Chapter 11 (Part 8)

“Aaah!”

Every time he heard Yuliana’s piercing screams, Anthus felt like he was going to faint. His heart sank, and he was terrified something might happen.

Yuliana’s screams didn’t stop. Anthus paced back and forth anxiously.

“Isn’t something wrong?!”

“Aaah!”

With Yuliana’s screams, Anthus’s patience reached its limit. Unable to wait any longer, Anthus reached out to grab the delivery room door handle.

“No, you can’t! Duke, please calm down!”

Aide Houston and Butler Ferrell blocked Anthus, who was trying to open the delivery room door.

“Let go! Lia is calling for me!”

“No, you can’t. You mustn’t open the delivery room door!”

“Master, please calm down first.”

Houston desperately blocked the door, trying to stop Anthus.

“Move, Houston… I don’t want to kill you.”

“No, you can’t! You must wait until the midwife comes out!”

“Aide Houston is right. Master, you must calm down.”

Anthus’s red eyes coldly stared at Ferrell and Houston.

If they didn’t move, it felt like they might lose their lives. Still, Houston and Ferrell didn’t budge from the door.

“Aaah!”

“Move now!”

Unable to bear Yuliana’s continuous screams, Anthus couldn’t take it anymore.

He finally opened the delivery room door and went in. As the overwhelming smell of blood hit him, Anthus’s heart sank.

“Madam, just one more time!”

The urgent voice of the midwife could be heard.

For the first time in his life, Anthus was engulfed in fear. He was scared. Unthinkable thoughts dominated his entire being. Tears fell freely.

“Aaah!”

“Push again! Madam! A little more! More! More! Push! Push!”

Anthus approached Yuliana with a trembling body. The sensation of his heart being thrown to the ground made his body want to collapse.

“Waaah.”

Anthus’s ears caught the sound of a baby’s cry. The midwife drew back the bed curtain and came out.

“Duke! You couldn’t hold back and just came in, didn’t you?”

“Our Lia?”

“She’s fine.”

The midwife said to Anthus, who was in a panic. From the midwife’s perspective, she couldn’t view him kindly, as he had been making a racket outside and barged into the delivery room. She even doubted if this man was truly the Anthus, who was mad about blood and war.

“The Duke, who has commanded countless battlefields, now looks like a restless puppy in pain.”

“Yes. Even if you call me a puppy, I’ll let it go today. Midwife, thank you for your hard work.”

Anthus drew back the curtain hanging over the bed and approached Yuliana, who was lying there.

Breathing heavily, Yuliana looked utterly exhausted. The moment he realized she was alive, his anxious trembling subsided.

“Lia…”

Anthus approached Yuliana and tightly held her hand, kissing her sweat-soaked forehead. Seeing Yuliana smile, Anthus’s anxious heart calmed down.

“You did well.”

“Now, both of you, look here.”

As Anthus gave Yuliana light kisses on her cheek and forehead, the midwife approached, holding a swaddled baby. Yuliana gently pushed Anthus aside and looked at the swaddle.

“Congratulations. It’s a beautiful young lady.”

Yuliana extended her trembling arms. The midwife gently placed the baby on the bed.

“She’s so beautiful… Yan, look.”

Yuliana’s eyes reddened. The remaining pain in her body was still there, but seeing the baby made her think the pain was nothing.

“Yan, our child.”

The baby slowly opened her eyelids. Her red eyes looked just like Anthus’s.

“The young lady’s eyes are like rubies. Very beautiful.”

Yuliana nodded, tears streaming down her face at the midwife’s words.

“Yan.”

“Yes.”

“She’s so beautiful… I can’t take my eyes off her.”

Anthus’s eyes reddened. It felt different from the moment he fell in love with Yuliana.

He felt overwhelmed and joyful to the point of tears. How should he describe this feeling?

“I feel the same.”

He had confidently declared that he would never fall in love with anyone other than Yuliana, but at this moment, Anthus fell in love again.

“I’ll take care of the baby, so Lia, you should rest.”

“I will. I’m very tired.”

Yuliana’s voice was hoarse from the long labor.

Anthus felt immense distress. 

How hard must it have been?

“You really did well. Lia… I love you.”

When the midwife came out of the delivery room and announced the birth of a healthy young lady, Ferrell’s joyful scream was heard.

“This humble butler believed in you, Master and Mistress.”

* * *

People celebrated the birth of the young lady. Among them, the happiest was Emperor Cloud, who had hoped for the birth of a young lady.

<I knew a young lady would be born! Now we’re in-laws!>

Cloud, who more than anyone wanted to form a marital alliance with the Rockbellion family, didn’t miss the opportunity.

