Choosing the Baby’s Father From the Following – Chapter 57

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓𝟕
Helena gasped, her breath catching in her throat as fear gripped her. With trembling hands, she held out the letter.

“I, I came here after receiving Princess Louise’s letter……”

The man who had entered the room took a step closer.

Only then did Helena recognize him, but her fear didn’t diminish in the slightest.

Still, she desperately tried to speak again, hoping to save her life.

“H-How have you been, Your Highness, Prince Lurik?”

Prince Lurik’s crimson eyes glared at the intruder.

It was clear that he didn’t recognize her.

Helena quickly added,

“H-Helena Garnier…… We met at Kaisarea……”

At her words, Lurik hesitated, causing Helena to flinch as well.

When she had met him alone at the Kaisarea Falls, Helena had felt a chilling fear that the Second Prince could draw his sword and strike her down at any moment.

And now, having sneaked into his sister’s room in the middle of the night like a rat, she had no excuse if he decided to kill her this time.

But in the next moment, Lurik’s knees buckled, and he collapsed beside Helena.

“……Your Highness?”

His red eyes, now closer, were filled with sorrow.

“She’s sick.”

‘She’ must undoubtedly refer to the Princess.

There was no one else whose health could cause the Prince such grief.

“I, I’m sorry. I should have come sooner……”

Lurik said bitterly.

“She contracted pneumonia and went to the southeastern part of Flavi for recuperation. She told you to come to her? I can help you contact Flavi.”

At that moment, Helena felt the faint magical energy stirring within the Prince, more distinctly than before.

It wasn’t vibrant and easily controlled like the magic of mages.

‘Rather, it’s eating away at His Highness, tormenting him.’

Unable to tear her eyes away from him, Helena asked,

“But Your Highness…… are you not unwell, Your Highness?”

“What?”

Lurik stopped mid-question and chuckled.

“Ah, right. You have spiritual abilities, don’t you? Do you see the traces of the magic sword within me? Is it still there?”

Helena was startled.

‘I never told Her Highness such details.’

Everything had been a wonder since she met the mage on the beach, but the feeling she felt now was beyond that.

An overwhelming sense of mission.

Feeling an ancient pain and sorrow, Helena dared to reach out to the Prince.

“Excuse me, but may I hold your hand?”

Lurik looked bewildered, but he didn’t push her away.

Finally, as their hands touched, he asked,

“……Who are you?”

The Prince’s voice was chilling.

But Helena only held his strong hand firmly.

Because only now did she seem to understand what she was.

“I am……”

Lurik looked down at her with a confused gaze.

Comfort spread from their joined palms.

A gentle and immense solace, a peace she had sought all her life, that she couldn’t find anywhere else in this land.

“I came here for you, Your Highness. Her Highness called me for you.”

The Prince slowly asked again.

His red eyes, now free of darkness, were clear and bright even in the dead of night.

“……What’s your name?”

“Helena Garnier, Your Highness.”

Even before the man who couldn’t remember her name, which he must have heard countless times, Helena smiled with joy.

“Thank you so much for enduring until this moment, Your Highness. Thank you for enduring even though I was so late.”

Lurik raised his other hand.

As his rough palm touched Helena’s cheek, he remembered what Louise had said.

“And how beautiful emerald eyes are.”

Remembering his younger sister, he looked directly at the woman before him.

Then, for the first time in a long while, he smiled, his long eyes curving.

“You’re right, they are beautiful.”

Even at his cryptic words, Helena’s red lips parted beautifully.

She was no longer afraid of the Prince.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

“Victory…… to the hungry…… sword……”

The Crown Prince’s condition was just as Ren had described.

Lost in his own world, reciting passages from the Book of Studites.

Moghald was convinced that now was the time to re-evaluate all of the First Tower Master Studites’ achievements.

‘At least he destroyed the magic sword, so only those scraps of paper remain.’

Ren had said that the incident occurred while defending against the magic sword’s rampage, but Moghald knew without seeing it.

