episode_0299

The glass garden of the Imperial Palace.

“Wow…”

Lucia looked around with curious eyes.

‘I wondered why a man as good as an emperor came by, but I guess he did it to show off.’

There was a lot of snow outside, but here it was like spring weather, full of the scent of flowers and green vegetation.

It could be assumed that they simply used magic to control various growth conditions, but if that was all, Lucia wouldn’t be so impressed.

The walls, ceiling, and pillars are all made of transparent glass.

If done wrong, it could feel tacky or excessive, but the glass garden that crossed that subtle line really brought to mind the word ‘sophistication’.

Where is that?

Every time I turn my head, I smell a different flower scent.

Eldrina’s garden also planted different flowers in each area to create a harmonious scent, but here, even without taking a step, the scent that filled my nostrils changed from moment to moment.

No matter how beautiful a garden is, if you look at it for a long time, you will get tired of it, but Lucia thought that she wouldn’t have to worry about that in this place.

“How about it? A garden I put a lot of effort into.”

Victor said, holding out a full teacup.

Siriel declined her invitation, and Seira had to take Siriel to the teleport, so it was just the two of them.

“Yes, it’s a pretty garden.”

Lucia nodded lightly and met Victor’s expectations.

“Honestly, I thought it was some random tea party, but this is something worth bragging about.”

“…I didn’t really mean to brag.”

“Oh really? Well, the feeling of being pretty is real.”

“Hehe, thank you for the compliment.”

Victor covered his mouth with his hand and laughed. Then, I crossed my thighs and rubbed my slightly swollen stomach.

…Why has he been like this since before?

Lucia, who was enjoying the scent of black tea, stopped.

‘Does your stomach hurt by any chance?’

“Victor?”

“Huh?”

“If you want to go to the bathroom, you can go there.”

“What do you mean? Why the bathroom?”

Victor tilted his head, wondering what he was talking about.

“No, since you kept stroking my stomach from earlier, I wondered if something was wrong.”

“Oh, it’s not like that, so don’t worry.”

“Then why do you keep touching your stomach? I thought you only wanted to show off your garden, but you also want to show off your belly fat?”

“Hmm. That’s not it. Huh. It’s really awkward when I try to talk.”

Victor scratched the back of his head shyly. But soon, Victor seemed to have made up his mind and stared straight at Lucia.

“I’m pregnant.”

“…What?”

Lucia’s eyes widened at the incomprehensible words. And soon a heavy sigh came out of Lucia’s mouth.

“You’ve finally gone crazy. Talking nonsense about the boy being pregnant.”

“Huh? What, didn’t you know yet?”

“…What?”

“I’m a woman.”

Victor said with a bright smile. Question marks appeared over Lucia’s head as if she couldn’t understand what she had just said.

“What bullshit. You’re a woman…”

“Oh, by the way, Louise is also pregnant? Isn’t it amazing? I never dreamed I would get pregnant this quickly.”

“Wait! Louise is pregnant too?”

Lucia leaned out as if she was going to pop out at any moment.

Although I was shocked because it was so sudden, it didn’t take much effort to accept that Viktor was a woman.

That’s because Viktor’s strangely handsome appearance, which I always thought was strange… or his androgynous voice… there was a lot of evidence that he was flirting with Siron to the point where people misunderstood him as gay.

In fact, it felt like my head was pounding and my blocked blood vessels were being released.

But Lucia couldn’t focus on the fact that Victor was a woman.

“Women can also get pregnant?”

“What are you talking about? Of course women can’t get pregnant.”

“Who is it? Who made the emperor and empress pregnant at the same time?”

“Of course it’s a theory.”

Victor responded coolly and laughed loudly. The lively reactions were so humorous that it was difficult to hold back laughter.

“Si, why is Siron with you? No, more than that, when will Louise…”

Lucia muttered with an ecstatic expression on her face.

“I didn’t even fill my stomach that much, so was it a month ago? When the two were trapped in the labyrinth, they dug into the gap in their weakened state and burst out in relief…”

“Not really, but can we just not talk about it?”

“Why?”

“The reason I invited you today was not to talk about this.”

“…”

“And for some reason, I seem to have gotten into trouble by bringing up the story arbitrarily.”

Victor smiled bitterly and scratched his head.

Pleasure derived from a sense of superiority.

Although she didn’t intend to, she announced her pregnancy to Siron’s romantic rivals, and it became a way to show off her fruition with Siron.

