* * *
The Grand Duke, after gently stroking Ed’s face a little longer, asked,
“Ed, if you weren’t feeling well, why didn’t you say anything? You’re not just on your own anymore. What if something serious happened?”
“What?”
“Congratulations on your pregnancy.”
Hearing the physician’s words of congratulations, Ed blinked in bewilderment.
“…Pregnancy? Who’s pregnant?”
“Who else? You are.”
At the physician’s response, Ed’s eyes darted around in disbelief.
“W-What is this? Is this some sort of hidden camera prank?”
When his gaze landed on the pink and blue baby clothes in the Grand Duke’s hands, his confusion deepened further.
“Ah, these? It might be early, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to prepare. Which one do you think is better, Ed?”
“…Excuse me? I… I’m pregnant?”
As Ed stammered, the Grand Duke gestured toward the physician, who promptly excused himself from the room.
The Grand Duke then perched on the bed’s edge.
Although he appeared calm on the surface, he had been struggling to steady his heart ever since carrying Ed, unconscious, back to his room from the banquet hall.
Ed, whom the Grand Duke had thought had only fainted momentarily, hadn’t woken up until after the banquet had ended.
Alarmed, the Grand Duke had urgently summoned the court physician.
After a thorough examination that left the physician frowning in confusion, the Grand Duke had pressed for answers.
“What’s wrong with Ed?”
The physician, hesitating after conducting a second round of tests, finally spoke.
“Your Grace…”
“Speak clearly. What’s the diagnosis?”
“It appears… that Ed is pregnant.”
The Grand Duke, thinking he had misheard, asked in disbelief.
“…Pregnant? Ed?”
“Yes, as unbelievable as it may seem, the diagnosis is certain.”
The Grand Duke looked down at Ed’s weary face, the image overlapping with a memory from the cave.
His mother’s words echoed in his mind:
“…Asnel, don’t worry too much. Our bloodline carries a unique blessing. Just once in a lifetime, when we truly desire it, we can bestow the Dragon’s Blessing upon our beloved.”
“Sometimes, this blessing fulfills the deepest wish of the one it’s granted to.”
‘A wish?’ the Grand Duke thought.
His father’s wish, granted through the Dragon’s Blessing, had been to become the strongest warrior to protect the North from monsters.
‘Then could Ed’s wish have been to start a family…?’
Brushing back Ed’s bangs gently, the Grand Duke declared to the physician,
“This isn’t something strange. It’s a ‘miracle’ born of the Dragon’s Blessing.”
The physician, wide-eyed with realization, soon smiled brightly.
“Congratulations, Your Grace.”
The Grand Duke quieted the jubilant physician with a hush, motioning for discretion.
He then lovingly caressed Ed’s sleeping face.
“I trust you, but I want to monitor this further to confirm. And until Ed has given his opinion, this must remain a secret.”
The Grand Duke gazed at Ed with both tenderness and sorrow.
“The Dragon’s Blessing must have granted his most heartfelt wish.”
Now, the Grand Duke understood the crumbling expression Ed had shown upon hearing his confession of love.
When Ed stirred awake and instinctively touched his abdomen, the Grand Duke clasped his hand and intertwined their fingers.
“Ed, this is going to take a while to explain.”
Ed, feeling the Grand Duke’s steady gaze, sat up slowly.
Noticing his discomfort, the Grand Duke adjusted a pillow behind him and tucked the blanket around him.
Ed’s heart fluttered slightly at the thoughtful gesture.
Unaware of Ed’s inner turmoil, the Grand Duke began recounting the ancient stories passed down among the royal family.
He explained their lineage, imbued with the blood of dragons, and the trials that came with such power.
By the time Ed had absorbed the weight of these tales and glanced out the window, the night was pitch black.
“A wish… What wish could I have made?”
Tilting his head in thought, Ed suddenly recalled a dream where he met Melra.
“…My wish?”
“Yes, Seonyu. The wish you’ve harbored deep in your heart, even before coming here.”
“What I truly wish for…”
As fragments of the dream surfaced, Ed covered his mouth.
“Could it be that my wish… was to bear a child?”