But Cloud hadn’t anticipated a problem. He wasn’t the only one who wanted to form an alliance with the Rockbellion family.

But Cloud laughed it off as if he had expected such a thing.

<Yan, you may not think so, but I’ve always achieved what I wanted.>

He had killed off the snakes that swarmed in the imperial palace and ascended to the throne, and despite the opposition of the ministers, he had made Monica the Empress. The noble faction that urged him to take concubines was also shattered.

With Anthus leading the way, he had even taken control of the Holy Kingdom. He was worried about divine punishment, but at that moment, strangely, divine punishment didn’t seem frightening.

Cloud managed to obtain whatever he wanted. And what he currently wanted to achieve was, of course, a connection with the Rockbellion family.

<Don’t worry, Yan. I’ll definitely become your in-law.>

Anthus shivered.

“Yan, are you cold?”

“No. I just got goosebumps for some reason…”

“Goosebumps?”

“Yes. It’s probably nothing.”

Anthus brushed his neck. He felt a chill, but he thought it was nothing and dismissed it.

“Yan, Lia. Have you thought of a name?”

In response to Frey’s question, Anthus smiled faintly and answered that they had.

When deciding on the child’s name with Yuliana, they had thought about it a lot. They had chosen a name after much deliberation. Since they couldn’t know the gender, they had prepared one name for a boy and one for a girl.

“Noelis Rockbellion. The nickname is Noel.”

“Noelis means sacredness. It’s a good name. The nickname is easy to call too.”

Anthus gazed at Noelis in his arms. He had been holding her all day, and his arms should have been sore, but he never let Noelis out of his embrace.

“Noel, it’s Father. Say ‘Father.'”

“Yan, she’s still a baby who hasn’t even started babbling.”

“No, Lia. Look at Noel’s mouth. Doesn’t it look like she’s saying ‘Father’?”

“I didn’t expect my son to become such a fool for his daughter. Let me hold my granddaughter once.”

“Please take a thorough shower and wash your hands clean before holding her. And even if you do, Noel is sleeping in my arms right now, so I can’t hand her over to you, Mother.”

“What a fool for his daughter…”

“I’m watching Noel and Lia right now, so it would be nice if you could return to your room.”

“When Noel gets married later, what will you do, being such a fool for your daughter?”

Anthus momentarily thought of Cloud at Frey’s words.

Cloud had uttered the blasphemous word ‘in-law’ on the wedding day. He had no intention of marrying Noelis off to Crown Prince Ian, who would become an Emperor able to have concubines besides the Empress.

Noelis’s groom had to be stronger than Anthus, more handsome than him, a better cook than him, taller than him, and love Noel more than him.

If by any chance Noel had no intention of marrying, Anthus would support that decision too. Rather than marrying off to some mediocre guy, living happily as Lady Rockbellion, spending money lavishly, might be better.

“I won’t let anyone take her.”

“What won’t you let be taken?”

“There’s something like that. Anyway, Mother, please leave.”

“You’re issuing an eviction order… I’ll throw a white glove at your face soon. I won’t go easy on you just because you’re my son.”

“Do as you please.”

“Really? You can look forward to it, Anthus Rockbellion. You’ll regret this moment.”

Frey, forcibly driven out by Anthus, closed the door carefully, vowing revenge.

“You were too harsh with Mother, Yan.”

“I didn’t want to be disturbed in my time with Noel and you, Lia.”

Babies born into noble families were taken care of by wet nurses, but Yuliana and Anthus didn’t do that. They stayed by Noelis’s side 24/7. They even placed a baby cradle next to their bed in the couple’s bedroom.

“The more I look, the more beautiful she is, and I can’t take my eyes off her.”

“I feel the same.”

When Yuliana first learned of her pregnancy, she had many worries.

Would she be able to love and care for the child well? Tears of fear and sorrow would come over her, but… Just knowing she was carrying the child of the man she loved made her so overwhelmed that tears would come.

She tried to think only good thoughts for prenatal education, but becoming a parent was truly a monumental fear.

But once the baby was born… those worries melted away like snow. As each day passed, she only thought about ‘how can I love her more?’ It wasn’t just her.

Anthus swept up all sorts of items said to be good for children’s minds and bodies. From books to toys, cradles, blankets, and food, he paid attention to everything from one to ten.

“I didn’t know you would love the child so much, Yan.”

“It’s the child the woman I love carried for months and gave birth to. There’s no reason not to love her.”

Yuliana raised the corners of her mouth.

“Lia, you need to recover, so I’ll take care of Noel.”

Anthus didn’t want to leave Yuliana and Noelis’s side all day. Seeing this, Frey and Philip scolded him. But Anthus remained steadfast.