Ch.195IF Side Story – And the Two Lived Happily (49)

Time passed.

Many things changed.

The trees turned to autumn colors, and the once-hot sun cooled.

And Ayla’s belly had grown quite round, now clearly visible even through her clothes.

“Aaahng.”

“Here.”

“Nom.”

An orange apricot flesh entered Ayla’s mouth.

The sound of chewing something soft echoed.

“…Ugh.”

Ayla’s face contorted.

She quickly put a bag to her mouth, and a mixture of saliva and half-chewed apricot slid into it.

“Urgh… I feel nauseous…”

“This one’s no good either?”

Ayla nodded.

I sighed.

I’ve lost count of how many times this has happened.

It feels like running a marathon with no end in sight.

“…I, I think I don’t need to eat anymore…”

Ayla said in a small voice.

Her tone clearly conveyed her apology.

Does she think she’s making me go through unnecessary trouble?

It’s certainly troublesome, but not unnecessary.

I reached out to her cheek and pinched it gently.

The soft texture felt nice.

“You’re not the only one eating, you know?”

“Uweh, uweeeh–“

When I let go, her stretched cheek bounced back.

Amazing elasticity.

While rubbing her swollen cheek, Ayla mumbled.

“…Wouldn’t the babies also dislike their dad going through trouble for them?”

“It’s not hard at all.”

That’s a lie.

It is hard.

How could finding fresh apricots in early September be easy?

Still, if Ayla wants it, I can manage that much.

I put the bag with the remaining uneaten apricots into the refrigerator.

Inside were piles of fruits I had stored earlier.

Peaches, apples, pineapples, plums, kiwis, watermelon…

The refrigerator filled with all kinds of fruits emitted a sweet scent that made me feel like I’d walked into a flower shop.

I closed the door of the refrigerator that contained enough fruit to rival a decent produce store.

How did it come to this?

It all started simply enough.

Morning sickness, which commonly affects pregnant women.

Perhaps because there were two babies in her womb, Ayla’s morning sickness was quite severe.

She would eat something and throw up, feel nauseated from food smells while walking down the street, and whine about not being able to sleep because her stomach churned from foods she saw in dreams.

But that wasn’t all.

There are two types of morning sickness.

The first is what we commonly think of as morning sickness—feeling nauseated and vomiting from food smells.

It appears frequently in dramas, so most people are familiar with it.

And the second is food cravings.

You’ve probably seen this in dramas too.

Situations where someone wants strawberries in the middle of the night, or craves watermelon in winter.

I didn’t know, but apparently this is also a symptom of morning sickness.

Suddenly waking up at night wanting lemons, or craving ice cream in the middle of a meal, or wanting pizza first thing in the morning.

So, the conclusion:

With two babies in the womb, morning sickness doubled!

A perpetual cycle of eating and vomiting!

As a result, Ayla became someone who would wake up at dawn saying she wanted pork soup from Busan, and after I flew there as quickly as possible to get it, she’d take just one bite before putting it in the refrigerator, complaining about the pork smell making her feel sick.

Well, it’s not impossible to manage.

I wouldn’t want to risk something happening to the babies if she suppressed her cravings.

Besides, I can eat whatever’s left.

So, I didn’t think much of it.

With my physical abilities, I can quickly travel to most places.

And these days, preservation techniques are so good that you can buy summer watermelons even in winter.

…And this disaster was the price of that complacency.

The human brain is basically not that different from a computer.

It needs some kind of input to produce output.

This means that even hormones can’t make someone crave food they’ve never eaten, heard of, or seen before.

Perhaps that’s why it was easy for me.

Most of Ayla’s experiences were ones we shared together.

I was stupid.

Why did I stop thinking there?

It started with one small comment from Ayla.

“…I want to eat sirumple.”

Sirumple.

A fruit.

It’s commonly sold in markets, and when chilled in season, it gives a sorbet-like sensation, making it quite cost-effective and decent.