Though Ed had a faint inkling after hearing the Grand Duke’s stories, the realization hit him fully now.
Before his reincarnation, he had been an orphan.
After meeting Ronen and the Grand Duke, a longing had grown within him:
“I wish I could have a warm family like this.”
Ed liked both the Grand Duke and Ronen, but he knew all too well that liking them wasn’t enough to truly become family with them.
‘My role is to stand by, watch over the household that His Grace and Ronen build, and raise their child with my own hands…’
After all, as someone who had been a mere extra in the original novel, Ed thought such a supporting role was fitting for him.
Recalling his earlier thoughts, Ed gently rubbed his stomach.
‘…Pregnant, huh.’
Even now, Ed couldn’t fully grasp the reality of his pregnancy.
This world wasn’t an omegaverse setting, where men could conceive, like the other fantasy novels he’d read before being reincarnated.
Seeing Ed looking a bit dazed while hearing the explanation, the Grand Duke allowed him a moment to gather his thoughts.
After a short time—brief, yet long in its own way—Ed’s complexion turned slightly pale.
The Grand Duke poured water from the pitcher on the bedside table and handed him a cup.
“Ed, you must be really shocked.”
“Ah…”
Taking the cup cautiously, Ed noticed the dark shadows under the Grand Duke’s eyes.
It was only then that Ed realized this wasn’t just his own problem.
Silently, he berated himself for his selfishness.
‘We haven’t even resolved the confession between us, and now there’s suddenly a child involved…’
The unexpected pregnancy was as bewildering for the Grand Duke as it was for him.
“…Your Grace,” Ed began, noticing the Grand Duke’s gaze focused intently on his face.
“Are you alright?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… if it’s true that I’m pregnant…”
“Yes, so?”
“That’s… strange, isn’t it?”
The thought of a man being pregnant was so shocking that Ed hadn’t been able to think clearly at first.
Now that he had, it felt overwhelming.
“Your Grace explained it as the blessing of the dragon, but still, people might think it’s unnatural for a man to be pregnant.”
“…”
“And if this causes cracks in your position, Your Grace, it would be unacceptable.”
“That’s your concern?”
“Yes?”
“Aren’t you scared of this unexpected pregnancy? Don’t you feel it’s unfair that you have to go through such a hardship?”
The Grand Duke’s words weren’t without merit.
No matter how fictional this world seemed, the weight of being ‘pregnant’ was heavy—especially for a man.
But Ed found himself cherishing the small, new life within him.
It was so miraculous and precious.
He had never imagined he’d have a family, let alone a child of his own bloodline.
‘Perhaps it’s because this child is mine and His Grace’s?’
“I can’t say I’m not worried at all, but my concerns are more about your position and whether the child will grow well inside me than about myself…”
As he gently rubbed his still-flat belly, Ed trailed off.
Before he could finish his sentence, the Grand Duke wrapped him in a firm embrace.
“Ed.”
“Yes, Your Grace?”
“The chief physician of the Northern Fortress is highly skilled, but I’ll bring in a doctor to focus solely on you. Someone experienced in caring for expectant mothers. I’ll ensure your health and the child’s are prioritized.”
“…”
“Let me also say this: I may have been lacking in expressing it, but I’m truly overjoyed and grateful that you’re carrying my child.”
As the Grand Duke pulled back slightly, Ed felt light-headed.
The warmth of the embrace, the subtle scent of the Grand Duke, and above all, the genuine delight on his face burned into Ed’s chest.
“If I didn’t feel that way, I wouldn’t have shown you the baby clothes earlier. They were made by my mother when she was expecting Ronen.”
Ed’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t known the history behind the clothes the Grand Duke had shown him.
Reaching out, he picked up the neatly folded, doll-like tiny garments in pink and blue from the bed.
They were charmingly small, like something for a doll.
Noticing Ed’s curiosity, the Grand Duke chuckled softly, drawing Ed’s gaze back to him.
“Do you remember your mother preparing those clothes, Your Grace?”
* * *
Muito bom pena q meu pontos acabaram
😭😭
🤗☀️
Reading this chapter really melt my heart