Choosing the Baby’s Father From the Following – Chapter 81

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖𝟏

“What?”

Come to think of it, the food in front of Phoebe was almost untouched.

‘Does it taste bad? This?’

I was briefly shocked and looked around at the seven dishes again.

The more I looked, the more my mouth watered and my appetite was stimulated.

Soon, the shaved ice bowl began to show its bottom.

I pleaded with Callisto in desperation.

“Cal, it’s the first day, so I’ll just have one more bowl. From tomorrow, I’ll only have one bowl per meal, okay?”

“Good heavens, Lou……”

Perhaps because it was a cold dish, Callisto seemed to hesitate for a moment.

However, as I continued to look up at him with expectant eyes like a hungry puppy, he sighed and nodded.

But after Chacha went to the kitchen and brought another bowl of shaved ice, Callisto took my spoon away.

“I’ll feed you. You’re going to get sick eating so hurriedly.”

In front of all these people?

I was flustered, but as the spoon approached, my lips parted as if by magic.

“Mmm……”

“Is it that delicious?”

When I nodded frantically, Callisto’s eyes sparkled with joy.

He ordered the Chief Attendant.

“I will reward the chef. Tell him to come to my room after work.”

It seemed like the Chacha and Collie twins exchanged glances and rejoiced.

Callisto’s hand holding the spoon moved busily for a while.

As I watched the peanut shaved ice dwindle with regret, the baby in my belly kicked happily.

I was embarrassed to be seen by others, but curious about the baby, I gently placed my hand on my belly.

Of course, Callisto immediately noticed my actions.

“Our Pri must like it.”

His voice was low, but the servants’ gazes gathered surprisingly quickly.

‘I should correct him to ‘my Pri’.’

But since arguing about it would attract even more attention, I just shut my mouth.

Absolutely not because he was feeding me shaved ice at that moment.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

That same night, I had finished preparing for bed early when I heard a knock.

—Knock, knock.

Phoebe, who was about to leave the room anyway, whispered softly.

“It seems like the Grand Duke has arrived. Should I tell him you’re asleep?”

Since I had just gotten into bed, I shook my head and said.

“It’s okay. Tell him to come in. Phoebe, you can go and rest now.”

Phoebe curtsied politely, holding her skirt.

“Then please sleep well, Your Highness.”

Not long after, Callisto appeared with an apologetic look and sat on the chair by the bed.

“I didn’t come for anything urgent. If I had known you were asleep, I wouldn’t have come, but Phoebe told me to come in……”

The soft light of the oil lamp dyed his silver hair yellow.

I belatedly realized that the room was quite dark and that I was in my nightgown.

Even though I had the blanket covering me.

So I smiled awkwardly, pulling the corners of my lips.

“It’s okay. I just lay down. It’s a bit…… dark.”

But after saying that, the atmosphere became even stranger.

I felt unnecessarily nervous and just rolled my eyes while lying down, when he said.

“……I just came to see if you were worried about the Imperial Palace.”

“Of course I’m worried.”

I answered honestly.

Just because he was trying to make me happy with sweet and sour food didn’t mean that the worries I had left behind in the Imperial Palace and Edessa disappeared.

Callisto smiled faintly and took out a magic sphere, rolling it in his palm.

“Should I contact the Tower Master? We can contact His Highness the Crown Prince through him.”

Darkness had already fallen outside the window.

Instead of answering, I asked Callisto.

“Have you heard anything? If there’s a problem, you’d get contacted, even if I don’t, right?”

Callisto hid the communication orb back in his pocket.

Then, his long fingers gently brushed the hair from my forehead.

“I left the Second Commander and Third Commander of the Babenberg Knights in Edessa. They report everything to me. If you ask, they’ll even tell you how many times the Crown Prince went to the bathroom today.”

I laughed faintly and asked.

“If I’m curious, will you tell me? How things are going?”

Callisto raised an eyebrow and asked back.

“The exact truth? Or just enough to let Lou sleep without worrying?”

“If I can’t sleep because I’m scared after knowing the exact truth…… will Cal stay with me?”

His eyes curved into a thin crescent.

The flickering yellow light of the lamp made his blue irises sparkle turquoise.

“Of course.”

His answer was soft, but his tone was firm.

“Then I……”

My throat went dry as I hesitated to answer, but I managed to spit it out.

“I want to know the truth. Not just as much as I need to know, but as much as Cal and my brother know.”

“Hmm……”

Callisto thought for a moment, then opened his lips.

His words were more surprising than I had expected.

“Last week, on New Year’s Eve…… about twenty unidentified soldiers broke into the Edessa Hotel.”

“What, really?”

I almost screamed and sat halfway up.

“Lou, please.”

Callisto smiled confidently, pulling up the corners of his lips, and gently pushed my shoulders back down.

Then he sat back down on the chair and said.

“There was nothing to worry about. Ren warned us the night before, and the defensive mages he sent were waiting at the hotel.”

The night before was definitely the night we went out and enjoyed the festival to our hearts’ content.

‘The day I enjoyed the festival, was actually the day everything almost went wrong? Because of me?’

Surprised, I lay down and gasped for breath, and a large hand grasped mine as if to comfort me.

“Easy. It’s alright, Lou. There’s never a day in our lives that is completely safe anyway. You know that.”

He was right.

‘I’m the youngest princess of the Brentania Empire, and that man is the Grand Duke of the North, the richest man on the continent……’

With such identities, we could never be one hundred percent safe.

Perhaps I had forgotten that, comfortable in the overly cozy protection provided by so many.

“We captured about five of the intruders and detained them. We naturally expected another intrusion, and that’s why Ernst stayed at the hotel. I heard the intruders were quite large in scale last night.”

“What? How could you leave Erni behind knowing there would be another intrusion? So what happened?”

Callisto burst out laughing as if he were dumbfounded.

“Lou. What was your friend, the Crown Prince’s name again?”

I tilted my head and said Ernst’s full name.

“……Ernst Savoia Larion Flavius?”

In the darkness, I could see Callisto’s broad shoulders rise and fall briefly.

“Yes, Ernst Savoia Larion. A descendant of King Larion. The next owner of a landmass once as large as Babenberg, including Hashitind and Gideln. Your blonde doll.”

I was offended and glared at Callisto, warning him.

“Don’t call the Crown Prince of a nation and my old friend a blonde doll.”

Of course, Callisto didn’t even blink.

“Don’t assume that the Crown Prince of a nation can’t handle a few dozen private soldiers from a noble family. He only acts innocent in front of you, how can you still not know that?”

I shook my head and asked again.

“So Ernst is okay?”

Callisto nodded in affirmation.

“This time, the mages set a trap in advance, so we were able to keep more than half of the intruders alive.”

“Keep them alive? To get a confession?”

He seemed surprised by my question and looked down at me with a curious gaze.

“Of course that’s the intention…… but I didn’t expect Lou to think that far.”

Of course I would think that.

‘Because I’m the creator of this book.’

I coughed awkwardly and asked again.

“Then do you think there will be more?”

Callisto nodded briefly once more.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

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