“Oh, that’s tasty. You brought some when we were training and we ate them together.”

I muttered without thinking.

And then I realized.

Shit.

That’s a fruit from the other world.

…Right.

Ayla’s cravings didn’t discriminate against foods from another world.

“…Haah.”

I sighed and returned to the living room.

Seeing Ayla stroking her belly, my lips naturally curved upward.

I sat down beside her.

The cushion sank with a soft sound.

“But wasn’t this one similar at least?”

“I’m not sure…? It was kind of like the plum I had before… but it definitely had more of a chewy texture…”

“What fruit was most similar?”

“…If I had to choose, texture-wise it’s like an apple, and sweetness-wise it’s like a plum… no, maybe more like grapes?”

“It’s really hard to satisfy your taste.”

“What can we do? The babies want it.”

“Should I just blend and freeze a mix?”

“No thanks. We already tried that.”

“…True.”

Though that was fruit juice, which is a bit different…

“Come to think of it, I don’t think it’s the fruit I’m craving.”

“Huh?”

Ayla tilted her head.

I felt a slightly warm weight on my shoulder.

“I think I just liked the memory of that time.”

Ayla continued.

“Honestly, that fruit. It wasn’t that delicious, was it?”

“…That’s true.”

It’s quite sour when eaten raw, with a slightly astringent taste.

It’s only briefly popular in summer for its refreshing coolness and texture when frozen, but it’s mostly used as animal feed.

That’s the kind of fruit Ayla was craving.

“I don’t think I wanted the fruit itself, but rather to remember the time I spent with you, Hero…?”

There’s something called associative memory.

You eat chocolate while studying.

Then later, when you eat chocolate again, you remember what you studied.

They say it’s because the parts of the brain responsible for taste and memory are connected, though I’m not an expert so I don’t know the details.

Anyway, I thought what Ayla wanted might be something similar.

Even the happiest memories eventually fade.

In fact, I didn’t remember that fruit until Ayla mentioned it by name.

The memory only came back when I heard the name she said.

“…Do you miss that time?”

Does Ayla still long for that place?

Has she still not fully settled here?

At my question, Ayla paused briefly, then slowly shook her head.

“Rather than missing it… I think ‘feeling sorry’ would be more accurate.”

“Sorry?”

This time her head moved up and down.

“Back then, I must have been really happy… but the fact that I can’t even remember it now makes me feel a bit sorry for my past self.”

“…”

“Thinking about it that way, I’m a little scared that maybe this moment too… might someday become something I can’t even remember.”

I tilted my head sideways, nestling Ayla’s head between my shoulder and cheek.

The doctor said that during pregnancy, hormonal influences can cause emotional fluctuations.

So I need to take good care of her.

So I opened my mouth.

“Isn’t it okay to forget?”

“…What?”

“It means you’ve piled up so many happy memories on top that they’ve buried the old ones. It means you’re so happy now that you don’t need to dig up past happiness.”

“…You’re right, maybe that’s it.”

I heard a giggle beside me.

Deliberately raising my energy, I called out in a lively voice.

“I’m hungry, shall we eat?”

“The babies say they want spicy fish stew.”

“Fish stew…? The one we had in Busan?”

“Ooh… that was delicious…”

“Should we go there then?”

“Isn’t it a bit far? Since I can’t teleport directly because of the babies, we’d have to use public transportation…”

“Since it’s come to this, should we make it a proper trip? Showing good scenery is also a form of prenatal education.”

“Scenery…”

Ayla nodded.

“Then shall we pack some things? I’ll book accommodations and transportation.”

“Yes! Hehehe.”

I heard her cheerful laughter.

I watched Ayla’s retreating figure as she entered the room, her slightly swollen belly bouncing.

Indeed, that bright smile suits Ayla best.

I hope she’ll continue to have reasons to smile like that.

That’s what I thought.

And just as we arrived in Busan and were heading to our accommodation.

An S-rank dungeon opened in Seoul.