* * *
“They said the baby absorbed some of your magical energy, so development will be rapid for a while. It should return to normal growth speed in about a week.”
“I see…”
Reassured, Lowell finally took a proper look at the baby resting in Felix’s arms.
Chubby and well-fed, the baby immediately reached out upon seeing Lowell.
It was clear—they wanted to be held by him.
“So pretty…”
Lowell suddenly grew flustered, twitching nervously and repeating the words under his breath.
“So pretty.”
It wasn’t just a figure of speech either—the baby really was beautiful.
Though the baby mostly resembled Felix, the baby exuded more of a delicate beauty than striking handsomeness.
“Mmm…”
Up until now, the baby had only cooed softly, but when Lowell didn’t pick them up, the baby’s tiny face scrunched into a pout, and the baby looked about ready to cry.
Felix tried calming them with his now-practiced hands, but it didn’t help.
“Is it okay… if I hold them?”
“Won’t it be too heavy for you?”
Felix frowned, clearly displeased at the idea of Lowell lifting anything with weight—baby or not.
“Just for a little while, it’ll be fine.”
As the baby let out a mournful whimper, Felix reluctantly stepped aside.
“If your arms start to hurt, tell me right away.”
The moment the baby settled into Lowell’s arms, they stopped crying.
Though still sniffling a bit, as if still feeling emotional, the baby reached out for a tighter hug.
Lowell looked between the baby and Felix, beaming.
Joy filled his chest like never before.
“Sweetie, you’re so pretty. Is it because you look like Felix?”
He gently tapped the baby’s cheek as he whispered.
Strangely enough, though it could’ve been uncomfortable, the baby’s lips curled slightly.
A smile?
Lowell and Felix looked at each other in surprise.
Then Lowell let out a bright, ringing laugh.
That laugh, like the chime of a bell, lit up Felix’s world in an instant.
A light he would’ve never known if Lowell hadn’t woken up.
“Looks like the little one was waiting for you to wake up too.”
“Really? Daddy should’ve woken up sooner then. I’m sorry, Kkomuli.”
Lowell was stroking the baby’s soft, sweet-smelling hands when he suddenly looked up and stared at Felix.
“You’re still calling them ‘Kkomuli?”
Felix said nothing.
It was the unasked question that had been on everyone’s mind in the guest wing: ‘Why does he keep calling the baby that? Surely he’s not actually naming them that?’
“What if the baby ends up thinking their name is Kkomuli?”
Unaware of Lowell’s baffled frustration, the baby was already sound asleep in their mother’s arms for the first time.
A bead of cold sweat ran down Felix’s back.
“Well, I couldn’t just pick a name by myself, could I?”
In that sentence lay the unspoken: ‘Not while you were unconscious.’
Lowell squeezed his eyes shut.
‘Now I can’t even argue back…’
He fully understood how anxious Felix must’ve been while waiting for him to wake up.
That heartache… he could almost feel it himself now.
The desire to scold faded away, replaced by a faint twinge of guilt.
“You’re right. We really should’ve picked a name before the baby was born.”
“I’d rather think about it together with you.”
Felix instinctively sensed that Lowell’s mood had sunk, and he snuggled in closer to him.
They were already pressed tightly together with no space between them, yet it was clear to anyone watching that Felix still wanted to be even closer.
The people in the room, while thinking “Do they really like each other that much?”, nonetheless felt relieved by the warmer atmosphere now lingering in the guest room, which until recently had been filled with tension.
Just yesterday, they had been fervently praying to the god of death not to take the Grand Duke’s consort away.
Compared to that dreadful memory, this sweet scene was something they could tolerate.
“What do you think would be good? Can you tell me how children are usually named in Nix Castle?”
“In Nix, it’s usually the father who names the child.”
“Really?”
Lowell whispered as he gently stroked the baby’s tiny, drowsy ear.
It was hard to stay focused on conversation while watching the baby.
‘You’ve got nothing else to do, so why are you trying to fight sleep?’
Noticing Lowell’s arm starting to go numb, Felix carefully took the baby into his own arms.
Lowell hadn’t held the child for long, so he was a little reluctant to let go, but knowing how fussy Felix could be when it came to his wellbeing, he didn’t try to stop him.
The baby reached out with a soft whimper as if wanting to stay with Lowell, but thankfully, the fussiness didn’t last.
Unable to resist sleep, the baby soon drifted off.
Lowell, fascinated by how quickly the child fell asleep, stared for a while before shaking his head and pulling himself back to the conversation.
“Then how about you name the baby, Felix?”
But Felix firmly shook his head, surprisingly resolute.
“That tradition in Nix came about because of frequent wars. Knights who had to leave behind pregnant partners would name their unborn children before heading off to battle. That’s how it started.”
Felix continued in a soft voice, like he was telling an old tale, gently playing with Lowell’s fingers.
Wherever his hands touched, warmth followed.
Lowell had to focus hard not to be distracted.
“A knight marching to war never knows if he’ll return. In the past, it was common for fathers to die before their children grew up. So giving a name was a way of leaving behind a trace.”
“Then we should name the baby together. You’ll always be with us, Felix. You don’t need to leave behind a trace.”
Realizing that in Nix, a father naming the child was akin to leaving a will, Lowell changed his mind.
He didn’t want Felix to ever have to write a will.
That was ironic, considering Lowell had once thought of writing a letter as his own farewell.
“You’re right. Nix is stabilizing now. It’s about time that old custom faded away.”
Felix easily read Lowell’s thoughts.
In the past, he might not have picked up on them at all.
But now, when it came to things like this, it was as if he could read Lowell’s heart like an open book.
Not because he’d become more observant, but because it was exactly what he himself would have thought.
“Then what kind of meaning should we put into the name?”
“It should be a name befitting a wise ruler.”
Felix spoke as though it were a given that the child would inherit his title, even though the child hadn’t yet shown any signs of awakening.
Lowell, thinking it was natural for their firstborn to become heir, suddenly remembered something important—traits.
In this world, inheritance usually followed birth order regardless of gender.
However, if a child manifested as an Alpha, the succession line could change.
Once awakened as an Alpha, the child’s rank would rise above others.
“What if they don’t become the next ruler?”
“There won’t be a second child, Lowell. So, of course, this one will be.”
Lowell hadn’t been seriously considering having a second child, but Felix’s certainty still surprised him.
Besides, the words “baby” and “ruler” just didn’t seem to fit together, which made it all feel surreal.
“Still, just in case, I don’t think the name should literally mean ‘ruler.’ It’s too heavy.”
“Being a ruler is a heavy burden.”
Lowell stared at Felix, who was gently patting the baby to help them sleep.
The contrast between his stern words and the kindness in his hands was striking.
* * *
