Choosing the Baby’s Father From the Following – Chapter 72

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕𝟐
Surprised, I gasped, and the baby in my belly moved vigorously.

“Cal, wait a moment. The baby is moving.”

Callisto, unfortunately, had never felt the baby’s movements due to sheer bad luck.

He extended a hand with a tense expression.

As soon as his large, white palm touched my belly, a small vibration was felt.

— Thump.

Callisto’s blue eyes momentarily paused, then astonishment spread like ripples.

“……Are you sure it’s the baby moving, and not you?”

I burst into laughter, and the large palm resting on my stomach shook along with it.

“How could I possibly move my belly?”

— Thump.

Thankfully, the baby moved again.

Callisto’s lips, which had been tightly pursed in a sulky expression, gradually stretched, finally forming a happy smile.

“Greetings are quite late, little one. It’s a bit late to recognize your father now, isn’t it?”

Is arrhythmia a symptom of pregnancy?

My heart was pounding unnecessarily, so I ended up asking the baby in my mind.

‘Baby, is this man perhaps your father?’

That same night, Callisto’s name finally appeared in my diary.

The exam period made me feel more at ease.

It was much more productive than calculating when I would die, as I could memorize key points in my notes or study from upperclassmen’s past exams.

(Omitted)

Oh, right. I discovered a few good things about sitting next to Callisto-sunbae in the library.

First, because sunbae is watching me sternly, I can’t dare have any distracting thoughts and can focus diligently on my studies.

Second, because sunbae always studies longer than me, I’m never left alone in the dim library.

Third, when he’s not making eye contact with me, sunbae’s profile is quite handsome.

I smiled, tracing the last line Louise had scribbled out with my fingertip.

‘He’s more handsome when he makes eye contact……’

Louise, that scaredy-cat, didn’t know what she was talking about.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

It had been a month since I arrived in Edessa.

Now, my belly was growing noticeably day by day, so Phoebe spent her time applying oil to it several times a day.

The doctor said with a bright face.

“Both the baby and Your Highness are very healthy. If you continue as you are now, there will be nothing to worry about.”

My appetite had increased lately, and I was eating enough for two, but I hadn’t craved anything specific since the persimmons.

‘They say you’ll regret it later if you can’t eat what you crave during pregnancy.’

Although I had heard that saying in my past life, what could I do about being dropped into another world?

When you think about it, it was my responsibility as the creator that persimmons didn’t even exist here.

‘As someone who is miraculously happy every day, I should endure it!’

Thinking that, I bravely got up and went for a morning walk.

Since it was difficult to go outside with Ernst now that my belly was showing, I had just returned from a walk with only Phoebe.

“Your Highness!”

At first, I thought that welcoming voice was a hallucination.

“Oh my goodness, Your Highness! Your belly has grown quite a bit!”

“……Helena?”

While Helena greeted me politely, Ren emerged from behind her.

Ren pretended to be polite, kneeling on one knee to kiss the back of my hand, but as soon as I pulled him up, he came close and rubbed his face against my cheeks.

“Have you been well, Lou?”

Fortunately, Callisto had returned to Babenberg.

“Ren……”

While Helena’s gaze wandered, lost, I managed to detach myself from the clinging Ren and asked,

“Did you both come together? How did you get here without contacting me……”

Then, Helena pulled out something she had hidden behind her back and proudly presented it.

“Look at this……!”

Oh my goodness, it was a persimmon.

“H-How……”

“Is this it?”

Ren interjected abruptly and asked.

‘Since what I craved was a ripe persimmon, this isn’t exactly it.’

However, I had never been able to find a persimmon anywhere, nor anyone who knew about them, so this was a remarkable achievement in itself.

I nodded and asked in return,

“Where did you get this?”

Helena happily replied,

“Ren-nim secretly showed me a drawing of the fruit you needed, Your Highness, and it resembled something I saw in Duros on the pilgrimage route. It was the first time I saw that fruit then, so luckily, I remembered it. So, Ren-nim and I went together and brought some.”

Duros was as far south as Flavi, so there was a chance that the fruit was still in season.

‘Right, if this is the world I created, persimmons should exist.’

