* * *
Lowell had only just regained consciousness, but he fought to stay lucid.
“You have to give birth. Right now. Otherwise, your body won’t make it.”
“…What?”
Lowell barely had time to process the words before a searing pain tore through his body, as if he were being ripped apart from the inside.
The team, already prepared, rushed to his bedside in perfect coordination.
“You’ll be okay, Lowell.”
Felix whispered the words more to himself than to Lowell.
Seeing Lowell in such pain, he would’ve sold his soul in an instant if it could spare him.
After five long hours of torment for them both, the cries of a newborn echoed through the guest room.
Felix didn’t even glance at the baby.
His eyes were fixed only on Lowell, who had fainted from exhaustion.
Though he knew it was just from fatigue, the sight of him unconscious again stirred a sense of helpless dread.
“He’s merely passed out from exhaustion. He’ll wake soon—you needn’t worry.”
The midwives and priests, watching Felix carefully, continued treating Lowell with practiced efficiency.
Felix barely brushed his fingertips against Lowell’s, afraid even a touch might break him.
“Your Highness, it’s a young lord.”
The priest who had received the baby spoke quietly in Felix’s place, knowing all of Felix’s focus was on Lowell.
Though he’d heard the child had protected Lowell, seeing how much pain it had caused him, Felix couldn’t help feeling a hint of resentment.
He looked at the baby with indifferent eyes.
The infant, however, quickly stopped crying and began breathing peacefully.
“Take good care of him.”
Felix turned his head away, as if that was all he had to say.
The knights craned their necks from afar, clearly curious.
“…Oh?”
Just as they were about to move the baby to a prepared bed, the midwife let out a quiet gasp.
Felix’s gaze instinctively snapped to the child.
Wrapped in cloth, the baby was squinting—but smiling.
A warm blue glow leaked from the sliver of visible eye, enough to captivate Felix completely.
The same warmth he had felt from Lowell was there, too.
Just like when Lowell had helped him without reason the first time, Felix was helplessly drawn in.
“Bring him here.”
Despite being moved around, the baby never once cried.
Nestled in Felix’s arms, he simply pursed his lips like he was content.
“Such an extraordinary child. It’s rare for a newborn to open their eyes so soon.”
In truth, early eye-opening wasn’t necessarily a good sign, but the midwife flattered him on purpose.
Despite being born prematurely, the baby was healthy and well-developed—so it wasn’t entirely a lie.
But Felix didn’t care what anyone said.
Enchanted, he gazed down at the baby with the expression of someone falling in love at first sight.
His earlier indifference vanished without a trace.
“He looks just like Lowell.”
The words came out like a breathless sigh, and silence filled the guest room.
The baby was still wrinkled, as all newborns are, but the seasoned midwives already knew.
The sharp nose, the slightly upturned eyes, and most of all, the jet-black hair—anyone could see it.
The baby was the spitting image of Grand Duke Felix.
“That smile… it’s so beautiful. It has to be because he takes after Lowell.”
It didn’t make sense—a newborn, barely minutes old, smiling?
But no one dared correct him.
All they could do was bow their heads and stifle their laughter.
“Yes. Young Master Lowell—no, the Grand Duchess—will surely be delighted.”
Only the ever-loyal Tia managed to reply.
Lowell opened his eyes two days later.
Felix had been pestering the temple priests by the hour, demanding to know what they meant by “soon.”
Though it was called pestering, it was more like threatening, and the priests were terrified they might actually die of stress if Lowell didn’t wake up today either.
Perhaps that’s why, when Lowell finally came to, someone even shed tears of joy.
“Felix…”
Felix, who hadn’t left Lowell’s side for even a moment, gave a small nod with a lifted corner of his lips.
“Yes. I’m here, even if you don’t call.”
In an uncharacteristic display of neediness, Lowell burrowed into Felix’s chest, rubbing his face against it.
Felix gently patted his back, indulging him with deliberate affection.
“Have you eaten?”
“No.”
“And slept?”
“Neither.”
“You shouldn’t have…”
Lowell didn’t press further—he already knew why Felix hadn’t eaten or slept.
Though he couldn’t hide the sorrow in his eyes, there wasn’t much he could do about it.
“Don’t you want to see the little one?”
Lowell’s body flinched.
His once-swollen belly had flattened, proving he had given birth, but fear that something might have gone wrong with the baby kept him from asking about it.
‘But if Felix is the one bringing it up first… then the baby must be okay, right?’
Still buried against Felix’s chest, Lowell gave a tiny nod.
Felix gently held Lowell’s shoulders and pulled him away slightly, though a trace of reluctance lingered on his face.
“Look over there.”
Felix motioned with his head toward a spot in the room.
There stood an outrageously extravagant crib.
If it had only been that, Lowell might not have been too shocked.
But that was far from all.
Expensive-looking toys filled the crib, picture books stacked in piles—despite the fact that a newborn couldn’t read—and three caretakers were standing nearby.
Their presence alone blocked the view of the baby.
“How long was I asleep? Three months?”
“If that were the case, do you think I’d still be sane?”
Felix responded coldly, as if the very idea was too horrifying to consider.
Lowell had half expected that answer, but even then, it didn’t seem possible to accumulate that mountain of stuff in just a month or two.
“You slept for two days straight. I thought my heart was going to melt all over again.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Still dazed, Lowell apologized automatically.
Everything felt like a dream, and he wasn’t quite grounded in reality yet.
“The baby… is okay, right?”
“Yes. Very healthy.”
At Felix’s reassuring answer, the small knot of anxiety in Lowell’s chest completely melted away.
In its place bloomed a wave of reality—followed by a quiet sense of anticipation.
‘The baby’s really born.’
It felt strangely awkward and ticklish in his chest to meet in real life the baby he had only seen in dreams.
He wanted to see the face of the little one who had overcome all the hardships.
At that moment, one of the temporary nannies, after reading the room, brought the baby over and placed them in Felix’s arms.
Lowell’s eyes sparkled as he looked down.
His whole body thrummed with nervous excitement, like the beat of a drum.
“The baby…”
But the moment he saw the baby, Lowell couldn’t help but ask the same question again.
“Are you sure I was only asleep for two days?”
“I told you—it wasn’t only two days, it was a whole two days, Lowell.”
“No, that’s not the point… the baby looks way too big for a newborn!”
Lowell’s eyes widened at the sight of the surprisingly hefty baby.
It only looked relatively small because it was cradled against Felix’s broad chest—anyone else would’ve made the baby look even bigger.
‘My memory’s fuzzy since I passed out right after giving birth, but… I’m pretty sure the baby wasn’t this big?’
Right now, the little one looked at least a month old.
* * *