‘He must have done it on purpose.’

That was the kind of person Ren was.

If it weren’t for the youngest Princess, he would never have stayed in this palace, cleaning up after the royal family.

He was generally indifferent, but too upright to deal with the current royals.

Anyway, the hope that creating a new magic sword for Lurik would absolve him of his original sin was completely shattered.

“Blood, groans, and sacrifice……”

The Crown Prince continued to mutter.

Reading that damned book in front of the Emperor and Empress was the biggest, irreversible mistake of Moghald’s life.

‘But the Crown Prince was young, and he didn’t choose anything.’

Thinking that, Moghald wanted to save him if he could.

But……

“Glory…… is soon…… death……”

Ren was right about everything.

No recovery magic or healing magic could free the Crown Prince’s mind from the magic sword.

Clicking his tongue, he left the Crown Prince’s Palace, and a thought suddenly occurred to him.

‘The Book of Studites.’

If only he could completely erase that book.

Now that he had passed the heavy mantle of the Tower Master onto his young and capable disciple, it would be the greatest consideration the old former Tower Master could offer to future generations.

Thus, Moghald decided to break his promise with Ren, who had only planned to briefly check on the Crown Prince and leave.

He finally reached the Emperor’s darkened office.

Suddenly, torches flared up simultaneously, illuminating the room as bright as day.

In the reddish light, the Empress smiled, her brilliant golden eyes sparkling.

“I’ve been waiting, former Tower Master.”

Moghald sighed and looked at the book she held in her grasp.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

The next day, as expected, Ren’s expression was gloomy.

He had to return to the capital and look after the Crown Prince, leaving me behind.

He sat sullenly at the dining table, barely touching his breakfast, and didn’t say a word to me.

His violet irises were much colder than usual, and his red lips were tightly pursed.

“……Ren?”

I had no choice but to speak to him first.

“While you’re there, please look after Lurik as well. I only trust you.”

His expression soured further, and he turned to Callisto.

“Is Your Grace, the Grand Duke, free? How long do you plan to stay here?”

Callisto shrugged nonchalantly.

“Unlike someone, I have plenty of people to delegate work to.”

I could see Ren’s jaw clench.

I quickly intervened before they could start another pointless argument.

“Here, Ren. Eat this and cheer up.”

Trying to appease him, I picked up a cherry and offered it to him. Instead of taking it with his hand, he opened his mouth.

Despite the stinging glares from those around us, I succeeded in putting the cherry into Ren’s mouth.

‘Even though the magic sword is shattered, I want to observe Lurik’s progress in case there are any lingering aftereffects.’

Since Ren knew about the magic sword, there was no one more suitable for the task.

“Please, Ren. For me. Okay?”

I clasped my hands together in a pleading gesture, and Ren sighed.

At least his mood seemed to have improved somewhat, as he pointed to the cherries with his eyes.

“Ah.”

Thanks to that, I had to feed him a couple more cherries, but it was a small price to pay for sending the Tower Master to the capital to check on my brother.

After some twists and turns, the meal finally ended.

Ren finally seemed to have made up his mind and poured a small pile of communication orbs in front of me. Picking one up, he said,

“I changed the activation method.”

“Huh?”

He brought the communication orb to his lips and kissed it, and it activated with a brilliant flash of light.

While I stared blankly, a large hand cupped my cheek.

“Call me anytime you need me. You still have the summoning orb, right?”

I nodded, and the warm hand fell away.

“I’ll be back.”

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• Should You Return To That Dropped Novel? The Light Novel Comeback Arc
• Feeling like a lazy Naruto? This is How You Stop Procrastinating and Conquer Your To-Do List Like a True Hokage
• Hidden Villages, Hidden Countries? Where’s the Rest of the World in Naruto?
• Study Guide: Lofi or Punk Emo? The Soundtrack to Smashing Your Next Exam (Like a Boss)
• The Unmentionable Truth About Anime Waifus: Why They’re All So Smooth