Phoebe quickly grabbed a fruit knife and peeled one of the persimmons.

I took a bite of the persimmon while everyone watched, but it was so astringent that I almost reflexively spat it out.

“……Does it taste bad?”

I wanted to pretend to eat it just enough, considering their efforts, but the perceptive Ren saw through me immediately.

Before I could stop him, Ren popped a piece of persimmon into his mouth and immediately spat it out, ptoo.

“This isn’t it. It must be a similar fruit. I’ll look for it again. Don’t eat this, Lou.”

Ren anxiously gestured to Phoebe, afraid that I might eat even a single piece, but even though it was astringent, the fruit was indeed a persimmon.

‘It’s just unripe, but it’s still a persimmon.’

I hesitantly said,

“That’s not it, it’s delicious when it’s riper……”

“Ripen it more? For how long? About a month?”

Hearing those words, I remembered that the person I was talking to was the Tower Master of the Imperial Magic Tower.

“About a month……?”

Ren placed his hand on one of the remaining persimmons and muttered something softly.

The bright, blue streaks of light that usually appeared when he used magic swirled around the fruit.

However, when I reached out and pressed the surface, the persimmon was still hard.

“Just a month more……?”

As he repeated the spell, the color of the persimmon deepened to a brighter red.

Just looking at the reddened persimmon made my mouth water.

I lightly touched it with my fingertip, and this time, it was soft.

“It’s, it’s done!”

Before Phoebe could even grab it, I plucked the persimmon off the stem and split it in half.

“No. I think it’s gone bad, Lou.”

Ren said pessimistically, looking at the soft fruit, but I quickly buried my lips in the ripe persimmon.

“It’th delithiouth, thith ith it.”

Oh my goodness, this is the taste.

I devoured the persimmon in a frenzy, and Phoebe, in shock, snatched the remaining half away.

I continued to eat the ripe persimmon messily, even as I watched my maid carefully scooping out the flesh with a teaspoon.

“Ripen more, Ren. Quickly, more.”

I mumbled, and Ren asked suspiciously,

“More……?”

He made a reluctant face.

Phoebe tried the ripe persimmon and reluctantly nodded.

“It is sweet.”

Ren, with a dubious expression, reached out and took the ripe persimmon that Phoebe offered.

He shared the remaining ripe persimmon with Helena and me.

Finally, the two looked at each other and nodded.

“It’s a bit of a peculiar taste, Lou. Is this right? Did you have this in the Imperial Palace?”

When Ren asked, I hurriedly nodded.

‘Actually, I didn’t have it in the Imperial Palace, but what does that matter?’

I never thought the day would come when I would be so excited about the taste of fruit.

‘Did I even like persimmons this much?’

I didn’t think so.

Helena had brought a total of six persimmons.

‘One was peeled before it was ripe and became inedible, so there are four left.’

After Ren ripened all the remaining persimmons to about two months’ worth of ripeness, I devoured them all on the spot.

“……Should I, um, go back to Duros?”

I burst into laughter as I heard Helena cautiously ask.

“Oh, no way. This is enough……”

I cut off Phoebe’s words with a wave of my hand and confidently told Ren,

“Ren, I want to eat a lot more. Like, a lot, a lot more.”

He chuckled and asked,

“Should I bring the whole tree?”

“That would be perfect.”

Ren said he didn’t need Helena’s help now that he knew the location.

“It’ll take some time to bring the whole tree. Eat and relax.”

“Thank you, Ren.”

Unexpectedly, it took him a few hours to return.

Afterward, three persimmon trees were planted in the hotel garden.

Ren placed his palm on the thick trunk of one of the trees laden with countless persimmons.

In just a few seconds, the persimmon tree shed its leaves, leaving only the bright red, ripe persimmons hanging from its branches.

Overjoyed, I approached him and rubbed my cheek against his.

“You’re the best, Ren.”

He blushed, seemingly embarrassed.

Then, he whispered in my ear, as sweetly as a ripe persimmon,

“I’ve never been this happy to be a mage.”

Helena pretended not to see us.

She must have thought that Ren was the father of my child now, but I was just following my instincts and indulging in the ripe persimmons.

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