Although he won’t say it directly, it won’t take much for Cyriel to know that Viktor is pregnant.

As time passes, Victor’s stomach will swell to a point where it cannot be hidden.

“The reason I invited you like this was to see what your reaction would be.”

“Reaction?”

“To reveal that I am a woman.”

Victor erased his smile and spoke seriously.

“For now, I am only revealing information to people I can trust. Are you going to keep the secret?”

“Wait a minute, why are you telling me this? Is there anyone else you can trust? Something like Siriel…”

‘ah. If Siriel finds out, will she kill Viktor?’

Lucia felt a chill and covered her mouth. However, there was no problem with Victor understanding what was said.

“Of course, I’ll talk to Siriel too. Somehow I ended up talking to you first.”

“…Do your best.”

But Lucia did not stop Victor. Although Siriel has been under a lot of stress these days because of her pregnancy, it occurred to me that she was going to kill the emperor and not someone else.

What was even more problematic was the emotions Lucia was feeling right now.

Shameful.

What they’re saying is that he took someone else’s fiancé with his wife.

It was easy to think of the hardships she must have had to hide her gender, but what was Lucia’s business?

There was a part of Siriel that she recognized as Lucia because of her status as her fiancé, but Viktor, who became pregnant first without even that, was dissatisfied.

Especially since she openly boasted about her pregnancy!

But no matter what Lucia thought of Victor, the conversation never stopped.

There is a story that two cardinals came to stay in the Diocese of Rien.

It is said that even after the subjugation system ends, the fog in Arwen Plateau does not disappear.

‘I feel sad that incidents keep happening at a time when I should be calm.’

When I returned to the mansion after finishing my errand, the sun had already set.

“What are you doing?”

Lucia stared at Siriel, who was standing on her head.

“The story has become quite long, hasn’t it? It’s a good thing you came home right away.”

“No, what are you doing?”

“You wouldn’t know it if you saw it? Your baby… is doing a handstand… to make it easier to inseminate!”

Siriel’s breathing is heavier than usual when she stands on her head. She moves a rock the size of a house without losing her breath.

Moreover, before they parted ways during the day, she had been very nervous, but now a smile appeared on Siriel’s face.

‘You did a lot while I was gone.’

Lucia could easily imagine what had happened while she was gone.

“But what about the theory?”

But it was a strange thing. Aside from the fact that Siriel’s stomach was full after returning today, Siriel’s energy was not felt even when the energy was expanded not only to the annex but also to the entire mansion.

“Oppa said he had some work to finish and left a while ago?”

“Where?”

“To Dawn Castle.”

Siriel stood on her head and pointed north.

*

Makal, a mountain where the snow never melts. Somewhere there, there was a castle that was so old-fashioned that it felt intimidating.

Devil’s castle.

In the castle I had only heard about as a child, hundreds of branches of magic were spreading out into the sky.

“Lord Siron.”

Louise, wearing a winter coat, called Siron over.

“Is that really the place? No matter how strong Sileia are, it is difficult to live here…”

Louise seemed so frightened that she couldn’t speak properly. But it wasn’t strange. In the case of an ordinary person, they couldn’t even stand with just the magic energy they gave off, so it was something that should have been praised and said that it was magnificent.

“It’s okay. I’m not asking you to live there, but I’m going to make you live in the northern part of the empire.”

Siron spoke as if to reassure a frightened Louise.

Currently, demonic beasts are rampant outside the border, but it is a safe zone for hundreds of kilometers from Dawnseong Castle.

The small creatures will not be able to approach just the presence of Dawn Castle.

There was no better place to build a new city with guaranteed safety for 20 years.

“Then, why did you come here? If you don’t live here, there’s no need to have people come, right?”

“I will be seeing a lot of faces from now on. You should say hello.”

“Greetings?”

“You also have to get used to Magi.”

Siron, who said that, left Louise behind and stared into the distance. A flashing presence at the end of the castle wall.

“Master? What on earth are these people?”

It was an instant before I heard a voice. I thought Yuma would appear, but what appeared was a maid with blonde hair braided on both sides.

“Encia. Since I have something to do, can you bring Yuma?”

“Hmm. I think that would be troublesome. I think you will have to go in person.”

“…What’s going on?”

“It’s no big deal.”

Encia brought her mouth to Siron’s ear and whispered.

“Yuma has been reappointed.”