Choosing the Baby’s Father From the Following – Chapter 52

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓𝟐
“Commander!”

When I arrived in front of Lurik’s room, his deputy commander, Jesus Til Natavion, was anxiously knocking on the door.

―Knock, knock, knock!

“Commander, what’s wrong? If you don’t open it, I’ll force it open!”

A couple of Imperial Guards were also standing stiffly, exchanging nervous glances.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

Jesus Til Natavion, seeing me, said with a pale face.

“Your Highness! The Crown Prince and the Commander went in, but it seems like they are having a serious fight……”

“Uwaaaagh!”

Screams, I don’t know how many now, were echoing from inside the room.

Finally, the muttering sound from Ren stopped.

When he placed his hand on my shoulder, a cozy yet refreshing sensation enveloped my body.

‘……A barrier.’

It was a feeling I had never experienced before, but I could clearly tell.

The fact that Ren would protect me, the fact that I was next to Lurik who was about to go berserk, unlike in the novel, was infinitely fortunate.

Then, Ren ordered Jesus Til Natavion in an unusually cold voice.

“Step aside.”

His sapphire blue eyes looked indifferent.

―Bang!

The door swung open noisily, untouched by anyone.

The scene inside the room was almost the opposite of what each of us had imagined.

Contrary to the expectation that Lurik would be wielding the magic sword, the magic sword was in Hart’s hand.

“Huu, Huuuaaagh!”

However, he was holding the sword but couldn’t even swing it at the air.

He was just groaning in pain with blackened eyes.

“Uwaaagh! Lur-Lurik……!”

Lurik didn’t care whether the door opened, someone entered, or even if the Crown Prince was moaning and calling his name.

He rolled the new magic sword on the floor with an expressionless face, examining it here and there, and then threw it away as if discarding an old shoe.

―Clang!

At the same time as the metallic sound of the sword rolling, Ren grabbed my wrist.

“Step back, Lou.”

As I tried to shake him off, I felt a strange pressure emanating from the middle of the room.

―Wooong……

Looking up, I saw a black energy surging.

“Uh, Uheeeeogh!”

The Crown Prince’s arm, holding the sword, shot up unnaturally.

“Damn it!”

Ren, cursing under his breath, released my wrist.

From his hurriedly outstretched palms, thin, white rays of light spread like a net.

The dense web of light enveloped the magic sword and Hart as one, but the black magic power emanating from the magic sword surged like flames, piercing through Ren’s net.

‘Damn it! Is it going berserk after all?’

Was the rampage of this sword something that couldn’t be stopped no matter what?

My second life, obtained with such difficulty, was ending after only two months……

‘Why did I have to write such a book?!’

I was frustrated, but thinking about it, I was lucky to get a second chance at life and enjoyed it for two months.

Even if it was a dream, it was never a nightmare.

But what about Lurik?

‘He spent his entire life for the one person he wanted to protect, but even that one and only younger sister neglected him for so long……’

I swallowed hard and took a step towards him.

Even if it ends in the end, I have to try everything I can.

“Older Brother.”

However, my voice was too small, buried under Hart’s screams, the rushing Imperial Guards, and the sound of Ren chanting incantations.

But even with that faint voice, only Lurik looked back at me with his blackened eyes.

“Lou!”

Ren’s urgent warning brushed past my ears.

‘I’m sorry, Ren. But I……’

I finally took another step and reached out my hand towards Lurik.

The closer I got, the more the foul smell of death stung my nose.

It seemed the magic sword was revealing its hideous nature.

The rage that filled Lurik’s pitch-black eyes was directed at me, but I still had to say it.

“Throw away the magic sword, Older Brother.”

“Throw away the magic sword, Your Highness.”

Instead of Helena, who had said those words.

―Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang! Crack!

There was a sound of something collapsing behind me.

“It’s just a piece of metal that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for you, Older Brother.”

In this novel, I am nothing, an extra who wouldn’t have made any difference if she had died early on.

“It’s just a piece of metal that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for you, Your Highness.”

