Chapter 18

The man, who seemed indifferent now, shook his head slightly and pressed his lips firmly against Yulia’s nape.

“Just because she’s seen me since I was a child, she acts like she’s my nanny.”

The sensation of slowly licking up her nape made her shoulders slightly tense. The irritation in his voice sent chills down her spine.

“Really, you’d do nothing, right?”

“I promised, remember? I won’t cause any harm.”

The way he emphasized “I” sent shivers through her, but Yulia didn’t ask further. Resti wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her chest, taking a deep breath before exhaling. He kissed her soft skin repeatedly, his lips eventually finding her now-hardened n*pples. Slowly, his head dipped lower.

His lips firmly pressed against her still flat belly. The hand gripping her waist tightened. Fingers painfully dug into her soft flesh.

“This child……”

Resti’s voice cracked. Only then did Yulia realize she hadn’t told him the child in her womb was his. And that having a beloved man was a lie.

“Resti, about that….”

“Shh.”

He whispered briefly. Yulia parted her lips only to shut them tightly again.

“It doesn’t matter whose child this is.”

His low voice was full of pain. Resti pressed his lips firmly against her still flat belly and sighed deeply.

“I don’t want to do anything you hate. I’m sorry for trying to give you medicine.”

She gently stroked his black hair in response to his sincere confession. The man who licked her belly button with his tongue kissed her lower belly several times.

“I’m more terrified of you running away again, Yulia.”

“……”

“If I try to make you get rid of the child again, you’ll try to run away from me again.”

“That’s….”

“Shh.”

He hushed her once more. Yulia’s eyes darted around. 

Shouldn’t I explain things? Didn’t he misunderstand that the child in my womb belonged to another man?

“Resti, listen….”

“Please. Yulia.”

He whispered as if he was about to cry.

“Don’t talk about that man.”

“Uh……”

She nodded for now. Resti’s face looked so sorrowful when he said those words. Even if he was told he was going to h＊ll right now, he would be less sad than this.

“In return, I’ll accept everything.”

“What?”

“Even the child in your womb. I’ll raise it like my own.”

His face was determined. Yulia parted her lips.

“Resti. But.”

“Just say yes, Yulia. I can love it too since it’s your child. If you only think of that man in your heart……”

She stared blankly at the man who continued to speak stiffly without listening to her. 

Shouldn’t he listen to me? 

After clearing up misunderstandings just last night, he was about to repeat the same mistake.

“Resti!”

Yulia shouted as she grabbed the man’s cheeks with both hands. His face pressed tightly was cuter than expected, making her want to laugh, so she quickly bit her lip.

“Give me a chance to speak too.”

“No.”

He stubbornly replied.

“I don’t want to hear anything but ‘yes.’ Even though I said I’d accept everything, I’m not that generous. Only the child. Nothing more.”

She held his lips tightly until the end.

“I can’t listen to you anymore either.”

“Mm?”

Resti frowned.

“It’s all a lie.”

The man’s expression crumpled at her words. He raised his voice as he removed the hand holding his lips tightly.

“The pregnancy is certain! The doctor confirmed it several times……”

“Resti! Be quiet!”

“……”

“The part about loving another man—that was a lie.”

“But….”

“I said be quiet!”

When Yulia got angry, Resti closed his mouth.

“So, the child in my womb is yours. No, it’s ours.”

There was a moment of silence. Contrary to her expectation that he would jump for joy, the man showed a skeptical expression.

“……Not another man’s child?”

“Yes.”

“But….”

With a face full of things he wanted to say, he closed his eyes tightly and opened them. After organizing his thoughts, the man sighed deeply and asked skeptically.

“You ran away all the way there on your own?”

“Yes.”

“……No one helped you?”

“I just kept hitching rides on carriages.”

Resti, who was frozen for a moment, suddenly got angry.

“How could you hitch rides on any carriage like that! What if something happened!”

“Uh, huh?”

Was this the time to be angry about that? 

Yulia looked bewildered.

“Nothing happened? What were you thinking!”

“Wait…… Is this the time to be angry about hitching rides?”

“Do you not know how dangerous it is?”

Was hitching rides on carriages that dangerous? 

As she tilted her head in confusion, Resti turned pale and sighed deeply.

“Well… You did live in a place where carriages rarely passed by.”

“….”

“Don’t ever hitch rides on random carriages again. Got it?”

“Mm….”

She couldn’t understand why she was being scolded by him. Yulia nodded involuntarily, and silence fell again.

“……”

His bright blue eyes shook with confusion. Resti cautiously stroked her belly with his hand and gently placed his cheek against it.

“It’s my child?”

“Yes.”

He finally understood. Yulia felt like crying. It was so difficult to reveal that the child was his. He rubbed his cheek against her belly with a face of disbelief.

“I don’t feel anything.”

“It’s still early.”

“Are you sure there’s a child in there?”

“You said the doctor confirmed it several times.”

“Well, that’s true, but….”

She gently stroked his soft black hair. She hoped the child would be born with such jet-black hair. Because she found Resti’s black hair attractive. Including those jet-black eyelashes that slightly covered his bright blue eyes.

“It suddenly doesn’t feel real since it’s my child.”

“It doesn’t feel real to me either.”

He buried his nose in her soft belly and took a deep breath. Just a moment ago, he held her waist tightly without mercy. Now, he gently stroked her side like touching a feather. As she squirmed from the tickling sensation, Resti showered her belly with kisses several times.

“Is it really my child?”

“It really is.”

“There’s really a baby in there?”

“Yes.”

With each confirmation, the man’s expression grew brighter. Resti, who smiled so brightly he looked foolish, hugged her tightly.

“What should we do? Should we have the wedding first? Or have the child first and then the wedding?”

“The wedding preparations……”

“No.”

The man interrupted Yulia and then showed a completely sunken expression.

“Was it okay? You know… inside.”

His large hand carefully rubbed her belly.

“I was rough. Are you really okay? No, this isn’t the time. I need to call a doctor.”

“It’s… probably fine?”

Startled, she shrank back. They were surrounded by the traces of their intimacy, and he mentioned a doctor! She urgently grabbed Resti’s arm, who seemed ready to dash out the door.

“Wait! Let me get ready—mentally and physically!”

“I can’t risk it. Nothing until the baby is born. I’ll….”

He made a dreadful face.

“I’ll hold back too.”

“Haa.”

Yulia sighed deeply. He really was a man who didn’t listen to anyone else.

***

The man, who was frantic about calling a doctor immediately, even washed Yulia himself.

He was worried about the child and said he wouldn’t be relieved until she was examined by a doctor. So, Yulia, sitting in front of the doctor with her hair still wet, couldn’t hide her flushed face. And Resti, sitting next to her, had so much to say.

The man bombarded the doctor with questions until the doctor showed a weary expression, and finally, he uttered those words.