Earlier, there had been a small sound outside the door—was that the priest? They should have stopped then.

…But they couldn’t stop. If they had enough self-control to stop midway, they wouldn’t have started in the first place. Lydia bit her lip in embarrassment.

“I understand you two are in your passionate phase, yes, I do. But there’s a time and place for everything!”

Byron couldn’t help clicking his tongue repeatedly and then sighing deeply.

After finishing his urgent business and returning, he had heard strange sounds leaking from the room, and then the grand duke and his wife emerged with faces flushed as if they had been exercising.

If this had been the grand duke’s mansion, it wouldn’t have mattered. But this was a temple, a temple. A place people came to pray and cultivate themselves. If a passerby had seen, it would have been a great disgrace.

“……I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“Of course it shouldn’t, of course!”

Arsen and Lydia had to listen to Byron’s nagging for over thirty minutes, followed by atonement prayers, before they could return to the Edis mansion.

“What about building a prayer room in the mansion?”

Arsen whispered as he slipped into bed next to Lydia, who had bathed and was already lying down. The intention behind building a prayer room was too obvious, so Lydia slapped his forearm.

“You want to say that even after being scolded by the priest?”

“I’m used to being scolded often, so it doesn’t bother me. Besides, it seems your preference is for that sort of thing.”

“Tsk, as if you didn’t enjoy it too.”

As Lydia pouted her lips, complaining that he was making her out to be the only pervert, Arsen wrapped his arms and legs around her and said,

“I enjoy it every time, no matter when or where. I’d enjoy it just as much if we did it again now.”

Lydia sensed sincerity in Arsen’s murmurs.

His stamina was impressive too. Running around since morning, sweating in the temple, and still having energy left. But Lydia didn’t.

“Stop talking nonsense and go to sleep.”

Lydia closed Arsen’s eyes herself and tightly shut her own. She must have been tired, as she fell asleep quickly. Arsen also drifted off after admiring the sleeping Lydia.

In his dream, he was swinging his sword in the training ground behind the mansion. Then something hopped toward him from the other side.

‘A winter rabbit?’

Fluffy pink fur, perky ears. It was a winter rabbit.

‘Why is it so big?’

Winter rabbits were already quite large for rabbits, but this one was the size of a hunting dog. Yet somehow it didn’t seem threatening, so Arsen just watched the rabbit quietly.

The rabbit hopped here and there, then stood still, wiggling its nose and perking up its ears. It looked like it was searching for something.

‘Is it looking for food?’

Arsen looked around for something to feed the rabbit but found nothing nearby.

That’s when the rabbit lifted its head and looked at the second floor of the mansion.

‘That’s our bedroom.’

Suddenly, the rabbit took a few steps back and then leaped toward the second-floor window.

Arsen hurriedly jumped to catch the rabbit, but it slipped through his hands. With the sound of shattering glass, Arsen fell into an endless quagmire and…

“Haa.”

He woke up. After taking a few deep breaths, Arsen turned his head to check if the window was intact. Lydia was sleeping soundly, oblivious to the world.

“Everything’s fine.”

What a strange dream. Was it because he had been so humiliated by the winter rabbit that he dreamed such a thing? Tilting his head in puzzlement, Arsen went back to sleep.

And not long after, good news arrived for the couple.

* * *

“Will it be a son or a daughter?”

Stroking her round, swollen belly, Lydia smiled quietly. Sometimes she thought it would be nice to have a son who resembled Arsen, and other times she wished for a daughter who resembled herself. Then again, she would pray that the gender didn’t matter as long as the baby was born healthy.

The fact that she was carrying a child felt as strange as hearing that Violet, whom she had parted from as a child in her previous life, had grown as tall as Maria.

It was the feeling that all the past she knew had finally disappeared, and that she was now moving toward a new future—something others took for granted but was special to her.

Sometimes all of this felt like a dream, and she would wake up and touch her belly. In fact, until her belly started to show, she didn’t really feel the reality of being pregnant.

Thanks to the small life in her womb, living through the time she had returned to and facing an unknown future wasn’t just frightening.

How many more unimaginable things, emotions never felt before, would she come to know?

“I don’t mind either gender.”

“Actually, neither do I.”