But now it’s my turn to do it.

“Close your eyes, Older Brother. Don’t let the magic sword see the world through you.”

The black, swamp-like eyes stared at me.

They were no longer Lurik’s eyes, devoid of affection or concern.

But I believe in Lurik, who must be fighting within those eyes.

“Close your eyes, Your Highness. Don’t let the magic sword see the world through you.”

I slowly raised my palm, like Helena.

It doesn’t matter if I don’t have any abilities.

“Lou, don’t go any closer!”

Ren’s voice echoed loudly in the room, but I couldn’t stop.

With trembling hands, I covered Lurik’s blackened eyes.

A strong wind, the source unknown, blew fiercely.

I forced my stiffening tongue to move and repeated.

“Close your eyes, Older Brother.”

How many times did I say that?

A violent whirlwind escaped through the broken window, and the surrounding commotion subsided.

As the oppressive air that had been constricting my lungs disappeared, the web of light that Ren had created also vanished.

“Close your eyes.”

Still, I could only stand there, repeating those words like a broken doll.

That was all I could do.

Finally, a warm body embraced my shoulders.

It was Ren.

“Stop it, Lou. It’s over now.”

He carefully removed my hand that was covering Lurik’s eyes.

Only then could I breathe comfortably and look up at Lurik.

The last remaining black energy slowly faded from his eyes.

Soon, Lurik took a deep, ragged breath and spoke.

“……Lou.”

His red eyes, looking directly at me, were finally the same as I knew them.

As my legs gave way and I swayed, Ren pulled me close by my waist and then bent down, lifting me into his arms.

Lurik, exhausted, watched this and asked Ren.

“……Tower Master. What did I do?”

His eyes were red as he asked.

“Did I, hurt Lou?”

Ren’s tightly closed lips twisted into a grim expression.

Anger burned in his deep purple eyes.

Ren gritted his teeth and replied.

“I hope not. Because if you did, I would never forgive you.”

As I left Lurik’s room in Ren’s arms, I saw blackened metal fragments, several Imperial Guards standing blankly, and the Crown Prince collapsed unconscious.

As we stepped out into the hallway, the Captain of the Guard, who seemed to have just arrived, asked.

“Wh-what happened?”

“Later.”

Ignoring him, Ren headed straight to my room.

“Please check if the baby is alright.”

I whispered anxiously, but Ren pretended not to hear.

His straight eyebrows looked stubborn.

“……Ren?”

His sapphire blue eyes, which had been staring straight ahead, looked down at me directly for a brief moment.

I could easily read the anxiety and fear contained within them.

Ren averted his gaze and growled.

“Shut up.”

I doubted my ears, but he added, biting his lip.

“You come first, before anything else.”

I was unexpectedly comforted by his fierce voice.

I gently stroked my belly, and thankfully, it didn’t hurt.

Perhaps thanks to the relief, my eyelids slowly closed.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

The Imperial Palace was in an uproar.

Crown Prince Hart remained unconscious for two days, clutching the broken hilt of the magic sword ‘Belich’ even while unconscious.

Empress Dorothea was so shocked that she couldn’t even question Lurik until he woke up.

However, the result of her long wait for her son to open his eyes returned in a way more cruel than death.

“To the starving, sword……”

“What? Hart, what are you saying right now……”

“To the starving sword……, victory……”

The Crown Prince’s once bright red eyes.

Those eyes, the most prominent feature of the Brentania Imperial Family, were stained black.

Hart stared blankly into the distance with hollow eyes, repeating the same words over and over.

“To the sword, victory……”

The Empress couldn’t possibly misunderstand those words.

It was the phrase from the very book that Moghald had read only to the Emperor and Empress long ago.

‘I never told Hart such detailed information.’

The Emperor was just as frightened as the Empress.

No, in a way, he was even more so.

Therefore, the Emperor focused all his energy on preventing the blame for this incident from falling on Lurik.

If Hart had touched the magic sword and been permanently damaged, the only son left in the Imperial Family was Lurik.

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