]. Your fervent prayer manifested, overriding Lucian's spell and propelling the sperm forward."
"Could... could that really happen?"
"Magic responds to will. Especially a priestess's prayer—it would overpower any barrier."
Iseo felt a bittersweet pang. A miracle born from prayer—a power she herself lacked.
"Sob... Am I truly... carrying Lucian's child?"
Tears of joy streamed down Sophia's face. Not as a fallen saintess, but as a mother-to-be.
"Let's confirm properly in my quarters. We need a thorough examination."
Iseo guided Sophia to her room.
This wasn't a maid's quarters. Recognizing her talents, the Count had granted her a spacious private laboratory for mana overload research.
Books, flasks, mana gauges, and strange machinery filled the space—more alchemist's workshop than physician's office.
Iseo seated Sophia on the examination table and pressed a magic stone to her lower abdomen.
"Hmm... Faint but steady heartbeat. Perfectly healthy."
The diagnosis was certain. Sophia covered her mouth, weeping.
"We should estimate the timeline. When was your last intimacy with Lucian?"
Iseo pulled out a chart.
"With the civil war taking him from the castle... it must've been before then?"
Sophia searched her memories.
Pre-war, during peaceful times. But with Lucian, intimacy was frequent—hard to pinpoint.
Yet one period stood out.
"Perhaps... during the Kurkan expedition."
"Your southern journey?"
"Yes. For over two months there... Lucian took me almost daily. Except when I stayed with Rachel's family... in carriages, tents... multiple times a day..."
Blushing, Sophia confessed.
As if dispelling the journey's monotony, they'd indulged incessantly. The sheer volume spent was staggering.
"I see."
Iseo nodded.
"An overwhelming quantity, combined with your prayer... The retrieval spell must've overloaded and failed. A miracle, yet inevitable."
She set down her pen, studying Sophia.
The life growing within her. Lucian's bloodline.
It held answers to Iseo's research on "excessive mana inheritance"—and the future of the Earldom.
"O gods... thank you... thank you..."
Sophia wept, stroking her belly.
Iseo embraced the trembling woman, setting aside jealousy and envy. For now, she simply wished to bless this woman carrying her beloved's child.
"Congratulations, Lady Sophia. You've... truly endured much."
In Iseo's arms, Sophia wept freely—tears that healed old wounds and nurtured new hope.