“Whether it’s a son or daughter, I just hope they’re filial.”

“You’re expecting filial piety from a child not even born yet?”

“Not making their mother suffer during birth is the first step of filial piety.”

Lydia burst into laughter at the absurd statement. How could that be up to the baby? But Arsen was serious. He meant it.

Lydia, who had become much sleepier since becoming pregnant, didn’t know, but every night, Arsen whispered to her swollen belly, telling the baby to stay still, conserve strength, and come out all at once.

“Still, they say our baby is quite well-behaved.”

She didn’t even have the common morning sickness. Thanks to that, Lydia ate well and slept well. Except for feeling a bit tired and heavy, her days continued much the same as before pregnancy.

After smoothly passing into the final month, a problem arose a few days ago. Her belly felt cold and achy, and then blood appeared on her underwear.

It wasn’t a large amount, but concerned, Lydia consulted a physician. The physician reassured her not to worry, saying that bleeding sometimes occurs due to the baby’s movements.

It really must have been nothing serious, as there was no more bleeding afterward. Lydia was relieved, but Arsen wasn’t. When he heard the news of Lydia’s bleeding while attending to his duties, he nearly fainted.

Though it was Lydia who bled, Arsen’s face was paler. For days, he followed Lydia around with that pale face.

At first, it was cute. It seemed Arsen was still so infatuated that he would panic even if she just cleared her throat once, and it made him look pitiful.

But there’s a limit to everything—Arsen even tried to follow her into the bathroom.

‘Stop making such a fuss, Arsen. I’m fine. At this rate, you’ll be the one fainting before me when it’s time to give birth.’

‘……’

‘Why can’t you answer? Are you really worried about that? You’re really being excessive.’

Finally, Lydia was able to escape Arsen’s excessive interference only after declaring a hunger strike, threatening not to eat if he continued like this.

“So would you prefer a daughter or a son?”

“I don’t mind either, but since the prophetic dream had a rabbit, wouldn’t it be a daughter who resembles you?”

“Actually, I thought it might be a daughter too.”

A daughter who resembled Lydia. Imagining Lydia and a little Lydia walking hand in hand made Arsen smile. How lovely would they look sleeping peacefully together? It seemed he could overcome any hardship at work by recalling that scene.

‘But would she only be lovely in my eyes?’

Surely others would find her cute too. He wanted to keep her hidden away in the castle, but since that wasn’t possible, it was a problem.

“No, I think a son would be better.”

“Suddenly?”

“If we have a daughter who looks like you, she’ll surely be beautiful, but would those wolf-like men leave her alone? Just thinking about those dark-hearted bastards swarming around her……”

He was already furious.

“Calm down, Arsen.”

Lydia was bewildered by Arsen’s stance, looking ready to start a knife fight. Even if the baby in her womb was a girl, she hadn’t been born yet, and it would be a long time before that child grew up and started dating. Was it necessary to get heated about potential son-in-law candidates already?

“Aren’t you worried, wife?”

“What should I worry about? That my daughter might be too popular? Being popular is good, what’s wrong with that?”

Isn’t it better to be popular than not? How heartbreaking would it be if no one asked her daughter to dance at a ball?

“It’s better to have many men interested, then she can choose a good one from among them.”

After all, the more options, the better.

“That, that’s the problem, Lydia.”

Options? More is better. But only assuming the person making the choice is wise.

“What if her judgment of men takes after you……”

“What did you say?”

Lydia glared at Arsen with narrowed eyes.

But she couldn’t argue, “What’s wrong with my judgment of men?” There was the indelible past of Richard.

“If my judgment of men is terrible, then you must be a terrible man too, Arsen.”

“I’m sorry, but objectively speaking, I wasn’t that good of a man either.”

He had a secret about his birth. A very dangerous secret. Now that everything had worked out well, he could talk about it casually, but at the time, if the secret had leaked, his life would have been in danger.

“Imagine our daughter finding a man with similar circumstances to mine back then.”

“……”

When asked like that, Lydia had nothing to say. When Arsen revealed his secret, Marquis Evansi had grabbed the back of his neck. In the same situation, Lydia would likely clutch her head and be bedridden for at least two days.

But they couldn’t choose the gender of their baby either.

“If, if we educate her well……”